Time is Flying

Here's a preview of what's been going on at our house the last couple of weeks...

Jumpin' J after riding the Maid of the Mist under Niagara Falls.

Hiding in the weeping willow while playing golf with Jeff, Karen, and Daddy in Syracuse.

"Rex"s big ultrasound, no we didn't find out "what" s/he is ;)

Double Greats

One of the best things, for me at least, of going to Florida with Jumpin' J and Sean was getting to see my family. I was very lucky to not only get to see all of my grandparents but also to see some of my great aunts and uncles, or Double Greats for J.

Grandma Johnson's sister, Norma, and her husband, Morris, live just a hop, skip, and a jump from Grandma and Grandpa's house. We got to go over to their house to visit and J was psyched to see Uncle Morris' train set!! He even borrowed their grandson, Vaughn's, engineer's cap for a few minutes while watching the electric trains. And Aunt Norma generously fed J all the grapes his little belly could hold.

And then when we were at Grandpa Kimball's his only sister, Corrine, and her husband, Harry, drove quite a ways to come have lunch with us and meet J. They live in Daytona Beach so it was a little bit of a haul for them but we really appreciated it. J was fascinated with Aunt Corrine's merry-go-round necklace! And he loved the dish set that they brought him!

Thanks to all of our relatives for taking the time to visit with us, we really had an awesome time! We hope to see all of you again soon!!!

Junior Flyer Club

On the way to Florida Jumpin J and I had a rather lengthy layover in the Dallas airport. Fortunately they have two sections of the terminals called the Junior Flyer Club (by Gates B12 ad C14). They are walled with benches, a padded floor, and lots of things to play on and with. It definitely was a godsend for me because I could put all my things down, let J run around, and still keep an eye on him. And he had a blast. If I was an airport designer I would definitely put one of these areas in each of my terminals!!!

His face in this one is just too hysterical!!

Pools Galore

I think that if Jumpin' J could go swimming every day he would. His favorite time of the day is tubby time and he loves "swimming" any chance he can get. So two of the days we were visiting Grandpa Kimball and Arlene we went over to one of the family pools and took J swimming. He had a blast and would have stayed until he turned into a prune had we let him!

Here's one of the benefits of swimming with Daddy!

Gampa Kimba and Arlene

Next on our tour of the middle of Florida was a trip to The Villages to see my Grandpa Kimball and his girlfriend, Arlene in their new house. While Grandma and Grandpa Johnson have been in FL for over a decade, Grandpa Kimball and Arlene are relatively new converts to the pleasures of the state. And they decided to buy a place in The Villages. The Villages is this amazingly huge planned community for 55+ residents with golf courses, shopping, country clubs, restaurants, and every club and activity you could possibly imagine.



Jumpin' J loved to ride in "Gampa Kimba"'s bright yellow golf cart and was thoroughly entertained by the ship playground they have in the closest community center to their house. We all got to eat honeybells which are soooo good that we actually had some shipped home!! Honeybells resembles a naval orange, but are actually a cross between a tangerine and a grapefruit. They are only available during the month of January so we just caught them. They are super super juicy and sweet and they are sooo yummy!

We got to try out a bunch of their different restaurants, my favorite being this great Spanish style restaurant right on the golf course where we ate lunch one afternoon!

Disney Adventure

Since J's dad was able to take a day off of work while J and I were still in FL we decided to spend the big bucks to take in Mickey and the gang for a day. After forgetting about the almost $175 just to get in the door we were able to really enjoy our day. The end of January is a good time to visit Disney since it is one of their slower times of the year and we got to ride on all the rides we wanted to.

Some of J's favorites were Indy 500, Peter Pan,
Pooh's Adventures, and the merry-go-round.

But the best ride was the Mad Hatter's Teaparty!

We waited in line for a while to get to meet Mickey and Minnie
and it was totally the highlight of the day!

We made it from Tomorrowland to Adventureland in one day!

It was just starting to get dark when we headed out
but we caught a short fireworks show over Cinderella's castle,
all in all a dream come true day!!!!

