Hooray for Halloween!
There was certainly no shortage of Halloween spirit at our house this year. Tiny and Buba wore their Halloween t-shirts (store bought and hand made (but not by me)) with great excitement. It was so interesting to talk with the kids about our Halloween traditions and to hear what they had to say about them. This was the first year where there was some fear and uncertainty about seeing others dressed in costumes. And after seeing one very cool, but also very terrifying Frankenstein at a Halloween Party at T’s school, Buba and I had a very, very long talk about how everyone goes home, takes off their costume, washes away the make up, and is just a regular person underneath it all. Both Buba and Tiny repeated these words several time in the last two weeks, needing to do so to fully understand what they mean, but I’m still not sure they really get it.
Pumpkin carving was great fun once again. It’s still a lot of work for them to scoop out all the seeds and pulp, but they tried. We followed the same methods as last year. I drew shapes on a piece of paper and let Tiny and Buba choose which shapes they wanted for the eyes and nose of their jack-o’-lantern. They also got to decide how many teeth they wanted, as well as where in the mouth they should go. T and I did all the carving, but they stuck around to watch the magic unfold and were super excited to see their freshly carved pumpkins all aglow.
In the past, I’ve always chosen the outfits or costumes that Buba and Tiny would wear for Halloween, but this year, I asked the kids what they wanted to be. Tiny announced that she wanted to be a clown with no hesitation whatsoever. Buba chose to be a firefighter, but quickly changed his mind when he learned that Tiny would be a clown. At that point, he decided that he needed to be a clown too. Then, just before Halloween, he started telling everyone that he was going to be Frankenstein. But at that point, the costumes were already purchased. Fortunately, he didn’t seem too disappointed when I pulled out his clown costume for our town’s Halloween party on Saturday).
And just because it’s so much fun to see comparison photos (MandyE is the best at these kinds of posts), I pulled up photos from our previous Halloweens with Tiny and Buba.
7 months (2008)
19 months (2009)
2.5 years old (2010)
3.5 years old (2011)
Trick-or-treating was postponed until Saturday in our town due to all the down trees and power lines and numerous families still without power (we’re still on that list), but Buba and Tiny had a great time going door to door in Grammy and Grandpa’s neighborhood. We only visited six or seven houses (it’s more fun to visit our own neighbors), but it seemed to be all they needed, as they made no fuss about going back inside to help Grandpa give candy to those that visited his house. And while they were extremely excited to show Grammy all the treats they had collected, neither Tiny nor Buba made even one request to taste any of them.
I’ll admit that I was quite frustrated and disappointed to learn that we may continue to be without power for two more days. The news made me cranky, and I know I was short with the kids on more than one occasion as a result. But it’s hard to stay cranky when you’re walking around with two little clowns filled with the excitement of trick-or-treating on a crisp October night.
Picking in the Rain
Last Friday night, T and I decided we’d take the kids apple picking Saturday morning rain or shine. We’ve been wanting to go for weeks, but the weekends have been busy, or the weather hasn’t been great. As it turned out, the weather wasn’t all that great on Saturday either, but we had no other plans, and the kids were super excited to go, so we threw on our raincoats and rain boots and headed up to the orchard.
Due to the soggy weather, there were no hayrides out to the fields this time. Fortunately, the walk was a short one. After picking the very first apples they could get their tiny, little hands on, Tiny and Buba began chomping away at their sweet, juicy, fresh picked apples.
They soon discovered that eating and picking at the same time was not as easy as it looked. T and I tried to encourage them to do their best to do both, but what they really wanted to to was eat their apples.
So they ate, and T and I picked. We had a 20 pound bag to fill, and I was sure Buba and Tiny would finish their apples before we filled the bag. But by the time they both got down to the core and seeds, it was pouring (prior to that it had just been a light drizzle). I headed back to the farm stand area with the kids, while T finished filling our apple bag.
This wasn’t quite what I’d had in mind when I said I was looking forward to apple picking this year, but in spite of the weather, we all still had a really good time. And now comes the best part- where we get to feast for weeks on the delicious apples that we picked ourselves!
Unofficially Fall
Around here, most people feel that Labor Day marks the end of summer. Officially, fall doesn’t actually begin until the third week of September (September 23rd this year). But for me, it’s the first day of school that marks the end of summer and the beginning of fall. T had a teacher work day on Monday, and his first day with students was Tuesday. So, even though Buba and Tiny don’t start preschool until September 12th, in my mind, fall has begun.
