Brodeur Family
Saturday, November 01, 2003
2003-11-01
If you don't keep an eye on this kid here's what happens. Turn your back for two seconds and he climbs up on the toilet to get up into the sink.
At least he's conscientious about his dental hygiene after all the Halloween candy.
If you don't keep an eye on this kid here's what happens. Turn your back for two seconds and he climbs up on the toilet to get up into the sink.
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At least he's conscientious about his dental hygiene after all the Halloween candy.
2003-10-31 Halloween
Ryan donned his Spy Kids 2 costume for school today. They had a little party. Shan had made homemade apple sauce for him to bring in. And then his class had a little parade around the school in their costumes. Ryan's teacher, Miss Liz, was a princess.
I picked Ryan up from school and brought him out to my work to pick up my check. Everyone thought he was so adorable. Here he is not able to decide which candy he wants, so Karen "Daughter of the Devil" Cloutier just dumped them all out to let him choose. And also with Maria "Minnie" Milionis.
After that it was home for nap time. Then I took the kids to Shan's work around 5:00. There were supposed to be some of the other nurses' kids there too, but I was the only dad who managed to show up. And what a pain! Jake took a header right outside the hospital and split his lip. Not fun. Then I had to navigate through the hospital and find the right elevator to get me to the 5th floor where Shan works. Not all the elvators go to all the floors. All the while I'm carrying a diaper bag, 2 McD's happy meals and a drink tray and have both kids walking behind me, having to turn back every few feet to make sure they were both with me - and make sure they didn't get off the wrong floor on the elevator as other peope were filing out. And then my cell phone rang in the elevator. Presumably Shan trying to see where I was since I was running a little late. I should not have had it on in the hospital, but didn't have a hand free to answer it or turn it off. Have there actually ever been any reports of deaths of people in the hospital because someone was talking on their cell phone?!
Then I get to the 5th floor and Shan cleaned up Jake's lip a bit and said we were going back downstairs to the cafe. "You mean I came all the way up here for nothing?! We're going right back downstairs where I just came from?!" I wasn't a happy camper. After that it was pretty uneventful. After we had supper she walked me back to the correct set of elevators to get me to the door. Thank goodness for the valet parking. With two kids in tow it's worth $4.
Then from there we went to my mom's house. Went to about a half dozen houses in her neighborhood. Jake didn't like mom's new teeth.
He kept going up to her to pick him up, then he would look up at her face and back away.
Here's Ryan in his Spy Kids costume - with glow sticks - and Jake in his Hulk outfit.
We went to about a half dozen or so houses in my mom's neighborhood. Then we packed up and went over to Julie and Pete's house, but they had left a note that they were out trick or treating and to help yourself to candy in the bucket. I was going to leave a couple eggs and a note that we were out trick or treating and to please throw them when they returned, but decided against it. ;)
So we called Auntie Nikki to see if she was home. She had already gone out trick or treating with Michael too. So from there we went to Uncle David and Aunt Debbie's and visited for a while. The girls were out with Debbie when we got there but came back after a while and had fun playing with the boys.
Ryan donned his Spy Kids 2 costume for school today. They had a little party. Shan had made homemade apple sauce for him to bring in. And then his class had a little parade around the school in their costumes. Ryan's teacher, Miss Liz, was a princess.
I picked Ryan up from school and brought him out to my work to pick up my check. Everyone thought he was so adorable. Here he is not able to decide which candy he wants, so Karen "Daughter of the Devil" Cloutier just dumped them all out to let him choose. And also with Maria "Minnie" Milionis.
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After that it was home for nap time. Then I took the kids to Shan's work around 5:00. There were supposed to be some of the other nurses' kids there too, but I was the only dad who managed to show up. And what a pain! Jake took a header right outside the hospital and split his lip. Not fun. Then I had to navigate through the hospital and find the right elevator to get me to the 5th floor where Shan works. Not all the elvators go to all the floors. All the while I'm carrying a diaper bag, 2 McD's happy meals and a drink tray and have both kids walking behind me, having to turn back every few feet to make sure they were both with me - and make sure they didn't get off the wrong floor on the elevator as other peope were filing out. And then my cell phone rang in the elevator. Presumably Shan trying to see where I was since I was running a little late. I should not have had it on in the hospital, but didn't have a hand free to answer it or turn it off. Have there actually ever been any reports of deaths of people in the hospital because someone was talking on their cell phone?!
