Our new toy....

We played Wii at a friend's house while in Kansas City...and Jason HAD to have one. We found one in Leominster, MA and picked it up on the way home from our vacation. This is Jackson playing for the first time. Is this totally wrong? Or totally fun?!!?? I was actually sore after the boxing game that night. Future playground fistfighter?? No worries....We have a Diego game on the way, and I am thinking he will forget all about the violent boxing game. We'll keep it more low key from now on!

Trip To Kansas City!

The vacation countdown chain had reached its final link! We headed off to Kansas City on July 12.

The trick to good behavior...buy cheap toys and activity books. Hand them out to the boys as "surprises"periodically during the flight. A friend advised me to do this and it really worked well.

Needless to say, it was a long day. 12 hours door to door to be exact. The boys did well, except for a 40 minute period total when Cooper was too tired to fall asleep. Uncontrollable crying. Brutal.

We spent a few days at M and B's house just relaxing, going out to eat, seeing friends and golfing. Here are the boys at T-rex restaurant in Kansas City. Cooper was pretty much pointing the whole time, Jackson (when he wasn't being eaten by a triceratops) was more into the puzzles on the menu.

The Lake

We then went to Jason's family's lake cottage in Council Grove, KS. We love going there. It is just perfect. Jeff and Nancy (Jason's dad and stepmom) purchased this property a couple of years ago. It is a 3-room (4, if you count the bathroom) fishing cabin. They purchased a boat last year, so we really got to experience the lake this year!! We also got to visit with aunt Kezia and auntie Jane. It is always nice to see them. The boys had a great time, Jackson was swimming in the lake--couldn't get enough of it. Cooper wasn't really into swimming as much, but did dip his feet in with Grandpa Jeff.....

Jackson and Daddy ready to go out on the JetSki!

The boys even got a bit of fishing in. They caught 2 little fishies.

The best moment, I would say, was when Jackson told Jason that he didn't need him to accompany him on the tuuuuuuuube. He rode into the dock behind the boat all by himself. Such a big boy.

I think they were pretty worn out, don't you? Cute undies, Jackson.


We are thinking it will be a bit less hectic when Cooper is a little older and less clingy. He was literally velcroed to me all day on Saturday. Someday, I will get to enjoy sunning myself on the dock, reading books and Nancy's collection of decorator magazines.

By the time we returned from the lake, we didn't have much time left. Here are some pictures of the boys with Aunt Emily and BeeBee. We had a dance party on the deck the night before we left.



















CLICK HERE FOR MORE PICS OF OUR VACATION!

KC Summer Vacation

Ascending Mt. Monadnock

As we approach our one year anniversary here in New Hampshire I find it unacceptable that the Endacott family hasn't ventured to the top of the most frequently climbed mountain in North America. So Jackson and I went to climb it. Mt. Monadnock is climbed by over 120,000 people each year and is second only to Mt. Fuji which sees about 150,000 climbers each year. Mt. Monadnock was first climbed in the middle of the 1740's and its base was used for sheep pasture land in the 1800's. The top of Mt. Monadnock is bare rock, although not because it is above natural tree line. The summit is 3,165 feet above sea level. The top is bare because fires were deliberately set to the mountain 3 times. The first two times the mountain was set on fire, the intent was to clear the land for grazing. The third time a fire was set, it was to destroy the dens of wolves who had taken up a convenient place to live right next to some fat sheep. The top of the mountain lost a great deal of its soil to erosion and trees never grew again. That's why Mt. Monadnock currently looks like this (not my pic).


Even though Mt. Monadnock is about 70 miles from the Atlantic coast, it is possible to see it from a ship on a clear day. Unfortunately yesterday was not a clear day. The mountain has been the inspiration for art and literature. Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote a poem after visiting the mountain:

Thousand minstrels woke within me,
"Our music's in the hills; "—
Gayest pictures rose to win me,
Leopard-colored rills.
Up!—If thou knew'st who calls
To twilight parks of beech and pine,
High over the river intervals,
Above the ploughman's highest line,
Over the owner's farthest walls;—
Up!—where the airy citadel
O'erlooks the purging landscape's swell.
Let not unto the stones the day
Her lily and rose, her sea and land display;
Read the celestial sign!
Lo! the South answers to the North;
Bookworm, break this sloth urbane;
A greater Spirit bids thee forth,
Than the gray dreams which thee detain.

There's more, but seriously... Yawn...

