Pirates!

Tonight was our annual babysitting for the Boys & Girls Club Auction.  As always, the boys were all well behaved and had lots of fun together.  They played dress up, ate all of their dinner, watched a movie and didn't fight over toys...what more can you ask for?  How fun will it be to add another little boy into this mix later this year!!We can only hope that things will run as smoothly when we stay with Danny and Sean for a week in June.

Pure Sweetness!

Pool Time

On our trip to Fort Myers this year, we had absolutely beautiful weather.  It was perfect and we spent much of it relaxing by and swimming in the pool.  Thankfully we have a little fish on our hands who also loves being outside in the water.  By the end of the week, Evan had made lots of friends by the pool, most of whom have grandchildren of their own "back home."  As you can see from the photos, Evan had a wonderful time in the pool, especially with daddy!

Just Evan!

We didn't take anywhere near as many pictures on this trip to Florida as we did last year.  In fact we took about 100 less!  That seems to be a common theme these days.  The trouble is that Evan doesn't sit still long enough to be able to digitally capture the moment.  Plus I think we are having more fun sharing in the memory making with Evan rather than stopping to grab the camera.  Here are a few photos from our trip of Evan just being Evan...silly, goofy, and sweet!

Evan's First Visit to Fort Myers Beach

You may remember that Evan created a Florida to-do list just about one week before we left for Fort Myers. While he didn't get to complete item number two (Gramma already had plans with Marsha), he did get to build a sand castle with Papa.  Once Evan woke up and had breakfast, we were on our way to Fort Myers Beach.  Well after a quick stop so that Papa and Evan could pick out some beach toys together!  This was Evan's first trip to Fort Myers Beach seeing as we never made it last year other than our ride out to Sanibel and Captiva .  And what a beautiful day it was!  Evan had a wonderful time playing in the water with Daddy, riding the waves with Papa and building a sand castle with both Daddy and Papa.  After playing on the beach for a while, Evan decided he wanted to take a walk on the pier with Mommy and Papa.  Once we got to the end of the pier, Evan watched the pelicans as they begged for a treat from the fishermen and we saw a guy reel in a tiny shark.  The sun was hot and everyone was roasting so we packed up and went to Pete's Timeout for lunch before heading back to the condo.  This was what is sure to be the first of many fun days spent on Fort Myers Beach for the Skarin's!

Naples Zoo and Visiting Jon and Allie

Today, after getting a little bit of a late start, we went to the Naples Zoo.  After having a quick lunch, we began our tour of the zoo to find most of the animals hidden in their homes or napping.  We began to think our trip to the zoo was going to be a bit of a bust.  Then, just as we were approaching the lion's den, the lion began to roar.  Evan thought he was the Lion King!  We continued on past the camels and saw the giraffes eating.  We decided the best way to make the most of our visit was to attend the shows and the "meet the trainer" talks.  Our favorite was the tiger feeding...they are such big, beautiful animals!  We took another tour through the zoo areas we had missed, hoping to catch the last boat ride to see the monkeys.  No luck!  I guess we will have to go back another time!

After the zoo, we went to Jon and Allie's house for our annual "salmon on Sundays" dinner with them.  We hadn't seen them since September and I think they were amazed at how much Evan had changed in six months.  Evan had a wonderful time playing with Frankie and Fergie...he even took Frankie for a walk, holding the leash all on his own!  He also loved running around the lanai and exploring Jon and Allie's yard.  It is so nice to be able to visit two very special people when we are in Fort Myers!

Dancing Shoes

We all know that Evan loves to sing and dance.  Twice on our trip to Florida, Evan put on his dancing shoes and entertained us all.

The first time was Friday night.  We went to the Gulf Coast Town Center after dinner to hear some live music.  We weren't really sure who was going to be there performing but Gramma knew that Evan would love it.  It turned out to be Richie C. doing classic oldies and Papa and Gramma knew the words to every song.  It took Evan a little while to warm up and at first he only wanted to dance with Daddy but eventually he came around and was quite the little entertainer.

Saturday night Evan put on his dancing shoes again and had a great time dancing at the Beachwalk end of the year celebration.  He danced and danced and danced.  A couple staying at Beachwalk even recognized him from the night before at the Gulf Coast Town Center!  The female performer gave Evan a tambourine to play and he loved it!  He kept going back for more.  Evan was, as he generally is, the life of the party!  I think he made all the grandparents at Beachwalk miss their grandkids!

Fenway South

Today, after going out to breakfast with everyone, Bruce and I left Evan with Gramma and Papa for the day and headed to jetBlue Park aka Fenway South for a Red Sox game.  It was a beautiful day for a game and we were excited to see the new park.  They modeled many aspects of the park after Fenway but it also reminded me quite a bit of City of Palms.  The game was a blowout...and not in the Sox favor but we still had a great time anyway!

I'm Here!!!

And I'm ready to have some fun in the sun!!

Here Kitty, Kitty!

Another beautiful spring day today!  We went for a walk and then enjoyed the afternoon playing outside.  Evan was his usual comical self and enjoyed "playing" with the neighbors kitty who was in our yard for a while.  It's a good thing we are leaving for Florida tomorrow because the weather is supposed to be really nice here and I left all of Evan's warm weather clothes in Florida in January...as you can tell from the short shirt in all of these photos!

Danny & Sean's Bowling Birthday Party

Today we celebrated two very special boys!  Danny and Sean had a bowling birthday party with lots of friends and family.  It was a bit overwhelming at first due to the number of people who were there but all the kids were quite well behaved and had a great time bowling.  After pizza and Allie's donut cakes, we headed back to Uncle Dan and Auntie Karin's house to spend some more time with the boys and watch them open their gifts.  Everyone had a fun day!

