DSC03392.JPG, originally uploaded by alisajon.
We went to the Stone Zoo again on Monday. Evan and I met Maura and Matt there, and we enjoyed looking at the animals together. Evan especially liked the black bears and the cougar.
Stone Zoo is pretty small… we hope to make it out to the Franklin Park zoo sometime soon, too.
You can see some other photos from the day here.
Pictures from our springtime trip to Stone Zoo are here.
So many pumpkins!, originally uploaded by alisajon.
Evan and I met up with some friends at Connor’s Farm in Danvers, MA to pick out a pumpkin from their pumpkin patch. Evan loved romping around the farm– this late day play-date was perfect for tiring him out!
You can see more photos from this day at this photo set on Flickr: Pumpkin Patch October 2008.
We celebrated Evan’s birthday this weekend… thanks to Grandma Ann Marie for hosting the festivities. I didn’t have to lift a finger, except to help around her house, and it was great. The baby is due to come in a week, and I wanted Evan to have a fun birthday party.
The three of us, and the dog, packed into the car on Friday night and drive up to Grandma and Grandpa’s house up in New Hampshire. After a great sleep, we got up pretty early and got ready for the party. The best part was not having to rush around– it was very relaxing! This is a picture of Evan lounging around, waiting for his friends to come. I think I bought this sweater for Evan for either his two-year-old birthday or last Christmas. It’s sized 2T; this boy is due for a growth spurt!
Pretty soon, Evan’s friends had arrived and family was trickling in the door. We played inside with all of Grandma’s great old toys and had lunch. Then we ran around outside, kicking footballs and playing with the Fisher-price baseball throwing toy that Great-Grandma and Grandpa Pep got for Evan. Then it was time for cake!! Grandma Ann Marie got Evan a train cake, which was very exciting for our little engineer.
Here is a picture of him telling me how much he liked his cake. After loading up on the cake and ice cream, the kids all played for a little while before the little ones packed into their cars and left. Some family and friends stayed around for a good part of the afternoon, and Evan had a blast playing with his new toys: remote control cars from Grandpa Steve, an inflatable car from Julian, Spencer the engine from Mommy and Daddy, Diego from Travis, and an AquaDoodle drawing pad from Carla…. and let’s not forget the video games: Super Mario Baseball for the Wii from Cousin Matt and a LeapFrog video game system from Aunt Maura. Evan was really psyched about getting all the great presents. Thank you everyone!!!
After chilling out at Grandma’s house all day on Saturday, I decided that I didn’t want to rush around and pack everything up, so we stayed another night! We took our time on Sunday morning and made it back to our house around 1pm… giving us enough time to get our chores done before settling down to watch the New England Patriots and the Red Sox.
I’m really happy that this weekend worked out the way it did. I’m relaxed and rested… Evan had his birthday party, and for all intents and purposes (on my part anyway) he is now three years old, even though his birthday is really on the 14th of October. I’m not going to mention his birthday again, except perhaps to ask him if he wants to bring cupcakes into his preschool to celebrate one of these days. Now that Evan has had his birthday, the baby can come anytime…. there’s nothing left to take care of.. so come on baby! We’re waiting!
I’ve posted a few other pictures up on our Flickr account.
Don’t you love the moustache?
Nope….. no baby yet. But if you want to be on the mailing list to be notified first thing, leave a comment to this post or email us. Otherwise, you’ll find out whenever we get around to posting a note on this blog. And you know how often we’ve been updating this thing…….
My official due date is October 11th, although I wouldn’t be surprised if things happened sooner than that… at least that’s my hope!
Evan is excited about becoming a big brother. He talks to the baby, and sometimes even sings to the baby… “All the Pretty Little Horses” is the baby’s official lullaby.
And no, we don’t know what we are having, so I’m trying to avoid using pronouns!
I just found this great little web site that allows you to paint like Jackson Pollock. One of Evan’s favorite books describes the process that Jackson Pollock went through to create one of his paintings. I can’t wait to introduce this web site to Evan! It’s so abstract and simple that I have no problem with my 3 year old playing on this web site.
Beach Bums, originally uploaded by alisajon.
I’m currently at a genetic epidemiology conference in St. Louis, and I’ve been thinking about the last time I went to this conference…. two years ago. Jon and Evan came down to Saint Pete Beach, Florida. I took this picture on our first day there, shortly before I left to do conference things.
I’ve been gone from Boston since Sunday, so I’m really missing my boys. Hopefully the entire family can come with me to my conference next year…. in Hawaii!
Look at this smile! Evan has been happy and cheerful to attend his new preschool these last few days. This picture was taken on Tuesday morning before heading out. His teachers say that he is attentive and obliging; he’s in the program 5 days a week, so they are getting the opportunity to get to know him quite well.
You can see me packing his bag in the background. Something I have to get used to is providing lunch and snacks every day. A positive side effect is that I pack a lunch for myself and Jon, so we’re saving money and eating healthy food.
We’re looking forward to a pretty nice school program. In a couple of weeks, we’ll start music classes, gymnastics and swimming.
Evan is also talking in full sentences now. My little boy is growing up; and he insists that “I am a big boy…. I can do it!” I believe him.
Yesterday, Jonathan turned the big 3-0, and we celebrated in true Manning style– a quiet (but how quiet can you be with a hyper 3-year old running around) party at the house with close friends and family. Earlier in the day, Evan and I went into the city for a trip to the Boston Children’s Museum, you can see a picture of Evan exploring the bubble room on our Flickr account. We met up with Grandma Priscilla and shopped at the new Trader Joes in Danvers on our way home. Grandma made a delicious chili while I cleaned up the house. We got our cake from the bakery just blocks from our house. This was one of the local establishments that took us years to discover… and are we glad we did. They not only serve delicious coffee, but delectable treats, too. Jonathan requested black forest cake; and I was able to get him chocolate cake with chocolate mousse filling with whipped cream frosting.
When it came to be the time to blow out the candles, Jonathan knew who to turn to for help. Just like other boys in the family, Evan loves birthday parties, and he loves to blow out candles. Now, this is fine if he’s at a party for a family member, but at another 3 year old’s party?? We have to keep him away from the cake!
By the end of the party, I was exhausted! (I’m 8 months pregnant, by the way) and I fell asleep while I was putting Evan to bed, even though we still had guests at the house! But these were Jon’s buddies from work, and they stayed up late anyway drinking some of Jon’s homemade beer and playing a new game on the Wii.
We all enjoyed the party and we wish Jonathan another happy and healthy year!
Evan figured out how to climb up to this hanging bar. This picture was taken at Ross Memorial playground in Peabody– in my opinion, one of the best playgrounds in the area.
