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We discovered a new Playground in Amherst - Cemetery Fields. My brother Jon's boys have played some sports on the fields there, but we had not been there with Jacob. It is surprising how exciting it is for him to find a new playground - I think a new experience and different challenges make it a lot of fun. The playground is very open and a lot of room around it. This will be a regular hang out for us and the boys!! (See if you can find Jake in the picture - hint: right in the center)

August 17, 2008... Picnic at Greeley Park

We slowed thing down a little and had a nice picnic lunch at Greeley Park in Nashua. Nothing quite like PB&J under the trees…

Click here for Greeley Park Photo Gallery

August 16, 2008... Remember "Wacky Packs"?

Any kid that grew up in the US in the seventies remembers the Wacky Packages—a series of collectible stickers featuring parodies of consumer products and well-known brands and packaging—produced by the Topps company in 1967 & 1973. The cards and stickers were the right type of silly humor and sometimes gross humor that really hit home with kids. Someone has created a coffee table book of all the old Stickers/Cards so that we can enjoy them again.

Click here for Amazon.com Wacky Packages Coffee table Book

August 14, 2008... Wildlife Encounters Zoo

Wildlife Encounters Zoo is a travelling petting zoo that goes throughout NH - to public libraries, schools, you can even reserve them for a birthday party (for around $300). Check out their schedule they really do go everwhere: Laconia, Manchester, Dover, Amherst, Concord/Penacook, etc… We saw them at the Hudson Old Home Day, I gave the brochure to Jake's pre-school - maybe the school will have their "Zippity-Zoo" show for the kids…

Click here for Wildlife Encounters Website

August 11, 2008... Hudson Old Home Day

We went to the Hudson Old Home Day to check out the Wildlife Encounters Travelling Petting Zoo that was going to be there, but we got much more. The NH State police had their Helicopter, motorcycle, and bomb squad robot there for kids to check out. They had lots of amusement rides and the petting zoo. Wildlife Encounters had Frodo the tortoise wandering the grounds, a baby kangaroo, geckos, an asian centipede, a big African Serval cat, African Pygmy Hedgehog, a Burmese Python, etc… We enjoyed the animals and the rides - Jake especially liked the RockinTugBoat, he went on it twice. We left about 5 minutes before a complete downpour of rain, whew!!

Click here for Hudson Old Home Day Photo Gallery

August 10, 2008... Another Busy Weekend - Parlee Farm

We had another busy weekend - the Nashua Summer Fun/Energy Fair and the Parlee Farm on Saturday, Hudson Old Home Days on Sunday. The Energy fair was mostly a good excuse for Jake to get into another Bouncy House and get some ice cream. Parlee Farm was a pleasant surprise - the farm is right in Tyngsboro, MA. Parlee farm has a small petting zoo: goats, sheep, bunny rabbits… they have a farm stand, ice cream stand, and pick your own fruits and flowers. Depending on the season they have pick your own strawberries, blueberries, cut flowers, raspberries, apples, and pumpkins. Jake wanted to pick some blueberries - so we did, we had a fun time picking blueberries. I posted some photos from the outing…

Click here for Parlee Farm Photo Gallery

August 8, 2008... Olympics - Opening Ceremony

I watched the opening ceremony for the Olympics - they were amazing. The 2008 Drummers were the highlight, Martial artists performing Tai Chi in a big circle was amazing, movable-type printing performance - who knew there were people underneath moving the cubes (Karen did), the painting scroll, an the Chinese gymnast that ran around the stadium up in the air - incredible. You can definitely see the cultural influence in the way the performances were carried out. Definitely an A+.

August 6, 2008... Joseph Update - 4 months!!

How time flies - Joseph just turned 4 months old the other day. We had his doctor's appointment - he is just under 14lbs and got a few shots - Ouch!! We also got the go ahead to start him on solid food - just the rice cereal for now. Joseph seems ok with the food, but I think he still prefers his bottle.

August 4, 2008... Family Picnic - Crystal Lake

We made our way up to Crystal Lake for the Towle Family picnic - we had a great time, a lot of family got to see Joseph for the 1st time. I did not get too much of a chance to stop and talk with everyone - Jake kept me on the move!! Jake had fun playing Foosball with his cousin Alex, Jacob also found the drums and decided to play - he did quite well. It did rain a little, but that did not stop the boys from playing. Maybe I will be able to sit down a relax at one of these events… then again Joseph hasn't started walking yet. I have posted a few pictures as well.

Click here for Family Picnic Photo Gallery

August 2, 2008... Touch-A-Truck

There was a Touch-A-Truck event at Nashua High South - for $5 Jake and I were able to check out a bunch of trucks - climb in them, play with the controls, honk the horns - they had everything: Police car, Ambulance, Dump Truck, Fire Engine, Scoop Loader, Crane, Ice Cream Truck, etc… Jake actually ran into a few of his pre-school buddies and we also ran into a family friend - Doug and his 2 boys. I have posted some pictures…

Click here for Touch-A-Truck Photo Gallery

August 1, 2008... Online Bubblewrap - POP away

Got some free time and a some obsessive-compulsive issues to work out - try this online Bubblewrap. Just go ahead and click on the bubblewrap to make it POP, the best option is to click on the Manic Mode! and you can go crazy!! Have fun and relieve a little stress…

Click here to go to Online Bubblewrap