Memories Shared By Generations

As a kid I remember visiting my grandparents in South Carolina. I went several times with my parents and once with my cousin Hannah. And each time one of my clearest memories is of swinging in their wicker hanging chair. So it was with great pleasure that I saw that they still had it in their kitchen. While it's not the original it looks just like it! It was so great to see J swinging in it and know that another generation had now realized the fun of that chair.

And Grandma had to get a picture of J with the bell that my father had bought for my grandparents when I destroyed theirs when I was about J's age. I don't remember doing it but can imagine how it happened.

Thanks for all the great new memories Grandma and Grandpa!!!

Grrrrr Alligators

Grandma and Grandpa took us to one of their favorite and very yummy restaurants, Stumpknockers. Everyone but me had their world famous catfish and Sean by-passed my father's previous record on the all you can eat catfish!

Outside the restaurant is a super huge statue of an alligator. First Sean fed J to the alligator and as soon as we let J go he climbed right up to ride the thing. Look at the pure unadulterated joy on his face, grrrr!!!

Poo Poo Pee Doo

I'm not sure who exactly sang this song originally but as far as Jumpin' J is concerned it's the bear in Grandma and Grandpa Johnson's porch. He would listen, watch, and dance along with that bear 'til the cows come home!

It goes like:
I wanna be loved by you
I wanna be kissed by you
...
Poo Poo Pee Doo!



But really the only part that matters is that last line and J loved it so much that he is still running around shouting "Poopeedoo" at the top of his lungs! It's so hilarious that I can't even admonish him for being so loud!

Poo Pee Doo!!

So Many Roosters, So Little Time to Crow

Grandma and Grandpa Johnson both have many fun and entertaining collections but it was sooo funny to see Jumpin' J when he would see another rooster. Grandma has collected roosters for as long as I can remember so there are a lot of them all over the house. And J was just so excited every time he saw a new one. He would say "cocka" and point, so cute! He also discovered that the little Mickey and Minnie that Grandma gave him could ride the two cockas that were in the kitchen, pure enjoyment right there!

Fun at Grandma & Grandpa Johnson's

Our first stop on our Florida Grandparents Tour was my Grandma and Grandpa Johnson's house. They were superb hosts!!!

Grandpa very generously gave up his office so that Jumpin' J could sleep. And Grandpa's Porche and lighthouse collection were both sources of constant interest to J.

Grandma didn't cringe too much when J dropped the vase her mother had given her. We are soooooo sorry Grandma. And all the cockas (roosters) in Grandma's collection were great fun!

J quickly figured out how to open the door to their garage and had a great time sneaking out. J charmed both of them with his chatty ways and inability to sit still during meals even when completely hog-tied to the chair ;)

We loved visiting them and hope we can see them this summer if they can make it up to NH!

Florida Vacation

The flights were fun and the trip was even "funner"! Here is Jumpin' J at the start

and the end of our great Florida vacation

I promise to post more pictures and details soon.

Squareheads Unite

No, not Spongebob Squarepants, SQUAREHEADS! That's what my Grandpa K, Pops to J, calls us Norwegians! J is lucky enough to be Norwegian on both of his paternal sides so he is a Super Duper Squarehead!



Jumpin' J and I leave for Florida tomorrow. Tonight we get to sleep over Uncle "Anru" and Auntie Kim's house since Anru is driving us to the airport in the morning! What a great brother I have!!!!!!

J's dad is going to meet us down there. While in Florida we're going to be staying with Grandpa and Grandpa J, some fellow Squareheads, as well as the above mentioned Pops and his girlfriend Arlene! It should be a blast and we are really excited. Hopefully it'll be warm enough for swimming outside because I bought J a cool Red Sox bathing suit!!!

Don't despair loyal readers I've set up some blogs to post while we're gone! Have a great week everyone and we'll have lots to write about when we get home!!!

Visiting with YiYee

Last week we went down to visit LP and her parents. Jumpin' J had a great time. He loved her trampoline....

And playing hide-n-seek...


He even let her dress him up in costume, see here...

He can't say her name but he sure does love her!!!