Then I get to the 5th floor and Shan cleaned up Jake's lip a bit and said we were going back downstairs to the cafe. "You mean I came all the way up here for nothing?! We're going right back downstairs where I just came from?!" I wasn't a happy camper. After that it was pretty uneventful. After we had supper she walked me back to the correct set of elevators to get me to the door. Thank goodness for the valet parking. With two kids in tow it's worth $4.
Then from there we went to my mom's house. Went to about a half dozen houses in her neighborhood. Jake didn't like mom's new teeth.
He kept going up to her to pick him up, then he would look up at her face and back away.
Here's Ryan in his Spy Kids costume - with glow sticks - and Jake in his Hulk outfit.
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We went to about a half dozen or so houses in my mom's neighborhood. Then we packed up and went over to Julie and Pete's house, but they had left a note that they were out trick or treating and to help yourself to candy in the bucket. I was going to leave a couple eggs and a note that we were out trick or treating and to please throw them when they returned, but decided against it. ;)
So we called Auntie Nikki to see if she was home. She had already gone out trick or treating with Michael too. So from there we went to Uncle David and Aunt Debbie's and visited for a while. The girls were out with Debbie when we got there but came back after a while and had fun playing with the boys.
Saturday, October 25, 2003
2003-10-25
TechTV
Greendale Mall
7 Neponset Street
Worcester, MA 01606
(508) 856-9400
42.297641 W71.801148
Went to the Greendale Mall today to see Cat Schwartz from TechTV's Call For Help and Morgan Webb and Adam Sessler of X-Play for their Digital Digs Roadshow. Couldn't believe the lines! Morgan and Adam were supposed to be there from 1-3 pm while Cat was supposed to have been there from 11-7. I got there around 1:30 or so and there was a huge line there until at least 3:30. Didn't realize there were as many geeks like me who watch that channel religiously.
They were all really nice, which I can imagine must be difficult at times with that many people standing in a line just to wait for you to sign a pic and say hi. Luckily, since my employer, Charter Communications, was hosting the event I was able to talk to a couple people and hop in for a quick pic without dragging the kids through an hour-long wait in line. Free cable and connections at geek-fests! Gotta love it!
TechTV
Greendale Mall
7 Neponset Street
Worcester, MA 01606
(508) 856-9400
42.297641 W71.801148
Went to the Greendale Mall today to see Cat Schwartz from TechTV's Call For Help and Morgan Webb and Adam Sessler of X-Play for their Digital Digs Roadshow. Couldn't believe the lines! Morgan and Adam were supposed to be there from 1-3 pm while Cat was supposed to have been there from 11-7. I got there around 1:30 or so and there was a huge line there until at least 3:30. Didn't realize there were as many geeks like me who watch that channel religiously.
They were all really nice, which I can imagine must be difficult at times with that many people standing in a line just to wait for you to sign a pic and say hi. Luckily, since my employer, Charter Communications, was hosting the event I was able to talk to a couple people and hop in for a quick pic without dragging the kids through an hour-long wait in line. Free cable and connections at geek-fests! Gotta love it!
Wednesday, October 22, 2003
2003-10-22
Tougas Family Farm
246 Ball Street
Northborough, MA 01532
(508) 393-6406
N42.34430 W71.68055
Went on another field trip with Ryan's school today to Tougas Family Farm to pick some pumpkins from the pumpkin patch. Way too cold and drizzly today though. The radio is saying a chance of flurries this evening. I'm not ready for that yet. I'm still working on emptying the pool. I was waiting for an Indian Summer, but it doesn't look like we're getting that this year.
