Chicago Conns in MA

Thursday arrived and who pulled into the driveway slightly before noon - Uncle Scott, Aunt Laura and our niece/nephew on the way. We were so excited to see them and it didn't take long before the antics started. Connor got the house to wash my car and before we knew it Uncle Scott and Connor were having a water war. Then, Brian comes around the corner with the hose from the back of the house. Game on - all the boys were wet!!!

Friday it was Sail Boston 2009 - so we ventured into Boston to see the tall ships. Brian managed to finagle some passes so we were able to board the Argentinian and Russian ships.

Garrett was checking out the anchor and trying to get it to move.

Connor sitting on the anchor.

So which part of the ship is the front...is it the bow? Posing for pictures for Grandma.

I probably shouldn't have let Garrett play with the one pipe that was painted bright red - probably meant hot or caution or danger. Thank goodness nothing happened as he turned the wheel a couple hundred times.

One of the American ships from across the harbor.

Chillin' out on the Argentinian ship. A sailor had his eye on Garrett and even came over to say hi to him. It was so cute because Garrett didn't shy away at all.

Uncle Scott, Aunt Laura and baby on board.

Captain Connor

Does that make Garrett the skipper or mate?

The next day we decided to relax. Uncle Kevin arrived in style on the Fung Wah and it was off to the park for a picnic. The boys are waiting patiently for us to finish eating so they could run us around the playground.

Look at the bully's on the playground.

Apparently, Connor was feeling daring because he climbed every piece of equipment on the playground and went down every single slide...there are some slides he always tends to stay away from but this trip he didn't let anything stop him.

Connor and Garrett worked extremely hard building a hotel in the sandbox...all hands on deck.

We had a nice relaxing dinner and then played a game of Cranium which for the first time I lost. Aunt Laura and Uncle Kevin were the big winners and poor Scott took all my abuse. I will not incriminate myself in writing so that is all I will say. The next day was the big event so we needed to be well rested. To be continued.

2009 in New Hampshire

Our drive to new Hampshire was uneventful - thanks to two boys who are very used to traveling and we couldn't have asked for more.

Our first stop on our vacation this year was Storyland. At this point, Connor is an old pro because unbelievably this is his third time visiting the theme park. Connor has a very active imagination so every once in a while he will tell us how the Big Bad Wolf came into his room at night and scared him. So, we took a picture with the big bad wolf so that we can always remember he isn't so scary after all.
The carousel is always a favorite ride and Garrett just loved the purple horse. Every ride we had to find the purple horse and while the ride was operating he would say "Giddy Up" which was so adorable.
The biggest hit of our entire vacation was cars - any car we could find to drive we were on that ride. And yes, they both had to drive. Garrett even drove the antique cars and would laugh hysterically when we would veer off course and hit the middle bar...which happened often since I wasn't allowed to touch the steering wheel. Connor was a super star and was a fabulous driver as long as he wasn't watching everything else that was going on around him. (I have no idea where he got that trait from?!)
This is the ball pop theatre where I think we could have left them for hours. This is the first time I remember that Connor understood all the intricacies of what each piece of equipment did and how the balls accumulated in the baskets overhead. They both also loved shooting the guns at innocent bystanders down below. Look carefully at this picture, Garrett is in the process of trying to pick up about 8-10 balls at a time. He would gather them all up and then tuck some under his chin which made me laugh hysterically.
Ball pit....our favorite. Although at this point it had been a long day and the boys were starting to get tired.
I think Garrett almost fell asleep. The best part of the ball pit was watching them play together and protect each other from other kids.
That night we checked the weather forecast and realized we had to rearrange our plans, so it was off to Santa's Village the very next day. As always I had to take their pictures at the tape measure because it amazes me how fast they are growing up.

Garrett loved being the center of attention so much that he wouldn't leave the elf so we simply had Connor stand in front of Garrett. They can be quite the characters sometimes.

At Santa's Village there is an alphabet game you play with the kids. There are elves hiding all over the park representing letters and when you find them you get your card punched. The boys were really into this game and they successfully navigated the whole park and found all the letters. Santa even gave them a diploma when they completed the game.

Of course there were car rides here as well which we spent a lot of time riding.

Garrett was thrilled to be able to drive and couldn't wait to get going.

Once again this was Connor's favorite ride and I am starting to think it has something to do with Mommy getting soaked in the process. Our final count was 14 times which meant my pants were extremely wet by the end of this. Right next door was a water gun race game which we played several times and Connor won four frogs (stuffed animals of course) - two for himself and two for Garrett. It was a fun filled day but by the end of the day the boys were definitely sleepy.

