We found out yesterday that we are having a baby girl. Jen and I are very excited. Nick is going to be a great big brother, just like his dad and uncle...
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Field Trip With: Nick, Grandma, Jeff, and Mom
Jeff flew in today. He wanted to be around to visit with Grandma and Boppa before Grandma's surgery on Tuesday. Grandma is having surgery on her nose for some skin cancer that was detected. Anyway, it was fun to have Jeff around. Nicholas and I were headed up to have a seat on the good old thrown for awhile. In true Nicholas fashion, we had to stop and look out the little window in the staircase on our way up. He likes to point out "tree down." Because of all the warm weather we had this week the Christmas tree which was propped up lovely in the snow bank took a tumble down the hill when the snow around it melted. While we were doing this Nicholas saw Grandma coming, and then Jeff. He called out both of their names, and was literally shaking with excitement. I don't think we could have gotten down the stairs fasten enough to open up the door to see them. Immediately Nick wanted to playing hiding games with Jeff. He remembered this from when Jeff was home at Christmas time. He was smiles from ear to ear. He was also quite excited to see Grandma as well!
Well Grandma had some field trip ideas for us. She had suggested that we go to World of Fish to have a gander at the tropical fish aquariums. She use to take Jeff there when he was big into his fish tanks. Then she had suggested going to Wild Rumpus, a children's book store. We got the directions and were on our way.
After squeezing into a tight parking spot at World of Fish. We entered a humid environment filled with colorful fish from head to toe. Nicholas really became interested at looking into the different aquariums. He enjoyed looking for fish that might have been hiding in the coral or sea anemone. "Hiding, hiding" he would say with a big smile on his face. He also enjoyed looking at the tiny crabs who looked like they were waving. Nicholas would say, "hedoo, bye bye" to the crabs, adorable. It was also fascinating to him as some of the fish would follow his hands, because they know where their food comes from.
We left there and headed to Chipotle for lunch. Yum. Nick sure does like his "dillas". What a good little eater he was eating his rice, and beans, dilla, and drinking his chocolate milk.
Then we went on a crazy driving adventure to find The Wild Rumpus. Once we finally arrived we were greeted by the cutest miniature door for Nicholas to walk through. He loved it, I think he would have been happy staying at the door for the whole visit. Animals were all over this book store. From cats, to lizards, to birds, to chinchillas, to spiders, you name it they probably had it. Nicholas really liked the lizard, great, and really wanted 'Spike' to eat his carrots. Well after much effort was given to try to persuade "pike" to "eat" we had no luck. After our stop at the book store, we took a quick detour over to a toy store. Where we had fun playing with balls, and cooking sets, and watching marbles run through a course.
What a great afternoon. Both Jeff and Nick quickly fell asleep on the way home.
To make the day even better Chris called and said he will be home at 8:30 tonight! We are so excited to have him back, and hope he can stay awhile.
Life is good!
Well Grandma had some field trip ideas for us. She had suggested that we go to World of Fish to have a gander at the tropical fish aquariums. She use to take Jeff there when he was big into his fish tanks. Then she had suggested going to Wild Rumpus, a children's book store. We got the directions and were on our way.
After squeezing into a tight parking spot at World of Fish. We entered a humid environment filled with colorful fish from head to toe. Nicholas really became interested at looking into the different aquariums. He enjoyed looking for fish that might have been hiding in the coral or sea anemone. "Hiding, hiding" he would say with a big smile on his face. He also enjoyed looking at the tiny crabs who looked like they were waving. Nicholas would say, "hedoo, bye bye" to the crabs, adorable. It was also fascinating to him as some of the fish would follow his hands, because they know where their food comes from.
We left there and headed to Chipotle for lunch. Yum. Nick sure does like his "dillas". What a good little eater he was eating his rice, and beans, dilla, and drinking his chocolate milk.
Then we went on a crazy driving adventure to find The Wild Rumpus. Once we finally arrived we were greeted by the cutest miniature door for Nicholas to walk through. He loved it, I think he would have been happy staying at the door for the whole visit. Animals were all over this book store. From cats, to lizards, to birds, to chinchillas, to spiders, you name it they probably had it. Nicholas really liked the lizard, great, and really wanted 'Spike' to eat his carrots. Well after much effort was given to try to persuade "pike" to "eat" we had no luck. After our stop at the book store, we took a quick detour over to a toy store. Where we had fun playing with balls, and cooking sets, and watching marbles run through a course.
