365 Days of my Life: We need to stop and smell the roses

It has been a CRAZy busy 2 days for us. It started yesterday with packing up the car and having an impromptu play date with Aubrey and Cailyn. The kids certainly loved playing with each other, and the moms were able to have adult conversation. Yippee! And it was funny how Carter was extremely curious about this little baby, but yet ran over to Cailyn and Pierce and played with them instead.

We then traveled over to my moms house, picked her up, and went to the town library to check out some new books. From there we went to my favorite bakery called Mottas. This is one of those good old fashioned type of Italian bakeries where everything is made fresh on premise. In true Gardner tradition, Mr. Carter will have his very own Italian Fruit Cake for his birthday party. I am so very excited for him to taste it! :)

We then did the opening night of the Hebron Harvest Fair. Carter and Pierce were really into the fair this year. They had a fake cow set up in the kids area that you could "milk" and we had to pry both boys out of there to give other people a turn. They also had a chick that was 1 hour old, sandboxes filled with corncob, a 4 day old calf, and 2 very pregnant goats. On top of all of that, they also had a family band which encouraged the kids to come to the stage and play the instruments - just like the band members. And of course my 2 little drummers were very happy to comply.

We also did the typical fair stuff of walking over to the big animals and seeing the big cows, goats, sheep, and bunnies. Pierce informed us that the cows were too loud, and that their mooing was scaring him. He wanted the little cow back. My mom and I shook our heads, and while had compassion for him, also laughed. I mean, Pierce loves the sounds of muskets and Cannons, but is scared of a mooing cow. You have to just shake your head sometimes. Carter was talking to a pig that was hiding in the back of its pen, and was completely freaked out once it got up and went face to face with Carter and oinked. It was not being mean, it was just talking back finally. However, he quickly got over it, and was climbing all over the big cows.

And of course we ran into more friends we have not seen in forever. And it was at that moment that Carter decided he was going to copy the 10 year old that was jumping like a frog. And what I mean by copy, is full fledge squat and stand up for a good solid 2 minutes. At one point he had done this and was tapping his foot to the beat of the music. I can officially say that Carter is 100% able to stand on his own. It is awesome.

After tuckering both kids out last night, my mom and I took them to the beach today. We went to Blue Shutters state beach in Rhode Island. The surf was incredible since we have that hurricane in Bermuda right now, and there was a nasty rip tide. However, Pierce discovered that the waves and sand create bubbles when the waves come up the beach, so suddenly playing in the water was awesome. Carter also enjoyed the water for a bit, but decided ocean water is just too cold.

We made sand castles, hunted for rocks, and this momma attempted to body surf, but the waves were breaking way too close to shore. We also went for lunch at Aunt Carries. If you have never eaten there, I highly suggest you do. Very decently priced, and fantastic tasting food. Service is a little slow, but totally worth it.

After that 5 hour endeavor, we headed back to my moms house, and then back home after showers. Considering how exhausted I am, as well as the kids, I have decided we need to slow down a bit. And then we need to stay outside and smell the flowers. Winter will be here before it and then it is going to be a whole different story.