Mannings on the Web

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.

Today is Evan’s last day at his daycare.  It’s bittersweet, because Evan has such fondness for his teachers and some of the kids in his class, but I know he’s going to have a great time at his new preschool, which starts next week.   Both Evan and I are taking the rest of the week off to relax and hang out with some great friends.  It’s our version of a staycation.

Some of the fun things we have planned for the rest of the week and Labor day weekend are: playdates with friends, a trip to Boston to visit the Aquarium and Children’s Museum, a birthday party for Daddy, canoeing and a BBQ!

Here’s Evan enjoying the music show at the 4H Fair and hanging out with Uncle Mike.  I love Wordpress for the iPhone.

Eating Strawberry Shortcake
Originally uploaded by alisajon

I hope to get an opportunity soon to post about the wonderful Strawberry Day that Evan and I had on Sunday. Here you can see him enjoying his strawberry shortcake at the festival.

You can find more photos from the day in this photo set.

I just read this post up on Boston Mamas in which an author describes her son’s play habits. They tend not to use toys. It is very refreshing to hear this, as Evan will go days without opening his toy box.

I’m sure he uses toys at daycare, but at the end of the day, when I’m making dinner and he has the freedom to do whatever he likes, he’s either helping out in the kitchen or running around being active. He very rarely sits quietly with his trains or blocks. He doesn’t have dolls or stuffed animals. Wally the Green Monster only joins us when we are reading his book: “Wally explores Red Sox Nation.”

Evan does love to read stories with us. And often he can be found at his art table with construction paper and markers. He adores being outside, more than anything; and since snails have appeared in our yard, he loves searching for them.

I love my little active boy. He keeps me on the run, visiting fun places on the weekend and seeing our friends. It will be interesting to see how our next one turns out…….

Over the last few days, I’ve noticed that Evan has started to sing his protests. Whenever I tell him that he can’t do something (more often than I would like to admit) he bursts into song. “I not need hold yours hand,” he croons in the parking lot. “I need feed ferret,” he intones as I instruct him that Dora the ferret has plenty of food.

It’s quite hilarious… and often I laugh and smile. I don’t give in, but I encourage this form of expression, as a singer myself.

P5250109
Originally uploaded by psknodle

Here’s a photo from when we were putting together the tractor last month. Evan could not wait to ride it and jumped right on!

La-Mamas (ie. llamas)
Originally uploaded by alisajon

These guys were trying to stay cool in the shade.