What a great afternoon. Both Jeff and Nick quickly fell asleep on the way home.
To make the day even better Chris called and said he will be home at 8:30 tonight! We are so excited to have him back, and hope he can stay awhile.
Life is good!
Friday, February 18, 2011
Mommy's Lil' Sweetheart
Valentine's Day.
Nicholas and I had a great visit to the MN Zoo this afternoon. We enjoyed the gorgeous weather outside and fresh air. We went to look at the animals in Discovery Cove. Again it was confirmed that Nicholas is not a fan of sharks. I will try not to point them out to him anymore. He clung on to me when we went to look at the shark, and had no interest of an observation such as that. However the dolphins, which seemed to remind him of sharks at first, started to grow on him. We enjoyed watching the new baby dolphin, and the other dolphin play with a ball. He loved watching the tide pool, "Wa, wa! WA, WA!" He was brave enough to even put his hands in the frigid cold water for awhile. We then headed outside and got close up with the bears. Two bears were sleeping in the den, and one was out sleeping by the water. We were able to closely see their paws and the long claws they have. He talked about this later in the day even. He also loved the sea otters. Just being outside and being able to walk around was so much fun for him. It is so much fun to see how much he has grown up. He even insisted that he help me push the stroller around. What a gentlemen. He wouldn't even let me have my hands on it. Before we left we Nicholas picked out a penny imprint that we could make for Chris.
Then we headed to our hot date, Noodles, for dinner. We shared a yummy bowl of Mac and Cheese and flat bread. We each had a glass of water. I am done sharing glasses of water with him, too much backwash for my liking. While on our date we both enjoyed an evening of intense people watching. Oh he really is the perfect date.
We topped the night off with a stop at the library. I loved the excitement on Nick's face when I said we were going to the library, "Y, AY!" with his hands moving up and down in excitement. I knew he would love going there, and after all that is what the day is about doing special things for the ones you love.
Nicholas and I had a great visit to the MN Zoo this afternoon. We enjoyed the gorgeous weather outside and fresh air. We went to look at the animals in Discovery Cove. Again it was confirmed that Nicholas is not a fan of sharks. I will try not to point them out to him anymore. He clung on to me when we went to look at the shark, and had no interest of an observation such as that. However the dolphins, which seemed to remind him of sharks at first, started to grow on him. We enjoyed watching the new baby dolphin, and the other dolphin play with a ball. He loved watching the tide pool, "Wa, wa! WA, WA!" He was brave enough to even put his hands in the frigid cold water for awhile. We then headed outside and got close up with the bears. Two bears were sleeping in the den, and one was out sleeping by the water. We were able to closely see their paws and the long claws they have. He talked about this later in the day even. He also loved the sea otters. Just being outside and being able to walk around was so much fun for him. It is so much fun to see how much he has grown up. He even insisted that he help me push the stroller around. What a gentlemen. He wouldn't even let me have my hands on it. Before we left we Nicholas picked out a penny imprint that we could make for Chris.
Then we headed to our hot date, Noodles, for dinner. We shared a yummy bowl of Mac and Cheese and flat bread. We each had a glass of water. I am done sharing glasses of water with him, too much backwash for my liking. While on our date we both enjoyed an evening of intense people watching. Oh he really is the perfect date.
We topped the night off with a stop at the library. I loved the excitement on Nick's face when I said we were going to the library, "Y, AY!" with his hands moving up and down in excitement. I knew he would love going there, and after all that is what the day is about doing special things for the ones you love.
Skype with Daddy
Last night we finally got to Skype with Chris. Nicholas was so excited. He had just gone potty on the toilet so he was able to tell Daddy all about that. The first thing Nicholas said when he saw Chris, was "Dub you!" His face just lit up. Then he started blowing kisses, and lots of them. "Dida!" He was so excited to see Chris again. It was too bad that the internet connection was not that great because the picture kept freezing. However it provided some funny frozen faces of Chris, and therefore lots of laughs by Nicholas and I! What a great end to our night!
