Elsie turned Three

I am getting to this a bit late but our little girl turned three at the beginning of June!!!! I can't believe she is three and so big...I will spare you the "it seems just like yesterday" talk. But I still just can't believe it.

While we were in Boston with my sister she asked Elsie what kid of cake she wanted. I had not asked because I thought she would not have an opionon. Now that I think about it she does have opinions about lots of stuff like what color ice cream we buy! So Elsie said she wanted a color cake. Then my sister asked what colors and she named a bunch of them and then the conversation turned to the idea of a rainbow cake. So this is what I came up with it is not exactly a rainbow but it is cute. If any of you look at this blog that often you might recall the cake my friend made for her daughters and Elsie's joint party when they turned two. It used the same things to add the colors...M&M's. That is right and can I just tell you how yummy it is to have a bunch of chocolate M&M's on top of a thick layer of frosting!!!

We were in Vermont for the actual day and almost all the cousins were there. So it was so much fun. I don't remember what we had for dinner but it must have been good. The kids had dressed up before we ate so they ate in the costumes though we made everyone change before they had ice cream and cake. So even though we did not plan it Elsie had a costume party with all her cousins! And now for the pictures...

Story Land

While we were in Vermont my sisters class in school went on its annual class trip to Story Land. It is a little amusement park for young kids. It has lots of small rides and and then a few bigger ones like a log ride and a small roller coaster. She asked us to tag along so we could spend one more day together before we went home. Elsie had a great time and I did too. The first ride we went on was a lazy river type ride where you are in a big round boat thing. It was fun but we got pretty wet!!! The best ride was the last one Elsie went on with my sister Teddy. It appeared to be one for very small children...wales that fly around in a circle and move up and down. Elsie was fine on it but if you look at my sister you can tell that she felt it was going a little too fast.

Dogs

Elsie has been afraid of animals since she was small. This always presents a problem when we visit my family. All my sisters and my parents have pets. They just have cats and dogs but that is enough to scare Elsie. So you can imagine my surprise when Elsie started petting my sisters dog. As it turns out she will only pet the old and slow dog and not any of the other dogs around when we are in Vermont but I guess it is a start.

More dancing and playing

Elsie fell in love with this slightly annoying guitar at my sisters house in Vermont. When it has batteries in it the guitar can get pretty loud which is probably why she loved it so much! Here she is rocking out to the music.

Playing at the park

One of the fun things we got to do in Vermont was meet Abby and Raymond at the park to play. We were so happy to see them. Elsie loves playing with them as you can see.

Marshmallows

When we were in Vermont Elsie roasted marshmallows for the first time. She did a good job staying far enough away from the fire but still got her marshmallow nice and toasty. Of cores she loved eating them too.

Joseph Smith Birth Place

The first Sunday we were in Vermont we drove down to the Joseph Smith birth place. It is in central Vermont and is in a beautiful location on a hill among fields and forests.
This is the monument that is there which has been there for over 100 years (don't quote me on that one but I know it has been there a long time). There was an amazing sculpture show there at the visitors center which we all enjoyed. It was a beautiful drive and we all had a great time.

Random shots with cousins

Here are some random shots with Elsie and her cousins. She loved playing with all of them and talks about them all the time.

Dancing

Here is a cute one of Nathan and Elsie dancing while Mike plays on the guitar.

The beach

We got to go to the beach while we were in Boston too. It was great. The weather was hot so we were ready even though it was still May. We had a lot of fun...well I guess I could say everyone but Nathan had a lot of fun. Right when we got on the beach we realized that we forgot the blanket in the car. So Chrissy took Owen to go get it and I stayed with the two older kids. If you look at the pictures below you will see how I brought the two kidos down to the shore and was taking photos of them as the water calmly lapped at their feet...until a bigger wave came and knocked them both down!! I was mid photo when it happened and obviously did not react fast enough. I was able to grab each of them by an arm and pull them up. Luckily neither one had inhaled any water. They had just gotten wet! And this is where the problem begins...Nathan hates to get his clothes wet!!! So he was crying and not consolable and Elsie was upset but she calmed down pretty quickly. To give the little guy a little credit he was with me and not his mommy whom he wanted very badly after the above accident happened. We were all very excited to see Chrissy coming down the beach but I bet she was not so please to see what had happened. Nathan spent the next hour or so wrapped in a blanket in his mothers lap. But by the end of the morning he was playing in the sand again! We even managed to convince him to go back by the water though he did not get so close this time.

A day in Boston

My sister and I decided to spend a day in the city. We do not usually do this but I have been missing the city and so we went in for an adventure.

We drove to Quincy to catch the subway into the city. The kids liked the train and luckily we got seats for them going in and out. We got off the train in Copley square. We looked around a bit then went into the Boston Public Library and found the children's area. We asked the librarian to help us find "Make way for ducklings" a book about a duck family that moves into the public gardens in Boston. The kids were not that interested in the book as everything was so new to them. After the story we walked down to the public gardens (a large park with lots of paths, statues, flowers and a pond in down town Boston). We had brought some PB and J's so we had a little picnic on a bench. It was a good thing we sat on a bench because there were two crazy squirrels who kept coming up to us. They were so brave and even went under the bench. My nephew got a kick out of this and kept telling the squirrels "go away, go away".

After lunch we took a ride on the swan boats which was actually my first time on them. We went to see the statue make way for ducklings and then we had some ice cream. By then is was Nathan's nap time so Chrissy and Nathan went home. We stayed in the city to meet up with Charity Elsie aunt.

With Charity it was more walking around and hanging out in the big city. Elsie got to go on a carousal in Boston Common. Then we got on the train and went to the North End...or little Italy. We ate some delicious food and got some cannolis. We walked by the fire station and a fireman asked Elsie if she wanted to see the truck...and then he had us put her in the cab! Sadly I do not have proof but I think you will all believe me. We went for a walk around the harbor and enjoyed the ocean breeze.

By this point Elsie was exhausted. We did not bring a stroller and so all of this walking had been done by her too for the most part. At the end Aunt Charity was a life saver and carried her a lot!! We had so much fun in Boston. It was so nice to see Charity there even if it was just for one afternoon! And now for the pictures!!

The Children's Museum in Easton

One of the first things we did in Boston was go to the small Children's Museum in Easton a suburb of Boston. It was so much fun. I was small enough to really get to see everything and so fun to play in. They had lots of small rooms in an old house and a few larger rooms too. The kids pretended to be firemen, played in a small kitchen and in a doctors office. One of the highlights for Elsie was the face painting she got to do herself!! It was great and the best thing was being with our cousins!!!