Happy Birthday from Shanghai!!!!

So today is Tiffany's birthday...  and I'm in China.  Literally on the other side of the world.  More on my trip to come (I'm touring a number of manufacturing facilities with my program at school), but I have to say, I'm lucky to have such an awesome wife!  Not only did she let me travel halfway around the world on her birthday of all days (luckily our friends at Westgate came through for us to make sure it was a special day to celebrate her), but we couldn't wish for a better wife and mother!   Thanks for all you do to take care of us Tiffany, we love you!!!

The Beach

We went there.  In March.  And it was AWESOME!  The weather in Boston has been unseasonably warm of late (think upper 70's, with the sun shining all day), and as I've had class off for most of this week, we've been trying to take advantage of it.  Yesterday we headed up to Gloucester, which is pronounced "gloster" for all you non-New Englanders out there - I still don't know how they condense so many syllables, it probably has something to do with all of the missing R's and the other words feeling left out.  Or maybe it was the pilgrims.  Blast you Miles Standish!  Either way it takes some getting used to, but I think we're finally getting the hang of it now that our time in Cambridge is winding down.

Anyway, initially we headed up there just to get some seafood and maybe check out a park to enjoy the good weather.  However, when we saw the sign for Wingaersheek Beach (and you thought Tooele was a funny name...) we had to check it out.  I'd heard people talk of it's wonders, and it definitely lived up to the hype.  Especially because the beach season hasn't started yet so they weren't collecting the regular $25 for parking.  The beach is great because it has really nice sand, big rocks to play on, and it stays shallow really far out, making the water relatively warm and kid-friendly.  As Kayla has been talking about going to the beach for the past two weeks, lack of a swimsuit was no deterrent for getting wet (or soaked in her case)

 Kayla throwing sand

 Logan eating sand

The sun-soakers 

 The Adventurers!

Later we hit up the Red Skiff in nearby Rockport and enjoyed some fried clams and a lobster roll, which was de-lish.  Check that off our list Boston, and on to our next adventure!

...speaking of adventures, I'm headed to China tomorrow, and Japan later next week!  I'm going with a group from school to tour various manufacturing facilities and to experience Asia first hand for spring break.  I'm really looking forward to it, and I'm sure will have some cool experiences to write about, as soon as I get around to it.

At 5 Months, Logan...

• smiles
• laughs
• rolls from his tummy to his back (started this at 3 months!)
• rolls from his back to his tummy
• loves people talking to him
• grabs EVERYTHING (necklaces, Kayla's hair, skin, toys, etc.)
• enjoys staying up late with Mommy and Daddy
• is usually pretty mellow
• weighs about 18 pounds
• is a very sweet baby!

(and sometimes needs to be rescued from his big sister)

We love you big guy!

Singing

Kayla has been singing a lot lately and I was able to get a video of another one of her songs.  

Enjoy!

Snow Day

New England winters are terrible.  At least, that's what everyone said.  This year, however, we've only had a few snowy days.  This morning there was still snow on the ground from last night so I decided to bundle us up and play before the snow melts and winter is over.  Kayla had fun - although apparently two pairs of socks aren't very warm in rain boots - and ran around as much as she could in all her gear.  Logan stayed warm in his great snow suit.  I just enjoyed taking pictures of the kiddos and tried to forget how messy our apartment was when we left to enjoy the snow.  Our adventure ended when Kayla decided her feet were too cold and gloves made too hard to climb on the playground. 

Snow Princess in her castle

Going down the slide is even more fun in the snow

This is how Logan spent the morning

My little snow bunnies!

Happy Birthday Braden!

Earlier this month was Braden's birthday. To celebrate we made some cakes (cheesecake, chocolate cake, and mini cupcakes) and had friends over to enjoy the goodies and congratulate Braden on starting his last year being a 20-something.

Kayla taste-tested the cupcake batter before I could stop her.  She loves her sweets and took a big bite of frosting while "helping" frost the cupcakes.

The boys hanging out while the girls made the treats.

Don't you wish you could have enjoyed this too??

Holy candles Batman!

And no birthday would be complete without a cute girl singing "Happy Birthday"...

  

We love you Braden!

Our (not so) Little Boy

Logan's 2-month stats:

Height: 22 5/8 in. (37%ile)

Weight: 12 lbs. 12.4 oz. (75%ile)

Head Circumference: 40.4 cm (60%ile)

Logan's 4-month stats:

Height: 25 1/4 in. (64%ile)

Weight: 16 lbs. 4.8oz. (76%ile)

Head Circumference: 44 cm. (86%ile)

This cutie pie kind of has a big head. We're sure it's full of lots of smarty-pants brains. At 3 months Logan started rolling over and laughing. He isn't very consistent with rolling over, but he's done it enough that we know that first time wasn't just a fluke. He LOVES laughing. Whenever someone looks at him, he gives a big smile. Such a social guy! Kayla loves trying to make him smile and laugh. I hope she continues to love him as much as she does right now. They are very sweet together. We are so blessed to have two loving, happy children!