Saturday, February 5, 2011
A Great February Day
What an amazing day I had with my little boy! We started the day off by sleeping in until 8:30, and then spent a few minutes cuddling as we woke up! We had breakfast and then got ready to go to the library for our music time. Nicholas woke up practically saying, "yibree", which is Nick for, 'library'. He had remembered from our conversation the night before that we were going to be going there today. What a crazy memory that boy has! He was such a helper as we got ready, he even picked out books that we could return. I was so proud of us because we were able to get out of the house at the time I had wanted to. Therefore we got to the library early and were able to return some old books and look for a few new ones. Nicholas was ecstatic at the sight of the "yibree", and even more thrilled when we walked in through the doors. He was such a good helper as he helped to put the library books on the conveyor belt so they would be returned. After this we needed to head right to the kid's section where he excitedly start to work on the magnet letter board. While he did this so pleasantly right by my side I was able to pick out some new books for us. Occasionally he would stand up to take a look at some of the books I was picking out and get quite excited! We then had a few minutes and he could play around with the trucks. He was quick to take not of where the heating ducts were. Once he located the heating ducts he informed another little boy that they were, "hot, hot... hot, hot... hot, hot...!" He really does like to be helpful and caring. Then it was time to go and check out our new books and get to music class. We were the first ones to music class, a first for us! He thoroughly enjoyed his time at music class. McPhail provides and excellent program, and how lucky we are that it is free through a grant the library received. Nicholas had another star moment of helpfulness at music class... it was time to put away the silk scarfs that we had been dancing with and Nicholas scanned the room and noticed an extra one on a chair. He immediately rushed over across the circle and picked it up, "Uh, oh... Uh, oh" he said. Now the leader did not notice quite what he was doing and she continued on with her lesson. Well Nicholas knew the scarf was not put away and needed to be, so with a little bit more urgency in his voice he said, "Uh, oh... Uh, Oh!" this caught her attention and the rest of the group, and he was praised for his good dead as he brought the scarf up to her and placed it in her bag. He was so proud of himself, as was I as I watched my little helper. He then stood right in front of her as she continued on with her lesson. He has gotten much more independent and does not panic or look for me when not right by my side. There were so many proud moments I had as I watched Nick interact with the teacher and the other children. He truly is growing up into the little boy I would want him to be. He enjoyed singing the songs, and using the scarf, shakers, and music sticks. However from occasion to occasion he would be sure to mention that he could see the "yibree" on the other side of the glass doors. Another moment to remember from music class was when a boy ran into Nicholas and knocked him over, I came over to check to see if he was ok, and through a whimper he pointed at the boy and said "him" with such frustration in his voice that the boy ran into him. Later when we were playing parachute and the children were under the parachute, Nicholas spotted the little boy again and pointed to him and said "out!" Like I said he does not forgot things.
Next we had a lunch date at Noodles, where we were able to use our buy one get one noodlegram. We enjoyed a lovely lunch date and Nicholas does such a nice job eating with a fork!
We then headed for home, and as I had hoped Nicholas fell asleep on the ride home. We also found out that Daddy would be coming home tonight! A much sought after surprise!
I was able to get Nicholas from car to crib, a feat I always quite proud of. Therefore I had time to go for a run with baby and get a few things done around the house.
As usual Nicholas woke up all smiles ready to go again. We decided to headed outside for some fresh air, as the temps were in the mid 20's and colder air is expected to come our way next week. Nicholas was not interested in shoveling today, instead he wanted to go "pay"(play). He started to walk around the back of the house, and pointed at his pirate ship. So "Ahoy Matey" we headed to the snowy pirate ship. Of course I had to dig the snow out of the pirate ship as Nicholas is not a big fan of getting snow on his mittens or boots. However I am hearing less "Uh, oh's" when such occurrence happens, and more and more noticing him just brush his "mi, mis" off. We then played in the pirate ship for quite some time until his eye caught his sand table. However before we went to the sand table Nicholas noticed me cleaning off the patio table, and informed me that that was for eating. We then played in the partially frozen sand table for quite some time. He was thrilled to see all of his sand table toys again, especially the ball that we have spent hours hiding in the sand. He was able to name the shovel, rake, and spoon!
