Our Last Months in Massachusetts

Well, we're in Colorado now (and have been for awhile, I guess), and I'm only just getting around to blogging about our last few months in Massachusetts. It's a little bittersweet, but here goes.

We got to have one more side-yard picnic...

... and take one last trip to the Attleboro zoo with friends.

We also visited our favorite park one last time.

Aubrey and Daniel got to attend one more Westwood Prom together...

Aubrey had to say goodbye to friends, which was sad. I think it broke my heart more than hers!

We also fit in one last trip to the splash pad. Aubrey had all the fun...

... and the rest of us just watched.

We also got to go to a fun, free event in which Aubrey rode a horse for the first time! She was super scared at first and it took a lot of coaxing, but she finally did it. And she had an absolute blast.

Carter also had his own interaction with the horse. So cute!

Another free town event, the "Touch a Truck" day, let Aubrey sit in a digger truck--one of her favorite things!

I love the smile on her face!

And finally, we welcomed Daddy home one last time. *Sniff*

Winter Fun

Last time I talked about snow. There was some (not a lot) of it this winter, but it was mostly the cold that kept us housebound a lot of the time. Blah.

We tried to get out whenever we could (read: whenever we were all, miraculously, not sick). We frequented the mall play space, of course. Though I don't have any photos of that, so I'm not sure why I mentioned it. Moving on.

We also took advantage of the fact that our annual local zoo pass gets us into the Boston Science Museum for free. The first time we went, Aubrey fell in love. She particularly loved the dinosaur exhibit, the lightning show, and the "playground" area. She couldn't get enough.

When we said it was time to go, she got upset and kept saying, "No, I want to stay here!" Then, when we finally got her out, she kept talking about how she wanted to go back.

So we went back. We went with Pam. We went as a family. We went as a family with Pam. And every time, Aubrey loved those three exhibits. And poor Carter just got pushed around in the stroller (which actually sounds wonderful to me... lucky devil). He didn't care where he was. He even fell asleep the last time we were there...

So cute! Anyway, I also started trying to find more local free events that we could attend. 

For example, we took the kids to a reptile show, where Aubrey got to pet an alligator. She wasn't too sure at first...

... but she slowly warmed up to it...

... and then she went for it. And she liked it.

We also went as a family to Attleboro's Winter Festival. I'm so glad we did! It was drizzly and actually rather warm for a winter night, but that didn't stop Aubrey from cozying up getting in touch with her primitive side in front of the huge bonfire.

She also got her face painted. I was actually surprised she went through with it! I expected her to change her mind once she got to the front of the line. I'm glad she didn't!

We also took a "train" ride around the block, watched some ice sculptors, and pet some local llamas. No photos of those things though, unfortunately. But at least I can report that Aubrey had an absolute blast! It was almost two months ago, but she still talks about the party we went to with the train and the fire. :)

Speaking of parties, we also went to a "birthday party" for Dr. Seuss recently. There was a bouncy house with a big slide, coloring, play dough, an obstacle course for babies and toddlers, a green eggs and ham craft, and tons more!

Aubrey got a balloon animal (a fish, to be exact)...

... but she had a hard time sitting still while I waited in line.

The party had several rooms with different activities, one of which was gymnastics.

There was also a place with lots of farm animals to snuggle and pet. I wanted to take one of the bunnies home!

And finally, Aubrey got a fun glitter tattoo. Ignore that she looks unhappy in this photo. I promise she really did have a blast! Haha.

And finally, because Carter was pretty much completely absent from these last two posts, here he is showing how he feels about winter.

Snow Wonder

Looking back over previous posts, I'm realizing I've pretty much only posted quarterly based on the season. And here I go again!

Winter. *Sigh* Winter is rough with little kids. It's even rougher when said little kids are ALWAYS sick. We've had more than our fair share of illness this winter, and it was always the same cycle: A week of sickness, beginning with Aubrey and then spreading to me and Carter. A few days of wellness, in which we took the opportunity to get out and do something fun and, simultaneously and frustratingly, pick up a new illness. Then the cycle began all over again.

However, despite the awfulness, we still managed to get out and do some fun things. And most of those things involved snow.

Aubrey was really into helping with snow removal. She helped me clean off my car.

She also helped Daddy shovel using her free-from-some-random-Cape-Cod-visitor's-center shovel, which was completely adorable. She had a little trouble at first...

... but then Daddy helped her.

And finally, she decided she was ready for the real-deal shovel.

Except that she wasn't really...

But hey, it's the thought that counts, right?

Anyway, there was also much frolicking in the snow, because every little kid loves doing that. They don't care that it's cold. They don't even consider the fact that they could instead be warm and snug in bed. (This, incidentally, is what Carter was doing. He's smart.) But I must admit that snow does become pretty magical and fun when you're outside in it with a little kid. 

I mean, look at her! So cute.

My favorite time was when I told her to go stand in the snow so I could take a picture, and this is what she did:

But after that she did work her way through some pretty deep snow.

And even when the snow sucked, she always enjoyed throwing snow at me.

Finally, we took Aubrey to experience for the first time what is easily the best part of a snow day--sledding. She was a big fan!

She also took the opportunity to climb a snow mountain while we were there. She kept falling and crying, but she insisted on getting to the top and doing it by herself. That's Aubrey for ya.

Anyway, that concludes Part 1 of our Winter series. Stay tuned for Part 2!