Cape Weekend

The Three P's went down to the Cape this weekend so I could work at a Dot Your i's Event. J's dad took Friday off so we could go down in the morning and get some beach time in before I had to work that night. And then after work we went to Spanky's Clam Shack where I had the Lobster Salad that was AMAZING!!!

Saturday Jumpin' J and his dad got to hang out all day while I played. They had a blast and I am trying to convince J's dad to write about it! Post a comment here if you want to hear about it so we can all work on him!!!

On Sunday I had a little more work to do then we went to the Harwich Cranberry Festival's parade. This was perfect for Jumpin' J because it wasn't too long and there were lots and lots of firetrucks to see. After the parade we popped over to the beach for just a little bit but didn't stay long because the storm on Saturday had washed so much seaweed up that you couldn't swim. It was a great weekend!!!

What a Great Summer

This summer has just flown by for all of us. Between gym class, swim class, visiting grandparents, going to the beach, and berry picking we've been very busy. This past weekend we made a last minute decision to go to Hampton to Mike's Beach House. He is a very nice person to let us come and stay! Thanks Mike!!!

High tides were perfect since they basically coincided with Jumpin' J's nap time so we were able to spend some time swimming swimming swimming. And we discovered the really cool playground near Main Beach in Hampton. J and his dad went on Sunday afternoon while Grandma Laurie and I went to get steamers. And then J, his dad, and I went back early Monday morning when there was plenty of room to play.

He loved the merry-go-round...


The slides - the bigger and faster the better...


The ship with Daddy...


The firetruck with Mommy....


And really anything else he could climb into or on. It was so much fun for all three of use to get to play for a little while!

Hampton Beach Visit

Grandma Laurie was on vacation last week at Mike's Hampton beach house so Jumpin' J and I went up there to visit for a few days. J loves his Grandma Laurie and they went for long walks each morning so I could sleep in which I greatly appreciated. We only made it to the beach on Wednesday but that was OK because we kept busy. And J just loved that Mike's boys and their friends were in and out a lot since they were there surfing.

Unfortunately I am unable to find my camera so I don't have any pictures but you can see one on Riley's blog since Katy and Riley came to visit on Wednesday. If I can find my camera I'll post some pictures later. Thanks to Mike for letting us come stay we had a nice relaxing time!

Climbing Mt. Washington

Since Friday was so filled with activity at Storyland we decided to do something a little more low key on Saturday. So we went with Auntie Laura and Uncle BK to Mt. Washington and drove up it. There were places where I had to close my eyes so it was a good thing J's dad was driving. When we got to the top we walked around a while before the cloud cover really started to get bad. Then we stopped part of the way back down to have lunch. All in all it was a very nice day and was just enough excitement to feel like we did something.

Story Land

Last weekend was the Annual MathWorks Outing! Jumpin' J's dad's company (where I used to work before J) takes all their employees plus families away to Mt. Washington for the weekend. It is really fun every year and it is pretty fun to reminisce about what wild parties used to happen back 7 years ago when we first went and everyone was still young and single.

Grandma Laurie's friend Laura won tickets to Storyland and she gave them to us because she wouldn't use them so Jumpin' J got his first taste of an amusement park and he LOVED it. I thought he might make it an hour or so but we were there for four hours! He had a blast and we will definitely do it again! Here are just a sampling of some of his favorite rides!

Obligatory Story Land Clown Pic


Mini Slide J Could Go On Alone


Little Miss Muffett's Spider, Would Have Sat Here All Day If He Could


Riding the Teacups with Mom and Dad, Loved the Turtle Twirl Too


The Loopy Lab Was Filled With Balls, J Was In Heaven

Out and About

Between getting stuff done around the house and hanging with the big boys three days this week Jumpin J and I have been really busy. Tonight is J's second swim class, I'll try to get a picture if I can. And then we're off to New Hampshire to Mt. Washington, Story Land, and points in between. Yes, you guessed it, the MathWorks annual outing is this weekend. J's dad is going to work from Grandma Laurie's house tomorrow morning and then we'll leave for Story Land! I'll be sure to bring the camera! See you all on Sunday!