Momma's got a new toy!!

There's good news, and there is bad news.....

The bad news is, my camera messed up another memory card and I lost about 100 pictures.  The good news (really good news) is Mark was planning on getting me a Canon Digital SLR camera for my birthday in November, and decided that an early birthday present would be a good idea!!  I am a very happy lady!!  Of course, it's a fancier camera than I am used to, and at this point, I have only figured out how to take pictures on the 'automatic' setting...I have A LOT of learning to do!!    By the way....I love you Mark!! 

The funny thing is, on Thursday, the day my camera was delivered, it was actually Marks birthday!!  So my first pictures are of Mark and Jack with his birthday cupcake!  (We are celebrating with a real cake today - Saturday!)

Jack was very excited for Daddys birthday...he even came up with the idea for presents for him.   He said, "We NEED to get Daddy a book on hunting and a jiu jitsu book!!"  So off to Borders we went and Jack picked out some really nice books. We also found him a "Rocky" t-shirt and got him a Cabellas Gift card to help out with his upcoming project:  The man cave.  (Marks tough guy room!)

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We've spent some time down at Hopeville Pond State Park too over the last few days.  We went with Auntie Scoot and Riley to play in the sand and water.....

....and we also went fishing there with Daddy last night!!

Jack and Daddy caught a few crappies!

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Jack and I also went geocaching....although didn't have too much luck.  I did, however, get this really cute shot of Jack walking behind me as we were leaving the woods....

I looked back as we were walking and saw him like this...it looked so cute, but I knew if I stopped and turned around, he would have looked up and I wouldn't have been able to capture this moment.  So I took a 'one in a million' chance.  I held the camera at my side while I was walking, without even seeing where it was aiming, and I pushed the button.  Just once.  It came out exactly how I was hoping!! 

I also took a few pictures of random flowers just for fun:

Poor Jack is going to have to get used to me always stopping to take a picture....

Well, off to get ready for hubbys birthday party....have a great weekend!!

Always on the go!

Well, it's been a busy last few days (as usual!). 

We've been all over and brought the camera with us.....

This is my family...it was sooooo hot out, but all we had was this pool for Jack, so we all got in it and cooled our feet off!  We even made a whirlpool!

My sister, Kathy (A.K.A. Auntie Scoot) and I have started to take pictures for a website called Blipfoto.  You can submit one picture a day, but it needs to be taken on that day...so we've been kind of obsessive about taking tons of pictures to find a good one...these are some of the shots we've gotten...

Jack, Auntie Scoot, Riley and I went to Devil's Hopyard and got this shot of the covered bridge!

Auntie Scoot took this one of Jack and I on the bridge...I like this one of us!!

We found this old barn and took some pictures of it as we were leaving Devil's Hopyard, I love how the buoys stand out against the red of the barn!

Of course we couldn't resist some pictures of the adorable Miss Riley!  She had fun sitting in the grass playing with rocks!

This farm is right down the street from me, and I love the old red tractor out in front.  I thought I'd grab this shot...the sun was hitting the tractor perfectly and I loved the clouds over the field!

Jack and spotted this dragonfly while at Pachaug State Forest...check out his face...it looks like he is smiling for the camera!

Jack really enjoyed sitting on this little bridge.  He was having so much fun looking for frogs and fish! 

Our last picture today is of a little friend that came to see Jack (okay, really his ice cream!)  This bird came over, stuck his face in Jacks ice cream and stole some sprinkles!!

Oh!  And you need to check this out.....go to http://www.funnydayswithmommyandmaddie.blogspot.com!  They are having a great giveaway!  You can win one of two Rumba watches!  Check these out, they are totally fun for the summer!

A hot weekend!

Yesterday, Jacks cousin Riley came over for a swim in the pool!  Jack and Riley had so much fun splashing and it really cooled them off!  Riley especially liked to splash just like she does in the bathtub!!

Later in the evening, we got a little fire going outside and toasted marshmallows!!  YUM!  We had fun watching Sydney try to NOT burn the marshmallows, but everytime she tried to toast one, it caught on fire!  Jack thought that was so funny, he just sat there laughing hysterically!! 

It was so nice snuggling with Jack by the fire watching the fireflys dance around the yard!

 

Today, we played outside for a while, but it didn't last long....it was SOOOOO HOT outside!  Jack was being a goober making silly faces and I managed to capture this classic look....

We headed over to Friendly's for their free ice cream day to cool off and Jack was pretty excited to see the firetruck they had there for the kids to check out (and of course was VERY excited to get ice cream!)

Memorial Day Weekend!

The official start to summer, Memorial Day Weekend, has come and gone....it was a beautiful weekend, and we had a chance to do a whole bunch of fun things!!

We started the weekend by setting up Jacks new tent in the yard...I picked it up VERY cheap last year at the end of the season, and Jack has been so excited to try it out!  We set it up right near his playscape under the huge tree for some shade!  We didn't get a chance to sleep out in it this weekend, but Jack loved going inside to read and play games with Sydney!

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Saturday night we went to a BBQ at 'Namies' and 'Bumpas' house!!  We ended up eating inside, because as soon as we lit up the grill it started raining...it didn't last more than 15 minutes, but it was enough to have us move everything inside!  After dinner, the kids got a chance to do some sparklers that Daddy brought, and also bubbles that Auntie Amy brought!!  It was so much fun!