This summer seemed to really fly by for me. We managed to squeeze in two vacations (Iowa and our beach trip), but we only spent two afternoons at the pool and none at the local splash park. It was a busy summer- I was tutoring most mornings while T was on parent duty, and then T was painting and doing little home improvement jobs while I was the parent on duty. We had planned to spend the last two weeks of summer doing more together as a family (the splash park was definitely on our list), but then Buba got hit with the yuckies. He was sick for about 5 days, and just after he seemed to have fully recovered, Tiny got hit with the yuckies, and we started all over again.
I do wish we’d had the time to fit in some more family fun, but I have to admit, I’m not really unhappy to see the summer come to an end. I love fall weather- those cool crisp mornings and temps rising to the mid 60s or so. There are so many things we are looking forward to- apple picking, pumpkin picking, pumpkin carving, trick-or-treating, and jumping in leaf piles- in addition to the start of preschool, the start of new gymnastics classes (one for each kid), and the start of dance lessons (tap/hip-hop combo). So, as fun as the summer was, with vacations, and playdates, and lots and lots of time at the playgrounds, I’m ready to get back into our school-year routines. It’s going to be a great fall. I just know it.
Family Time field trips Tiny & Buba: Jordan's Furniture puddle jumping rainy day
by reanbean
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Downpour
After quite a few days of nice, sunny weather, we woke up this morning to find nothing but gray skies and steady rain. This is never a good thing for Tiny and Buba, as staying home, inside the house all day, usually leads to crankiness and fighting. T and I needed to come up with a plan to get us all out of the house and hopefully out to something fun.
So, we headed up the highway to Target. Not the most fun destination, but we needed some storage bins, and our kids usually enjoy walking around the store (for a limited time, of course). However, not 5 minutes after we got on the road, the steady rain turned into a torrential downpour. Traffic slowed to about 35 miles per hour, and I couldn’t wait to get off the road. We pulled into the Target parking lot, but realized that even if we ran, we’d all be soaking wet by the time we got to the doors. And worse, anything we purchased would be soaked too when it came time to load up the van, unless the rain let up while we were in the store. So, we waited a bit to see if it would let up. When it didn’t we moved onto the next part of our plan- a trip to Jordan’s.
We had absolutely no plans to purchase any furniture, but anyone who has been to the northern MA store, knows that you don’t need to be in the market for furniture to have a good time at Jordan’s. There’s a water/light show next to the ice cream parlor and trapeze school. And there are escalators to ride and long corridors to walk or stroll. We did it all. After filling our bellies with burgers and ice cream, we headed home for nap time. Unfortunately, it was still raining quite hard.
But, miraculously, just an hour and a half later, the rain had stopped and the streets were nearly dry. Buba and Tiny saw the sun shining and knew they needed to get outside before the weather had a chance to change. So, we put on rain boots and got right to it.
Buba wasted no time getting down to puddle jumping business.
He was all about the big, BIG splashes.
And figured out that you could make a really, really big splash if you took a running start.
Tiny was much more cautious in her approach, perhaps remembering the unfortunate puddle stomping event from last summer.
She started out with some little splashes.
But eventually worked her way up to some big ones.
Needless to say, they were both soaking wet and filthy by the time we headed inside for dinner. Nothing a warm shower couldn’t fix.
Beach Vacation
Neither T nor I are big beach people. Having grown up in Iowa, I didn’t grow up spending time at the beach, so it doesn’t often occur to me to make a trip to one even though it’s a fairly simple thing to do out here in the greater Boston area. T, being very fair skinned, burns easily. So, a day at the beach is not listed in his top ten things to do list either.
But when Grammy (T’s mother) invited us all to come to the Cape for a long weekend, it just felt like something we had to do. Tiny and Buba had recently read Ladybug Girl at the Beach and were very excited to know that they too could build sand castles and play in the waves. T and I were not nearly as excited, but we were both in agreement- this was all about the kids and giving them a fun beach experience.
So we went.
And we went crab hunting with Daddy,
swam in the ocean with Puddle Jumpers,
filled a bucket with water and then dumped it on the dry sand,
stood at the water’s edge and let the little waves tickle our toes,
buried our feet in the sand,
found a walking stick,
sailed the sea (with goggles on),
and tried to build sand castles (unfortunately the sand/water ratio was a bit off, and they always crumbled).
It was awesome!
So, the two non-beach-going parents are now contemplating making just such a beach trip an annual thing. But next time, we’ll definitely need at least a week.