Anyway, back to the trip. We first went on a hayride. This time the wagon was covered and actually had hay bales to sit in - unlike Stowe Farm, with no sides on the hay wagon . . . and no hay! It's a good thing we had a roof too. It gave us a little break from the drizzle. I thought we were going to ride to a particular pumpkin patch way out in the fields somewhere, but it turns out it was just a little tour of the farm. Went through some great apple orchards. They had a wide variety of apples. They looked really good. But we weren't there for apples, we've had enough of them after the three bags we collected on the Stowe trip. We were there for pumpkins today. So it turned out we ended up almost right back where we started with the pumpkin patch that was visible from the gate.
So we all got out and the kids each picked a pumpkin. They had all sorts of pumpkins just laid out in a patch. They were already taken off the vine for us and laid out so the kids could just pick them up without tripping through a bunch of pumpkin vines. Ryan picked out a nice little round plump one. Although it would have been even easier if we could have picked them off the pumpkin tree that they had there ;) (see photos). Although I wouldn't want to be under that tree when the fruit starts falling.
They also had a nice playground, but it was too cold and wet today. Plus it was time for the kids to get back on the bus. Time goes fast when you're herding a bunch of kids onto a bus and getting everyone situated on a hay wagon etc. Didn't seem like we'd been there very long, but it was time to go.
Shan and I quickly stopped into the little store they had there. She had to pay for the little pumpkin we had grabbed for Jake. Technically that wasn't included in the trip, so we wanted to be honest. They only charged us a dollar. Also grabbed a nice, fresh loaf of cinnamon bread. I was a little disappointed that they didn't have a hot cup of cider there in the store to warm up with though. I guess they have a little kitchen on the other side of the parking lot with baked goods made from the fruits from the farm along with cider and light lunch. But we didn't do that today, although I would definitely like to go back and try that some time.
This is a 3-D one of the pumpkin tree:
Tougas Family Farm
246 Ball Street
Northborough, MA 01532
(508) 393-6406
N42.34430 W71.68055
Went on another field trip with Ryan's school today to Tougas Family Farm to pick some pumpkins from the pumpkin patch. Way too cold and drizzly today though. The radio is saying a chance of flurries this evening. I'm not ready for that yet. I'm still working on emptying the pool. I was waiting for an Indian Summer, but it doesn't look like we're getting that this year.
Anyway, back to the trip. We first went on a hayride. This time the wagon was covered and actually had hay bales to sit in - unlike Stowe Farm, with no sides on the hay wagon . . . and no hay! It's a good thing we had a roof too. It gave us a little break from the drizzle. I thought we were going to ride to a particular pumpkin patch way out in the fields somewhere, but it turns out it was just a little tour of the farm. Went through some great apple orchards. They had a wide variety of apples. They looked really good. But we weren't there for apples, we've had enough of them after the three bags we collected on the Stowe trip. We were there for pumpkins today. So it turned out we ended up almost right back where we started with the pumpkin patch that was visible from the gate.
So we all got out and the kids each picked a pumpkin. They had all sorts of pumpkins just laid out in a patch. They were already taken off the vine for us and laid out so the kids could just pick them up without tripping through a bunch of pumpkin vines. Ryan picked out a nice little round plump one. Although it would have been even easier if we could have picked them off the pumpkin tree that they had there ;) (see photos). Although I wouldn't want to be under that tree when the fruit starts falling.
They also had a nice playground, but it was too cold and wet today. Plus it was time for the kids to get back on the bus. Time goes fast when you're herding a bunch of kids onto a bus and getting everyone situated on a hay wagon etc. Didn't seem like we'd been there very long, but it was time to go.
Shan and I quickly stopped into the little store they had there. She had to pay for the little pumpkin we had grabbed for Jake. Technically that wasn't included in the trip, so we wanted to be honest. They only charged us a dollar. Also grabbed a nice, fresh loaf of cinnamon bread. I was a little disappointed that they didn't have a hot cup of cider there in the store to warm up with though. I guess they have a little kitchen on the other side of the parking lot with baked goods made from the fruits from the farm along with cider and light lunch. But we didn't do that today, although I would definitely like to go back and try that some time.
