Florida Playgrounds

Two other things that have become somewhat of a tradition on our trips to Fort Myers are a trip to Lakes Park and "salmon on Sunday" with Uncle Jon and Allie.
Our trip to Lakes Park was Wednesday when the weather was still a bit too cool for the pool and beach.  It is funny though because I thought we would be hot, hot, hot due to the fact that our trip was so late this year.  It started out quite the opposite which is ok seeing as it allowed us to do a few other things on the cooler days.  We had some fun at the swings and playground, took a break for some lunch, caught the last train ride of the day, had some ice cream and took a walk through the botanical garden.  Evan was pretty excited about the bikes and paddle boats too.  I see a rental coming in our future!



Our tradition with Uncle Jon and Allie was a bit different this year.  We are generally in Florida for two weekends but this year we only had one, which was also Easter.  For this reason, we got together with Uncle Jon and Allie on Saturday for lunch at their house and then headed to Estero Park.  They have such a lovely home and I always love visiting.  I love how open and airy it is with beautiful plants and trees everywhere you look!  Allie had made some special lunch "creations" for Evan and Evan enjoyed playing with Fergie.  After lunch we went to Estero Park where Uncle Jon and Allie could really see Evan in action!  As always, it was a (too short but) nice visit!



With all of these "Fort Myers traditions" we are going to need to increase the length of our trips...or just make multiples!  Good thing Papa and Gramma bought a place at Indian Creek!!

Pirate Golf

Today after going to see Papa & Gramma's new place at Indian Creek (more on that in another post), we took the boys to play mini golf - pirate mini golf!  Unfortunately, the course wasn't stroller friendly so we couldn't bring Logan.  Thankfully, Papa agreed to watch Logan so that Daddy and I could golf with Evan.  Good thing too because this is what Evan has been talking about for weeks.  Swimming in Papa's Florida pool (which we have yet to do thanks to unseasonably cool weather) and playing pirate golf.
So after I brought Logan back to the condo to stay with Papa, we started out on our pirate golf adventure.  First stop, checking out the baby crocodiles and waiting our turn for the first hole in the pirate ship.  The course was pretty crowded but Evan was a trooper.  We played all 18 holes and enjoyed the beautiful day.  There was a large group which should have been two separate groups ahead of us who allowed us to play through on the back nine.  I'm not sure any of us would have made it otherwise!

Jacoby's Home Run

In 2011, Papa attended a Red Sox spring training game and was able to get a home run ball hit by Jacoby Ellsbury for Evan.  I didn't think of it last year but this year I sent the ball to Florida with Papa and Gramma in hopes that Papa would be able to get Jacoby to autograph the ball for Evan.  Papa tried a couple of times but he wasn't able to get it signed.  Tonight, Bruce and I went to the game and with a little help from an old friend, we did it!  We got Evan's ball signed by Jacoby!  I know he doesn't quite understand what that means just yet but he will, and he was still pretty excited when we showed him.  This is especially important because I am assuming that this will be Jacoby's last year in Boston.  Thanks for your help, John!  Did I mention that Evan's was the only ball he signed on his way into the dugout?  No? Well it was!

Cowabunga Birthday!

Yesterday Danny turned 6!  Today we celebrated with a Cowabunga Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle karate party.  Evan has been practicing his karate kicks and jumps and was so excited to participate.  He was the youngest one at the party who was actually listening to and  (mostly) following along to Mr. Russo's instructions with the other kids.  It was a nicely done party for the kids in which they had fun and learned a little something too.  Happy birthday, Pal!  Can't believe you are 6!

Resting Up and Getting Ready

We have had a quiet week resting up and getting ready for our trip to Florida.  This will be Logan's first flight and another new state for him.  He isn't quite as well traveled as Evan was as an infant but I don't think he'll complain too much.  We've had a lot to do to get ready including trips to the doctor for George and blue monkey, story/snuggle time with Wally and Ladybug, playing with buttons, making cookies for Papa, testing out new sunglasses and just general silliness!  Just one more day, including Danny's 6th birthday party, and we'll be on our way!

Silly Hat, Lazy, PJ Day!

Where did everyone go, Evan?

Home, they all went home...just like me in my little "house"

Ok then, let's have a silly hat,

lazy, 

PJ day!

Smucker & Skarin Visit

All of our visitors have returned home and we are enjoying a quiet day at home.  Here are some pictures from the time that we spent just enjoying our time together!  Fun to have an opportunity to have everyone together at once!

Outings with Hannah

In addition to playing in the snow and having lots of fun at home both inside and out, we went on a few fun outings while Hannah was here.  We went to Playtown Express, the playground, Irish music class at gymboree, the Boston's Children's Museum, and the New England Aquarium, where Evan and Logan saw their first IMAX 3D movie.  Not bad considering we really only had 7 days together.  It was fun to show Hannah some of the fun things that we love to do and also to check out some new places together too!  We will certainly be going back to the Boston's Children's Museum and the New England Aquarium again!

Daddy and His Boys

There is no question about it...

These boys love their daddy

And their daddy loves them!

Uh, Dad, where's mine?

Silly Hats

There have been quite a few silly hats and head accessories in our house over the last week and a half.  Some for Evan, some for Logan, some for both boys.  Thankfully Logan just goes with the flow and lets Evan do what ever he wants to do.  Wonder how long that will last???

March Blizzard

The Smucker's arrived from Montana on Thursday and with them they brought what will hopefully be the last snow storm of the 2013 winter...a 2-day, 18+ inch storm!  It started snowing on Wednesday afternoon and didn't stop until late in the day on Friday!  We kept thinking we would wait for the snow to stop before taking the kids out to play but it quickly became apparent that it wasn't going to stop anytime soon.  So Friday afternoon, we bundled them up and sent them out side with Daddy/Uncle Bruce and Aunt Kristina/Mama.  They went sledding across the street and started building a fort.  Once they had had their fill, they kids came in while Daddy cleaned up the driveway and Aunt Kristina finished the fort.
Saturday was a fun filled day in the snow.  It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day so the snow was quickly melting but it stuck around long enough so that the kids could have lunch in the fort, build a snowman and play all afternoon.  But we have had our fun so as far as I'm concerned it can all melt now and not come back until next winter!

Seven Months Old

Logan is seven months old today! (Actually 8 seeing as I am a month behind in posting!  But that can be our little secret.)  What's new this month?  Logan is sitting up completely on his own and only falls over occasionally, usually when he reaches too far for something or when he turns around too far to see what Evan is doing.  And he has two new teeth!  The two on the bottom have just started peeking through and are tough to see in a photo but they are there.  As a result, he is a drool factory, as you can see in the video!  We can't keep him dry.  Happy 7 months to our smiley little guy!

Celtic 5K

For the last few years, we have been participating in the St. Pat's 5K road races in some capacity.  Sometimes both Bruce and I run, sometimes just Bruce (I was pregnant with Evan) and sometimes just me.  Today I ran the Celtic 5K in Pawtucket with my girlfriend, Nicole.  I thought I was just going to go, run and come home but then the boys decided to come and cheer us on.  It was a chilly day and not my best run but still nice to see some familiar, smiling and super cute faces as I neared the finish line.