Family Time field trips Tiny & Buba: Family Museum John Deere Pavilion Niabi Zoo spray park water play
by reanbean
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Iowa Vacation Highlights
It’s hard to believe that almost a month has gone by since we returned from Iowa. We had so much fun visiting with family and seeing the kid friendly sights. The Quad Cities may not be on the list of hot vacation destinations, but it really does have a lot of fun places for little ones to play and explore.
We started out at the John Deere Pavilion, where Tiny and Buba had tons of fun climbing up on the big tractors and farm equipment. They enjoyed taking turns sitting in the various driver’s seats, and Tiny had great fun buckling and unbuckling the seat belts of all these big machines.
Before leaving, Buba and Tiny each got to choose a small die-cast tractor and trailer from the gift shop as a memento of the time we spent exploring the big farm machines.
From there, we headed down to a spray park and let Buba and Tiny splash around in the water for a while. It was a particularly warm day, and although the free spray park was busy, it definitely wasn’t over crowded. Tiny and Buba had a blast!
We spent the next day at Grandad’s (my step-dad’s) house. It was another very hot day, but the little pool in the back yard kept Tiny and Buba cool and entertained for most of the morning.
They also enjoyed playing fetch with Grandad’s dog, Riglee.
Trying to beat the heat, we spent a full morning (from opening until just before lunch time) at nearby Niabi Zoo. Our Stone Zoo passes got us into the zoo for free, so we paid just $10 for tickets to feed the lorikeets and giraffes. For a small zoo, this zoo is pretty amazing. It was clean, well organized (by continent, if I’m remembering correctly), and had smoothly paved paths for walking from exhibit to exhibit.
Just past the entrance of the zoo is a little train that can take visitors on a quick tour of the zoo. I knew, from experience, that we’d be better off starting with the train ride, rather than saving it for later. (No fun listening to “Can I ride the train?” repeatedly while trying to enjoy the exhibits.) So, that’s exactly what we did.
First up, after our train ride, was the elephant exhibit. Niabi Zoo is the zoo that I went to numerous times while growing up, and I always looked forward to seeing the magnificent elephant, Kathy Sh-Boom. Sadly, she passed in 2002, but I showed Buba and Tiny the large rock memorial placed at the elephant exhibit in her honor.
Next, for $0.50, Buba and Tiny got to fee the Koi.
And then they rode the ponies.
But the coolest part of all was feeding the lorikeets. For $2.00, we got two small plastic cups full of some sort of sweet liquid that the birds just love. With the cups in our hands, T and I held our our arms, and the birds landed right on us to drink up their tasty treat. Buba and Tiny were a little hesitant about having the birds land on them, but they happily took the cups and held them up to the birds sitting on the rope fence.
Feeding the giraffes was pretty cool too, but $8 only bought us 4 pieces of lettuce, which the giraffes ate so quickly, I barely had time to snap a photo of it all.
We saw many more animals during our Niabi Zoo visit, including monkeys, zebras, bears, and lions. But, by late morning, it was already in the mid-90s and quite humid, so we decided we’d seen enough. It may be a couple more years before we get back to the Quad Cities, but whenever we do, we’ll definitely be going back to this zoo.
The other really big highlight of our trip was our visit to the Family Museum, a museum full of hands-on exhibits perfect for preschoolers and elementary school kids. Tiny especially enjoyed brushing the teeth with the giant tooth brush.
She also had fun filling up her plate while learning about food groups and portions.
Buba spent most of his time in the Clifford the Big Red Dog exhibit. He especially enjoyed delivering the mail, but also enjoyed the big shape sorter on the roof of Clifford’s doghouse.
Buba and Tiny could have spent all day inside the museum, but they eventually noticed the door to the water play area. So, we headed out there to let them fill up buckets and explore all the tubs and tunnel tracks.
We probably spent a good two hours at the Family Museum, and we easily could have spent two more.
Needless to say, we all had a wonderful time visiting the Quad Cities and spending time with my family. Tiny and Buba still involve traveling to Iowa in their pretend play adventures several times a week and can’t wait to go again. Hopefully, the memories we created during this trip will last us through the months ahead until we can travel back again.
Family Time field trips Tiny & Buba: Iowa John Deere museum reunion water fun zoo
by reanbean
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Our “Vacation” Week (short version)
Last night, we returned from our 9 day “vacation” in Iowa (if you have/had small children, you know why the quotes are there). We went back to my hometown to visit all of the of aunts, uncles and cousins who all live in the area (I have been the only one to permanently relocate), and to explore the Quad Cities with Tiny and Buba (who were just 16 months old the last time we visited).