This picture is of the kids...check out the boys, they thought they'd look pretty cool with their hands in their pocket!  :)

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Sunday, Daddy had to work, so Jack and I decided to head down to Ledyard for a parade!!  We got there nice and early, and got a great spot...nice and shady, right where the parade was starting!  Jack loved the parade this year...especially the marching band!!  He told me that he wants to play the drums and the horn in a parade when he gets older!

When we got home, we set our blanket up outside in the yard for a picnic lunch, then Jack fell asleep for a nice nap.  It was so nice in the shade!  Even Sasha enjoyed laying outside with us...she loves her little buddy Jack!

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On Monday, we headed out to another parade in Jewett City....it was a small one, but Jack and his cousins enjoyed it!

After the parade, we headed down to Auntie Scoots house for another BBQ!  Here we are outside on the deck enjoying some BBQ chicken, kielbasa, hotdogs and hamburgers!!

Uncle Rhett and Auntie Kris gave Jack this awesome t-shirt from Uncle Rhetts racing team!!  Jack proudly showed it off in front of Uncle Rhetts Barracuda!

Well, the weekend is over, and we are now back to our regular routine.  What fun can we come up with this week????  Check back soon!

Geocaching!!

Yesterday, Jack and I headed out on a geocaching adventure!  It was so nice out, not too hot (like the 99 degree day the day before!!!).  We decided to head down to Old Lyme to start our journey. 

Jack was a big helper with the GPS!  We grabbed a bunch of quick (but tricky) ones at first...

Then we found a really nice nature preserve in Old Lyme...we had the place all to ourselves, except for some squirrels and birds!  We walked the trails there, talked about all of the animals, found the cache, checked out the water, then moved along to Old Saybrook for our last cache!

At this cache spot, we met up with Auntie Scoot and Riley by a little pond.  We relaxed by the pond, checked out the pollywogs in the water, found our last cache of the day then hit one last spot....








Dairy Queen for ICE CREAM!!  Woo hoo!!  We LOVE ice cream!  Grandma even met us there!! 

It was a great day...we found 7 caches!!  That brings our total to 144!  We're getting there...our goal is to hit 200 by the end of the year!

Hidden Mill

Today we met up with Auntie Scoot and Riley to check out a 'hidden mill'!  Living on the shoreline of Connecticut all my life, you would think I would have at least heard of this place....but this one must have slipped by me!  Honestly, I can't imagine many people know about it! 

A friend told me to check it out after she found a geocache there!  When I looked it up online, and saw the pictures, I knew it was on our to-do list for this week!!

What a hidden gem!!  The mill was built by Governor John Winthrop, and was originally used to grind corn for colonists. The water wheel has been rebuilt and awaits further restoration.  It was built in 1650.
It's location is what really amazed me, right underneath the I-95 bridge in New London.  One of the caretakers told us that they are going to try to restore the water wheel to make it run again!

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Of course, we also had to find the geocache that was hidden there....

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I loved the old stone arch bridge that was there......

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And Jack really enjoyed the bridges to walk across....

We stopped at the Connecticut College Arboretum on the way back for a quick walk and picnic lunch too!

We're going to go there again in a couple of weeks when the flowers are in full bloom!!  It's going to be beautiful!!

Preschool screening day!

Today was Jacks preschool screening....I have to admit, I was soooooo nervous about this.  Jack is a very quiet, shy kid when he's around other people, especially people he doesn't know.  All I could picture was him clinging to my leg and not talking at all to the teachers.      BOY DID HE PROVE ME WRONG!!  :)

He sat right next to one of the teachers, and she started asking him some basic questions.  He answered them all, without any prodding from me!  He did pretty good on the 'stacking the blocks the same way as the teacher' test.  It didn't turn out quite like the teachers, but very close.  He looked at his when he was done and said, "Mine doesn't look exactly like yours, but it's pretty close!"   I thought that was pretty funny!

Next test was finding all of the blue little plastic teddy bears out of about 30 multi-colored bears and putting them in a basket.  PERFECT!  At one point, he questioned weather a purple one was blue, asking the teacher, "is this one blue?  or is it purple....hmmm....I think it's purple, so it doesn't belong in the basket."  Nice job Jack!  I even questioned it...it was very close to the blue color!

Then the teacher read "The Very Hungry Catapillar" to Jack....he sat there listening to every word, asking questions along the way.  She got to the page when the caterpillar turned to a butterfly and Jack said "That sure is a very beautiful butterfly!  It was wings just like a ladybug!  Those are so they can fly!  Butterflies and ladybugs both fly!"   I thought that was pretty good!!

The last thing Jack had to do is color a picture of anything he wanted....when the teacher asked what it was, he said, "A monster!".  She asked where he lived, and he answered, "Africa!".  That's my boy!  (He is at least enjoying learning about other countries through our postcrossing project!)

I think he did a great job and definitely showed his personality!!  I wish more people could see that part of him...usually he's too shy!

Afterwards, we grabbed some food for lunch and had a picnic at the playground to celebrate! 

 Jack had a great time on the playscape and even found a little friend there.  Jack asked him if he wanted to go down the slide together....another surprise today!!  Jack doesn't usually just start talking to other kids, it usually takes him a while, but he had so much fun with this boy.

Our last bit of fun for the day??  Uncle Chris took Jack, Hannah, and Luke out on the ATV for a ride through the woods on a trail and through the blueberry fields!  Jack had a blast!