Hammondville

Ain’t No Party Like a 6 Year Old’s Party…

Dennis — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:19:33 +0000

WooHoo! One cool thing about having kids with birthdays in Winter is that we have back to back celebrations and, because its cold outside, we can outsource the party so there is zero cleanup at home! For the Boy’s 6th birthday we had the party the mecca of fun for little kids, Jumpin Jeepers. It was my first time there and nothing could prepare me for the chaos of fun that was in store. Have you ever wondered what would happen if you put a small battalion of aggressive, competitive little boys on a sugar high inside a bouncy house? Or how much cake, chips, pizza and soda can fit in a little boy’s mouth at one time? Well, dear Reader, I’m pleased to inform you that I know the answers to these questions…and I’m not sure If I will ever be the same again after finding out!

The Boy and his friends had a wild and fun time wrestling each other and doing what little boys do best when they have been let loose without rules in a large room designed for children. The hardest part was getting him to leave because in the Boy’s mind there ain’t no party like a 6 year old’s party because a 6 year old’s party don’t stop!

Check out the party evidence in the gallery below

10th Birthday

Dennis — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 02:45:13 +0000

Just recently the Girl reached a major milestone by celebrating her 10th birthday! I remember when I turned ten it was such a big deal for me. Double Digits at last! Somehow, I felt like I grew a couple inches the day after my 10th birthday and the world just seemed different. I suspect the Girl had a similar feeling as well. For weeks she had been counting down to the big day and was ecstatic when it finally arrived.

As the day got closer, we were expecting a long list of gift requests from the Girl, however she had something else in mind. It seems, for the this Girl, sophistication comes with age. There were no requests for Barbie or doll houses, instead she asked for gift cards from chic, trendy clothing stores such as Justice and Claire’s. She received several gift cards along with a tidy sum cash from friends and family that would have made quite an impressive shopping spree if it were not for her final request.

The Girl told us that she had been so fortunate in receiving all these gifts that she wanted to help another child who was not as fortunate, so she decided to donate the clothes she purchases with the gift cards to a child who needs them more. We were both surprised and proud at her decision and with her act she reminded us that it’s always better to give than to receive. For the Girl, not only does sophistication come with age, but also compassion and kindness.

Happy Birthday! We’re so proud of you!

Halloween 2011

Dennis — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 04:01:22 +0000

This year it was the Super Hero and the Leopard Girl for Halloween! Our hero was none other than the great Captain America, fighting for justice and equality in the sharing of all candy. The Girl, ever the fashionista, went with one of her favorite styles and animals –the leopard.

We had a rough weekend with the snow storm and no electricity but thankfully the power came back a few hours before they went out trick or treating. They returned with loads of candy, more than enough to keep them hyper and bouncing off the walls for a few days. However, they won’t be eating them all, we’ll be donating a good portion to be sent to our soldiers overseas. I’m sure the real Captain America would approve.

Check out the pics

The Mystery of the Missing Tooth

Dennis — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 02:16:11 +0000

For several days the Boy was nursing a loose front tooth, gingerly nibbling his food at just the right angle to avoid the inevitable. It was so loose it was leaning off to one side, begging to be put out of his misery. One minute he would gather the courage to have the Wife just yank it out, then, just as she was reaching in to get a hold of it, he would panic and abort the mission. This being the first tooth the Boy was giving up, we were all on Tooth Watch. I would come home from work and ask: “Anything yet?” and for days the answer was the same…”Nothing yet, Daddy.”

Then one day, just after the Boy came home from school, we noticed something different…

“Buddy,” the Wife said, kneeling in front of him. “Where’s your tooth?”
“I don’t know. Where is it?” He said, opening his mouth for closer inspection.
“It’s gone!” the Wife gasped. ”Where did it go?”
“I don’t know!” The Boy’s excitement was building.
“You lost your tooth!” She said.
“I lost my tooth! I lost my tooth!!” the Boy yelled running to the bathroom to look in the mirror.
“But where did it go?” the Wife said, looking around the floor. ”Did you lose it at school?”
“I don’t know.”
“Wait…did you…swallow it?”
The Boy’s eyes widened at the possibility of a little tooth growing in his tummy. ”I don’t know.”

The Wife spent a couple hours looking for the tooth around the house with no luck. We have no idea where the tooth went. The Boy left home with a loose tooth and the next time we saw him it was gone. It would be anywhere, including his lower intestines. It was a real mystery! Unfortunately, the Tooth Fairy does not work on credit, she runs a Cash on Delivery operation. But no worries. The Boy was totally fine with missing out on his Tooth Fairy payday because he got something way more valuable…bragging rights at the bus stop as the first kid in his group to lose a tooth! Priceless.

Happy Fungus Day!

Dennis — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 02:37:27 +0000

The Boy, being the enthusiastic student that he is, is always sharing what he learned at school. Last week he shared this gem with us:

The Boy: “Hey guys, today at school we watched a movie about a Fungus day!”