We finally headed on in and had some grapes for snack and the got ready for Wyatt's 2nd birthday party. Before we could go though, Nicholas wanted to take another stab and going to the "batroom"(bathroom) on his potty. At this point I thought that we were never going to get to the party. As last night Nicholas was instant on going to the "batroom" and we spent like an hour on the toilet. Well he actually did have to go last night and if I hadn't felt the need to brush my teeth he probably would have gone in his potty rather than on our bathroom floor. Oh well, so here we were trying again. Well nothing happened and then I convinced him that we should get dressed. However Nicholas did not care for the blue and white striped sweater I had picked out for him, and said "no, no" when I went to put it on him. Therefore I went and pulled down two more choices of sweaters he could where. He choose the "moo" (moose) sweater and he excitedly let me put it on him.
Off we went to Wyatt's birthday party, or his "happy" as Nicholas calls it. He thought the present was for "dama" (grandma) at first as her birthday was the last birthday we had celebrated. Nicholas and Wyatt were excited to see each other and headed to the fort portion underneath his slide immediately. How adorable was that! Nicholas loved Wyatt's basement where Leah had set up a large motor area. He loved climbing up the ladder of the slide and sliding into the ball pit! Over and over again he did that! Then he saw a hula hop and picked it up and said, "bubble". Again with his amazing memory when we were in Owego, NY the Children Museum had a hula hop that you would bring up and a large bubble would go around you. Gosh I love my boy! He wasn't sure at first off dinner, but I was very pleased with him as he did a good job eating it. He even got a compliment about what a good eater he was! Way to go Nick! He was very excited to have some cake, as he also calls "happy".
We then left that part after some more playing, and giving Wyatt a hug good bye. We headed to Target to get some diapers, Rainbow to get some groceries, and the gas station to get some gas and a car wash. Nicholas enjoyed playing with my coupon book at Rainbow, and kept saying, "coopon, coopon", what a little shopper! He was again such a good helper and good buy as we ran our errands, and then when we got into the car wash started to become panicked. He does not like car washes. No tears came, but he was not so sure about what was going on. He did calm himself down though, and I think we were both glad when it was over.
We then got home after some lovely singing in the car and unloaded the car and then Nicholas. Again my little helper grabbed one of the grocery bags, and said, "heavy, heavy," but that didn't stop him from carrying the bag all the way into the kitchen. Once in the kitchen he started to unload the bag and helped my put all of the groceries away. I am so lucky! We then had a snack of, "yoyo" (yogurt) and headed to bed.
When I went to change Nick's diaper he started to cry. I then figured out he wanted to try to go to the bathroom again. Well by all means, I am not going to stop my child from trying to potty train himself. So I got him all ready to sit on the potty. He was sitting there, grunting a bit, stuffing some toilet paper in the little bowl, and what not. I decided to go get some books to read to him, when all of a sudden I feel a little wet on me. Then I hear Nick go, "Uh, oh!" Well the potty we have does not have the guard for when boys go to the bathroom, so the potty was coming out of the toilet a bit. I told him that is ok, and then I put my hand up to block it and he continued to go! He was so proud! I was so proud! Let's hope this continues. Tomorrow I think we will go get a potty with a guard just in case!
We then finished getting ready for bed and read our stories. As we talked about the day, he remember the "yibree", "puppy" (Daisy Wyatt's dog), he also added that the "puppy owside" as Daisy did have to go outside, and "candle blow" from Wyatt's cupcake!
Nicholas certainly is my pride and joy! We had such an amazing day together. I feel so lucky to call him my son!
Next we had a lunch date at Noodles, where we were able to use our buy one get one noodlegram. We enjoyed a lovely lunch date and Nicholas does such a nice job eating with a fork!
We then headed for home, and as I had hoped Nicholas fell asleep on the ride home. We also found out that Daddy would be coming home tonight! A much sought after surprise!
I was able to get Nicholas from car to crib, a feat I always quite proud of. Therefore I had time to go for a run with baby and get a few things done around the house.