I felt our trip got off to a rocky start when the travel beds we took along did not work out quite as planned. It was very stressful for me as we worked on getting the kids used to the new sleeping arrangements. But, eventually, sleep returned to somewhat normal standards, I was able to relax a bit, and we had a great time spending our days out and about with the extended family.
We went to see the farm equipment.
And then played outside at a little splash park.
We went to the zoo.
Visited the children’s museum.
And had a blast at the family reunion where Tiny and Buba ran on a Slip ‘n Slide…
jumped in a bouncy house…
and played in a kiddie pool.
We are so grateful to my aunt and uncle who made our “vacation” an unforgettable one. Tiny and Buba are still talking about all the fun things we did and cannot wait to go back!
celebrations Family Time field trips preschool Tiny & Buba: Father's Day fire truck wash gymnastics playdate strawberry picking zoo
by reanbean
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Wednesday to Wednesday
It’s been a bit of a challenge to sit down and write up all the fun things we’ve been up to. Here are some highlights from the last week…
Last Wednesday: We returned to the zoo for the first time since last summer. We went with some friends, and the kids had a great time running around and reacquainting themselves with all the animals around the park. It was our first visit without the double stroller, and both Tiny and Buba did a great job walking through the zoo like big kids. (I did take a single umbrella stroller in case anyone was unable to handle the privilege of walking, but we didn’t end up needing it.)
Thursday: We went for a playdate with some twin friends who live about 20 minutes north of us. We hadn’t seen them in a while, so it was fun connecting with them again. The kids played mostly in the back yard. There was a water table and a kiddie pool, and Buba and Tiny had the best time playing with both. They stayed outside almost 15 minutes longer than the other kids, because they just didn’t want to stop all the fun. We’ll definitely be needing a kiddie pool of our own in the near future.
Friday: Tiny and Buba had their last mommy and me gymnastics class in the morning and spent the afternoon playing outside and riding their tricycles.
Saturday: We got an early start on our spring/summer tradition of Saturday yard sale shopping to be sure we’d have plenty of time to wash the fire trucks in town.
That night we had a delicious Indian food dinner to celebrate our beloved Daddy (we let him choose a special dinner on Saturday, because we had plans to celebrate with Grandpa on Sunday).
Sunday: Buba, Tiny and I got up and ready and snuck out of the house while T was still sleeping. We went and picked up a dozen donuts and a coffee for Daddy, and then snuck back in as quietly as we could. When T woke up, we presented him with his coffee, the Sunday paper, and the gift the kids had made (a picture frame that they painted and decorated with sparkly jewels). Later that day, we went to Grandpa’s house and give him the same gift. The kids rode bikes around the circle, and then we all had a nice dinner at Macaroni Grill.
Monday: We went back to the zoo with another set of friends. Even though we had just been there a few days ago, the kids were just as excited as the first time we went. After our zoo visit, we headed back to our town for a popsicle party at the playground. It was technically for kids headed to kindergarten in the fall, but since I was in charge of the event (I am now the special events planner for my town’s family organization), my kids got to go and have popsicles too.
Tuesday: Tiny and Buba had their first day of summer gymnastics. They were in a class with kids who were all younger than them, and the level of gymnastics was definitely lower than the class they had just completed. So, we dropped the weekly mommy and me class and signed them up for two days of gymnastics camp (one in July and one in August). In camp, they’ll go for 3.5 hours at a time and ALL BY THEMSELVES. Tiny can’t wait. Hopefully Buba will be okay with this. We also switched their classes for the fall, so Tiny will definitely be going in the more advanced class, and Buba will be in an all boys class. Lots of changes coming up for them.
After gymnastics, we headed to a playground where T’s class was having an end of the year celebration. Buba and Tiny were treated like kings and queens, with all those big kids carrying them around, pushing them on the swings, and just doing whatever it was that they wanted. They were in heaven.
Wednesday (Today): The weather wasn’t great today. It sprinkled on and off all morning, and then poured all afternoon. But that didn’t keep us from getting out and having some fun. We headed out early to go pick Strawberries at a nearby farm. Tiny was all about getting the biggest, red-est berries she could find. Buba spent his time picking all the tiny, white ones and then throwing them across the field (which I may have done once when I told him to only pick the red ones). Either way, they both had a good time.
