Revere Beach

We recently went out to the beach, and we all had a wonderful time! It's been hard for us to truly enjoy the beaches here beacause it's hard to find where the good ones are, and many of them are private or run by the cities--some beaches charge $25 just to park there! Ridiculous. Plus, we're used to fabulous Oregon beaches. So, we went to Revere Beach, which is in Boston, and everyone says is dirty. We just wanted to go to the beach.


It was wonderful. We must have picked the perfect day to go! We went on a Monday, so it wasn't crowded at all, and it was 80 degrees and sunny. Beautiful!

Evan loved playing in the sand, naturally, and Mike and I loved laying in the sun. I don't believe i've ever been to a beach where you could actually lay in the sun and be warm and toasty.
The water wasn't warm, but it wasn't numbingly cold either, so we considered that a plus. Evan definitely enjoyed splashing in the water. It was such an enjoyable day. Extra bonuses: free parking and clean bathrooms. Plus, we got to eat lobster rolls.

This only took us about 30 minutes to get to from our house. There are so many day trips to take around here, and we've been really lucky to be able to live here. Not that we want to stay here much longer...we're getting ready to move on! Now if only Mike could get his orders...waiting patiently!

Sun at long last

I'm pretty sure it has been raining here for a month straight, and now it's finally sunny! I am so pleased. It's not humid yet either, which is a big bonus. We've been spending almost all of our time for the last couple days out in the sunshine and I think Evan is really greatful to be able to get out and run off some energy. From our house we can walk all the way to the fence that goes around the base and watch airplanes take off. We went on such a long walk yesterday that we ended up having to carry Evan and his short little legs. It's a long walk for Evan, but he loves those airplanes!

We finally got him to say "plane" yesterday. He's been calling airplanes "goo-goo" for months now, and considering that a plane flies over our house about every five minutes, he's had plenty of opportunities to learn the word. I think he just liked "goo-goo" better. I can't believe how many words he has, and they're getting a lot clearer too. He's pretty fun to have a conversation with.

This morning we went to our favorite playground in Billerica (which is also one of the biggest I've seen) and spent some quality time in the sandbox. This sandbox is huge, and there are Tonka trucks and other sand toys that are always there--needless to say, Evan loves it. Last time we went, he spent two hours straight sitting in the sandbox being industrious with construction equipment. Today wasn't much different, but he took a few breaks to go climb around and go down the slides and whatnot.

This picture's from about a month ago. I think the only pictures I'm going to have of Evan in the near future are when he's playing with this "diggers"--otherwise he doesn't stay still long enough!

By the way, this little girl is our neighbor Riley, whom Evan calls "honey". I think he's smitten. I can see why--she's just as rough and tumble as he is!

Helmet

Evan loves Daddy's motorcylce helmet. He always makes sure that he has it when he is going out to go for a ride. And he especially loves to wear it!

I swear he did this himself. We weren't even paying attention, and Evan walked up like this. It was hiliarious.

Ok. So I added the boots. But the helmet and gloves were all Evan!

It might be one of those "you had to be there" moments, but we enjoy his antics. Plus he reminds me of a bobblehead doll. A Darth Vader bobblehead doll. And he says "helmoy", which is adorable. Oh Evan.

zoo time!

Hello! Our weather here has been crazy lately, and Evan and I have been itching to get outside inbetween rainstorms. Yesterday we went for a walk in the rain, which was fun. But on Saturday we had a legitimately nice day, so we all (including our friends Scott and Anne) went to the zoo, and it was wonderful!

We asked Evan what his favorite part about the zoo was, and he said the gorillas. Well, actually he said "ah ah", which usually means monkey, so I'm assuming thats what he meant. He was especially pleased about the gorillas because one of them was trying to take a nap. He was very excited about that.

This gorilla had it's own blankie that it was laying on. Adorable.

Speaking of adorable, how wonderful is my family? I know.

Evan also got to go on a carousel with daddy. He wasn't too sure about it, but I think he enjoyed it. A little.

He definitely enjoyed riding on this tractor though.

Speaking of tractors, Evan has recently become obsessed with construction equipment.

This is his "digger". He takes it everywhere with him, and yes, he sleeps with it. We have to go into his room later and move it so he doesn't roll over onto it at night. Mike's been playing softball, and luckily there is a random pile of sand that all the kids play in...perfect for digger use. Needless to say, Evan loves going to daddy's softball games. By the way, he calls softball "hit".

The boy can spot a backhoe from a mile away. He's so cute.

Welcome to June

Wonder of wonders, my husband eats sushi. Not only that--he likes it. I'm very proud. He tried it a few weeks ago, and today he suggested we go get sushi for lunch. I am a happy girl. Evan eats Chicken Katsu--basically just the japanese equivalent of chicken nuggets--and he eats a lot of it. Today, he also ate Miso soup! Adventurous just like his daddy.

I think eating with the cool spoon was an extra bonus. I can't believe how big he's getting.

He's even driving already!

Ok, just kidding. Our friendly local firemen had all the trucks out on Memorial Day so we could check them out, and Evan was a big fan.

Speaking of Memorial Day, how many of you can say you have minutemen in your Memorial Day parades? Well, we do. Actually, they're everywhere.

With Lexington Battle Green, Concord, and Minuteman National Park, all within minutes of us, people around here seem really into getting all dressed up like patriots and participating in reenactments. Or parades, for that matter. It's kinda cool.

See? Here's some in April reenacting the march to Concord/Lexington for Patriot's Day. Never heard of Patriot's Day? Me either...it's a Massachusetts thing.

But I digress. Back to Evan.

Here he is yesterday looking nice and clean (if not slightly crazy) with his shirt tucked in and everything. We were on our way to our friend Scott's promotion. (congrats again Scotty!)

He looked nice for about five minutes, and then he started doing donuts in the yard. If you're not dirty, you're not happy, right?

Crazy boy.

I feel like we've done a good job so far teaching him about the world...all except for what sound a horse makes. Poor Evan, he knows all his animal sounds, but somehow "horse" isn't quite right. We try to show him what a horse sounds like, he's seen lots of real horses, and we show him on the TV. But he is determined to put his own spin on it. Check it out:

Now it's turned into some sort of party trick--out friends think it's hilarious, and I think now he knows it makes people laugh so he'll probably just keep doing it forever.

But that's okay.

March to your own drum Evan.

Happy Memorial Day (weekend)

It's memorial day weekend! Enjoy your picnics and bbq's, Nascar and popsicles.

mmmmmm, popsicles.

As we enjoy our extended weekend, please don't forget to take a moment to remember those who have served, and those who have given their lives so that we may eat our popsicles in our great country.

Thank you to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice, to their families, and to those who continue to be willing to risk their lives everyday to ensure that America stays the land of the free.

Happy Memorial day!

Now go eat those popsicles!

Welcome to the family

As promised, pictures of Mike's new toy....

His new motorcycle!

It's a new Honda Shadow, and Mike is quite pleased with it. It's shiny.

In fact, he's off riding it right now. I think Cody wanted to go with him. He's a little confused about this whole motorcycle business.

Looks like Evan wanted to go too! I think he has motorcycles in his future... Bye Daddy!