Snowboarding today!

We spent the day at Mt. Wachusett, learning to snowboard. The lesson was a little boring, but we all made progress and plan to go back for a second lesson soon.

Look at you Mummy...

Whit and Owen were at Target the week before Christmas. Whit tells
Owen that the music and the decorations make her excited about
Christmas. Owen says, "Look at you Mummy, getting into the Christmas
spirit!"

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Christmas Crazies

Owen has a full on case of the Christmas Crazies this year. He says
his favorite things about Christmas are unwrappin presents, opening
the packaging and spending time with friends and family. We're off to
Rhinebeck for more over-indulgence!

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Mr. Saturday Night

We were making arrangements to attend the wedding of Whitney's cousin this weekend and needed to arrange child care for Owen. I asked Uncle Jeff if he could take him for the evening and he quickly agreed. Jeff asked if Owen would stay the night, or if we would pick him up on the way home from the reception.

Whit and I figured that Owen would be anxious to come home with us, but he was actually very excited about spending the night. For some reason, he was particularly excited to have breakfast the next morning. And that is exactly what he did. Everything went great. Owen was well-behaved, slept well and enjoyed a delicious breakfast on Sunday morning. When Whit picked him up, he informed her that he would be quite happy to live with Uncle Jeff.

The power of the kiss

Owen had a splinter in his palm and Whit wanted to get it out. He was whining about how much it hurt as she tried to tweeze it out. He actually started screaming that it hurt like she was stabbing him.

Apparently neither one of us was showing enough compassion to suit Owen. After Whit finished, I caught him giving himself a kiss on his palm out of the corner of my eye.

Visit with Grammie in Blue Hill

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Trick or Treating

This was a total surprise because of his costume phobia, but Owen decided to go Trick or Treating on Halloween night. This was our first stop. He had a blast. We went around the circle and he came home with 5 pieces of candy. He thought he'd hit the jackpot. As we walked home he told us that he LOVES Halloween... except for the costumes.

Brave Owen

Owen was at the playground with his friend Thomas on Monday and some other boys showed up. The other boys weren't being nice and started making fun of Thomas. Brave little Owen walked up to them and said, "Please do not speak to my friend that way."

Very, very proud.

New Snowboard Helmets

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Visit with the Sea Lions today

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This is what happens when you hold the cat over your head

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Hello from walden pond!

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Buddies

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Dog Camp

Seven is staying at the kennel while we're away this weekend. It's called Camp Bow Wow and it's a really nice place. Owen wants to know if he can go too.

Owen says...

"Mummy, the are a lot of things that I could teach a baby."

That's good Owen, but it's going to have to be someone else's baby, because Mummy is done having babies.

Owen's leaf crown

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The zoo!

It's a great day at the zoo!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Buck Naked

Owen was cranky and I sent him to his room yesterday. He really didn't
want to be cooped up in there so he was making a real fuss. After 30
minutes I went up to settle him down and he was sitting in his chair,
completely nude, clothes in a pile on the floor.

He offered no explanation and flatly refused to get dressed.

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Owen's declaration at PF Chang's

"I love a good fortune cookie after a nice Chinese meal."

Lowes Project #17

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Uhlmans

Such a beautiful day today that we decided to get some ice cream at
Uhlmans before it closes for the season. Owen chose Cotton Candy
(yuck!).

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Field Hockey Practice

Our athletes came back early for preseason, and two of Owen's favorites play field hockey. One night we were walking to dinner while practice was ending. The girls had to run sprints and Owen stood on the sidelines cheering for Colleen and Franny. Colleen won and they both came over to give him a high-five and say thanks.

A morning with Casey

Casey is one of my advisees. Owen has been enamoured with Casey since last year and always points him out when he sees him. Casey, Owen and I went to the hockey store yesterday morning, then we played ball hockey on the turf field for a while.

Owen was in heaven. Casey has a little brother and he's great with kids. Owen got to spend an entire morning hanging out with his hero!

School Update

By request...

School is going very well. He has been a little intimidated by the bus (the bus driver yells at some of the kids and finding a seat seems to be a challenge), but that appears to be passing. He is definitely tired at the end of the day, but rushes out to see Whit with a big smile and a hug. He tells us about everything he does each day. Music and art are big hits, but recess is his favorite part of the day.

We went to an open house at the school last week and his teach said he's doing great. Parent/teacher conferences don't happen for another month, so it's nice to get some early feedback. Owen enjoyed touring us through his classroom and all the other rooms he uses.

If you ask him about school he'll say that he "kind of" likes it, but he actually loves it.

Big Boot

There's a new LL Bean in Deadham and they have a big boot, just like
Freeport!

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First Day of School (Part II)

I love the shot of him jumping on the bus - he never even looked back. He just jumped right on and found a seat. He had a great first day, although he's clearly a little tired. He said it was a fun day but long, so it will probably take him a while to get used to the full day schedule.

