Florida

It is always nice to escape the snow and cold for a bit - especially in late February, when winter starts to feel a wee bit neverending. We are lucky that Grandpa Tim and Nene live in South Florida, so warm weather and a pool are a fairly quick and easy trip for us.

Heading out was a bit of a worry - the day before we left Elliot came down with a bit of a stomach bug, and by the time the evening rolled around he had a fever, was inconsolable, and generally a mess. Mike and I are still somewhat scarred from the trip we took with Henry at this same age when he had a 103 degree fever on the plane (prepare yourself for saddest picture of a baby on a plane EVER):



(Poor Henry!)

But a miracle occured and in the morning Elliot woke up happy as a clam and fever free. So, off we went!

Once again, the pool was the big hit for Henry. He is getting better at his independent swim skills, and spent most of his time doing crazy jumps off the side of the pool:











Elliot was not a huge fan of the pool. He spent his outdoor time playing with toys and staying away from the insanity in the water:









Henry was super excited to find a snake in the pool one day! (Me...not so much)





We headed out one afternoon to the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center:







A walk to the beach one day let us to discover an outdoor Zumba class that the kids were fascinated by (and Henry attempted some of his own moves!)









Another day we visited the Explorium at Sugar Sands park - Aunt Gina very pariently held Elliot for a long time while he was mesmerized by some of the exhibits:











And of course there was indoor Lego time:





Coming back to the New England cold was a bit sad, but luckily Spring is around the corner!

Presidents Day

Since Mike and Henry both had the day off today (Henry is out of school all week for February break) and since Monday is a regular day for Elliot's sitter to come and watch him, Mike and I decided to take Henry out for a special day of fun.

We met up with Jake and his family and headed out for a day of snow fun! At the recommendation of our friend Kiera we went to Ski Ward - a very small skiing mountain that is fairly close by and perfect for our beginning skiers.

We signed Jake and Henry up for a semi private lesson. This turned out to be a mistake - since both Jake and Henry are beginners the instructor couldn't trust them to go down on their own without wiping out, so a lot of time was spent by one waiting while the instructor took the other down. Lesson learned - semi private lessons are for after they gain a bit more experience. But fun was still had. Our neighbors had given us their son's old skis and boots and Henry was VERY excited to use his own equipment this time instead of renting:



It was FREEZING and windy, but the boys were troopers during their lesson:















It was all very tiring:



After lunch in the lodge we headed back out for the real fun - snow tubing! But, here is where things get sticky...the posted rules very clearly say that all snow tube riders have to be a certain height AND 6 years old. We figured Jake and Henry are ALMOST 6 (just a few weeks away, really!), so it wasn't a big deal. But, then Mike went to buy the tickets with Henry. He was asked how old Henry was, Mike answers "6" and Mr. Honesty next to him yells out "No! I'm 5 and a half!!!". Oh dear. So, no tickets for us (and some tears from Henry upon realizing he couldn't go). We then sneakily sent Michelle out to get tickets for us (yes, we are terrible rule breakers). Jake had no issue agreeing to the fact that he was 6 when asked, and tickets were then obtained by all. Yes, we have probably seriously screwed Henry up for life (he kept saying "but lying is wrong!". Yes, yes it is), but the snow tubing was fun!



Heading up the hill on the tube "lift":



After being launched down by Mike:





Upon leaving Henry kept syaing "this was the best day EVER!"

The Baby Social Scene

Elliot was a guest at his first birthday party today - the baby social scene begins! The party was for his buddy Lincoln, one of the members of his playgroup. They had a story teller come for the kids - he used various props and puppets, and although Elliot obviously had NO idea what was going on, he was kind of mesmerized by the whole thing.



He was so intent on watching that I was able to keep putting him in a standing position and he would stay that way for quite a while, staring at the storyteller while standing. I was never quick enough with my camera, though:




(down he goes...)

The exciting part was that, during one of his standing and staring episodes, he took his first step! It was a side step, because he likes to be unique, obviously.

Back at home, the "warm" weather we have had since the blizzard has made for nice, wet snow, so Mike and Henry spent the afternoon building another igloo in our backyard. They completed the project shortly after sundown, and then Henry spent a long time in it, sipping hot cocoa:

Snow Day #3

Everything was still pretty much shut down today - roads waiting to be plowed, the T not running, etc. So, Henry and I left Mike and Elliot at home to go on a snow adventure. We headed over to a local school to meet up with friends for sledding and snow fort building. The walk in and of itself was an adventure - climbing over 3 foot drifts to then get to unshoveled sidewalks. I ended up pulling Henry along on his sled through the car-less, snowy streets most of the way.

But, once we arrived it was all fun!

Schools are STILL closed tomorrow due to snow clean up, so more adventures await!