Today we headed north to start our birthday mini vacation celebration for Noby. I can’t believe he’s turning two tomorrow! Feels like only yesterday I was telling Ichiro it was time!
So today we drove north, passing Loudon on the way (sorry Ichiro!), first stop was Clark’s Trading Post. Clark’s has been open since 1928. Entertaining White Mountain travels with their bear show and train rides. These days there is alot more to see at Clark’s. Noby had a great time on his first train ride and enjoyed about 1/2 of the bear show.
It’s that time of year again, The Big E, one of my favorite times of the year. To me, The Big E is the beginning of fall; the beginning of leaves changing, the beginning of flip flop and sweatshirt season, the beginning of pumpkin spice lattes. The beginning of fall, I love this time of year!
This year we shared the joys of The Big E with Keith, Megan and although he did nothing but complain, my oldest friend Ryan. We had a great time, ate WAY to much and pretty much drank to much too! Doesn’t get much better then that!! My favorite part had to be showing Noby the farm animals. We got to see some cows and sheep, the entire time in the barn you could hear him saying mooooo and baaaaa. Just adorable!
Noby’s 2nd Big E…
Checking out the animals…
Maybe next year…
This is where it all began…
We LOVE dinosaurs…
Legos…
Noby stealing Keith’s kettle corn…
The boys hanging out while Megan and I are getting Maine potatoes…
Ryan was just so popular…
Can’t believe he is going to be two!
YUMMY the RI building…
Of course Ryan is trying to get Noby to taste beer…
Nascar.. See Ichiro you saw the race this weekend…
So I’ve wanted to start Letterboxing for a while now. Heidi, from My Paper Crane, one of my favorite blogs, talked about it several times. The moment I saw her blog and pictures about it I knew it was something that I wanted to start with Noby. Wikipedia explains letterboxing as “an outdoor hobby that combines elements of orienteering, art, and puzzle solving. Letterboxers hide small, weatherproof boxes in publicly-accessible places (like parks) and distribute clues to finding the box in printed catalogs, on one of several web sites, or by word of mouth. Individual letterboxes usually contain a notebook and a rubber stamp. Finders make an imprint of the letterbox’s stamp, either on their personal notebook or on a postcard, and leave an impression of their personal stamp on the letterbox’s “visitors’ book” or “logbook” — as proof of having found the box and letting subsequent letterboxers see who have visited. Many letterboxers keep careful track of their “find count”.”
So the more research I did on it, the more I wanted to start. Months ago I went to the store and got a journal, an ink pad, and looked for a stamp for our family. We needed something cool. The more I thought about it the more I wanted the Ashihara crest. The symbol on the watering bucket in Japan. Back then I also looked into getting our crest made into a stamp but never actually ordered it. So today I started looking up clues for the areas we are going to be in NH. I found TONS of clues!! I was also checking the lists of items needed to get started. The more I read the more I realized that it’s much “cooler” to have a homemade stamp, then a store bought one. People seem to be more excited about them. So off to the craft store to see if I could make a stamp for the weekend.
The Ashihara crest…
First Ichiro printed the image out for me…
Next I ironed the image onto the rubber piece in the kit…
A little paper got stuck…
Next you use the little tool in the kit and scrape away all the pink…
add a little ink…
press, press, press…
Not to bad, if I do say so myself!
If you read my blog and have letterboxed before, please leave me a comment so I know and can bug you will all my questions…
Have you ever seen something and know right away that you HAD to have it? Well that was the case with me on Saturday night. Ichiro left for New York, Noby was in bed and I was surfing craigslist. I was searching for swing sets, step 2 toys, little tikes, really anything, I was pretty bored and you never know what you might find. Then I saw it!!! The minute I opened the post I KNEW it had to be Noby’s birthday gift. The post was for a tag sale that a women was having in Medford on Sunday. She said 10 to 2 and no early birds. She called the toy the Little Tikes Hotwheel Mountain and was asking…. $50?? So I started to do a little research. I couldn’t find anything on it. The Little Tikes website didn’t reference it, the only thing I could find was ebay. People were bidding $50+ with shipping of $25-$50!! Also people on ebay were selling all these replacement parts. At that moment I knew I had to get to that tag sale early!
Noby and I rolled up to that tag sales, exactly at 10 and I was SOOO disappointed. She had NOTHING outside. I only saw one of the toys she was advertising on craigslist and we were not in the market for a singing and moving spiderman. If I hadn’t seen the craigslist add I would have driven right back, it was that lame. But I stopped, I wasn’t even going to take Noby out of his car seat, seeing that everything was on a table right on the sidewalk. So I ask, the lady tells me that she didn’t bring any of the big items out. WHAT?? Why the hell wouldn’t you bring the GOOD items out? What makes you think people are going to stop when they just see shit on the sidewalk. haha
So I go in (with Noby) and this lady had EVERY toy you could think of. I mean EVERYTHING. Turns out she runs a daycare out of her house. Noby was in HEAVEN. I saw the mountain but tried to not act excited about it. That’s what you do when you are about to make some deals. I ask “$50? huh? Can you do any better?” She explains they don’t make it anymore, it’s hard to get, and on ebay they are selling for more, blah blah blah. I say ” I KNOW, I did my research, I love and want it!” hahahah I SUCK at dealing!
As her husband carrying the mountain to my car I notice a wagon. Ichiro and I have been talking about getting a wagon for a while now. We could use it for the beach, maybe the races. So many possibilities. But the question I always thought about was what do we do with the wagon the other 11 months out of the year. Also getting a wagon to the beach and to the race would take up half of the packing space. And we all know how much crap we bring everywhere we go.
This wagon was different. IT FOLDS!!! I couldn’t believe it. It would be perfect for us. Folds right up like a pack-n-play! The couple told me that they only used it once, they bought it for $100, the price tag was actually still on it. They were asking for $50 but because I got the mountain she said “Make me an offer.” What the hell do I do with that? We saw how good I was at dealing. What do I offer? Ummmm Ummmm “Would you take $30?” I say… “SURE.” I guess I should have started lower, but I still think I got a great deal for $30.
My plan was to hold off and give the mountain to Noby for his birthday. After I scrubbed and scrubbed it during his nap time, I hid it away in the guest room. My original plan was to bring it to NH with us so he could play with it in the room, well that was until I saw how big it was. Ichiro came home from NY today and we decided to give Noby his birthday gift a little early. I knew I couldn’t hold out. It was hard enough waiting till Ichiro got home. Besides this was my original due date. Not his fault I was 5 days late! no? haha
Noby LOVED it! I should say LOVES it. He was all smiles and couldn’t get enough of it. He played with Ichiro for hours. He was just so happy!
Check it out…
This was Noby’s old ramp. He would spend hours sending his cars down the track…
Like most mornings, today I woke up to Noby talking in the monitor. I rolled over and checked the video part of the monitor. I couldn’t believe my eyes, Noby was…. he was… NAKED?? I ran downstairs to get the camera, not sure why I guess that’s just what a blogging mom does! haha When I went in the room I found him looking like this… He unsnapped and unzipped his footed pjs and then slipped them off. THANK GOD he hadn’t taken the poopie diaper off too!! hahaha
Before Ichiro could leave town for business we headed to the Rainforest Cafe. This morning Shawn called and asked if we wanted to join them for a late lunch. I’ve wanted to bring Noby there for a while now, so this seemed like a great time to do it. We’ve checked out the lobby before but never actually ate there. Noby had a great time. He was a little nervous when the first thunder storm happened but quickly got over it. He LOVED walking around to see all the animals, so much so that we had a hard time keeping him in his seat to eat.
Checking out the fish with Daddy…
I kept trying to get a picture of Noby holding his new cup, it lights up all fun…
There are many benefits in being a member of the Museum of Science. We’ve been members for two years now and last night, by far, was the best benefit of all. A few months ago we received an email about up coming events and one instantly caught my eye. I sent the link to Ichiro and within minutes the tickets were ordered. He put the link on Facebook and within a half an hour Joanna and Shawn were interested in joining us.
The title of the night was, “An evening with Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan,” and just like the other night at Jersey Boys the average age was MUCH older then us. Even though we were one of the youngest people there it was such an amazing night. Ken Burns is an remarkable speaker!! I could totally listen to him talk all night long. He was so eloquent and drew you in. Listening to him and Dayton Duncan go over their experiences was awesome. It made you want to get in a car and travel to all of these parks!
The night’s description in my email stated, “Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan present a sneak peek of their new six-part PBS documentary series The National Parks: America’s Best Idea. Set against breathtaking backdrops, the film is the story of an idea as uniquely American as the Declaration of Independence and just as radical — that the most special places in the nation should be preserved, not for royalty or the rich, but for everyone.
Burns and series writer / co-producer Duncan will screen highlights from the 12-hour series. Included are scenes from Denali National Park that feature photographs by Brad Washburn, renowned explorer and founding director of the Museum, as well as interviews with Brad and Barbara Washburn.”
The highlights were certainly breathtaking and the story they told just left you wanting more. The mini series starts Sunday, September 27 on WGBH (PBS). I highly recommend everyone setting their Tivos!
