Summer in March

The weather recentley has been about what you would expect from late March: cool, cloudy, and lots of rain. About two weeks ago though we hit a patch of weather so sublime it felt like it was pulled right out of early June. Needless to say when the thermometer tops 70 degrees, it doesn't matter what month it is, we're heading outside.

For those few days we enjoyed just sitting out in the yard (we even pulled out the deck chairs) and watching Aiden keep himself entertained with whatever he could find to throw/ hit stuff with. Sadly, the deck chairs are now safely stowed back in the shed, and we haven't been able to play outside nearly as much- but that little taste of summer made us that much more excited for the real thing to arrive.

Summer... come soon please?

Dad Time

During the last few weeks the weather around these parts has taken a turn for the better. With winter now safely in the rear view mirror (good riddance) we've had the opportunity to take advantage of some really pleasent, spring-like days.

Aiden is big enough now to really enjoy being outside, and loves the chance to run and climb without all of the restrictions that come from indoor playing. To give him a chance to run off some of his excess energy (and to give Jen a break from his excess energy) I've been trying to take him out on some Dad excursions.

We've had fun, although some activites have been recieved with greater enthusiasm then others. For example, on the first day I took Aiden to a local walking path thinking that we could go for a spin in the cool, new wagon that he got for Christmas.

Walking and running on the trail was loads of fun...

Pulling the wagon was even pretty exciting...

Riding in the wagon, however, less "fun" and more "traumatic." Hopefully next time around things might go a bit more smoothly.

On another day, going to the park was unquestionably a success. Both the slide and swings provided some serious fun.

And of course, sometimes you don't even need to leave home. These last few days especially we've spent some great hours out in the sun in our own backyard.

War of the Words

Aiden has recentley added a new and strangely effective technique of parental manipulation to his (already extensive) repertoire.

A typical exchange goes something like this:

Aiden: (sweetly and with great innocence) "Watch Elmo video?"

Mom and/or Dad: (incredulous and with great sarcasm) "You want to watch your Elmo video?

Aiden: (sweetly again, and acting like none of this was his idea in the first place) "Ok."

Brilliant. And as I said before, quite effective.

Still Here

We apologize for the slower pace of postings but things here at the Jones abode have been pretty mellow. The weather is starting to get nicer, so we're hoping to have some outside pictures soon. But until then- here's a couple of pictures of Aiden just doing what he does, wearing his hat around the house and practicing letters.

Return to the Valley

Well, this post seems long overdue. Better late then never though!

Last weekend was a special one in that we had the opportunity to go on a nice Jones/Weidner/Arnold family mini-vacation to the Willow Valley resort in Lancaster, PA. Willow Valley, as I mentioned in a previous post, looms large in the childhood memories of Jen and is a place that we hope to take Aiden back to many times in the years to come.

If you've had the Willow Valley "experience" (I'm looking at you Weidner and Mcnally families) then you pretty much know the deal: eat, swim, relax, repeat. And so it went on this visit. Aiden has enjoyed his pool experiences in the past, and this time was no different (even though all he wanted to do was to be held and "Kick!")

After Aiden's bed time we even got to enjoy some time in the pool with Aaron and Bethany, where we played the "movie game." (If you don't know what the movie game is, sorry, you'll just have to come on a future Willow Valley trip and find out.) As you'll soon see, every last picture that we have from this weekend was taken in or around the pool. Surprise, surprise. I guess we were too busy licking our plates at the buffet, or staring glassy eyed at the Olympic coverage to lift a camera any other time...

Oh well!

Fortress of Fun

If you look at Jen's decorating blog then you know that we've been making some changes to our kitchen recentely. (Check out the progress here, here and here.)

One of the biggest changes is clearly the giant new island that occupies some prime real estate right in the middle of the room. As we envisioned the new island I think that we were looking forward to it being a centerpiece of many a great meal, and family gathering to come. Little did we know, however, that all we were doing was just creating an extra large fort in which Aiden could romp.

Yep, he has pretty much adopted the whole area as his new private playground. And whether he his hiding behind it, running around it, or crawling under it there is no doubt that the island is a full blown success with at least one of our household residents.

Observe...

Incidentally, Jen loves the huge new expanse of counterspace and I discovered recentley that the island makes for a great home-brewing center, so I guess it's a win all around!

Just Loungin' around

How was your weekend? Things around here were (as you can see) pretty relaxed...

Ikea Excursion

Being cooped-up at home is usually a nice break from everyday life. When the weather is bad its nice to be able to just hunker down, stay warm, and enjoy some time on the couch. However, at some point there can be too much of a good thing. After a week of snow, cold, wind and more snow we decided it was time to get out. We needed to go somewhere... anywhere. Today the oasis for our precariously maintained sanity was none other then that bastion of scandanavian furniture and meatballs: IKEA.

Even though they were out of stock of the one item that we actually intended to buy, it was still the ideal escape. The store was as empty as we've ever seen it, Aiden could run and climb at will, and we could meander the labyrinthine pathways at our leasure. Perfect.

Thank you IKEA, thank you.

Party Time

On Saturday we were glad to have the opportunity to celebrate Aiden's second birthday with our parents, grandparents, and siblings. Things can get a little cozy at our house when we have big gatherings, but everyone had fun time and (as usual) Aiden enjoyed being the center of attention.

Although we tried to keep things a little more low-key then his birthday party last year, Jen did make the house look festive for the occasion. True to from, Aiden especially enjoyed the numerous balloons.

When it came to gifts everyone exercised some (much appreciated) restraint. Aiden still has Christmas presents that have hardly seen the light of day, so it was a relief not to be inundated with a new wave toys and gifts. He did, of course, enjoy opening the gifts that he did get, and he put on quite a show of tearing into each new gift wrapping with reckless abandon.

Birthday cake (in this case cupcakes) of course made an appearance at the party. Decorated by Jen, they fit right in to the loose "letters" theme of the party.

Aiden kept his cool during the singing of Happy Birthday (a change from last year's party if you recall) and managed to blow out his candles. When it came to eating his cupcake he seemed to relish the chance to plunge his face into the copious amounts of sugary frosting, and he took to the rare opportunity with great gusto.

While all the cupcakes were safely digesting Aiden spent some time playing with his new toys, and having fun with his aunts and uncles.

Thanks to everyone who braved the cold to come and enjoy Aiden's birthday with us. We had a great time, and we know that Aiden loved having everyone there to celebrate with.

Also, thanks to everyone who has wished him happy birthday on this blog during these last few days. It has been two years (and exactly 300 posts) since we started this blog, and although we created it primarily to share pictures and stories about our son it has given us the unique opportunity to connect and reconnect with some great people. We love being able to sit down at our computer and share whats going on here with loved ones in California, and Arizona, and Massachusetts, and Virginia, and Maryland and all over Pennsylvania, and even UGANDA! And on top of that we love being able to read about all of you too.

So lets keep it up!

Here's to another two years and beyond!