Whew... did a lot today

Jack was up at the crack of dawn this morning - must have been channeling a rooster or something. At 5:36 he was standing up in in his crib yelling, "Mama, mama, mama..." How can you ignore that? I tried... but 3 minutes into his chant I gave in and went and got him out of the crib. He didn't want to snuggle in bed with me... he wanted to go downstairs and start the day... which we of course did.

Here is a picture of him this morning watching another thrilling episode of the Backyardigans.


By 8:30 I was ready to get out of the house. We took an unnecessary trip to Target where I bought Jack some sidewalk chalk and a new Elmo doll that makes noise when you shake it. He also was holding onto this hard plastic monkey bank which half way through our shopping trip he spiked on the ground. Yes - it broke into about 47 pieces. I offered to pay for it ($2) but they told me not to worry about it. They're nice at Target. We took the long way home and when we got here started doing a little graffiti work on the driveway with the chalk. I drew an Elmo (what else?) and Jack made little hash marks all over the driveway - kind of like something you'd see a gas company worker make when he's marking where the pipes and such are.
After that got old we came inside for a snack - pretzels. Then we heard the crunch of Ryan's car outside - so we ran to the door and Ryan and Tom were outside vandalizing our drawings. They were caught red handed. Elmo had a beard and spiky hair. We played outside (Sarah came over too) for about an hour and then we headed in for lunch - grilled cheese. After grilled cheese it was nap time (12:00) and Jack slept until 2:45. I only slept til 2 (I was so tired...).
When we got up from nap time it was time to head to a new playground that Sarah had found in the next town over - she said it rocked - and we were all heading over there to play.

Here is a picture of Jack as we headed out of the house to go... he was mad - not sure why - but he was:

When we got to the playground, clearly every other person in town had the same idea, it was totally packed with kids, parents and other random relatives. The boys really had a good time climbing around, going down the slides, playing in this broken down plastic truck-thingy, kicking a ball, running up ramps... it was exhausting trying to keep up with them.

Couple of people made comments about Jack's Mets hat - they don't hate the Mets up here the way they loathe the Yankees - so we were okay.


Jack looks like a cabbie in Brooklyn...


Here are Tom and Jack going down the big slide - wonder why Tom looks so afraid?




The boys had a good time just running around the field and kicking a purple ball we found.



When we left we went to Ward's Berry Farm to visit the chickens, sheep and goats. They also have one huge turkey with not as many feathers as he should have. I got Jack some ice cream because I still refuse to believe that my child doesn't like ice cream. We had the lady put sprinkles on it - which is probably why he took a few bites. I ate most of it.

When we got home we played outside some more. These kids love to be outside. I think they'd sleep out there if we let them.
When I finally convinced Jack it was time to come in - he chilled on the couch while I made dinner. At Ward's I had bought a ziti and broccoli dinner which Jack refused to even try. So I caved and made him french fries for dinner. He did eat half an apple too... and a bottle of milk.


By 6:45 he was rubbing his eyes. Finally got him into bed by 7:30 after reading him the same Truck book about 17 times. My back is killing me from lifting and playing... but it was worth it. The weather was perfect and I think Jack will have a lot of good dreams tonight. Night Night.