We had to give in and get Mr. Shaggy another haircut today. He is SO, SO much better during them now - today was the first haircut where we had no tears at all! (we did have him yell "no!" at the poor woman a few times, but that is tame compared to what he used to do). He looks like such a little man now with his haircut:
Later in the afternoon we all went to the playground to have Henry burn off some energy:
And then had dinner at a new(ish) barbecue restaurant up the street from us. Henry ate his weight in cornbread but didn't touch anything else, alas. Here he is doing "cheers!" with dad:
We had gorgeous weather in Boston today. We took advantage of the sun and went back to the Arboretum with Henry. He had a great time running all around (as did we, seeing as he has entered the "it is fun to run away from mom and dad and hide" stage...):
Then, in the afternoon we all enjoyed watermelon on the deck:
Mike and I were thinking that, since the weather is so nice and since Henry is getting older, we should start taking more day trips. We are always pretty strict with Henry's nap (we generally need to be home by 12:30 PM at the latest in order to have him asleep by 1 PM) due to his inflexibility in sleeping anywhere other than his crib at that exact time. This makes doing any longer trips tough and we tend to sprint out the door first thing in the morning and eat lunch in the car on the way home to fit in fun activities.
Since Henry is now older, we figured that maybe he is entering the age where we can be more flexible with the nap - pushing it back or maybe even having him skip his nap on days where we had a lot of fun activities. So, we decided to test it out today and take a nice long day trip to Newburyport, where they were having their annual "Spring Festival".
All you need to know is that this was a bad idea. We will continue doing shorter trips and being home by 12:30 PM for a while...maybe until he is a teenager.
However, before the meltdowns began we had a great time in Newburyport, one of our favorite towns in Massachusetts.
Henry got to watch the boats go by with Mike:
Had the rare treat of a hot dog:
AND strawberry ice cream! (lucky boy):
Also, in exciting (and very belated) news, Henry is now a proud cousin! Mike's brother Dave and his wife Jen welcomed the newest Powell - Evan - on May 14th. Henry knows all about "baby Evan" and can't wait to meet him. Congratulations to Dave and Jen!!!
It was another amazing weekend doing the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. This was my 5th year involved with the event, and my 2nd year walking with my friend Tiffany as part of Team Henry.
In the 2 years we have walked this event, Team Henry has walked 72.4 miles and has raised almost $8,000! The Boston Walk in total this year had over 2500 Walkers and raised over $5.6 MILLION for breast cancer research, education, and services.
We started bright and early - at 5:15 AM on Saturday morning Team Henry was on the shuttle to Opening Ceremonies. After dropping off our gear bags, eating some breakfast, and seeing some old friends, we enjoyed Opening Ceremonies (if it doesn't make you cry, you are not human. Seriously), and at 7 AM we started off.
The day was beautiful - partly sunny and high 60s. We walked through South Boston, Downtown, Cambridge, Brookline, JP, Dedham, and Roslindale - our goal was the Wellness Village at Reebok Headquarters in Canton.
We took our time, enjoyed the scenery and the people we met along the way (and the food. There is always SO MUCH FOOD, and I seriously ate all day. I may be the only person to gain weight after this event). And...we did it! All 26.2 miles on day 1 - a full marathon!
(can you see the look in our eyes here? The "I am in some serious discomfort and am exhausted right now, but am plastering a smile on for this picture!" look?)
The Wellness Village was great, as always. We walked in and immediately went to their "spa" area for foot and back massages. We got our gear and tent set up, decided to skip the offered yoga classes to have dinner instead (again, me and the food...), and relaxed after a loooooong day.
Alas, Tiffany - my partner in crime and kick-ass teammate - met a little friend called "dehydration" after our trek. This friend introduced her to "IV fluids in the medical tent". Never a fun thing. Tiff was not feeling well (who would after being on an IV for an hour???), so we decided to send her home. I missed her terribly the rest of Saturday night and for Sunday's walk, but Team Henry pressed on with one remaining member.
Sunday was not as nice weather wise - it poured for the first 4-5 miles - but only doing 13.1 miles felt scarily easy after the previous day's Walk.
