We Want to Keep You Grandma!

We had a wonderful 10-day visit with Grandma Haynes. We made a sign and waited for her in the Boston airport. When the boys saw her they ran to her and hugged her and giggled and giggled. The boys talked a mile a minute and kept her busy from sun-up to sun-down. We played in the snow, went to the zoo, hiked the cliff walk in Newport, and checked out a lighthouse and tide pools in Jamestown. When it was time for Grandma to head home, Benson cried and exclaimed, "But, I want to keep her!" We all do, Benson!

Brig climbed in his suitcase so he could go to Grandma's house.

Outside of the Breakers mansion, formerly owned by the Vanderbilts. 

Grandma and I toured the Breakers mansion, something I'd been wanting to do for a long time. This was her favorite room, the library.

On the balcony of the Great Hall.

Brigham doing his thing on the cliff walk. He happily splashed through all of the mud and puddles.

The kitchen in the mansion. Check out all of those copper pots!

We weren't very successful in keeping the boys dry. But they had a great time. We found lots of sea glass, a sponge, and cool rocks.

We had some great weather to see the animals at the zoo. The peacocks were showing off their feathers and the buffalo were running in the paddock.

Checking out the red pandas. They look so fluffy!

Checking out the peacocks.

The elephants did tricks for their food.

The tide pools by Beavertail lighthouse were fun to explore. We had to be careful because the tide was starting to come in and some of the rocks were extra slippery. We all slipped at least once.

It was 60 degrees and sunny at our house, but at the beach it was cold and foggy. It was cool to see the light in the lighthouse and hear the fog horn.

I had to take a picture of the Jamestown windmill, built in 1787.

During our travels Grandma entertained the boys with songs and stories.

We love you Grandma! Come back soon!

After we dropped Grandma off at the airport, we walked part of the Freedom Trail. It takes you to some of the more notable historical places in Boston. It's an actural trail marked with red bricks. Brigham would not stray from that red line for anything, even if someone was in his way. He would stop and wait for them to move. He is one determined kid. This is the King's chapel burying ground, a really old cemetery.

You can see the red bricks behind Brig, the cowboy, and the other tourist.

Benson Turns Three and Student of the Month!

 

Our sweet Benson is now three! We started his birthday off with our traditional birthday pancakes with sprinkles. We asked Benson what he would like to do for his birthday and he said, "Jump in the bouncy house at the YMCA, watch a show, and eat cupcakes AND cake." So we did that plus checked out the Biomes Aquarium in North Kingstown. The aquarium had large touch pools for the kids to explore. They got to touch stingrays (sting removed), horseshoe crabs, some kind of shark, and tortoises, just to name a few creatures. Benson loves animals and asked for a dog for his birthday. We compromised and got guppies instead. We surprised Benson with the fish still in the bag. He opened his eyes and was so excited for a "pack of water!" Video to follow. Benson's stats for his 3 year check up were 30.2 pounds and 38 inches. His pediatrician also heard a heart murmur and wanted him to have an EKG done. He was awesome for the cardiologist and held perfectly still for his EKG. And the Dr. decided his heart murmur is completely normal and probably just shows up when he is nervous. 

Benson we love you more and more each day!

The birthday boy all tuckered out.

Benson loves all things Paw Patrol, except on his cupcakes! He had a huge meltdown when he saw the pups on the cupcakes. He was not happy until they were taken off and cleaned.

 

 Brigham was Kindergarten Student of the Month in December! I asked him how he became student of the month and he said, "For following the rules!" We are so proud of him for working hard to follow the rules and for being a good leader.

We had a couple of snow days, and so we made snow ice cream.

Brigham begged me to make a tunnel but by the time it was finished he decided it was too cold to crawl through it. Too bad!