8/31/11: Wordless Wednesday - It Was a Great First Day of First Grade!

Evan was all smiles getting off the bus and reported that it was a great first day!

 And then off to Friendly's to celebrate.

8/30/11: 1st Day of First Grade!

Well hard to believe, but it is that time of year again!  Back to school.  Wow the summer went by way to fast.  Here is my post from last year and the first day of Kindergarten.  We stayed with tradition and did a photo with a sign telling all the details of this year.  He is going to have a great year, we have heard wonderful things about his teacher and he has a lot of good friends in his class.  One girl he has known since he was a baby, another boy he has known since he was 3 on his soccer team, and many other friends he has met along the way.

 He is getting so big!

 Here is Evan with Freddy.

Evan showing me his new backpack.

 Looking cute.

 Ready to go.

 He is getting to be such a big boy, it is amazing how much he has matured in just one year of school.

 Being interviewed by Daddy on video.

 The bus is here!

 Already chatting it up with his friends.

 Bye, sniff, sniff, have a great day!

8/26/11: Evan's 1st Video Shoot for a FMC Learn to Skate Video

Evan has skated in the past with FMC in the Learn to Skate Program.  I received an email that there would be a casting call for a promotional video they were producing for the Learn to Skate program and submitted Evan's picture not thinking he would get picked.  Well low and behold after seeing his picture and interviewing him on the phone he was picked and also selected to be interviewed on camera for the video.  Here he is all ready to go.

They also did hair and makeup!  This was the first time Evan had powder put on and thought it was pretty funny.  What a star in the making.  I was also in the interview talking with him on my lap.  The funniest part of the day was the first question they asked him on camera was his favorite sport and he said "Soccer".  Hee, hee.  Then they asked any other sports and he said skating.  Maybe that will make it to the Blooper roll.

It was a very long day.  We got there at 8 am, were interviewed around 11:30 and then the kids skated for a while before the camera man was ready to video tape them skating.  The kids were skating for about 3 hours!  What a long time to skate.  Here they were warming up before the camera man came. 

The camera man getting a shot of Evan skating.

Making a train.

Evan getting taped again.

The Learn to Skate kids.

All the kids watched their teacher do a spin and clapped for her.

Here is some video of that.

This will be an experience he won't soon forget. Let's just hope at least a little of his footage makes it through the final cut.

8/20/11: 1st Trip for the Kids to Fenway Park for Futures at Fenway

We were lucky enough to win 4 tickets to Futures at Fenway from Family Friendly Boston.  We had great seats, and the nice thing is they were covered from the sun also. 

The event featured a doubleheader starting with the Red Sox AA affiliate Portland Sea Dogs taking on the Binghamton Mets from the New York Mets organization. The second game was the AAA Pawtucket Red Sox battling the Syracuse Chiefs, an affiliate from the Washington Nationals organization.  Plus lots of kid friendly fun including face painting, and balloon making.  Tickets start at $5 for Bleachers and went up to around $30. 

The wonderful thing is that the concessions were also discounted.  They had a kids meal which included a small drink, hot dog, and cotton candy for only $5, Hot Dogs were discounted to $2.50 from $5 and drinks only $2.25.  I also signed the kids up for Red Sox Kids Nation.  It was only $15 each and included a lunch box, Red Sox hat, and other discounts to area museums and Red Sox games.  I see on their website now that it is normally $25.

There were little games going on in between innings also to keep the kids entertained.  Here is Wally and the Portland Sea Dog.

What a fun time for the kids first trip to Fenway, and much more family budget friendly than a Red Sox game.

What a lot of fun for the kids so glad I won the tickets.

7/19/11: Blueberries, Peaches, and Flower Picking at Parlee Farms

Last year we went to Parlee Farms and loved it so we thought we would go back again this year.  What a great time we had.  We started out Blueberry picking.

 The kids had a great time.

 Evan was looking for the biggest blueberries he could find.

Then we moved on to Peach picking.

 Again looking for the biggest.  They were huge!

Then we moved on to Flower Picking.  It is my parents 45the Anniversary so we thought we would pick some for Nana.

Then the kids had fun riding on the tractors.

And last but not least went to feed the animals and have ice cream.

What a full and fun day!  If you have any Peach or Blueberry recipes comment and let me know what they are as I have a lot of fruit I need to bake/cook with and eat. 

8/17/11: Fun at Ipswich River Park

We love to go to Ipswich River Park on Wednesday nights during the summer.  There is a Kids show, Concert, Pony Rides, BBQ, and a park to play in.  What a great night for it too, as the weather was perfect.  Unfortunately this one was the last one of the season and the first one we made it to.  Wow the summer flew!

Evan is the type of kid that always raises his hand to get picked at kids shows and barely ever does.  But this time he did!  He was so excited.  He was able to perform magic with Awesome Robb.  But don't ask me what tricks they did, I was so preoccupied with how excited I was he was up there and taking pictures I really didn't pay attention.

Evan getting some applause.

 Holding the Microphone.

 Doing tricks.

 Abracadabra.

 With the magic wand.

Well I guess we will have to wait till next year to go back.  So much for summer, it was fleeting.

8/14/11: Fun at the Children's Museum Boston

We went to the Children's Museum over the weekend.  The kids have been asking for a while to go, and thanks to our local library I got a pass to go for $3 per person instead of $12 per person.  Review my Love Your Local Library post.  They recently added a Wizard of Oz section, complete with a yellow brick road leading up the stairs to it.  Here is Evan in there after he built this rainbow with Daddy.

 And Lauren on a Cow.

 Of course we spent the most time in the Construction area as we usually do.  Evan loves to play with the trucks there.

The kids are already asking to go back so I have already booked the pass again.