And...I did it! All 39.3 miles of the Walk! It was exhausting, painful (at times), long, and utterly amazing, just like it is every year.
Since poor Tiff wasn't with me I didn't get a good picture of me at the Finish Line this year. Instead, you have to settle for this video I took while crossing it. If you think it looks like it was taken by a drunken sailor in rough seas...YOU try walking well after almost 40 miles, OK??
So, you ask...is Devon going to be crazy enough to do it again? Well, I may be DOUBLY crazy - I am already signed up to participate in not one, but TWO Walks next year! For the Boston Walk next May I decided to participate as a Crew Member. This all volunteer staff is there all weekend, just like the Walkers, and we camp out Saturday at the Wellness Village. Instead of walking and fundraising, the Crew provides all the support for the walkers - everything from manning the Rest Stops, to serving food, to cleaning up, to hauling gear. I am REALLY excited to participate in this way.
For the second Walk...I saw that Avon has a new city location in 2010 and I couldn't resist:
Yes, you read that blurry picture correctly. The Avon Wallk is coming to Santa Barbara in September of 2010 and I would not miss it for the world! All my California friends (yes, you know who you are) start your prep now - you have a year and a half for training and fundraising. Trust me when I say that this is an event that will change your life. I'll be calling you :)
For a full set of pictures from the Walk, Click here: http://tinyurl.com/p3pvh3
THANK YOU SO MUCH TO ALL WHO HAVE SUPPORTED ME THIS YEAR! Your support means everything to me, and your contributions have made an enormous difference in the fight against breast cancer.
Emma Bagnell Kristen, Tom, and Cyanne Blabey Maile Broccoli-Hickey Kiera, Jim, Kate, and Ben Carlisle John and Bobbie Cary Patrick and Carrie Cary Jamie Foley Karen, Etan, and Gadi Fremen Lyle Freeman Scott Grandi Tim and Nene Grandi Karen, Zach, and Anna Gustafson Meri, Ed, and Sawyer Houseworth Joyce, Brian, and Charlotte Leonardo Valerie Levine Michelle, Matt, and Jake Mund Sarah, Rich, Maya, and Bailey Paisner Audra and Griffin Plewak Mike Powell :) Norman Powell Mark and Gayle Rohde Mike Skrzynski Tara Stepanian
This morning we participated in a great Boston Mother's Day tradition - the Lilac Festival at the Arnold Arboretum. The weather was perfect and the lilacs were beautiful. We met up with Henry's friends Jake and Ruby and they all had a great time running around.
We had a big day today. In the morning we took Henry to Drumlin Farm - a local working farm you can wander around and visit the animals, go on a tractor ride, etc.
Henry especially enjoyed the chickens:
And running around in general:
He was NOT a fan of the tractor ride (shocking to us), and actually refused to go on.
Then we spent the afternoon at the park, where we kicked around a ball:
I enjoy this because of the "ahhh!" he does after he drinks - Mike taught him to do this when he was 10 months or so, and it is now his signature move:
Finally...after almost TWO YEARS in our house, we finally got our window treatments installed today. Our neighbors will just have to find something else to watch from now on.
Henry started a new class today - the 2 year old program at the local library. Class consists of songs, books:
And then crafts based on the theme of the books we read that day:
After class Henry and some of his friends went out for pizza and thoroughly enjoyed the fish tank in the restaurant:
Henry seemed to like class, although the concept of "sitting still and not throwing your floor cushion all around" was a bit beyond him at this point. Also, Henry enjoyed ordering the other kids around a bit - he has become kind of bossy. At one point the teacher was talking about a cow, and Henry turned to the little baby brother of one of his friends and started yelling "Moo! Say Moo, baby! Now! Say Moo!" Lovely.
In other news, one of Henry's birthday gifts has turned out to be a big hit. His very own "Cuter" (as he calls computers).It is basically a glorified speak n' spell made to look like a laptop, but he loves matching the letters and numbers, and actually stays occupied with it for more than 30 seconds at a time. Mike plans on starting him off with PowerPoint and Excel soon.