St. Patrick's Day in Southie

We spent St. Patrick's Day in Southie this year.  Not doing a pub crawl as is very popular...we'll have to save that for another year...but at a house warming party for Matt and Amy.  They purchased their home in January 2011 and completely renovated it.  It was a long process for them but it was certainly time and money well spent.  Their place is really nice and custom designed to their tastes.  Thanks for hosting a great party, Matt & Amy!  Maybe next year we can do the pub crawl???

 

Clomp, Clomp!

One of Evan's favorite past times.

Ready for the Beach

I think Evan is getting really excited about our upcoming trip to Florida to see Gramma and Papa.  He already has a to-do list for his vacation.
1. Build a sand castle with Papa
2. Go to the beach with Gramma

This morning when I asked him what he wanted to do today, one of the first things he said to me was "Go to Fla-di-da?" Shortly there after he picked up a little bucket and shovel and said "Dig sand with Papa."  I think he's ready!

I've got my shovel and pail...I'm ready for the beach

Practicing digging with Papa

Construction Underway and the Wheeler Birthday Party

In order to make room for our growing family, we will be moving Evan into a big boy room, hopefully sometime around his 2nd birthday.  As a result, we will be moving the "office" into the basement, which is something we have talked about doing for a while.  Bruce is currently working two days a week from home so not having an office is not an option.  Plus if we can finish the basement, it will not only add value to the house in the long run but also make that a more usable space for us.  We had two contractors come and give us a quote for the work we are planning to do and unfortunately the quotes were a bit higher than we would have liked.  Thankfully, Bruce is really handy and is able to do most of the work by himself...or should I say with the help of friends and family!
Before getting started on finishing the basement, we (and I use the term very loosely) needed to fix the crack in the foundation that occasionally allows water to seep in.  Bruce started on this, not so fun project this weekend.  It worked out nicely that Evan and I could get out of the house for the day and go to the birthday party for the Wheeler's so that we could just let Bruce work.  Evan loves to "help" daddy but unfortunately he is not much help right now.  Wait a few years, kiddo, there will be plenty to help daddy with!  Stay tuned for more updates and photos on our (really Bruce's) progress!  (Please ignore the mess in the basement.  We have already started making room and moving things around.)

Spring Has Sprung...One Week Later!

Hard to believe that just one week ago we were looking at this and today we are outside with only light jackets on, playing on the deck and soaking up the sunshine!  In fact it was so sunny that I couldn't even get Evan to look at the camera...oh well!  Today Evan got a chance to try out his new adirondack chair, blow bubbles and "do chalk".  I drew a hopscotch on the patio and showed him what to do but he just had more fun jumping and running around where ever he wanted.  What a difference a week makes!

Evan Meets George

A few weeks ago a former co-worker of mine posted a picture of her daughter with Clifford the Big Red Dog. Clifford had come to the Barnes & Noble in Millbury for story time.  We didn't know about this event but we checked out the website for future events and found out that Curious George would be there on March 3rd.  Curious George!  THE Curious George who is Evan's best buddy!  Well we couldn't miss it!
We actually had plans to take Evan to RI in the late morning for his first sleepover with Danny and Sean while Bruce and I attended Laurel and Kyle's wedding in CT.  Had it been any other character, except for maybe Pooh Bear, we would have skipped it and stuck to our original plan but we couldn't skip George!  Thankfully Evan and I had met Amelia and Connor for story time the day before and saw how crowded it was.  We knew it would be more so on a weekend, especially with a character visiting so we made sure to get there early.
They read two stories, Curious George Makes Pancakes and Curious George at the Aquarium, and then George came out for photos.  We waited a little while for the crowd to die down and then Evan got his turn to meet George.
I asked Evan if he wanted to go with mommy to meet George or on his own and he said "With Mommy."  So we both went up and said hello to George while Bruce took pictures.  Evan said hi to George, gave him a kiss and then said "Thank you, George" as our turn was ending.  After all the kids had had a turn, the woman from the library said that kids could come up again for one more photo before George had to leave.  This time, our big boy decided he wanted to go up on his own.  Evan marched right up on the little stage and stood next to George, all by himself, then gave him a high-five.  We were so proud of our little guy!

The Model S!

Anyone who knows Bruce knows that he is a bit of a science nerd. (I mean that in a good way! It's one of the things I love about him.)  He understands all kinds of processes from simply to extremely complex and has already begun sharing that knowledge with Evan.  Bruce gets pretty excited about space discoveries and new, "green" technologies.  His carrot in life is to some day own a Tesla Model S.  For some time now, Bruce has been following the developments of Tesla Motors and found out that there was a Model S on display at the Lars Anderson Car Museum in Brookline this week.  Bruce thought it would be a fun family outing go and check it out.  So on Friday afternoon we drove to Brookline to check it out.  Evan loved sitting in it, especially the back seats, specially designed for little ones.  He also got a chance to "drive" it and didn't want Daddy to sit with him.  It was also interesting to see the other cars they had on display, especially some of the earliest cars from the early 1900s.  The Model S is certainly a beautiful car and I hope that someday Bruce's dream comes true.  He works really hard for our family and he deserves it! (And maybe a Model X for me!)

Double Fistin'

Evan gives a new meaning to double fisting.  Drinking and singing at the same time.  Complete with messy bed-head hair and Lightning McQueen slippers!

Spring Has Sprung?!?

I have always thought of March 1st as the unofficial start to Spring even though the equinox is not until the 20th.  With the mild winter we have had, I thought this would be more true this year than ever before.  How wrong I was!  We had one of the biggest snow storms of the season today and have about 6-7 inches of fresh snow on the ground.  Hopefully it will melt quickly!  In the meantime, Evan will have fun playing in it!  Hard to believe that today was our first (and hopefully our last) weekday snow day of the season!