Happy 11th Birthday LOGAN!

Yesterday was Logan's 11th birthday. We started out the day with a grand breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes, homemade cinnamon rolls and bacon per the birthday boys request, followed by gift opening. During the day there was much bike riding (on the new bike) and music playing using new guitar strap and picks. After a dinner of homemade mac and cheese there was the fabulous Boston Creme pie birthday cake topped with 11 sparkling candles.
Happy birthday my wonderful boy. I love you!

Trip to the beach

Today we had a wonderful afternoon with some new friends at Kettle Cove beach. Audrey took some lovely pictures, as you can see. It was so wonderful to be outside for hours on end with the kids running and playing and just being free, while I got to sit and chat with other mamas. It was overcast for most of the time we were out, but then the sun broke thru the clouds and for a bit... wow. Spring was right there. I am told this beach is the place to be in late spring and summer, even into fall. A lovely spot for the little ones to play and climb and gather seashells and explore the tide pools.

It all depends...

What is decent weather all depends on what weather you have been use to having. Today started out with snow and sleet, then some rain and ended with fog. Still with the temperature in the 30's it seemed like perfect weather to go scootering around the driveway. In Tucson we wouldn't have even considered going outside in 33 degree weather without coats and hats and gloves, but here in Portland Maine... well that is some fantastic weather! So outside the boys went.

Logan's Trick

This is Logan doing a wall run at the Boston Common's band thingie.

Boston and the Commons

After a lovely morning at the Aquarium, we drove over to the Commons. It is the oldest park in the United States, founded in the mid 1600's. There is a really cool graveyard at the park. (We didn't walk that far, but we did drive past it.)
We bought peanuts from a vendor and fed them to the squirrels and saw a policeman on horse back. As we drove away from the park we drove past the site of where they filmed the opening of "Cheers". That was neat.
Some of the pictures are from our walk from the Aquarium to our car (parking in Boston is crazy expensive... I would not own a car if we lived there. Mass transit all the way!).
All in all it was a great way to spend the day... and the topper: Mike dropped me off at Trader Joe's so I could get some goodies for us that we have been missing for 3 months now! I even got us a corned beef roast for St Pattie's day! Woot!

More aquarium

A few more pictures from inside the New England Aquarium. I forgot to mention the wonderful Harbor seal exhibit they had outside, just right before you came in. They are so cute and playful and smooth and amazing. I can see the selkie inside them, I bet at night they take off their seal skins and swim around as people. Unfortunately, we couldn't get a good harbor seal picture, they are too fast swimming around in the water.

New England Aquarium

Sunday we took a day trip down to Boston to the New England Aquarium. What an amazing place. I wish I could have gotten a picture of Sagan at the moment he saw the sharks in the big main aquarium. It was worth every penny it cost to get in. He has this love affair with the shark, gets huge books from the library, owns many and even has toys of them. He is just as happy to look thru a book on sharks as hear me read a bedtime story at night. He will more often then not spend his computer time on YouTube looking up education video clips on the shark. I was a bit sad when we had to leave, as I know he would have stayed there all day just looking at the sharks swim around and around.
Logan found a new love... the penguin. He truly enjoyed watching them swim and bath in the pools and sit on the rocks, pushing each other in. There were sprinklers shooting out of the rocks and some of the penguins stood next to them doing what appeared to be "arm pit washing". That had the kids laughing.
Over all it was a great trip.

Faeries!

Today the boys made faeries, and daddy helped! Afterwards we read some stories from "The Child's Book of Faeries" and then I told them the story from Little Acorn Learning's March stories. This is a great homeschooling/ home child care curriculum, she really puts some great fun things in there to do and wonderful stories. This month (March) is exceptional. We are very excited about all the fun stuff to do this month.

The faeries were one of her ideas.

Enjoy!