our little helper

We built a couple of raised garden beds in our backyard and Charlie was more than eager to get in there and help. :-)

(Pay no mind to the winter boots on his feet.... we decided that was the better option for tromping around in the post-winter backyard without a diaper on.)

in training

My Mother's Day Gift...

Rochester weekend continued...

Of course the weekend would not have been complete without hitting up a few of our favorites...

:-) garbage plates for dinner...

ready to visit the hotel pool...

Charlie was incredibly excited

icecream at Reed's after swimming

Charlie's evening attire

breakfast at Infantino's

Strong National Museum of Play

This past weekend we took a little family vacation down the Thruway to Rochester where we lived for 8 years before moving back to Syracuse and our friends and families. We loved Rochester, but missed the people from home. So, this was hopefully the first of many family trips back to the city we came to feel as our second home.

There is an amazing children's museum in Rochester that we had been to once before, but going with Charlie was more fun than we could have imagined! Even though he fought off taking a nap on the way there as we had hoped, he ran and ran and ran from one thing to another for over four hours until Mommy and Daddy called an end to the fun because we were exhausted! We didn't even get to see all there is at the museum, but we are sure we will be back again before too long!

Looking for "Nemo"

working at the bus station

Sesame Street!!

Charlie cannot help but laugh at Mr Noodle in Elmo's World

trains, trains, and more trains!

riding on the train with Daddy

fishing for some nursery rhymes

sliding at the Berenstain Bears Clubhouse

And some fun in Papa Bear's Workshop

Taking one more ride on the train before heading out

weather craziness

We have had some crazy weather around here lately. Luckily, not as destructive and devastating as other parts of the country, but crazy nonetheless. We are on a 20 day streak of rain and have had some pretty strong storms come through. Last week one thunderstorm also brought on some hail (something we don't see very often). Charlie went from yelling out the window, telling the clouds to "stop bumping," to being completely amazed at the new sound of quarter-sized hail pelting our house and car. He went out afterwards to collect some to show to daddy when he got home a little later.

Daddy's birthday

Daddy is another year older and Charlie thoroughly enjoyed all the birthday going-ons. Presents and cupcakes rank right up there on Charlie's list of favorite things, even if they are not meant for him. And he was extremely excited to pick out his own gift to give Daddy - - Thomas the Train puzzles to play with together.