Waiting for the bus

First day of Kindergarten today and we're at the bus stop. Owen is
feeling just fine. Whit and I are a trying to hold it together.

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Owen the Lion

Very cute town festival last night to celebrate the end of summer. They had rides, a foam pit, dunk tank and a nice firweworks display. Best of all, he got to see his friend Thomas.

Burger Hill Hike

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Blackhawks

Owen and Whit visited with Gram, Nan and Bob last week. Nan took him to her Blackhawk repair facility where he got to see them close-up. It was quite a thrill as you can imagine, although Whit says he was intimidated by the huge helicopters and burly soldiers walking around. I like how he looks just a little nervous in the middle photo above!

Pool Time

It's still hot and humid here so Whit and Owen headed to the pool again this afternoon. He swam for 2 1/2 hours and she had to drag him home.

Zero Tolerance

Owen is having a zero-tolerance-day today while we try to adjust his attitude. He's spending a lot of time sitting on the step and up in his room.

Owen the street performer

Here we are at Quincy Market watching a performer and he asks for an
assistant. A few kids declined but Owen surprised us by being very
brave and agreeing to help. So Owen's job was to toss a cone, a wrench
and a plunger to the performer while he was balance on a board on a
ball on a box. Owen did a fantastic job and the performer paid Owen $5
for his help. Owen tried to return it to him after the show but he
wouldn't accept it, so Owen bought him a lemonade because he was hot
after performing in the sun.

Duck Tour

We decided to do some tourist things today and Whit has wanted to do a
Duck Tour forever. So here we are on the Charles River where Owen got
to pilot the Duck!

"I won't be home for Christmas!"

"Mummy! I won't be home for Christmas!"

What do you mean Owen? What are you talking about?

"I just looked at the calendar and Christmas is on a Friday. I'll have to go to school that day!"

"You're Ruining Me!"

This happened several months ago but I forgot to report it here:

Owen was having a rough day and Whit had enough so she sent him up to his room. He wasn't thrilled about it, so as he stomped up the stairs he screamed back, "You're ruining me!" and slammed the door behind him.

Pals

Owen and Seven are really developing a nice relationship. I think it helps that Seven has learned not to nip him! She did chase after him and pull his shorts down one day last week but Owen thought that was hilarious.

Caterpillar Hill

Owen, Seven and I took a trip to Caterpillar Hill. We weren't sure if the view would be fogged-in, but it turned out to be a beautiful clear afternoon. Eggemogin Reach in the foreground and Deer Isle in the distance.

Craig Brook Hatchery

He had a special tour of the Craig Brook Hatchery, thanks to Grampy. Owen especially enjoyed the big aquarium, the salmon puzzle, and the salmon egg game. The big thrill was feeding the salmon by hand!

Deer Isle

Seven made her first visit to the beach (so many things to smell...
and eat!). We started a game of fetch for Seven, but Owen was more
interested and kept playing for another 15 minutes.

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Camp this week

Last Friday, Owen asked if we could sign him up for another week of camp. Well, it turns out he's not enjoying it as much this week. We're not entirely sure what the problem is, but every morning he says he doesn't want to go. It may be that his friend Thomas isn't there this week or that that they're doing the same activities again. We're heading to Maine next week, then he'll do sports camp when we get back. That should be better.

On the plus side, he is excited about Uncle Jeff coming over to babysit on Saturday night!

Three generations

Another nice shot from our Kutztown weekend.

Kutztown Folk Festival

Here's Owen with his Great-Uncle Carl at the Folk Festival. Carl had several tractors and engines on display and loved demonstrating them for Owen. Owen has already asked if we can go to the Festival again next year!

Sox outfit

I think Uncle Jeff gave this to him when he was two and it finally
fits! He's very excited to wear this to camp today.

Laughing Fit

Not sure why, but he started laughing hysterically during lunch today.

OSV

Owen and his new friend!

Visit to the Zoo

We picked up Uncle Jeff and headed to the Roger Williams Park Zoo this morning. Owen did the whole zoo in fast-forward, seeing every animal in about 2 hours.

Strawberry Picking

On Friday morning we went to pick strawberries and brought some to Great Grandma and Great Grandpa. Owen did great with the picking, but he still wasn't interested in eating the berries!?!? I'm not sure if Great Grandma was more excited to have a fresh quart of her favorite fruit, or a chance to dote on Owen for a little while.

Make way for Owen

We went to the Common and Public Garden this morning for the "Life is Good Festival". Lot's of fun and games, plus we took a ride on the Swan Boats and visited the ducklings.

Birthday Party (Finally)

OK, I'm more than a little late with this one, but here are the photos from Owen's Bday Party. He had lots of friends from campus and nursery school at Pump It Up where they all ran around until they couldn't bounce any more. Then it was time for cake and ice cream. Owen slept until 9am the next morning!