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This is a 3-D one of the pumpkin tree:
Saturday, October 18, 2003
2003-10-18
Parker's Gifts
9 Maple Street
West Boylston, MA 01583
508-835-4173
800-764-5151
N42.358910 W71.779404
Took a nice New England fall leafpeeping trip out Rte 140 to Parker's Gift Shop in W Boylston with my mom and the kids. They had a big Spongebob Squarepants made out of hay bales. Really cool little candy store there. There's no such thing as penny candy anymore, but I can't believe all the different kinds of candies that I had forgotten from my childhood - and they had them all and more. A lot of candies for a dime. I felt like my mom when she talks about candy bars being a nickel back when she was a kid - and they were bigger. blah blah blah
We had gone to the Octoberfest in S Grafton earlier. We got there a little late though. There were long lines for everything fun and things were winding down by the time we got there, so we really didn't do a whole lot there. Although I've got to mention, they had a really entertaining children's musician/entertainer there. He was really good. Apparently he's the father of one of the local students. The kids liked him. Even Jake got into dancing and clapping. Too cute.
After that it was nap time for the kids so we took back roads out to W Boylston and ended up driving around the reservoir and even swung by the old house (N42.393105 W71.751660) where we lived briefly a long time ago. Also saw a funny mailbox (N42.395276 W71.794045) along the way. It was on a long, high pole with three actual mailboxes on it. The one on the bottom was marked Mail, then about 20 ft up the pole was another one marked Bills and above that a few more feet was one marked Taxes. Got a good chuckle about that. Apparently it's been there a while. Mom had seen it before but could never remember where it was.
Then later that evening we went to Spooky Acres (N42.183062 W71.757540) - a haunted hayride put on by a local youth group. It was fun once we finally got on the ride, but note to self: go really, really, really early next year. We got the last parking space and Nikki, who followed in her car had to park waaayyy down the stree. It was supposed to be from 7-10. We didn't hurry getting there. Figured it was a small-town thing, wouldn't be too many people. Wrong! Arrived around 7:30. It was $5 each for the adults. Kids under four free. We purchased our tickets and then realized we were in for an anticipated hour and a half wait. Gotta say, the kids weren't too bad considering the long day they had and it was pretty cold out. There was a building with refreshments which is where we spent most of the time. We ended up getting on the ride around 9:15. It was pretty fun. A hanging, an electrocution, an iron maiden with arms getting ripped off and a chainsaw and lots of screams.
Got home pretty late by the time we were done but the kids went right to bed and we all had a good, cool fall night's sleep. I wasn't sure if Ryan would wake up with nightmares about the hayride, but Auntie Nikki did a good job of making sure he wasn't too scared. He enjoyed it.
Parker's Gifts
9 Maple Street
West Boylston, MA 01583
508-835-4173
800-764-5151
N42.358910 W71.779404
Took a nice New England fall leafpeeping trip out Rte 140 to Parker's Gift Shop in W Boylston with my mom and the kids. They had a big Spongebob Squarepants made out of hay bales. Really cool little candy store there. There's no such thing as penny candy anymore, but I can't believe all the different kinds of candies that I had forgotten from my childhood - and they had them all and more. A lot of candies for a dime. I felt like my mom when she talks about candy bars being a nickel back when she was a kid - and they were bigger. blah blah blah
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We had gone to the Octoberfest in S Grafton earlier. We got there a little late though. There were long lines for everything fun and things were winding down by the time we got there, so we really didn't do a whole lot there. Although I've got to mention, they had a really entertaining children's musician/entertainer there. He was really good. Apparently he's the father of one of the local students. The kids liked him. Even Jake got into dancing and clapping. Too cute.
After that it was nap time for the kids so we took back roads out to W Boylston and ended up driving around the reservoir and even swung by the old house (N42.393105 W71.751660) where we lived briefly a long time ago. Also saw a funny mailbox (N42.395276 W71.794045) along the way. It was on a long, high pole with three actual mailboxes on it. The one on the bottom was marked Mail, then about 20 ft up the pole was another one marked Bills and above that a few more feet was one marked Taxes. Got a good chuckle about that. Apparently it's been there a while. Mom had seen it before but could never remember where it was.