It was a nice day to climb yesterday. Jax and I drove the 25 minutes to the state park parking lot and then we started up the slope. The first mile of the trail we chose was a road that used to lead to a hut halfway up the hill. It burned down about 40 years ago. Jackson found himself a walking stick to help him out.



The trail then turned into a wooded trek up a rocky slope that also serves as a water runoff in the spring. Jackson really liked climbing up the rocks and sliding down the biggest ones.



We had to stop for lots of water breaks and Jackson was really good at finding rocks to rest on.



As we got further up the mountain the trail became a lot steeper and the climbing became a lot tougher. Jackson poses here in front of some of the rocks we climbed.



Once we got above the tree line it was a lot harder to follow the path. Fortunately, Jackson was very adroit at finding the white arrows that are painted on the rocks to help climbers stay on track. In the picture below you can see one of the white arrows that Jackson found just a bit further up ahead.


Finally (after 2 hours) we made it to the summit. Here's a (hazy) pic of the view of our climb. The water you see in the distance is very close to where we parked our car and started our hike.





Jackson poses moments after he conquered the summit.

There were about 30 people at the summit when we got there. It was very windy.


Jackson eats a granola bar for some energy before we head down.


Jackson and Daddy pose together at the top.

When we reached the top I promised Jackson that if he made it all the way down the mountain without complaining (tall order!) that I'd take him out to eat some dinner after we got back to Keene. He decided that he wanted to go to Chili's because, "They have the best pizza in the whole world!" The entire way down the mountain he talked about how he was looking forward to his Chili's pizza. He didn't complain (much), which might have had something to do with the fact that I carried him piggy back for the last mile after we made it to the gravel road. I was really proud of Jackson and he was very excited that he climbed a mountain at only 4 years old! We drove straight to Chili's and Jackson promptly ordered the Macroni & Cheese.

Perfect Jeep weather!

It's July 2nd and it's 79 degrees, no humidity.

We love New Hampshire!

The saga of Cooper's toddler bed training.....

Thump.

That's the sound of a 2 year old landing on the ground with the ease of a cat after scaling the side of his crib. Cooper discovered that if he doesn't want to stay in bed, he doesn't have to. So, for his safety, we decided that we were going to make some changes in his sleeping arrangements. We looked at twin beds. The walk in closet in our first house is bigger than his room. There is no way that even a twin bed will fit in there. We discussed putting him in with Jackson on a trundle bed. I didn't love the idea of putting those 2 together...besides, I have just finished decorating Cooper's room. He will stay in there for another few years! So we ended up purchasing toddler bed. It is such a cute little bed.....but.....

Since then, it has been a battle. A battle of wills to be more specific. Parents vs. Cooper. Who will give in first? I must say that we are really lucky that both of us are around this summer to deal with this. Jason can pick up where I leave off in a state of complete exasperation, on the verge of throwing in the towel!



Initially, we had to camp out in our room in order to catch the little convict trying to leave his room at naptime. With each creeeeak of his door, we had to patiently and consistently put him back in bed. I should have kept count, because I think on Sunday I had to put him back in bed about 30 times. We got tired of doing that, so Jason ingeniously installed a night vision camera so we could monitor him from the comfort of our couch downstairs. It really is very entertaining. "The Cooper Show" is a must-see!


What will they think up next??

Jason put a little gate in front of his door. I feel a certain amount of guilt doing that, but he does need to learn that naptime and bedtime are not up for debate. Jason made a great point in saying "in theory, why is the gate any different than putting him in a crib or using a crib tent?" Okay...that makes me feel better.

So we have had a few little issues with the gate.

1. He wedges himself between his door and the gate

2.He attempts to crawl underneath the gate, gets stuck when his fat diaper won't fit and then falls asleep.

We have also discovered a few things about our dear, dear son Cooper.

1. He has taken the term "terrible twos" WAY too literally.


2. He has a book fetish.


3. He is a bit of a control freak


4. Stubborn, oh so stubborn. Lord help us.

This brings us to last night. Honestly, these nights are all running together. I don't know that the routine has varied much from night to night...except that it is getting a bit easier and the battle gets shorter each night. Although, we have had to tie a string from his doorknob to ours to keep him from opening his door. I have known this all along, but it has taken this situation to solidify that Jason is WAY better than I am with discipline. He means business. He is the definition of tough love. We will turn on the "Cooper Show" after a long struggle with bedtime, and find a sleeping Cooper. I will just melt and say AWWWHHHH, how cute is he? Jason will just shake his head in disbelief that I had already forgotten the war we just fought with that same child.