Friday, July 24, 2009

Trip to Dutch County, PA.

We decided to take a trip to Lancaster, Pennsylvania where we'd never been before. Carolyn's colleague Joan recommended a motel to us where she used to take her kids. It was great: cheap, with a pool, a swing set, and we could keep our dog there, plus yummy donuts for breakfast:




We went to Dutch Wonderland, an amusement park. We bought "preview tickets" which was a great idea: 3 hours before the park closes, you buy tickets for the next day, but you can also stay that evening. So we got to walk around and ride rides to "preview" our visit the next day. We all had fun: Avery LOVED the rides, a lot of which are appropriate for smaller kids. The best ride was the log ride. The three of us rode over and over again because Avery (okay, and Carolyn and me) had so much fun! So the guys running the ride finally just said we didn't have to get off and get back in line, we could just stay in our log to ride again! We thought it might be too scary for Avery because of the big hill, but he LOVED going down the hills (he said "wheeee!") and getting splashed by the water. I think because we went during the week, it was not crowded at all, and there were really no lines for any of the rides.












We enjoyed eating local specialities like "chow chow" and shoo-fly pie at traditional "smorgasboards." We bought fruit and vegetables from local working Amish farms, and we enjoyed the shopping and sights at nearby towns with names like "Virginville, "Intercourse," and "Bird-in-Hand." Almost everywhere we went was so kid-friendly: there were petting zoos and playgrounds everywhere! And Avery got plenty of "ice keem kones."








Our last day, we decided to pop over to Cherry Hill Adventure Farm. They have a corn maze, hay rides, a petting zoo, and lots of other fun things. Avery LOVED jumping on a huge, ground-level trampoline. They had one for big kids and one for little kids -- perfect for Avery! He jumped until he got sweaty and tired, and then he took a great nap in the car on our way back to New York, which was our plan.










(We saw Santa Claus walking down the road!):

Hats and Besos.

We visited our friends Hannah and Dale in Massachusetts last weekend. Avery and Parker played this great computer game together where they got to bang the computer keys without hurting the keyboard AND they kissed (awwww!).



Avery loves to put various objects on his head and say "hat! hat!"


The "three musketeers" had a playdate recently at a kids' gym in Queens, which was followed by lunch at McDonald's where the kids were so hungry from their playing that they actually all sat at the table together and ate their lunch!

Friday, July 10, 2009

How big is Avery? SO BIG!

According to babycenter.com's height predictor:

"Your boy will likely be 6 ft. 10 in. at age 18.

Young men often continue to grow a little past 18 until they reach 21, but their height at age 18 is very close to their final adult height. This prediction is a "best guess" but it's still just that -- a guess. Based on the formula we used* there is a 50 percent chance that your boy's full-grown height will be within 0.8 inches (above or below) of this prediction, and a 90 percent chance that it will be within 2.1 inches."

Here is our big boy drinking "agua" and playing Tee ball. Some of his new words are "hat" "ice keem" "faffle" (waffle) and "Mo boo" ("more books" -- usually used to delay bedtime):