Oh, summer. What would we do without you?
On the first of the month, Tim sneakily recorded a little video of Soren reading his favorite book (“Things That Go” — a thrift store treasure). If you can’t tell, the words he’s saying include Bobcat, roller (yoyuh), dump truck, and forklift.
Next up was a much-anticipated trip to Virginia. Soren talked about airplanes and airports for days leading up to his seventh and final flight as a lap child. Lucky for him, our flight was delayed and he got to spend extra time in the terminal.
And then the usually quick trip turned disastrous when we got stuck on the runway for 2.5 hours. Not surprisingly, Soren handled it better than I did. Thank goodness for JetBlue’s unlimited snacks!
He did start to get impatient toward the end, though. Every few minutes he would yell and sign “GO GO” (which mostly sounds like “doh-doh”). Not quite the same when he’s prompted for a video, but here it is nonetheless.
The cousins came to play on our first day in Ashburn. We love cousins!
Taking turns with Truman.
Soren talked about this firetruck A LOT while we were in VA. Also, I’m pretty sure he’s diaper-less here. Tim might have been trying to teach Soren to pee in the woods.
The girls begged to watch a movie, so Grandmama sat with them for “The Wizard of Oz.” Soren followed the crowd and scrambled onto the couch. I thought about removing him from the room, since we still don’t do any screen time. Fortunately, he was more interested in the kids than the movie, and he wandered off to play after a couple of minutes.
Uncle Ben (aka “Uh Ben”) showed up too!
We celebrated the 4th of July at the National Zoo. I’ve been to plenty of zoos in my day, and this is surely the best (and it’s free!).
Pappy and Grandmama swung Soren along as we walked to the zoo (we declined the $22 parking option).
The cutest lion cubs wrestled and romped around all morning. (Side note: I fall more and more in love with Soren’s curls every day.)
The kids went nuts for the tide pool by the seal exhibit. Every few minutes a giant gush of water poured down the rocks for the littles to splash in.
And then, nap time.
Tim and Ben played with the nieces atop the giant pizza playground.
We hung out at Reagan’s all afternoon, enjoying Cafe Rio, a backyard, the neighborhood pool, and a few daytime fireworks.
We kept the animal theme going the next day by visiting Frying Pan Park — a Dickson family favorite. We went as kids, and Soren has been there a few times now.
No hesitation about petting any of the animals. Tim and I dream of having a farm that our kids run so we can enjoy the eggs and goat cheese and honey without having to do any work. We’re well on our way here.
The afternoon brought us backyard heaven and solo pool time for splashing and throwing rocks.
Topless gardening.
Uncle Ben gave Soren a lesson in scootering.
The trip was too short, especially since we thought we were flying home Tuesday and found out at the last minute our flight was actually on Monday.
All my snuggle dreams came true when Soren fell asleep while nursing on the plane. He hasn’t fallen asleep during milk time since he was teeny tiny!
My calendar for the next week shows we packed in the fun but took few pictures — five different playgrounds in five days, a trip to the pool, a successful day at Soren’s school, a friend over for dinner one night, and one evening with lobster rolls and fountain fun in the North End.
Plus, a Friday evening train ride with Dada while I got my gym on.
On Sunday evenings we usually go for a little spin around the neighborhood. Soren is always up for a stop at the pond to throw rocks. The slope into the water is a little steep at the edge, so I feel the need to steady him by the shirt collar. I’m certain he’ll run right in one of these days.
Street find! One of the houses by the lake had a few children’s items out for giveaway. We snagged this great Melissa & Doug easel for future use. It was a bit cumbersome to carry, so Tim set it down for a few minutes while we played.
The following week Soren and I visited our Boston zoo, thanks to free tickets from the Allston-Brighton Family Network. It wasn’t much compared to DC’s, but we did have a great time watching the gorillas.
I promise he was having fun.
Soren likes to help me water our herbs, and I like to record our conversations (even though our conversations are often nearly identical from day to day).
We ventured to a new beach the next Saturday, and now we can’t figure out why we’d never been to Nahant before.
Easy parking, great sand, and typical New England freezing cold water.
This was our first real beach day of the year, and we were relieved that Soren quickly learned to love the sand.
Tim is really good at digging and building, and I’m really good at sitting in my chair and reading.
Buried alive.
That night, we discovered a scary bullseye on Soren’s leg and had to start antibiotics for Lyme disease. I had ambitions of keeping antibiotics out of my baby’s system for his whole life, but we decided it was a better alternative than an actual disease. We killed some time at the park while walking to CVS to get his prescription filled, and Soren taught me all about picking up trash at the park.
Another day, another video. Conversations about gooses and popcorn and Wild Things and so on.
Uncle Ben came up for yet another visit toward the end of the month, so Tim took a little time off work for some play time. Our first stop was Walden Pond.
The parking lot was full and wouldn’t open again for two hours. So Soren and I hopped out of the car and snuck in the old fashioned way.
The best water in the world with the best scenery.
Channeling his inner Thoreau.
We had more water fun the next day at the Frog Pond (after a quick stop at the courtyard story time at the BPL).
Soren was the first one in the water, and he was clearly thrilled about it.
Back and forth from the playground to the pond.
Shoulda brought my suit.
I never knew Soren had these moves in him.
Next we took Ben to Giacomo’s, our tried and true favorite for pumpkin tortellini, lobster ravioli, butternut squash ravioli, and more.
The line was as long as ever, but Soren kept busy by wandering the Freedom Trail and taking breaks to read.
And of course we had to also pick up pastries and stop by the fountains while in the North End.
On Saturday we were off to Castle Island.
First, some playground fun.
Playgrounds should always be right on the beach.
Tricky bridge.
Perfect day.
Sandy train tracks.
My dreams of cultivating a beach bum are definitely coming true.
And to finish the month off, I tried to capture on video some of the funny things Soren knows/says. It never works out quite as well when he’s on camera. He likes to talk about our respective workplaces (Harvard for Tim, “office” for me), a few numbers, some letters, and so on.
Oh, and one more random from the last of the month.
I’m not sure how this started, but Soren really likes to fill the bottom of the slide with woodchips, walk around to climb the ladder, then crash down into his pile. Also, note his pocket full of Trader Joe’s stickers. Always good to keep those close to the heart.
Tagged: Castle Island, Franklin Park Zoo, Frog Pond, Frying Pan Park, Giacomo's, JetBlue, Nahant, National Zoo, North End, Virginia
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