Tanglewood

On the list of outdoor concerts in New England, the ultimate destination is Tanglewood - the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. All summer they perform in the outdoor theater at Tanglewood for exorbitant prices, lol. This past weekend we went to a "rehearsal" of the Boston Pops Orchestra conducted by John Williams (famous compser of movie music like Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter). It was all songs from the movies and they showed clips from some of the Idiana Jones films. We brought our camping chairs and set up out on the lawn. It was the PERFECT day to be outside. The weather was just right as far as temp and humidity. The concert was fun - even Eli enjoyed clapping and watching the movie clips. He also enjoyed wandering around and making coy faces at the elderly people, who just ate him up. Brad and I had to chuckle at some of the more "cultured" of the audience members. You could pick them out because along with their lawn chairs, they brought portable tables equipped with table cloth, cheese and wine, and some even had floral center pieces! Seriously, you could order a picnic basket from the cafe for over $50. We brought our own cooler with PB&J =). It was one of our more fun days here. After the concert we took naps, then headed back out to the Whitney Farm (posted about earlier) where Eli looked at animals and we had icecream. Good times. Check out this view from the grounds at Tanglewood! Hopefully you can see the hills and the lake in the distance.

Antics

Eli has always enjoyed "helping" with the laundry, and lately his skills have hit an all time high. He can now "sort" the laundry across the entire room with a flick of his wrist! I have to let him go through the laundry first and start folding when he loses interest, otherwise my neatly folded stacks end up "sorted" across the living room!

Eli also loves playing cars and likes to drive them on everything - windowsills, the floor, the kitchen table, the couch..... and my belly. This is my six month (around 24 weeks) baby bump. Hope you aren't offended by giant bare belly shots =). Oh and yes, that's Baby Catcher that I'm reading!

Hancock Shaker Village

We recently came across some free tickets to visit the Hancock Shaker Village out on the edge of town. We were so grateful because at $15 a ticket we were wary to spend the money on an activity we knew we could not possibly get our money out of with a 19 month old along =). The Shakers were an interesting bunch - very devoutly religious. They believed in abstinence as a necessity to be pure, so they did not marry and lived in dormitory settings together. Their congregation could only grow through converts or adoptions. They would establish self-sustaining settlements - with farms, gardens and everything necessary to support their community. This particular village dates back I think to the early 1800's and had people living there up until like 1960. Now it is maintained as a historic location and is very cool to visit! We didn't get to tour many of the old buildings because Eli got cranky in the humid heat pretty quickly. But he did enjoy the farm animals, and we forced him to dress up like a Shaker before he had a complete meltdown. We enjoyed lunch at the little cafe, and Eli proceeded to finally pass out after at least a half an hour of hysterics that I'm sure concerned everyone at the village =).

Lenox Beach

Out here in the Berkshires there are quite a few lakes and public beaches to choose from for summer fun. There is a really nice one about 15 minutes from our house that has lifeguards, bathrooms, and sand toys for the kids. I've been several times with one of the friends I've made out here, but we finally made a family trip to the sand 'n' sun. Lucky for the boys they got a good coat of sunscreen. Unlucky for me, my belly must have gotten in the way of my ability to apply it thoroughly because I got an ugly burn right around my suit straps. Oh well! Now, I'm not a huge fan of lake swimming. For me to get in a lake, certain conditions have to be met:
1 - No weeds!
2 - No fish!
3 - Not cold!
Needless to say I'm not usually tempted to get in, but the water felt wonderful to my large pregnant self! I did have to turn a blind eye to the fish swimming around my legs and "nipping" at my toe ring though. After feeling such bouyancy, coming out on dry land really does have the feeling of being a "beached whale!" Lol. Eli's favorite part was throwing rocks into the lake, and then tossing the ball around in the water. He refused to let me hold him while in the lake - I think he sensed that Daddy's height and strength were a definite positive for his safety =). We sure hope we can go again this summer! Oh and please forgive my "immodest" swim suit. I don't have a maternity one so I had to stretch the tankini I still had from my honeymoon over my expanding waistline!

