This boys life

This boy lives on a farm.



He sees turtles.



He sees lots of barn swallows and their young in the rafters.



He sees ducks sitting on their nests.



He sees how a country dog cools off.



And he sees sharks.



Ok- so they aren't really sharks. But he thinks they are- and that's cool.

Memorial Day 2007

Oh my goodness! I can hardly believe how long it's been since this blog has been updated. The truth is- I forgot it existed. But thanks to the memories of some online friends (thanks Jaimie) and the assistance of google employees who found my password (oops)- I've been able to reclaim it. I can't promise I'll be any better at keeping it up, but I'll try!

So our first new post- Happy Memorial Day! I don't know why, but it seems like Memorial Day has become a holiday about food. I guess maybe because it's the first holiday with warm weather, everyone decides that they need to celebrate by barbecuing. I can't say we are any different. We joined the our friends in the traditional pit barbecue and it was FABULOUS!


By the time we got there, most of the men were well into the beer, but they still kept constant vigil over the meat. There was bologna, ribs, shoulder and probably more. In the meantime, Nancy was in the kitchen putting together hashbrown casserole (simply the best food known to man) baked beans and peanut butter pie along with a slew of other foods to numerous to mention. Can I just say that today was not a day I was willing to diet? (By the way, Charlie is peeking in the boat, where a momma decided to have her kittens just a few days earlier. He was enthralled!)


Just a picture to make you drool...












Although the food was amazing, perhaps the best part of the day was getting together with family and friends. Charlie had a great time hanging with his cousins, his aunts and uncles, and all of our friends and family.

We got to meet baby Annabelle for the first time, and I can not begin to tell you how cute she is! So I'll just show you.














Of course, the truth is- Memorial Day has very little to do with food or with family fun. It's a day that we are asked to stop and remember those who have lost their lives in military service. At a time when soldiers are still dying daily- that's a pretty sobering task. It was much easier yesterday to stick my head in the sand and just enjoy the day. But today I'm going to try a little harder to actually celebrate Memorial Day by remembering. And I'd like to invite you to join me. Visit this site and take some time to view the names of the soldiers who have died in Iraq since the beginning of this war. I wanted to list them here, but there isn't room. I thought about listing just the soldiers who have died this month. But there are close to 100. Amidst the food and fun, it's easy to feel that things are ok. Things aren't. Soldiers are dying daily, and I need to remember.

Dan Nicholas Park

So today we discovered a really cool park about 40 minutes south of Winston called Dan Nicholas park. I'd heard about it from some other moms, but never checked it out. I have to say, it was a HUGE hit with Charlie. As it was, we didn't see it all. There is a giant lake with paddleboats that we never made it to, as well as an old steel bridge (more fun for us to see than him), a wild animal presentation area and a water plaza with shooting fountains from the ground (we'll try the water plaza on a weekday trip- the older kids were a bit too wild). We still managed to stay busy though with everything else. First there was a gigantic playground with a section just for wee ones. Charlie thought it was awesome. Amy- before you comment- he HAD a hat. He just took it off repeatedly. So we sunblocked his head and were done with it. Some day some manufacturer is going to realize that babies with big heads need straps on their hats too...

So do you think he's having fun here?

After the playground, we rode a miniature train. Charlie got to ride in the first car with his daddy.

He was pretty interested in getting up and seeing more...so daddy obliged.

Since Daddy got to ride the train with Charlie, Mommy took over on the carousel. I'm not sure which of us had more fun.



Last was the petting zoo. He was pretty excited to see the goats.

And even more excited to touch a sheep.

Unfortunately, the day ended when he fell and got a pretty icky cut on his arm. It was the first time he's actually bled. But of course, Dr. Dad was there with the first aid kit pronto. And all was well. Can I just say thank goodness he still nurses! Soothed him in an instant and kept me from freaking out too...

Despite the trip being cut a little short because of his fall, I think he managed to have a pretty full day. What do you think? Oh- and this was about 2 minutes after we left... Notice the uneaten cracker still clutched in his fist. Hee hee.

Randomness...

Ok- so this is just a random post with a few things new in Charlie world. First of all, Daddy got Charlie a truck. It's a biiiiiiiiiig truck. Charlie loves his truck.

He likes to ride in it.

He likes to get dumped out of it.



He likes to push it at the park.



And speaking of the park, we were there yet again and this time we had a picnic with Miss Deirdre and cutie-patootie Aidan. Here are a couple of pictures of the boys playing together. Charlie actually seemed interested this time in interacting with Aidan.