As usual Nicholas woke up all smiles ready to go again. We decided to headed outside for some fresh air, as the temps were in the mid 20's and colder air is expected to come our way next week. Nicholas was not interested in shoveling today, instead he wanted to go "pay"(play). He started to walk around the back of the house, and pointed at his pirate ship. So "Ahoy Matey" we headed to the snowy pirate ship. Of course I had to dig the snow out of the pirate ship as Nicholas is not a big fan of getting snow on his mittens or boots. However I am hearing less "Uh, oh's" when such occurrence happens, and more and more noticing him just brush his "mi, mis" off. We then played in the pirate ship for quite some time until his eye caught his sand table. However before we went to the sand table Nicholas noticed me cleaning off the patio table, and informed me that that was for eating. We then played in the partially frozen sand table for quite some time. He was thrilled to see all of his sand table toys again, especially the ball that we have spent hours hiding in the sand. He was able to name the shovel, rake, and spoon!
We finally headed on in and had some grapes for snack and the got ready for Wyatt's 2nd birthday party. Before we could go though, Nicholas wanted to take another stab and going to the "batroom"(bathroom) on his potty. At this point I thought that we were never going to get to the party. As last night Nicholas was instant on going to the "batroom" and we spent like an hour on the toilet. Well he actually did have to go last night and if I hadn't felt the need to brush my teeth he probably would have gone in his potty rather than on our bathroom floor. Oh well, so here we were trying again. Well nothing happened and then I convinced him that we should get dressed. However Nicholas did not care for the blue and white striped sweater I had picked out for him, and said "no, no" when I went to put it on him. Therefore I went and pulled down two more choices of sweaters he could where. He choose the "moo" (moose) sweater and he excitedly let me put it on him.
Off we went to Wyatt's birthday party, or his "happy" as Nicholas calls it. He thought the present was for "dama" (grandma) at first as her birthday was the last birthday we had celebrated. Nicholas and Wyatt were excited to see each other and headed to the fort portion underneath his slide immediately. How adorable was that! Nicholas loved Wyatt's basement where Leah had set up a large motor area. He loved climbing up the ladder of the slide and sliding into the ball pit! Over and over again he did that! Then he saw a hula hop and picked it up and said, "bubble". Again with his amazing memory when we were in Owego, NY the Children Museum had a hula hop that you would bring up and a large bubble would go around you. Gosh I love my boy! He wasn't sure at first off dinner, but I was very pleased with him as he did a good job eating it. He even got a compliment about what a good eater he was! Way to go Nick! He was very excited to have some cake, as he also calls "happy".
We then left that part after some more playing, and giving Wyatt a hug good bye. We headed to Target to get some diapers, Rainbow to get some groceries, and the gas station to get some gas and a car wash. Nicholas enjoyed playing with my coupon book at Rainbow, and kept saying, "coopon, coopon", what a little shopper! He was again such a good helper and good buy as we ran our errands, and then when we got into the car wash started to become panicked. He does not like car washes. No tears came, but he was not so sure about what was going on. He did calm himself down though, and I think we were both glad when it was over.
We then got home after some lovely singing in the car and unloaded the car and then Nicholas. Again my little helper grabbed one of the grocery bags, and said, "heavy, heavy," but that didn't stop him from carrying the bag all the way into the kitchen. Once in the kitchen he started to unload the bag and helped my put all of the groceries away. I am so lucky! We then had a snack of, "yoyo" (yogurt) and headed to bed.
When I went to change Nick's diaper he started to cry. I then figured out he wanted to try to go to the bathroom again. Well by all means, I am not going to stop my child from trying to potty train himself. So I got him all ready to sit on the potty. He was sitting there, grunting a bit, stuffing some toilet paper in the little bowl, and what not. I decided to go get some books to read to him, when all of a sudden I feel a little wet on me. Then I hear Nick go, "Uh, oh!" Well the potty we have does not have the guard for when boys go to the bathroom, so the potty was coming out of the toilet a bit. I told him that is ok, and then I put my hand up to block it and he continued to go! He was so proud! I was so proud! Let's hope this continues. Tomorrow I think we will go get a potty with a guard just in case!
