If you watch Nick Jr, you will know that much to a parent's pleasure, the channel shows no commercials. Their shows are uninterrupted and in place of commercials between shows, they show educational short cartoons, crafts you can do as a family, a band singing kid friendly songs...you get the picture. Well, a few weeks ago, one of the songs they had on between episodes of Dino Dan (our new favorite show, ok Jack's new favorite show, but I feel super smart because I know A LOT about dinos now!) was about letting your kids help you. It doesn't matter what the job is, big or small, just let them help you with daily tasks so they can learn and feel like they are useful. So, we have been trying to apply this to our lives lately. For a few months now, Jack has been helping me do laundry. He will hand me the dirty clothes out of the basket and I will put them in the washer. Then, I will hand him wet clothes and he will put them in the dryer. And, when it's all done, he will put the clothes in the dryer into the basket. (If only he got the folding/putting away part!) This is one of those jobs that I love to share with him. Of course, there are things he likes to help with that just annoy me the whole time we are doing it....like when he wants to help unload the dishwasher and all he picks up are the breakable things so I have to do an Olympic sprint across the kitchen to grab it before he drops it....or when I am changing Emma's poopy diaper and he insists on grabbing a wipe and wiping her bum too. But, I let him help, because I know it's important. So, now that you have the background, I decided today that I should have him do little jobs on a more regular schedule. There isn't much around the house that happens daily - that I want him helping with - other than feeding the animals. What an easy job, and so fun for a little guy! So, today Jack learned how to feed Hokie. He scooped the food from her container into her bowl. Of course, each scoopful had about 3 pieces so it took 20 scoops to give Hokie the right amount of food. But he took this job very seriously and it was super cute. He might have taken it too seriously though. After he finished scooping food into Hokie's bowl, he kept telling her to eat it. Of course, she didn't want to and it made him mad, so he insisted on sitting next to her bowl and hand-feeding her the food, piece by piece, until she had eaten almost half of it. I think they both thought this was the best way to eat...until Hokie licked Jack's arm...then he got mad that she licked him and he ran away! Unfortunately I didn't get any snapshots while Jack was feeding Hokie, but I thought these were pretty cute.
What's spring for if not new love? Twice a week, our friends Charles and Henry come to hang out while their mom, Liz, goes to the gym. And, then two days a week, Liz returns the favor and Jack and Emma go hang out with the J's while I go to the gym. It's a great arrangement for everyone! Henry is about 6 weeks younger than Emma, so they are pretty close to the same level. When we first moved up here, Emma and Henry pretty much just hung out independently....but now they are starting to notice things and play with things....like each other! It's really adorable to see them interact and smile when they see each other. Liz and I decided that if Emma and Henry get married, this will be the perfect picture to show at their wedding! No pressure kids!
And speaking of true love....we really "heart" Thomas!
Emma is still in her baby bath in the sink. However, we might have to move up to the duck bath soon. She is all over the place in the baby bath - trying to grab the dish soap and even spraying me with the spray hose next to the faucet. So, while I bathe her, I have to give her things to play with and chew on to keep her still. Today, it was her pink rinse cup. It's amazing how cool a little pink plastic cup can be!
And, of course, you can't have a parade without fire trucks...and boy did we see fire trucks! Newport, Middletown, Portsmouth, Warwick, Bristol, Providence...and those are just the ones I remember!
This parade even had boats! Navy boats, Coast Guard boats, and models of Air Craft Carriers.
After the parade, we headed home for a quick nap and then we were off again to a birthday party for a wonderful 2 year old little girl whose daddy goes to school with Matt.
Jack drove the Bobcat while Emma and I watched.
Before we headed to a new exhibit, we stopped to enjoy the beautiful view!
Next, we moved on to the Bubble Room. We weren't able to see the Bubble Room last time, so it was a fun new adventure. After Jack tied on his red smock, he and Matt got to bubble blowing. Well, Matt got to bubble blowing...
And Jack got to bubble popping!
After lunch, we left the museum to head over to Boston Common and the Public Gardens. Before we left the Children's Museum, we stopped to look at the Charles River, and the beautiful Boston buildings.
Jack and Emma took a little snooze on the ride to Boston Commons, so Matt and I were able to drive around a bit and find (1) a free parking spot and (2)take in the posh part of Boston - Beacon Hill. We parked across from huge, beautiful homes bordering the park on Beacon St. This is the "planter" in one of the windows of one of those homes....yep, that's running shoes! Too funny! 
We also parked right across the street from the Hampshire House, which houses the pub that Cheers was modeled after!
After the kids woke up, we wandered into the Public Gardens to see the Make Way for Ducklings statue - the #1 thing I have wanted to do since we moved to New England! Not only is this a book that we read to Jack, it's a book that my parents' read to me growing up. This was my absolute favorite story book growing up. I don't know if it was because of the heart warming story, or the fact that my parents' added their own personal tidbits since they had lived in Boston for college....but I have wanted to see this place for years and years. I sure hope Jack enjoyed it as much as I did!
Jack and I posed by the duckling named "Jack", of course! 
Of course, they are still decked out from last week's partying! Lots of Mardi Gras beads! Jack gave Mrs. Mallard a pat on her beak....and kept saying "duck duck duck" and "quack quack quack" over and over and over.
We had an amazing day in Boston, sunny, warm (relatively of course) and full of fun!
One last look at the beautiful park before we headed home!