The Wife: “A fungus day?” She glanced at the girl confused.

The Boy: “Yeah, it’s a Fungus day on Monday.”

The Girl: “Wait, are you sure you don’t mean Columbus Day?”

The Boy: Oh yeah! That’s it Columbus Day!”

Have a great Fungus day, y’all!

Back to School 2011 (SLIDE SHOW)

Dennis — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 18:31:27 +0000

The Boy woke up on that rainy September morning with a groggy, panicked look on his face. The first words out of his mouth were not the usual: “I’m hungry” but instead a much more desperate and urgent question…”DID I MISS KINDERGARTEN?”

For weeks both he and the Girl have been preparing for the first day of school. For the Girl, it was embarking on a new journey into Middle School which was filled with nervous anticipation and excitement. She carefully coordinated her outfit to match her book bag because we all know how important it is for our outfits to match on an important occasion such as this.

For the Boy, his exuberance was almost overwhelming! I have never seen a kid this excited about starting school. Whenever a car went by he would ask, “Is that the school bus? Did we miss the bus?”. This was the first time he was taking the school bus so he was nervous but promised to be brave.

For the Wife and I, with each year, you think it gets easier but it doesn’t. The tradition of sending them off for a new year of school is not just a milestone for them but a reminder for us that pretty soon our kids wont be kids any more. One year closer to them telling us, “I need to use the car.” or “Don’t wait up, I’ll be late.” So until that day comes and before they start complaining how lame we are, we’ll enjoy this milestone with the Back to School slideshow.

The Opposite of Inappropriate is…

Dennis — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 19:27:18 +0000

The Boy and I were on the sofa flipping through the channels trying to find something to watch without much luck.

“Hey!” the Boy said, pointing at the screen. “Go back to that movie!”
“That movie is inappropriate for kids, Buddy.” I said and kept working the remote.
“Oh! That one has action!!” he squealed, “How about that one?”
“Nope,” I nodded. “Inappropriate.”
The Boy sighed heavily. “Daddy, if all these movies are inappropriate, can you please find something that is outappropriate that I can watch?”

Grand Cayman (SLIDE SHOW)

Dennis — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 22:13:09 +0000

We just got back from an amazing week in Grand Cayman and let me tell you folks, it was one to remember. Now that I’m back at work I find myself daydreaming about snorkeling with the reef fish and sitting on the beach all day with nothing to worry about except to keep my Pina Colada glass filled. It’s easily the best, most diverse vacation we’ve ever been on. Despite the tiny size of the island, there was so much to do and even more to see. We rented a car and I kept stopping every few miles (much to the annoyance of the kids) to shoot the amazing scenery. The food was great and everybody tried something new…even the Boy who is a notoriously picky eater.

Hands down, I would have to say our favorite thing was the snorkeling. It’s like a different world down there which can be a bit scary when you come face to face with a four foot Barracuda like the Wife did. Remember to ask her if it’s possible to scream under water, she knows the answer. I also loved visiting the the Blue Iguana habitat where we saw these “monsters” up close and learned about their comeback from near extinction.

Grand Cayman is on the top of my list of favorite places and I would highly recommend it.

I ended up taking tons of pics and it was hard to pick my favorites but I did and wrapped them in a little slide show to share with you. Just click on the play button below or just follow the link.

http://hammondvilleblog.com/slideshows/cayman_2011/

Class of 2011

Dennis — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 03:39:04 +0000

The Boy and the Girl had their graduation ceremonies recently. The Girl is excited that she’ll be moving on to the 5th grade and a new school and the Boy is headed to Kindergarten. The Girl’s ceremony was wonderful as her classmates performed a concert and sang several songs that they had practiced. They even played a couple songs on their recorders! I admit, I wasn’t expecting the kids to be as good as they were. They sounded great.

For the Boy’s ceremony they also had a concert to celebrate their graduation. For weeks he and his classmates had been rehearsing the songs and I even heard him singing them to himself at home. If there’s one thing about the Boy is that he LOVES to sing, and when he starts belting out his songs he is very expressive and really gets into the performance…which showed in the concert! At the concert we had a nice surprise when we saw that the Boy was the flag bearer. Apparently, the Boy knew this since it was part of the rehearsals but simply forgot to mention this little tidbit to us. Sigh…these absent minded five year olds!

Check out the pics from the ceremonies!

Carnival 2011

Dennis — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 23:33:48 +0000

Yep, it’s that time of year again…the Carnival is in town and, as we do every year, we went and let the kids loose on the rides. The carnival has become an annual tradition for us and our friends. It’s a yearly milestone were we look at our kids in awe as each year the height requirement of the rides becomes less of a barrier and we wonder how did they get so big so quickly.

Here are a few pics of of the excitement from this year’s Carnival!