We then finished getting ready for bed and read our stories. As we talked about the day, he remember the "yibree", "puppy" (Daisy Wyatt's dog), he also added that the "puppy owside" as Daisy did have to go outside, and "candle blow" from Wyatt's cupcake!
Nicholas certainly is my pride and joy! We had such an amazing day together. I feel so lucky to call him my son!
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
A Week WIthout Chris - Partially Blogged.
Nicholas and I dropped Chris off at the airport last Thursday. We were sad that we could not tag along to go with him to Greenville, as I do greatly enjoy Greenville. We are looking forward to the day when we don't have to drop him off at the airport as much. Nicholas did enjoy seeing the airplanes while we were there though. I just love hearing him say, "aplane"! Thursday night Nicholas took me out on a date to Noodles. We shared a bowl of Wisconsin Mac and Cheese and had flat bread on the side. He is the perfect date as the two of us both enjoy people watching. Plus he listens so well to all that I have to gab about. We then headed to the library to drop some books off, and headed to Cub Foods after to buy some more blueberries and milk. He was such a good little boy the whole time we were out. He had been getting over a cold, or just in the middle of it, and luckily for me slept much better Thursday night.
Friday came and went and I don't remember much of what we did. I know I made ham, peas, and rice for dinner. Nicholas loved the ham, and did a good job eating the peas. But he refused to touch the rice.
Saturday sure was a fun day. We invited my mom and my aunt Barb to go with us to look at the ice sculptures for the 125th St. Paul Winter Carnival. They arrived at Garnsworthy Grove right around lunch time. Since they weren't too interested in having a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch, they don't know what they are missing, we decided to go to Leanne Chins for lunch. Nicholas choose to have the "yemon" (lemon) "bawcbawc". He was eyeying up the frozen yogurt "yo, yo", as this is a treat that Chris will normally spring for at Leanne Chin's. Unfortunately Daddy wasn't with us, so no frozen yo yo. However he greatly enjoyed his lemon chicken and even started dipping on his own. He is quite successful when using a fork, and even impressed his grandmother and great aunt. After eating we then headed to downtown St. Paul. I had decided that we were going to park at the Science Museum as this was close to Rice Park where the ice sculptures were located. Well there was a line of cars backed up to get into the parking ramp, and one of the parking attendants asked if we were going to the Science Museum, being the honest person I am I said, "no". He then asked if we would park somewhere else. Well I couldn't easily get out of line, and he had moved on to the many cars behind us. With my mother's guidance I continued to pull into the parking ramp. It was a very full ramp, but we found a perfect spot after stocking some people. We then woke Nicholas up, because of course he had fallen asleep. I bundled him all up for his new winter adventure. Sometimes I wonder what he thinks about all the crazy ideas I have to do with him. We went up the elevator and were then greeted by a boisterous dinosaur. We stayed back but observed the dinosaur, who really could roar well. Nicholas didn't seem to have a positive or negative affect towards the dinosaur. However I am sure he must have peed his pants, I know I would have! Of course it was super crowded as temps were in the balmy low 20's! However we got a good look at all of the ice sculptors. I loved hearing the snotty comments as well about the stroller from the occasional passerbyer. As if my stroller takes up any more room than two people. You sure can tell who has never had a child before, or been interested in children, that's for sure. We did get an occasional "wow" from Nicholas as he looked at the frozen water carefully carved to resemble many different things. He also came away from the experience with a new word, "ice". I was pleased when he successfully used the word the next day. We then were able to catch about an hour of the never ending Grand Day Parade. Who would have ever thought that a winter parade would last close to 2 hours long. Nicholas loved the fire coming out of the hot air balloon baskets. He would say, "fiire, fiire"! He also loved listening the the bands as they went by. We then headed back to the Science Museum for a quick warm up and then headed home. Once home he convinced Grandma and Barb to stay and play for awhile by hauling off Grandma's purse and boots. Grandma normally leaves from the front hall, but on this day was leaving from the mudroom. Nicholas decided to take her purse and boots and neatly tuck the boots under the bench like Grandma normally does as gently place her purse next to them. He sure is convincing.