Ok- so I'll touch the grass here and you touch it there... Actually this is neither a choreographed move or a football pose. This is mutual recovery after a collision.

Telling secrets by the tree.

A Butterfly Farm

The Stay At Home Moms of Winston-Salem took a field trip today to a working butterfly farm. The guy who runs it works out of High Point and sells his butterflies for weddings and other special events. He's recently started taking appointments for a presentation and tour. The presentation was a bit much for the wee ones in our group- but here we are trying to get them to listen to a speech on how a butterfly eats...

Charlie is flashing me the "why does this guy keep talking?" look...

These three have had it with the lecture. They're off to find something better to do. (They're actually headed to see a horse that was in a nearby pasture)

Charlie snuck behind the presenter and started checking out his props. I think it was at about this time that the presenter decided to cut it short and go straight to the tour.

This is Charlie's friend Brody checking out a butterfly. I'd post a picture of Charlie with one, but he was more interested in the gravel. Oh well, I thought the butterflies were cool.

A Morning in the Park

We hadn't been able to get to the park in awhile because of the heat. But since we were up bright and early this morning, we thought we'd get out there before the sun was too fierce. Charlie had a blast as the sole occupant and enjoyed ruling the park. And I have to say his sand consumption was much less than the last time we came. :-)

He enjoyed moving sand around inside the little house they have. See- sand has to be in the right place- and only Charlie knows where that place is.

Peek-a-boo!

I must run to the giant playset! All hail the giant playset!

Whee! Lots of stuff to get into here.

Swings- I LOVE SWINGS!

Time to go Charlie. Charlie? Charlie??? (As I packed the car, Charlie took off down this hill back to the park. Notice the lopsided gait...hills are still a little tricky for him.)

Charlie's Trip to the Big City

As you may know, Charlie had a recent adventure to Chicago- momma's favorite city! He had tons of fun. He got to see all the girls from the office (who were, of course, amazed and charmed by him). Plus he got to meet 6 adorable babies about his age from my online community of mom friends.

Just a few highlights...

On Friday, a couple of the moms who were there early went with us to the Rainforest Cafe. Charlie loved the fish and the simulated thunderstorms. He met the macaroni and cheese with his characteristic disinterest however. From left to right: Lisa and little Alena, Me and Charlie, Kelly and Noah (aka- the baby who could eat more than I can...) Notice the rampant use of slings. :-)

Friday night was a boat ride at Navy Pier. Charlie thought it was cool for about 5 minutes. Then he was just interested in all of the other babies and in how to get out of my arms to walk around. That night was also Charlie's first sip of lemonade (bad mommy... I know, but boy did he love it) and his first experience chasing pigeons (very entertaining).

Here is Charlie's buddy Connor and his mom Jaimie on the boat ride. How great are those cheeks!?! (Connor's, not Jaimie's...although there is nothing wrong with Jaimie's cheeks I guess...)

All of the babies were about the same age, but boy did they range in size. On the small end was this cutie- Kiera. I offered to let Valerie (her mom) push Charlie and I carried Kiera back to the hotel. At 18 lbs, she felt like a feather to me!

And then...there's Ben. I think he was 30 lbs. And I thought my back hurt. Poor Rose. Of course, he was 30 pounds of pure cuteness, so I don't think she minded. He had the best habit of laughing hysterically anytime we were laughing at a joke. Very adorable. Oh- in the background with the awesome camera is Eric, Rose's husband. He took some amazing pictures that he's promised to share when they get home. Some were worth framing. I'll try and post those when I get them.

Unfortunately, I don't have pictures of Emma- Erin's little one. But they joined us on Saturday at the Lincoln Park Zoo. Charlie got to ride in a wagon, which I think he enjoyed more than seeing the animals. He did seem to like the Meerkats though. He also enjoyed this tunnel he found. Unfortunately, he seemed to think that since he found it, no other children should be able to enter it. He screamed at the other babies and gave me a look of pure distress when forced to share. They, on the other hand, just viewed him as something fun-albeit noisy- to climb over.

Saturday night was a pizza party in our room. Charlie had a great time playing with all of the other babies and soliciting hugs from all of the adults. Little flirt. By Sunday morning, though, I think he'd had enough and was ready to get home. A true picture of a boy who had partied too hard, here he is crouched by the toilet munching on a cold pizza crust (he stole it from me while I was packing- he was supposed to be eating avocado.) Silly baby.