The Laughlins failed to post a blog last week, so this week you readers get a "twofer". (And I'm not really sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing because I either have a choice of condensing the information or making a really long blog entry.)
Last Sunday (March 28), the Laughlin Family made their way to the
Buffalo Museum of Science for the current exhibit,
Sesame Street Presents: The Body. Right up the aisle of a toddler. The boys had been there before so it was old hat for them, but for me, it was all new. (The boys went one afternoon when the Grandparents / Babysitters were vacationing in Florida and Dan took some time off so I could still work.) For those with children, it really is worth a look. Danny really enjoyed kicking the "gocker" (soccer) ball and playing in the mock Elmo's world. Other attractions were shopping in Hooper's store, sitting on the iconic front steps (see below), Dance Dance Revolution with Grover, learning the bones and muscles and some organs with a replica of the Count's Organ, a game show with Guy Smiley and how digestion, the heart and the nose work. And let me tell you, when the big fake giant nose sneezes, there really is a little bit of mist that comes of that nose. There was also a faux handwash / hygiene station. Danny was very
distraught that there was not actually any water that came out of the faucet; he tried quite a few times! That kid loves to wash his hands!
We also made our way around the rest of the Museum since I had not been around it in quite a few years. (At least over 10 if you don't count Body Worlds since we only saw that exhibit.) Boy has it changed! We spent quite a lot of time in the Toddler Play Area; Danny quite enjoyed the tree slide. And the 4th Floor was not as cool as I remember. All I could talk about was how much I loved Stars and Planets and whatnot, and I was not impressed. I think I told Dan 12 times in the span of an hour I had once aspired to be an astronomer when I was younger. (However, after taking Astronomy in high school, I realized it was an unattainable goal since math is not my strong point. At all.
Flash forward a week, it's Holy Saturday and as any normal Saturday, we spent our evening with my parents, after a busy day at home / arpund town. Dan did some much needed yardwork, we purchased sneakers for Dan and myself. Dan's knee hurts from all the marathon training and as wells as resting it, our friend who is a physical therapist, suggested Dan needed new sneakers. And I needed sneakers since I am getting back into shape (other than round) and I am doing that by training for and running in the Susan G Komen Race for the Cure (Breast Cancer) run, in WNY, on June 12. And of course since we purchased sneakers, we had to break them in so we headed to Delaware Park for a run / walk. Dan ran 3 1/2 miles. While I pushed the boys in my double stroller for 1.77 miles. Without a running stroller, I could not run, but I at least got my heart pumping, and boy was I sweating after the first 5 minutes! As beautiful as it was, it was difficult excercing. The heat kicked my butt.
Speaking of, April in Buffalo is not normally a warm weather time, however we had a tropical heat wave that was much enjoyed. Thursday tied the current record (not sure what it was), Friday broke the record of 72 by a few degrees and Saturday broke a record of 8 degrees at 84!
Before watching an extremely disappointing 4-0 Buffalo Sabres loss to the Montreal Canadiens, Danny and his "Mammer" spent some time dyeing Easter Eggs. (At least the loss to Montreal did not affect getting into the playoffs; the shut out would have been even more devastating.) Danny got very, very messy, as any 2 year old would.
Easter Sunday, we again made our way to my parents house after a breakfast of home-made chocolate chip waffles, the best tasting coffee I've ever had (can you tell I gave up coffee for Lent) and 10:30 Mass at Holy Angels. We stayed there for a few hours, long enough to see Great Grandma, but we missed my brothers. After my parents, we made our way to my in-laws house for dinner, also known as our regularly scheduled program. Dinner was fantastic as it always is. We had Manacotti, salad, asparagus, carrots, ham and lamb, with cannolis for dessert.And no holiday would be complete without some form of sport played, and of course, it ended up being street hockey. Can't expect anything different from a Laughlin?
Until next time...
Exciting times for the Laughlins! We have had a lot go down in the past couple weeks. Liam has been rolling over like a champ, but now he can hold himself up in a seated position too! Lucy and I are convinced it was our good example that he's following. He'll be crawling in no time (but no, he won't learn that by watching us). As you can see, he's quite a handsome young man. (o=
Danny has taken some time out from slap shooting wooden blocks at Teppo to learn some letters! He doesn't quite know the whole alphabet yet, but he recognizes more than half of them consistently. He's particularly emphatic about the letter 'R' for some reason. We're not sure yet, but he may grow up to be a pirate. Lucy and I switched his regimen from Cheerios to Alphabits, so hopefully that will help Danny learn the rest of the alphabet. With a little work, he could be reading before he turns 3. Last week Lucy cut Danny's hair, too. What do you think?
