beachy

I hope you all enjoyed a long weekend!  I did not have a long weekend because I had four major work events in three days, but instead we packed in the fun today and I will enjoy a short week at work.  I refuse to whine about my work when I know there are soldiers whose work is much, much worse than anything I have to endure...and I'm grateful.  Taking over 1,000 photos while hobbling from one event to the next on one working ankle isn't a blast, but I "made it work" and the ankle is still on track to getting better...

Today we packed in the fun with a trip to do all the things that Aiden gets to do with Rebecca nearly every week, that I always feel like I miss out on... We cruised to see the Toe Jam Puppet Band at the Buttonwood Zoo first.  Aiden knew the routine, how to open the doors with the assistance buttons, how to put his hand up to be stamped, and how to move and groove with "the funny guys" in the band.  It was so much fun to watch him interact, sometimes follow right along and sometimes jump in the middle of the bubble line to scratch at some dirt.  The funniest moment was when the funny guy hovered over him pretending to explode and Aiden squirmed and giggled.  It was a nice day at the zoo, and they even had an egg salad sandwich special ;)  Aiden said he was glad they had "some egg for some salad that you will like."  We also had a chance to ride the zoo choo choo and wave at all the animals.

Then we cruised down the road to Horseneck Beach where Aiden and Tyler really know how to have a good time digging and jumping waves.  I had a random Hannah Montana bag (personal foot sauna) over my boot and I hobbled along the boardwalk and into the sand a few yards.  I was just excited to relax in the sand.  The beach was packed mostly with teenagers and while Aiden and J went down to the waves some of them got into a big fight...which included a bloody kid and a huge crazy crowd hollering...so much for my relaxation time.  (Note: New beach next time or go in the middle of the week) I was just glad that Aiden and J missed the commotion.  When they came back I had created a fortress of sand castles around me that Aiden immediately stomped.  Our friendly neighbor had fun making a hole with Aiden and he buried his legs a couple times.  On their third trip down to the water Aiden decided to just jump in the icey cold water, and he came back up begging to go back to the waves.  He wasn't sad to be all wet (including his hat!) but just sad that it was time to go home ;)

We headed back home and Aiden got in a little snooze.  Then we headed off to get some homemade ice cream at the Sunshine Creamery.  It think it was the best peanut butter chocolate ice cream I've ever had!  Aiden shared with both of us and declared that mommy's was his favorite.  Then he ran it off at the playground - where he climbed up the crazy ladders I didn't know he could and got nice and tuckered out.  Here are some iphone photos:

Just Beachy from LB on Vimeo.

zoomin

All I wanna do is a zoooom zoom zoom...

Zoom Zoom from LB on Vimeo.

slip n slide

I'm definitely my mother's child and can say that I'm pretty timid when it comes to slip n slides. I see them and think Danger-OUS with a capital D. So when I got home from work and Aiden said he was excited because he went on the slip and slide at Tyler's house, I first glanced down his legs for bruises :) I wasn't even there to influence him but he was a bit timid with some little tip toe feet on the slide. I'm glad my kid isn't the daredevil of the bunch but he's still willing to try new things. He did have fun with Rebecca sliding him along ;)  He watched this video and told me he had fun going on the "slippy slide!"

First Slip n Slide from LB on Vimeo.

cat and robot

Aiden misses his cat and robot aka. gran and pop.  His little dog scruff needs to be pet and his sad paws hang low.   But here are some fun photos to say thanks and we miss you!

teddy bear tour

They were having a Teddy Bear Tour at the Slater Mill today. Bring your own teddy to meet their teddy friends on a tour of the 1800s textile mill. I warned Aiden ahead of time that there would be some big loud machines that went cherplump, plomb and that he should listen carefully to us on the tour. He paid attention throughout the tour and was explaining to me what he understood. He was also excited to greet a new teddy at each spot. At one point the tour guide (who was pretending to be the mill manager) explained that stray rocks could shoot out of the machine he was showing us, so Aiden turned and said "I all done, I don't want a rock in my eye."  I guess he really did get it ;)  Everyone filled out a teddy bear quiz throughout the tour and got a candy treat at the end.

Thanks Pop for all the great photos:

family

We had a nice impromptu visit with some family visiting the area today. My cousin just returned from living in Europe, so it was especially nice to see him. He always leaves something memorable behind when I talk to him - and this time it was the longnow.org projects which I find intriguing. It was a quick visit, but we had enough time to get a fun photo of the whole crew in (especially for Grandma). I had accidentally set my dad's camera to take ten frames in a row, so we made a little flip book of sorts with ten fun shots.

Family Flip Book (x3) from LB on Vimeo.

first 3D

We bounced on over to the theater after nap on Saturday for the 3D show of Shrek Ever After. Aiden loves his Shrek Look and Find book so he knew the characters. The glasses were huge on his little face and it just made me giggle. He would occasionally pull them up and look under them or pull them off completely when there was a lot of 3D action.  I think it was my first full 3D movie along with Aiden and I was curious to look over my glasses too.  He reached to hold my hand when the witches were throwing fire pumpkins and he was getting a little jumpy. But given his grooving to the credits afterward, I can tell he really liked it. He wanted to growl like an ogre by the sign on the way out.  Here are some photos I snapped at the beginning on the iphone:

fair

Photos by PopPop at the little school fair down the road from our house:

still goin...

We're still going, but we've had so much fun with Gran and Pop so far this week. I took some time off, and have packed in a bunch of appointments this week (PT going well!), but we've squeaked in a ton of fun. Here are some of the favorite shots from PopPop's camera and some thanks ;)

Aiden says: Thanks for a yummy dinner in Federal Hill at Dolce Vida, pushing me and Mommy around Ikea, sharing Mickey cakes for breakfast, playing in the hippo at the playground, riding with me on the carousel, giggling at me when I dance, waving at me on the rides, and panting with me while I'm a pretend doggie.

bowling

After his first strike he ran back to collect his high fives!

The first game PopPop won with a 165, Aiden and his bumpers came in second at 84, Gran at 80 and J at 72.  PopPop, J and Aiden (with Gran's help) started a second game but ran out of time in our one hour on the lane.  Aiden finished on a hot streak with a strike in the last minute!  It was a "double bank shot" technique where they would have him hit it off the bumpers on purpose.  Tricky tricks!  Here's proof of two of his strikes and a spare off a split ;)