Summer Time!

I've been keeping Ezekiel pretty busy this summer. We have been spending a lot of time with my sister Beckie and her two kids - Jacob and Emily. It is really nice - Ezekiel LOVES both of the kids. He thinks he is one of the "big kids" and he struggles so hard to keep up with them. Here are some pictures of some of the things that we did last week.

In Mount Vernon, there is an animal sanctuary called D.E.W. Animal Kingdom. They house everything from wild cats to goats and sheep to monkeys and camels. I wasn't sure how Ezekiel would feel about so many animals, but I figured we would give it a try. I strapped him into his carrier (which I can safely say he is way too big for now!) and we (along with Beckie, Jacob, and Em) went exploring.

This is his first look at the animals. A chicken crossed in front of him. I knew it wasn't going to be a successful trip by his look (if he couldn't handle a chicken, how was he going to handle the spitting camels?)


The first breakdown.....Ezekiel sees his arch nemesis:


Meet the arch nemesis that made him cry so hard (yes, the little one):


Ezekiel also met his first calf. The calf immediately nosed Ezekiel. That didn't go over so well:


It was a long trip, but he did start to relax when he saw how much fun Emily and Jacob were having. This was his favorite (he even screamed at this little guy - we spent LOTS of time here):


The next day, we spent with Grammy shopping in Portland and picking up his new "big boy car seat". We went to a new store - Tiny Totland - and Ezekiel got to play with all of the toys. He wanted EVERYTHING. Here he is snuggling in to Grammy:


Grammy let him ride the giant frog. Ezekiel thinks he may like it:


Grammy even bought Ezekiel his very first baseball hat (who would of thought that a child of mine and Marty's would wear a BASEBALL hat and look so good?)


Beckie decided that the next day, she would be bringing her kids to the Maine Aquarium in Boothbay and asked if we wanted to tag along. I figured that since Ezekiel is used to having fishtanks, that he would probably do better at an aquarium. We had a great time. Here he is looking at the 50 lbs lobster (Yep, FIFTY POUNDS)


He got to pet sharks, play with sea cucumbers and crabs; he hollared at the star fish and then tried to pull their arms off; he yanked the lobsters' tentacles and he was the only one allowed to walk barefoot around the "petting area". Here he is seeing the sharks and the skates (right after this, he tried to plunge both hands into the shark petting pool)


Here's the blue lobster:


Here he is at the end of the day, sitting down by the rocks:


On Thursday, we spent the day at the ocean (where I got a TERRIBLE burn). Ezekiel was a little afraid of the waves at first, but he calmed right down and had a terrific time wading in the pools and playing in the sand.

Here he is burying his feet in the cold, cold sand:


Looking around to make sure that no one is watching:


YUM!


End of the day, pure exhaustion:


Yesterday, we decided to cool our heels and just relax. We babysat Jacob for a couple of hours, and Grammy, Jacob, Ezekiel and I all went to "Ninny's Beach". Ezekiel, once again, did wonderfully in the water. He laid on his belly in the water on the sand and kicked his feet and splashed. He even made a new little friend - Bryce - who is 2 years old and the same size as E!! Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of the day yesterday, but it sure was fun!

Tonight, Beckie watched Ezekiel so me and Marty could go on a little mini-date. (Our first since Eek was born). It was exciting holding hands (while not balancing the baby in our arms) and kissing without a little head popping up between us. phew....I think that is enough for tonight! I'm sure I'll have more stories/pictures next week!