Then we headed back down to a playdate at the kids’ preschool. Over the summer, regular playdates are scheduled on the school’s playground so the kids (and parents) can get to know each other before the school year begins. And, hopefully, this will lead to a smoother transition when September rolls around. Buba and Tiny had a great time playing on the structures and in the massive sandbox. Even when it started to rain, they didn’t want to leave. We stayed until the very end. They left soaking wet, filthy, and begging to go back.
A Very Lot of Fun
Our library has a little corner near the circulation desk where they sell gently used books for fifty cents to a dollar. We recently picked up Donald Crews’ book Night at the Fair and have read it so much that I practically have the whole thing committed to memory. Our favorite page is the one that says the best ride of all is the giant ferris wheel. Every time we read the book, Tiny and Buba comment that they will ride the giant ferris wheel when they get big.
So it was a huge surprise and created a ton of excitement when we spied a giant ferris wheel in the movie theater parking lot, just off the highway, as we were driving to a friend’s house on Thursday. I did a little research and learned that the fair would be in town through Sunday. We had no real plans for the weekend, so it was pretty much a given- we had to go.
Of course, the kids were so excited when I told them we were going. They knew that they would not be tall enough to ride the ferris wheel, but were still really excited just to see it in person and to watch other people ride it. Tiny wanted to watch me ride it, but I told her I would wait until she grew big enough to ride it with me. Instead, we rode the carousel (twice), a boat ride that went back and forth and around and around, a small dragon roller coaster, and the crazy school bus ride that goes up and down in a circular motion (sort of like a ferris wheel, but much smaller). Buba and Tiny were tall enough to go on the train ride (a ride where no adults were allowed), and they also enjoyed jumping and sliding in the bouncy house. T and I each played a game of skee-ball (we won nothing), and the kids played the pick a duck game and each won some bubbles in a ducky shaped container. We decided to end our fair experience by sharing a piece of fried dough covered with powdered sugar and cinnamon. Mmmmmmmm.
Once the tickets were gone and our bellies were full, Buba and Tiny had no issues with leaving. Tiny announced, once again, that eating the fried dough was her favorite part of the fair, but she also enjoyed seeing the ferris wheel and riding the boat ride. When asked what he liked best, Buba replied, “I had a VERY LOT of FUN!” Too much fun to pick out just one thing, I suppose.
Oh, Let’s Go Fly a Kite!
T is on spring break this week, and with most of my students away for the break, we’ve had a ton of time to spend together as a family. I had really hoped we might have a week filled with sunshiny days, where we could enjoy lots of time at the local parks and playgrounds. Unfortunately, what we got was mostly a week of gray days with some rain here and there.
When Buba saw the the bright sunshine pouring through the windows this morning, he immediately wanted to go outside. He whined and cried as I explained that the weather was not actually as pleasant as it looked. With a high of roughly 53 degrees and some strong winds stirring up leaves, tipping over trash cans, and scattering recyclables all over our street, the day was less than ideal. But after days mostly filled with running errands and playing inside, T and I decided that the fresh air would do us all some good. So we grabbed a recently purchased kite and headed to a nearby field.** I sang the Let’s Go Fly A Kite song from Mary Poppins as we walked, but no one besides me seemed to get the reference (understandable for Tiny and Buba, but even T was clueless).
The weather was actually quite blustery, and I was a little concerned that there might be too much wind to enjoy some kite flying. But T did a great job getting the kite up in the air and then handing it over to Tiny or Buba (that’s the kite up in the top right corner, with T and Tiny on the bottom left).
Tiny really seemed to enjoy the experience. She ran like the wind, and did a great job (for a 3-year-old) keeping a good amount of tension on the string. Tiny took as many turns as she could get.
Buba enjoyed one good run, and then preferred to spend the rest of his time dropping pebbles into a small puddle.
I’m pretty sure a good time was had by all, including Pink Baby and Blue Baby (who Tiny found under the couch cushions of the love seat in the kids’ room!) who watched it all from their strollers. It was so much fun to see the kids enjoying the kite and running around in the field. I love that something this simple can be so much fun.
**As a funny little side story: After telling Tiny that we were going to go fly our new kite, she asked me, “But how will we get back down?” I told her, “We’ll use the string to pull the kite back down, so we can take it home.” She still looked puzzled and asked, “But how will I get back down to the ground? When Elmo flew a kite, he went up, up in the sky.” So, I had to explain how kite flying really works, after which, she seemed a little disappointed. I was glad to see that she found it quite fun after all once she got to running around with it in the field.