Mystic Aquarium

Friday we took Grammy & Great Grandma Rooney to Mystic Aquarium for the day.  Mystic is a very picturesque New England coastal town, but all we had time to do was the aquarium and some shops adjacent to it. The kiddos were so wiped out that we canceled our plans to visit the seaport with all the old ships. The beluga whales passed by to say hello to the kids...

 We got to see the penguins (and watch their trainers hand feed them all fishies), and hang out with the penguin artwork...

 Gage is still not brave enough to tackle the touch pools, but Savannah is.  She had a blast at the ray pool, and touched all of the starfish and little crabs before working up the nerve to pick up the big spider crab here...

 after the aquarium we went to the shops in Old Mystic Village, had lobster rolls, ice cream, and stopped at the Swedish store. My great grandma came from Sweden, and a few of us in the family collect Swedish horses called dala horses. Aunt Karen told us they had a BIG one at the store in Mystic, and she was not kidding!!!!  We racked up quite a bill at the Swedish store, buying Xmas ornaments and decorations, some interesting dala horses, and letting the kids each pick out their own horses (or course, Savannah chose a pink one!).

The kids tried on some viking helmets too. This one with braids was just too cute....

So, we never made it to see the "pirate ships" in Mystic Seaport, or to see Mystic's neat bridge that lifts up and down as boats pass through the river. Although Gage was crying to see the big ships, I said they were alll about to "zonk out". Gage insisted he was not going to "zonk out" but he did  -- in minutes. Next time...

Quassy

In the small town I grew up in - Middlebury, CT -- there is a tiny amusement park that has been there for ages. Time stands still at Quassy.  Most of the rides (for the kids, at least) have been there since before I even started going there as a kid.  It is perfect for little kids, though, and we always make sure to go with cousin Elizabeth when we are in CT.  On the big red slide, Savannah screamed so loud coming down EVERY TIME that the entire park could hear her.

We rode the little train about 5 times. Every time, we have to put our hands up in the air and scream when we go into the train tunnel.

When I was young, Quassy's carousel was very old and VERY fast. They auctioned off all of the old horses years ago and made a fortune, but the new carousel is just as fun for the kids now...

 

Mommy agreed to buy cotton candy (or a giant bag of colored sugar),and Gage loved it....

 and we road all of the rides over and over and over. Gage had to be sure to get on ALL of the different superhero planes, but Batman was his favorite..

Longmeadow Pond

Right down the road from Grammy's house, we discovered that we can sneak into Longmeadow Pond without being residents of Bethlehem :-)  After our first day there, Savannah declared that we should go there EVERY DAY we don't have anything else to do. I tend to agree with her. The water was warm, there were lifeguards, nice shallow water, a big playset, swings - really nice place.  We have been there twice already and plan lots more visits!

The Grove

Grandpa Pauly's best friend (Tiger) owns a gorgeous piece of property in Woodbury that his family uses for parties. We played in the river catching fishies and (Mommy) failed miserably at finding crayfish....

 

We played ball, and frisbee, and catch, and football...

 

 We ate a lot of donuts with frosting & blue sprinkles...

Gage tried to catch Mommy in a net and picked some flowers for me...

We went for a few paddle boat rides...

 And while waiting for the fireworks to start, the guys shot off some parachutes for the kids to catch...

 And then...we just messed around while waiting for fireworks. 

Gage made it up for about half of the fireworks, and then crashed asleep.

take you for a ride in the big green tractor

In previous visits, Gage liked to SIT on Grandpa's big tractor, but this year....he has been DRIVING the tractor with Grandpa. I don't know if Gage or Grandpa are happier, but it's clear that they both love this :-)

A day at the beach with our cousins

As kids, I used to go to the beach with my cousins Kevin & Kristine every summer. This year, we did it again, but brought all of our kids!!  We went to Rocky Neck State Park in Old Lyme, Ct. The kids had a blast with their cousins catching sandcrabs (and Savannah kept "catching" seaweed), building a haunted house (a hole in the sand with sticks pointing out that were really worrying the mommies), playing in the chilly water (definitely not as warm as the Gulf Coast!!), building sandcastles, and eating a LOT of snacks.

 

Happy 4th of July

The kids and I got to join the fun at Aunt Jean's house for their annual 4th of July party.  Kiddos had fun swimming in the big & little pools, playing in the sandbox & castle at their cousins' house just next door, and just running around being crazy kids. We had a little break for some rain showers, and while everyone else hid under the big tent, Gage was happy to run in the rain. Although it seemed to take forever to get dark enough, we finally got to break out the sparklers (lots and lots!), watch some fireworks, and get eaten by mosquitoes!!

Spending time with Great Grandma

We were happy to get to be here for Grandma Rooney's 87th birthday this year!  Savannah picked a bouquet of wildflowers for her on her birthday and we've been out shopping, out to lunch, and out to ice cream with Gram so far.

Gage, Grandpa, and "boy things"

Gage is in boy heaven here in CT.  Last year he was afraid of Grandpa's digger, but THIS year he is NOT afraid.  We thought he would be happy to just sit in the digger, but he told Grandpa that he wanted to start it up and dig. So, he and Grandpa started up the digger and smashed a car that's going to the junkyard. And, rather than just walk to the moo cows, he and Grandpa rode out on the four wheeler.  Grandpa is excited to have a little guy who wants to play with Grandpa's "toys"!