Easter Faire

Matthew poses as a bunny at the Easter Faire

Matthew and I went to an Easter party on base this weekend. Anna stayed home with Grandma. It was a great little event. Matthew got to meet the Easter Bunny, play on the big bouncy slides and bounce houses and hunt for Easter eggs.

We got to meet the Easter Bunny right off the bat.

We spent a lot of time playing in the big bounce slides and houses they had.

We decorated a little foam airplane.

And decorated bunny shaped cookies.

Here is Matthew on his Easter egg hunt. He was really excited to find some eggs. And he got to wear these cute paper bunny ears too!

Ikea

My mom and the kids and I went to Ikea on Friday. We had the best time. I love that place! We let Matthew walk through the store and he had fun sitting on the different chairs, opening the drawers and cabinets and climbing on the beds. When we got to the kids area he went a little nuts (sensory overload?) so he had to ride in the stroller after that. We still had fun.

Anna held the watering can for us.

Matthew really liked this funny chair, designed for playing video games. Matthew called the controller a "little computer." At least he doesn't know what that is, yet. :) He looks like a natural. Uh oh! To see another pic of Matthew at Ikea go HERE.

St. Patrick's Day Parade

St. Patricks's Day is a big deal here. I think it must be a bigger deal in the northeast...possibly 'cause of a a historically higher concentration of Irish Americans. Anyhow, Saturday we went to the Newport St. Patrick's Day Parade and it was quite the shindig. We didn't make it through the entire thing, 'cause Matthew was getting a little worn out. We did get to see and hear a lot of great celtic bands and music, lots of BIG trucks (Matthew's favorite), police men and firemen galore, plenty of dogs dressed up for the occasion, lots of crazy and heavily inebriated St. Patrick's Day party goers and the famous Portsmouth High School marching band (the best marching band we heard all day - no offense other schools)!! Go Patriots!!

At the Zoo

We went on a sort of playdate to the zoo near Providence today. It was cold, so we were bundled up and not all of the animals were around, but we still saw a lot of them!

Matthew recognized this guy!

Matthew shows us how big the elephants are.

The elephants were indoors because it's cold out! Matthew recognized the elephants and giraffes (some zoo animals are more foreign to him) so they were a big hit.

The farmyard also had familiar animals and was fun for him.

Matthew was super excited to pet this sheep who sat down right by the fence after Matthew started petting him.

He was also excited to see this donkey come up to the fence. He felt a little more shy though when the donkey started his very loud braying.

Anna makes an appearance in the termite mound. The poor girl spent a lot of time in the stroller, but was a very good little traveler.

The boys discuss the proper pronunciation of the word "beetle."

Matthew was determined to hop the fence to the flamingo area after he saw a zoo worker do it.

Matthew goes face to face with a turtle.

Riding the komodo dragon (is that what that is?)

And the very big dog statue.

He also wanted to climb in with the dromedaries. He must not know how surly they are. These guys were totally posing for us.

A snow leopard. It was so awesome to see one. This guy sat up on his perch looking quite regal.

A bald eagle. It was awesome to see this guy too. So beautiful!
The zoo was fun, cold, but not at all crowded. We had a great time.

Goodbye again

Our five days together are over...now it's going to be a long haul until we are all back together. Don't let the smiles fool you. It was a sad morning. We took Scott to the airport and said goodbye. He's off to serve. I'm really proud of him, but I'm going to miss him all the same.

Last Day

Scott and I got to go to the Newport Creamery today, just the two of us. We don't get out much by ourselves, so it was exciting! Here's we are enjoying a *Brookie sundae (not pictured).
*brownie and cookie combined - can life get better?

Who goes out for ice cream in this weather? We do.

We promised Matthew (who was staying with grandma) a special treat. And he held us to it. Here he is enjoying a junior awful awful. Once he got a hold of that thing, he wouldn't stop drinking it for anything.

Then Matthew helped Scott pack by squashing down his luggage. So helpful! It was our last day together for a while. Tomorrow is more goodbyes.