Friday came and went and I don't remember much of what we did. I know I made ham, peas, and rice for dinner. Nicholas loved the ham, and did a good job eating the peas. But he refused to touch the rice.
Saturday sure was a fun day. We invited my mom and my aunt Barb to go with us to look at the ice sculptures for the 125th St. Paul Winter Carnival. They arrived at Garnsworthy Grove right around lunch time. Since they weren't too interested in having a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch, they don't know what they are missing, we decided to go to Leanne Chins for lunch. Nicholas choose to have the "yemon" (lemon) "bawcbawc". He was eyeying up the frozen yogurt "yo, yo", as this is a treat that Chris will normally spring for at Leanne Chin's. Unfortunately Daddy wasn't with us, so no frozen yo yo. However he greatly enjoyed his lemon chicken and even started dipping on his own. He is quite successful when using a fork, and even impressed his grandmother and great aunt. After eating we then headed to downtown St. Paul. I had decided that we were going to park at the Science Museum as this was close to Rice Park where the ice sculptures were located. Well there was a line of cars backed up to get into the parking ramp, and one of the parking attendants asked if we were going to the Science Museum, being the honest person I am I said, "no". He then asked if we would park somewhere else. Well I couldn't easily get out of line, and he had moved on to the many cars behind us. With my mother's guidance I continued to pull into the parking ramp. It was a very full ramp, but we found a perfect spot after stocking some people. We then woke Nicholas up, because of course he had fallen asleep. I bundled him all up for his new winter adventure. Sometimes I wonder what he thinks about all the crazy ideas I have to do with him. We went up the elevator and were then greeted by a boisterous dinosaur. We stayed back but observed the dinosaur, who really could roar well. Nicholas didn't seem to have a positive or negative affect towards the dinosaur. However I am sure he must have peed his pants, I know I would have! Of course it was super crowded as temps were in the balmy low 20's! However we got a good look at all of the ice sculptors. I loved hearing the snotty comments as well about the stroller from the occasional passerbyer. As if my stroller takes up any more room than two people. You sure can tell who has never had a child before, or been interested in children, that's for sure. We did get an occasional "wow" from Nicholas as he looked at the frozen water carefully carved to resemble many different things. He also came away from the experience with a new word, "ice". I was pleased when he successfully used the word the next day. We then were able to catch about an hour of the never ending Grand Day Parade. Who would have ever thought that a winter parade would last close to 2 hours long. Nicholas loved the fire coming out of the hot air balloon baskets. He would say, "fiire, fiire"! He also loved listening the the bands as they went by. We then headed back to the Science Museum for a quick warm up and then headed home. Once home he convinced Grandma and Barb to stay and play for awhile by hauling off Grandma's purse and boots. Grandma normally leaves from the front hall, but on this day was leaving from the mudroom. Nicholas decided to take her purse and boots and neatly tuck the boots under the bench like Grandma normally does as gently place her purse next to them. He sure is convincing.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Owego we do not go
Jen, Nick, Fetus and I just got back from our adventure to Owego, NY. We went so that I could evaluate a job offer that would move us there. We got in Wednesday night around midnight, and my meeting at the plant was at 9am the next day. Jen and Nick were supposed to come, but Nick needed to sleep in.
I spent about 4 hours with the Owego engineers, I saw a lot of cool stuff, an A10 (fighter jet) in the hanger and a simulator for it, and different vh-60 (helicopter) simulators. Everyone was really friendly and made me feel very welcome. I decided not to transfer because it seemed like a lot of ada work, and very little new development.
After getting back from the plant tour we went to lunch at Olive Garden (pretty late lunch), then drove to Owego (we were staying in Binghamton) and walked around a bit in the "coolest small town in America." Truthfully, I am wondering how they determined that, but...
Friday we woke up and I communicated my decisions to the people who I thought would care about it. Lockheed had provided some hockey tickets for Friday night, but we decided to head back home instead of using them. We decided to head up to Ithica and see that area for the day, however about halfway up there we ran into our first snow squall and chose to abort, because we didn't want to get stranded.
We headed back to Binghamton to check out the discovery center, which is a children's museum. Nick really enjoyed the grocery store, and the hula hoop that you pull up and create a bubble the size of a person.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)