a weekend in Essex

Going to Essex is as exciting for Kyalo as going to Disneyland for most kids.  Please, no one tell him anything different.  My parents have a great yard to run around in, and there are a lot of activities to do within a pretty easy driving distance.  Last weekend Dexter had a conference outside of Boston so we went down to hang out with Grandma while he studied all day.  It was perfect.

What was not perfect?  Waking up to 6 inches of snow on Thursday morning.  Dexter was entirely too excited to get the snow blower out ONE LAST TIME (right?), but he was the only one of us happy about it.

April 9

It was cool and rainy on Friday in MA, so Kyalo and I headed to the local YMCA to their 'open gym' time.  We'd gone once before, so he was eager to get back.  This is how he spent his hour:

When we were there the first time, he'd happily run down the track, and then cautiously step into the foam pit.  By the end of that time he was jumping in.  This time, he had no fear.  And he was unstoppable.  To say he loved it is an understatement.  I just wish there was a Y closer to us here in Maine.  But, at least we always have it to look forward to when in MA.

At the very end, he took a break from jumping to do a little uneven bar work:

On Saturday, the farm down the street from my parents' house was hosting a Kite Flying Day.  I liked that it was so close, and the day dawned bright, warm, and clear, and knew Kyalo would like it.  It was actually too windy for good kite flying, and our $5 Made in China wonder was no match, but Kyalo hadn't ever flown a kite before and LOVED it.  He was beaming the entire time, and told me, as we were doing it, ' I love this!'  We ended with a couple of bowls of clam chowder provided by one of the restaurants in town.

It was a beautiful day to be outside trying something new.  If the wind wasn't quite so strong, it would have been perfect.  This was the first blue sky we'd seen in a long while, so we certainly enjoyed it!

But Kyalo had a great time, and that's all that mattered.  Maybe we will even get a real kite and try again this summer.

Malaikah came, too! Here she is, all dressed up for church, in a dress from a friend of mine from college.

After church, Kyalo spent several hours outside, riding the big wheel bike up and down the hill in the backyard.  The hardest part was dragging the bike back up the hill, till Grandpa attached a rope to the back to make it easier to pull up.

It was a jam packed weekend, and Kyalo and I were both asleep within minutes of the drive home.  Heading to Essex is always a nice home-away-from home experience.  It seems we never run out of things to do.