Not so much feast, more just horse-riding. We had a few munchies but there seems to be a little less stuff year after year. Highlights this year were the $1 mango lassis and the horses. Last year Josie was petrified, this year she rode two of them. We showed up right at the beginning and there was thankfully no line. Josie also tried out the bounce house for about 30 seconds but I think she was too tired as it was nap time.

Then after mastering the short ride with the little pony, she chose the biggest one next.

Note the difference in Jordi vs. Josie’s head height between these two shots. Josie also got to try her first italian ice because I sure needed it on this hot day. She enjoyed it but didn’t gulp it the way she would with ice cream! At this point she was pretty beat and was too tired to walk anymore, except when we saw the clown with balloons, and then we hightailed it out of there again!

Last week we went to Drumlin farm with our little menagerie of toddlers. I haven’t been to Drumlin, at least in my memory so it was a new experience. We had an ok time but it’s not a place we’ll be racing to go back to. Everything was quite spread out and it was quite hot even in the morning. Josie’s highlights were the goats, the tractors, the wooden horses to sit on, and the chicken house. They all had a great time playing with the pretend egg sorter although they didn’t quite get the point of it yet. They each took their turn on a small tractor too.

We saw a goat get milked and Josie enjoyed petting the then trapped goat.

The next day I happened to go to playtime, the local arts and crafts store, and they had some wooden eggs so I got one for Josie’s cooking set. She knew just what it was and proceeded to boil it.

With all the good weather we’ve been having lately we’ve been spending some quality time with our buddies Ella and Nolan (not related) and their nanny Kate. Last week we went to the stone zoo with them and looked around for the morning. They all have a good time together and it’s great to have some adult company.

For the first time we got a tremendous look at the snow leopard. It was like it was waiting for us in the morning, sitting directly at the bottom in front of the fence. We’ve been lucky to catch a glimpse of the cat’s tail before if anything. If you’re headed there, make sure to go there first. Here’s a little video, the cat was pacing and playing.

Nolan was very interested in the nature, the rocks and dirt. For the first time we also got to pet the goats and sheep in the petting area, they’d never been open before. They all loved the old rusted train cart, at least compared to the lazy sleeping cats. Guess we can see that at home.

Weekend before last we had a thunderstorm with crazy rain and wind. We had some micro-surges they said which brought down part of the tree in front of our house and treated us to no power for about 24 hours whereas the rest of the street had it back by morning. We were watching the storm and suddenly it was a total whiteout like in a blizzard and then bam the major branch came down and out went the power. An entire tree came up blocking the entire street towards Mass Ave too.

Josie was initially scared by the storm, but once we taught her that the light flashes (lightning) would be followed by booms (thunder), she was highly amused and predicting the booms each time. Cats were scared into hiding in bed and other dark places.

Unfortunately the following Sunday we again lost a branch from our tree, this time it fell in the street (yah for us!) onto a car (boo for the car owner!) in the middle of the night. Hopefully this tree can keep the rest of its limbs.

Jordi took Josie to another ‘touch-a-truck’ event where she liked the school bus and the moving van. Unfortunately she does NOT like the people handing out balloons because they accidentally pop balloons while inflating them. So we have to steer clear of balloon people now or have a toddler velcro’d to my leg.

Two of our mom’s group families (one of which is our neighbor) are moving away this summer sadly. We had a goodbye party with almost everyone in attendance and I played photographer. We’ll miss them dearly but new job opportunities have called them away. Here’s some of my favorite photos from the day.

Earlier this month we celebrated my dad’s birthday. We went to my parents house bright and early and brought them Quebrada almond croissants. We made an apple tart which Josie enjoyed cutting and measuring for. My dad has a nifty device to peel, cut, and core apples all at the same time. She used it that day for the first time. Just had to keep her fingers away from the blades.

Every time we go to my parents house Josie feeds the cats wet food. To the point of where Molly starts yelling at us right when we get there. She’s ready for her meal and she expects it to be brought to her on a plate no matter where she is lounging at the time. Josie happily complies. Ginny on the other hand tends to run away from the loud toddler footsteps and often doesn’t eat her food, we give more to Molly who needs it anyway.

Monday of memorial day weekend we hopped into the car and drove out to Kimball Farm. We met up with a few other families to play in the sand (volleyball court), eat, ride the pony and eat again. It was a nice way to spend the morning with a nap included on the ride home.

Last year at the Feast Of The East here in Arlington (which is this upcoming weekend this year) we tried to get Josie to ride on a pony but she insisted otherwise. This time she was itching to get on and have a ride. Jordi walked around with her and she did well.

We spent sometime just playing in the sand, looking at the people playing golf and the big hot air balloon.

Finally, we got ice cream the size of our head. They have a crazy ‘special’ ice cream with three flavors, all the sauces and toppings in one giant mess of a heap for only about $6. Much cheaper than buying even two small ice creams! Strawberry for Josie, vanilla for Jordi and mint cookie for me. We dug in and made it almost halfway through with three of us. Had to make sure Josie wasn’t looking when I tossed that in the trash! Not the healthiest day ever given lunch was mostly french fries, but we made up for it at dinner.

A few weekends ago we had Josie’s ‘big’ birthday party with all her (and our) friends. We crashed my parents house and turned the backyard into a kids playground with various slides, climbing structures, food and of course the bounce house. It was very popular with most all the kids from age 4.5 to 1.

Josie had a good time. She was a little intimidated by all the people to start with though. She spent a bit of time in the house watching before she was ready to come out and join the party. She bounced, she rolled, she climbed, she swung and she said hi to her friends as she ran by. Here’s some photos and videos of the chaos.

We also got these big huge beach balls (42″) which were a big hit with kids and adults alike. They were a blast to throw around and catch because they moved so slowly.

The beach balls combined with the bounce house were another big hit.

Some of the kids had to be dragged away from the bouncing practically kicking and screaming, but thankfully it’s our bounce house so we’ll be able to bounce again another day. Also with much thanks, everyone kept their food down while bouncing!

We had a few peaceful moments but otherwise just food and fun for an afternoon. Josie liked her (second) caterpillar cake, this one courtesy of costco. She was able to blow out her candles this year, one at a time!

One food from Jordi’s childhood are arepas. As I have been taught, arepas are different depending on where you’re getting them from, Venezuelan ones are primarily white corn meal and water formed into english muffin shapes and sauteed/steamed. Columbian ones are more like pancakes with yellow corn meal, Jordi would call those cachapas. We stuff cheese into the middle of all of them, yum.

Josie got her first lesson in making arepas and she enjoyed it. She helps me most every day in the kitchen to measure and pour food for dinner. For the arepas I had to demonstrate just how to mix them up with your hands because she did not seem to believe that I actually wanted her to stick her hands in the food, since I usually am cautioning her against it. She had fun. She still doesn’t really eat them though, but the cheese is well liked.