A Walk in the Woods

One of our favorite weekend activities, is to take a walk in the woods. After a long week of Michael working in the city and Mason and I shuffling play dates, errands and housework, it is great to take a couple of hours and relax, enjoy the sounds of frogs and birds and take stock of what a beautiful place, we live in. There are many nature preserves within a very short drive of us and we are trying to explore each one. Our newest find is an Audubon preserve that is full of trees, ponds and cranberry bogs. If you are like me, I had no idea how cranberries grew. Well, let me tell you, they grow in very shallow ponds or bogs that are flooded so the berries float to the top and can be picked. Even from a distance, these bogs are stunning. It is not every day that you see a pond covered in a deep red color.

St Patrick's Day

Mason had a St Patrick's Day party with his play group, where they all received a green hat, searched for treasure and then had a special cupcake treat. Mason was very pleased with his new hat. He loved the treasure hunt, where he found a green necklace and lots of gold coins!

A day at the beach

This weekend we stumbled upon one of the most beautiful beaches we have seen. We were taking a drive, a weekend past time of ours, and found Powder Point beach in the small town of Duxbury. It was a great sunny day, though still a little chilly with a crisp ocean wind, as you can tell by our non-beach attire. We were excited to finally introduce Mason to the ocean and sand, since he was still crawling last summer and therefore not great at the beach. He loved the great expanse of sand, the enormous puddle, otherwise known as the ocean and all the smooth tumbled rocks that decorated the shoreline.

Mason and Dada

Mason and Mama in the sea of pebbles

Bucket, pail, now what?

Sand face

Beautiful

Fun in the sand

The sky was as blue as the water

Who says rain boots are just for the rain

Mason vs. Michael

open coast line

We found lots of "treasures", shells, rocks and at the end of the day we found a whole clam shell with the clam still in it. As you can see, the clam was huge and Mason was not a fan of it. The clam was safely returned to the ocean, where it belonged.

Lazy days

The joy of lazy times. I bought a bean bag for Mason about a month ago, in hopes he would sit on it, instead of the hard wood floors. So far, he used it more to catapult himself onto and then roll off onto the floor. But, today, I caught him finally realizing the joy of a soft place to sit/lay on. He looks pretty comfy, doesn't he!

Splish Splash

Mason has discovered the joys of jumping in puddles. After many wet shoes, socks and toes I finally found a great pair of rain boots for my little splasher. It snowed a couple of days ago, but it was bright and sunny today so some of the snow began to melt, which meant....PUDDLES. Mason got a chance to break in his new boots and boy did he love it.

He spotted the perfect puddle

sizing it up
The first step

then a few more

Music Man

One of the many things Mason loves, is music. He will rock back and forth when he hears a certain beat or song and loves to dance around. We have recently "baby proofed" the office, which allows Mason to hang out with Michael, when he is working from home. Within the office are two guitars, which Mason has discovered. He gently strums the strings or plucks a single string and is so careful about both.

New England Aquarium

This week we went to the New England Aquarium in Boston. It was a great day, though very crowded. We first stopped by the "wellness" area, where they were treating a sick sea turtle. The turtle was looking face to face with Mason, this was a great start to his first aquarium experience. Next we went to the world of jelly fish, beautiful creatures dancing around their tanks. The penguins were next on our list, with three different species of penguins, there was a lot to see. In the center of the aquarium, there was a 4 story tank with sharks, fish, eels, and the fattest sea turtle we have ever seen! After our busy morning at the aquarium, Michael was able to meet us for lunch and a little play time on the wharf. We hope to return to the aquarium again, soon.

Mason's first look at the sea turtles

Jelly Fish

The fattest sea turtle

Lunch and playtime at the wharf