Music in the Park

One thing we've been enjoying this summer is the weekly free concert in the park! It's a nice little treat to stop and get ice cream from King Cone (a long-standing "hole in the wall" place only open during the summer that serves GIGANTIC ice cream indulgences) and then enjoy the fine weather as the sun sets... just don't forget the bug spray! Eli is getting some good experience in music appreciation - he likes to stomp his feet, shake his head and "dance" in general with his mama! At some point during the concert Eli usually takes off towards the back of the gardens where they are held to run around the fountain. It's a bonus if there are other kids there for him to chase. He likes to intrude on the games of the older kids - he thinks he is such a big boy! New Englanders really know how to take advantage of the outdoors during the summer. Today Eli and I went to the Library in nearby Lenox for storytime and found out there was a free children's concert in the park right afterwards. We ate our lunch out on the lawn and had a blast with the live music and cooky children's songs. The lead in the band is "Larry" a loveably crazy guy with wild hair who all the kids adore. We'll be heading back to this free weekly event for the rest of the summer for sure!

Still a boy!

We had our "official" ultrasound today and our little bean is still a boy! And apparently a "very obvious" one, lol. Right now he is measuring due Nov 2nd which is right in line with the other two due dates (Oct 30th and Nov 6th) so pretty much sometime that first week of November or the end of October if I am lucky. I'm just hoping not to be in the hospital on Halloween, either way! The cute little face shot we got of him looks just like the one we got of Eli around 30 weeks - little puffy cheeks that make him resemble Casper the friendly ghost. So I'm guessing my two boys will look a lot alike =). If my computer was working I'd scan an ultrasound pic and post it, but alas that will have to wait. October is supposed to be a beautiful month to visit here - and yet no one has made their plane reservations yet.... come on people we need some visitors here! LOL =).

Dead Computer

There's a good reason I haven't been blogging lately - our computer is totalled! Yes, sadly the thing has met its death. We started having problems when we moved here and got hooked up to the internet, so we figured it was some kind of nasty spyware or virus. We've been trying our own fixes to no avail. I finally took it in to the Geek Squad today and was prepared to pay the $200 to get it fixed, but alas, the sucker wouldn't even turn on! Apparently they think it got fried in the lightning storms this weekend (eventhough we have surge protection). Anyway, I brought it home to check and make sure we really can't power up, but in the meantime we don't have a functioning personal computer. I'm using Brad's work laptop to get online so at least I have the internet, but I won't be able to upload pics to the blog or anything until we get this all sorted out. RATS RATS RATS! And I have like 3 adventures documented in pics that I've been wanting to put up! I am so frustrated! If you see this post, please email me because I'm feeling all alone and lonely out here, lol =).

4th of July

The 4th of July was a blast! Pittsfield puts on a pretty nice parade through the downtown area. We sat with a family from the ward, and Eli was mesmerized for the entire 3 hour affair! We were right up close so we had to keep him from jumping in front of several of the cars on the parade though. There were plenty of fire trucks, tractors, racecars, clowns, and bands to keep us all entertained! It was really neat to see the colonial heritage of the area - different than the usual cowboy or wild west heritage that we are used to seeing.


Eli did a lot of clapping, and even a little bit of ear-plugging =). There were some noisy cannons and bands.

After the parade, we all took naps and then headed to our friends' house for a BBQ. They have a little boy two months younger than Eli named Elijah. The two haven't really clicked yet, but I'm sure they will once nursery rolls around. That night, we went back into town for the fireworks shot off at the baseball stadium - which Eli also loved! He was so tired, but didn't want to get back in the car for fear he would miss some. Whenever one would go off, he would point and vigorously proclaim "there!"

A Trip to the Farm

Recently the three of us made a little visit to the local Whitney Farm stand. There are lots of farms in the area. This one's great because they have a little petting zoo that's free - aside from the 25cent machines where you can buy feed for the critters. Eli loves watching his farm movie and playing with his little animal figures, so seeing them in person was a blast. There was also a yummy "Dairy Shack" on the premises with delicious ice cream!!! It rained on us most of the time we were there, but Eli did not seem to care one bit.

Flashback to 19 Months

I just couldn't resist a few pics of my cutie. I can't believe the little guy is already 19 months old!

When asked "where's mommy's baby?" Eli knows right where to point!

His favorite spot to play in the new house. What a view! We have a bird feeder out there now so he likes to watch the birds and bang the window to scare them.

He knows how to "sniff" flowers now. Here is a clover mommy picked for him.

Bubbles are just the ultimate entertainment. We went to the park a lot to play with them while waiting for our furniture (and his toys) to arrive. They are still a hit in the bathtub, and pretty much anywhere outside.

**Ok I just realized I started this post and never finished it! So here are some pics of Eli at 19 months (he is now 20 months). I plan to do a 20 month post soon!