Day Out with Thomas

Today we did one of those fun things that you only get to do when you have little kids: We spent a Day Out with Thomas! We found out in May that Thomas the Train would be coming to Maine, and we have had our tickets for months now.

As soon as we entered Boothbay Railway Village, we could see him.....chugging around the corner right towards us........it was Thomas! If you don't know who Thomas the Train is, ask the nearest preschooler and they will tell you all about him.Since the big train ride we had bought tickets for is only 20 minutes long (and we were an hour early for our boarding time), we checked out all the other attractions first.

There was a hay maze....

....a bounce house........and we got to meet Sir Topham Hatt! (again, ask your nearest preschooler).Then we went to the tent called the "Imagination Station", which really should have been called "The Tent of Fights and Tantrums". Here they had three Thomas train sets to be shared among one hundred or so 3, 4, and 5-year olds, all of them hyped up into a Thomas frenzy. Our kids behaved pretty well, but needless to say it was quite a scene.Finally we actually got to board the train. Everyone was excited, even the Moms!Thomas took us around the Railway Village three times, and the kids loved it.Nobody wanted to get off, but unfortunately we had to.Next up was a hot dog fest, and reliving of the big train ride.Then Emily saw the swings, so of course we had to swing a little bit. She has just learned how to pump her legs and swing by herself, and she loves to do it. Another milestone!Finally, there was the obligatory gift shop, which was an entire building full of Thomas merchandise. They must truly rake in the cash from parents (and grandparents) of Thomas-obsessed little ones. We did our part by buying a little train engine for each girl. Oddly, Em and Kate didn't choose Thomas himself, but instead his "friends" Percy and Whiff.The girls demanded that the toys be opened immediately, which was kind of a challenge for us (luckily one of the more veteran Thomas moms showed us the trick for opening the packaging).Then they had to be played with right away, even before we left the station.Somehow the girls got catalogs showing all of the Thomas toys that exist. Yikes! Luckily they just enjoyed reading the catalogs and identifying the engines, and they didn't make any toy demands (which we wouldn't have given into anyway).It was a super fun (but exhausting) Day Out with Thomas!

Bike Day at Summer School

Emily has been attending the summer program at her preschool, and today was a very special day: Bike Day!

All the kids brought their bikes (or trikes) to school and got to ride them around the parking lot.Bike Day is quite a hit with the students, as you can imagine.Emily has gotten dramatically better at pedaling her trike lately. She is definitely ready for a "big girl" bike (with training wheels), but since it's so late in the summer, we'll probably wait until next year to get her one.

Home Depot and the Playground

Tonight after dinner Mom and the kids made a Home Depot run to pick up supplies to finish the sandbox roof. The kids worked as a team to push the cart all the way into the store from the parking lot.

Once inside, the photo below shows the typical scenario: Kate quietly trying to help Mom find something on the shelves, while Emily uses the cart as monkey bars.We finally found everything we needed, and headed for the exit. The girls were on their best behavior at this point because of the promised trip to the playground if they were "good".It seems like every time we go to a playground now the kids are able to climb on something new. Their motor skills are really advancing fast!Looks like we need to get some monkey bars for our swingset at home!

Kate doesn't let the fact that she's wearing a dress slow her down.
The kids are playing together more and more, which is something we have been anticipating for a long time. They really have a good time together (except when they're fighting).We're so glad that they are close in age (15 months), because now they will always have a playmate!

Harold and the Cousins Visit

Tonight for dinner we had some special guests: Nana, Alana, Lili, and Nana's friend Harold, who is up from Boston on a vacation. Harold is an architect, and he and Nana worked together on a project in Augusta last year.

We fed the kids first so that the rest of us could have a nice quiet dinner. After they ate, the girls and Connor took a walk down to the end of the driveway and back.Emily and Kate love playing with their cousins, and Alana and Lili always play very nicely with them, even though they're a little bit older.Lili really likes animals and has a special bond with Connor. He gets a lot of attention whenever she visits!We feel really fortunate that our kids live close enough to their cousins that they are all growing up together.

Raising the Sandbox Roof

On Sunday Grandpop and Grandma came over to help Mom finish building the roof on the sandbox. Mom had prebuilt the roof trusses in the basement shop, and she finished putting a coat of wood preserver on them the night before.

Pop Pop and Emily got right to work nailing on tie plates. Emily loves to help out on projects like this.

We couldn't find her plastic hammer from her tool kit, so she used Mom's rubber mallet.

Kate really wanted to help too, so we put her to "work" with a paintbrush and a bucket of water.

Can you tell which plate Emily installed?

After the trusses were finished, the girls put away their tools and started playing with Grandma. That made the roof work go a little faster.

The end truss went up first....Mom was very happy to see that it fit! The end trusses have mosquito netting installed so that in the future the sandbox can be a sanctuary from bugs.

The trusses went up fast--Mom was very grateful for Pop Pop's help, since it would have been a real difficult job for one person.

After the trusses were braced, the next step was the plywood. The girls literally could not wait to play in the sandbox. They liked playing under the new roof, especially when it started to sprinkle a little bit.

Even though it was just a sprinkle, Kate donned her rubber boots, just in case.

Mom and Pop Pop make a good team.

By the time the plywood was installed it was dinner time, so we wrapped up the work party. Now the only thing left is the flashing, fabric, and shingles.

We were all glad to finally have the sandbox roof up!

Noah and Leo Round 2

Today we invited Noah and Leo over to our house for a play date! The girls were pretty excited to play with the boys again, and to show off all their toys.

Noah and Leo's Mom Hilary will be a teacher at Em and Kate's preschool this year!The train table was a big hit. It's funny how our same old toys get more exciting when there are new kids to play with them.The weather was nice and warm, so we hit the pool. Noah thought the slide was pretty fun.Kate was a bit shy, but she did get to know Leo a little bit, which is nice since they will be in the same preschool class this Fall. Noah and Leo's dad is a professor at Colby College. He is originally from Germany, and the boys also speak a little German, which is pretty neat to hear.We decided to get out the sprinkler, which was a huge hit with the boys. Emily wasn't so sure about the sprinkler....she doesn't like water splashing on her face at all.The kids figured out that the slide on the swingset gets really fast when it gets wet!They tried out the sandbox a little too.It was a lot of fun hanging out with Noah and Leo and their family today!