Then later that evening we went to Spooky Acres (N42.183062 W71.757540) - a haunted hayride put on by a local youth group. It was fun once we finally got on the ride, but note to self: go really, really, really early next year. We got the last parking space and Nikki, who followed in her car had to park waaayyy down the stree. It was supposed to be from 7-10. We didn't hurry getting there. Figured it was a small-town thing, wouldn't be too many people. Wrong! Arrived around 7:30. It was $5 each for the adults. Kids under four free. We purchased our tickets and then realized we were in for an anticipated hour and a half wait. Gotta say, the kids weren't too bad considering the long day they had and it was pretty cold out. There was a building with refreshments which is where we spent most of the time. We ended up getting on the ride around 9:15. It was pretty fun. A hanging, an electrocution, an iron maiden with arms getting ripped off and a chainsaw and lots of screams.
Got home pretty late by the time we were done but the kids went right to bed and we all had a good, cool fall night's sleep. I wasn't sure if Ryan would wake up with nightmares about the hayride, but Auntie Nikki did a good job of making sure he wasn't too scared. He enjoyed it.
Friday, October 03, 2003
Wednesday, October 01, 2003
Wednesday, September 24, 2003
2003-09-24
Stowe Farm Orchards
15 Stowe Road
Millbury, MA 01527
508-865-4818
no website, but here's a pic Apple Boy
N42.181176 W71.802983
Went on Ryan's first field trip today. And our first trip as chaperones! His preschool took a trip to Stowe Farm Orchards to go apple picking. Really fun day. Shannon said she had never been apple picking before. Really great day for it. Started out kinda cool. Thought it was going to be a cool, overcast day. Dressed the kids warm, but it turned out really nice.
We rode on a trailer on the back of a tractor across the street to the orchard. It was a little scary that the trailer was just flat - no sides. With all the little kids we were somewhat concerned. But we just sat them all in the middle and they went really slow anyway.
We came home with three big bags of juicy, fresh apples. Ryan and Jake were both sampling as we were picking as well. Jake can really do a number on an apple. He's got teeth, and he knows how to use them!
Then after the apple picking they gave all the kids an ice cream cone full of feed for the animals. They have all different kinds of chickens and turkeys, and llamas, and ostriches and emus. And then they all played on the playground which was pretty nice too.
All in all, a very good day. We'll definitely be back very soon for another great New England autumn day.
Here is a 3D picture of Ryan in the Orchard. You'll need to dig in the junk drawer and pull out the ol' red 'n blues from the drive-in for this one:
Stowe Farm Orchards
15 Stowe Road
Millbury, MA 01527
508-865-4818
no website, but here's a pic Apple Boy
N42.181176 W71.802983
Went on Ryan's first field trip today. And our first trip as chaperones! His preschool took a trip to Stowe Farm Orchards to go apple picking. Really fun day. Shannon said she had never been apple picking before. Really great day for it. Started out kinda cool. Thought it was going to be a cool, overcast day. Dressed the kids warm, but it turned out really nice.
We rode on a trailer on the back of a tractor across the street to the orchard. It was a little scary that the trailer was just flat - no sides. With all the little kids we were somewhat concerned. But we just sat them all in the middle and they went really slow anyway.
We came home with three big bags of juicy, fresh apples. Ryan and Jake were both sampling as we were picking as well. Jake can really do a number on an apple. He's got teeth, and he knows how to use them!
Then after the apple picking they gave all the kids an ice cream cone full of feed for the animals. They have all different kinds of chickens and turkeys, and llamas, and ostriches and emus. And then they all played on the playground which was pretty nice too.
All in all, a very good day. We'll definitely be back very soon for another great New England autumn day.
Here is a 3D picture of Ryan in the Orchard. You'll need to dig in the junk drawer and pull out the ol' red 'n blues from the drive-in for this one:
