Three Weeks in Masschusetts (Part 2)

I never posted the rest of the pictures from our summer vacation to Massachusetts. There has been A LOT going on in our household (posts on that to come). Without further ado...
Brian's WHOLE family (from his mother's side) vacationed in the Berkshires for a week. It was wonderful to have everyone under one roof for an extended amount of time!

At Big Pond Lake in Otis, MA

This is literally the only picture I have of Brian and his brother, Brad, with their boys.

Ice Cream!!

The WHOLE family! (Don't mind my CRAZY smile...I had just set the timer on the camera and was DASHING back to my spot before the picture was taken!)

One of my favorite pictures of BJ and his cousin Alexander. Look at those crazy curls on BJ's head!

Racing in the pool

BJ's first boat ride. He fell asleep within 5 minutes of the trip!

Great Grandma Leonard with Brian and BJ. She traveled all the way from FL to see us (and the rest of the family)!

Storytime!

BJ and Auntie Amelia

Daddy and BJ golfing

Auntie Autumn and Uncle Jeff with BJ and Alexander

BJ was very into showing off his muscles at Grandma's house. He carried water, juice, and gatorade back and forth from the kitchen to the living room, all the while grunting because it was so heavy!

Twenty One (and a half) Months

I cannot begin to express how quickly time is flying by. BJ is growing faster and learning quicker. He is a smiley, happy, talking toddler! Here are a few insights into our life with BJ at 21.5 months:

• BJ loves to jump. He jumps on the bed, he "dives in the bathtub" (from kneeling to belly), he jumps on his toys. The other day he even jumped off the couch with no one to catch him (yikes...that was scary!). I wonder where he got that idea from!

• BJ is learning how to listen and obey. Some days he listens, others he does not. On those days, he often runs the complete opposite direction and does this:

• Sometimes when BJ takes a drink he will hold it in his mouth for a few seconds. He will look at you to see if you are watching and, when he has your full attention, he will swallow and say, "Aaahhh!"



• BJ likes to pray. When he takes a drink, he will fold his hands and urge either Brian or I to pray, and then he'll swallow. He also says little prays. He'll clasp his hands, whisper a prayer ever so softly, and then do jazz hands while saying "Amen".



• BJ likes to "dunk" his food and makes up interesting food combinations: orange slices in A1 sauce, green peppers slices in yogurt, BP&J in tomato soup, etc. You would think that it tastes disgusting but he loves to do it! (I have yet to partake in his tasty experiments)




• BJ likes to dance. He asks for the radio to be turned on and he'll turn around in circles or sway back and forth. During our nightly devotions, BJ and I make up a song and dance. His favorite dance move is to have both hands and his right foot on the floor and raise his left leg as high as it can go!




• BJ LOVES Veggie Tales. He sings the theme song by going "bomp, bomp, bomp" and puffs his cheeks. He constantly asks to watch it (and we constantly say 'no'). On the rare occasion that he gets to watch 5 minutes, BJ gets SO excited. He screams, claps his hands, and points to the tv.




• BJ and Sweetie (our cat) have a love/don't-like relationship. BJ loves her and will do anything to get close to her. He chases her around the house, tries to play catch with her by throwing balls at her, and just gets so excited when he catches a glimpse of her. Sweetie, although she used to tolerate BJ when he was younger, has become a scarce sight in our house. She has taken to hiding under the couch when BJ is awake. But as soon as he is strapped into his high chair for dinner or is asleep, Sweetie is out and about.
  
  PS - I created this post several weeks ago and never finished it! Hence the 21.5 instead of 21 months :)

Three weeks in Massachusetts! Part One

The last three weeks of July we spent up in New England visiting Brian's family. We stayed overnight with Brian's sister, Autumn, and husband, Jeff.
Brian is a HUGE New England sports fan. Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics. Autumn and Jeff took us to Gillette Stadium to take a look around. Despite the monsoon that was occurring when we arrived (we got soaked!) we had a wonderful time exploring the grounds. There was an event happening that evening (New England Revolution vs Manchester United) so we left before the crowds got too big.

Instead of eating at the stadium we decided to eat closer to home. Our waitress gave BJ a HUGE dessert (on the house). We saved the cookie for later (for Mommy and Daddy, of course) and gave BJ all the rest. He loved it!

The next day we went to the zoo!

BJ and Daddy fed a deer from hand.

I cuddled with Brian's littlest sister, Amelia.

BJ and Grandpa Deschaine looked at the animals.

Deschaine Family Fun at the Zoo!

Later in the week we went and visited Grandpa and Grandma Deschaine at their house in CT. BJ and Amelia had a blast in the kiddie pool.

Although the pool was fun there was an even bigger body of water waiting just around the corner....

the lake!!!!