After a late nap and a quick bite to eat, the boys took on the water park at the hotel. It is only a small water park but it proved to be the big hit of the vacation. This window was at the end of our hallway which looked down into the water park. They would check it out constantly to see if it was a good time to go down.

They started off small going down the frog slide but once they got comfortable they both went down the big blue slide in the background of the picture below. Let's just say all hands on deck so a picture of them coming down the blue slide was impossible. I think I will forever remember their faces coming down the slide...the excitement was overwhelming. As you can imagine, it was almost impossible to get them to leave the water park. Their lips were blue, it was past their bed time and it was still difficult to get them to leave.

The best part of being parent is when you capture the moments of them helping each other out.

The next day turned out to be rainy so we had all indoor activities planned. First a stop at the arcade where skeeball and the racing game were the big hits. They had a blast and Daddy was the superhero of the day winning them both lollipops in a crane game which was impossible.

Next stop, the North Conway railroad for a trip to the model train yard and a ride on the railroad. Here they are waiting for the train and enjoying their lollipops.

Checking out the sights.

I think the motion of the train got the best of Garrett but allowed me to have one of my favorite moments - holding my baby while he was sleeping.

The rest of the day was spent around town and of course back to the water park. It was a great trip and I know we were all sad to leave New Hampshire but we had a surprise coming our way. Aunt Laura, Uncle Scott and Grandma were coming to visit us the very next day.

Happy 4th of July

We were all happy to see the Fourth of July approaching because we had finally reached vacation time and it was time to have a blast.

Friday night the festivities began at Memorial Park, we laid out a blanket and put up some chairs and then went over to an Italian restaurant for a delicious dinner. We returned to the field where we played beach ball. There were so many people there but one young girl played with the boys all night and the three were inseparable. Finally it was dark and Needham had a spectacular display of fireworks. The only small problem was that Garrett wasn't happy with any of the noise...he was not to happy so we ended up huddled under some bleachers while I sang him songs. Connor loved the fireworks and they tell me they were great.

The next morning I didn't have high hopes that we would actually be up in time for the parade since we didn't get home until 11pm. However, everyone was up and I rushed us out to the parade. It was a gorgeous day and the parade is no joke - 2 hours long and we definitely enjoyed it. The perfect way to start off our vacation.

The boys loved waving the flags and all the excitement that was around. Once the parade was over, we went home and quickly started our drive up to New Hampshire for our annual vacation in North Conway.

Trip to the Petting Zoo

The last weekend in June Grandpa came to visit and we took a family trip to the local petting zoo. Connor and Garret and both obsessed with animals right now so we figured this would be a huge hit. Last year when we took them to the petting zoo, Connor wouldn't feed the animals from his hand. This year he wasn't phased by anything. He used four cups of feed and I think the animals at the farm had never eaten so well in their life.

We started at the calves. While Connor was busy feeding and brushing them, Garret was busy running away from them. I think their size intimidated him but I loved that he spent the time hugging the back of my legs.

This is a two week old calf who was sleeping...Garrett like him since he wasn't moving around.
See what I mean about Connor having no hesitation feeding the animals. Now a funny thing is happening in this picture that you just might not notice at first. Can you see the red bandanna in Grandpa's pocket? So did that calf because the calf actually took it out of his pocket and was eating...thank goodness Grandpa rescued the red bandanna.
This little goat was much more Garrett's speed.
Garrett just loves to climb and basically has no fear of heights - nothing can stop him. Both boys loved this little goat - Garrett spent five minutes petting and feeding him.

Connor loved him too!
Everyone knows I do NOT like snakes...Connor thought it was hysterical when he called me over to the red barn because Grandpa had a snake draped around his arm. I quickly veered away but Connor and Daddy were quite pleased with themselves.
If there is a slide, they will go down it - always time for a playground. This slide had a rope ladder leading up to it and both boys climbed it with no problem.
Connor driving his first go-cart although this one had pedals. Brian and I ended up having to push the boys around the course because the seats were too far away from the pedals. However they do love racing.
After a hot day of racing and animals, it was time to hit up the water park. They decided to attack it as a team - there is nothing more precious then when they turn to each other as a comfort factor.
A good start to some summer fun.

Garrett's First Haircut

Garrett had his first official haircut on Sunday and doesn't he look adorable.

If you can believe it, Garrett is 20 months old and didn't need a haircut until now. It is the same exact timing of Connor's first haircut so obviously there is something genetic - I like to think slow to grow in means it will last longer.

Below is just an everday moment but for once I was lucky enough to have my camera.

One word: Priceless!