BJ also got to meet his Great Grandpa McCracken on this trip. We tried to take advantage of this special visit by taking a photo of Great Grandpa and the great grandkids. Well, the kids wouldn't cooperate without the parents so instead we took a picture of Great Grandpa, his grandchildren who are parents, and his great grandkids.

From left to right: Brian and BJ, Great Grandpa McCracken and Caroline (cousin Heather's youngest), Uncle Brad and Alexander, and Cousin Heather and Madison.

And finally, here is a cute picture of BJ running through the sprinkler. Such joy!

Bethany Beach, Delaware

Our summer of vacation continues...We returned home from BBC on a Friday (yup, I'm still blogging about July), rested Saturday, and packed up the car and headed out for Delaware on Sunday. Brian's brother Brad, his wife Stephanie, and their son Alexander were visiting Stephanie's family in Annapolis, which happens to be right on our route to Delaware. So we took the opportunity to see the family :)

For the past 2 years, our beach vacation has coincided with the Fourth of July holiday. Despite heavy traffic and TONS of beach-goers, we had a blast! My extended family rented a home for the week 3 blocks from the beach. There was a total of 7 adults and 5 children under one roof! Luckily, the house was HUGE and we had plenty of room. The holiday was on Monday and BJ got to see his first parade.

Because of the weather the fireworks were delayed til Tuesday night. I was afraid that BJ would not like the loud explosions but I was wrong. He actually pushed my hands off of his ears so he could enjoy the show!

Our family at the fireworks!

BJ really enjoyed the ocean this year. He wanted to run right into the water. The waves were a little strong for BJ so we always had to be near.

To make a safe place where the kids could play, the adults dug a ditch in the sand to collect water. The children LOVED it!

My Uncle Eddie's family was also visiting Bethany Beach the same week we were. We got together at the beach a couple of days. In total, we had 8 kids under the age of 10. It's a cool photo because it captures all 8 of my grandmother's great-grandchildren.

If you look carefully you can see Tommy in the background! He didn't care much for the waves so stayed by the blanket a lot. BJ is not looking at the camera but he's still in the picture :)

Me and BJ in the ditch. Yup, I'm wearing long sleeves at the beach. The sun is killer on my oh-so-sensitive skin!

Just a cute picture of BJ in the sand

BJ absolutely LOVES his cousins. Jacob (7 years old) is at an age where he can interact with BJ in a boyish way, like sports and wrestling and what-not. We were burying Jacob in the sand and all BJ wanted to do was jump on him!

This is one of my favorite shots from the beach.

On our way home from the beach we stopped at a Nike outlet store. BJ pulled a pair of shoes off the shelf that he HAD to try on. Wouldn't you know that they were his size! So we had a little fashion shoe in the middle of the store...

P.S. More summer vacation pictures to come. Be patient!

P.S.S. Pardon the wierd spacing in the blog. I've been working on this post for 2 weeks and I can't figure out how to space it properly!

Defender Basketball Camp at BBC

On the first leg of our vacation our family headed up to Clarks Summit, PA for Defender Basketball camp at Baptist Bible College. Like years past, Brian brought a group of boys from the school. We prayed that this would be an opportunity for them to grow closer to God as well as learn more about basketball.


Group Photo


BJ in the huddle


BJ watching the ball game

BJ and his bball buddy JJ. Brian and JJ's dad were assistant basketball coaches at BBC together. JJ is older than BJ by 10 days. JJ may have the height but BJ has all the hair :)


Playing outside with his basketball (because BJ was getting a little crazy indoors!)

I always enjoy going back to BBC because the place holds such fond memories for Brian and I. We get a chance to reconnect with some "old" friends and they get to enjoy spending time with BJ! We also get to meet up with some friends along our route as well!


Since BJ and I drove separately from the rest of the crew, we were able to stop in York, PA to visit Faithe, a friend from college. Although BJ isn't smiling that much in the photo he really enjoyed his visit with Miss Faithe, and I did too!

During the week at camp BJ and I had a playdate with a very good friend of mine, Gretchen. We met halfway at a wonderful playpark. Gretchen's daughter Ellie (happy 5th birthday Ellie) and BJ played very well together. Ellie's little brother Caleb enjoyed his time as well, I think!

Ellie and BJ in the HUGE sandbox!

Gretchen and Caleb

Instead of staying in the dorms we were able to stay at our friend Rachel's house. It's become tradition! She has a yard that BJ loves to run around in and this cool "weeping" tree. BJ loved to run through the leaves!

When we go visit BBC there is one thing we absolutely always have to do....visit Manning's Dairy Farm! Mannings makes the BEST homemade icecream. Ever. And it's very inexpensive. We had to take BJ to try out the tasty goodness!

BJ exploring the farm. Even the smell of cow manure can't dampen the wonderfulness of the ice cream.

Family portrait with ice cream. BJ got his own ice cream cone for the first time ever. It was the smallest cone I have ever seen and it only cost 50 cents.

Daddy, BJ, and Rachel