Happy Halloween 2011!

Our little friendly monster was so good! He was so excited to trick-or-treat with his cousins, the Candy Corn Witch and the scary Scream guy.



The snow made some of the sidewalks a bit treacherous, so Jillian held Eli's hand the whole time!



At one point, Jillian was done holding Eli's hand. He got upset, so without blinking, she just came back and took care of him the whole time! She is such a great big cousin!!!

It was another great Halloween. Mama loves her friendly monster!

From 80 to Snow in 20 Days...

On October 9, we went to the Fire Station Open House. Even in shorts and a t-shirt, poor Eli was sweating.



On October 29, we got two inches of snow, so this is what it was like out when we trick-or-treated!



I will never understand New England weather!

BOO at Suffolk!

We managed to stretch Halloween out a few days this year. We trick-or-treated at Suffolk on Friday. Eli was so entertained by everyone I work with that I think he now believes I play all day!

Spiders and bubbles from Jeff...





Playing with Heath...



But Eli's favorite is his girlfriend Ashley (pronounced Ash-a-lee)...







He's a flirty monster!

Sharks!!!!

We took Eli to the New England Aquarium and he loved it as much as we thought he would! Thanks, Lauren, for letting us use your passes!!!

We got to see harbor seals...



...and penguins...



...and the giant sea turtle...



...and sea lions...



...and, Eli's favorite, the sharks!



I have to say, even as an adult, those sharks scare me. I was peeking around Eli and had no idea it was coming next. The combination of surprise and seeing those teeth so close made me jump and scream a little. Eli turned around and said, "The sharks can't hurt us, Mom." Ah, my little voice of reason...it didn't really help, though. Of course, we had to wait and watch them a bunch of times and it never got easier for me!

One of the coolest parts was the Shark and Ray Touch Tank. I was a little scared (and by little, I mean terribly), but it was really cool. The rays were very gentle and felt soft and slick. I did get a surprise when I leaned over and there was a bamboo shark in the water near my hand. I may have jumped and not put my hands back in the water.



What a great family day!

Fun at the Fire Station!

Our local fire station had an open house and we knew Eli would LOVE it! He got to climb through the fire trucks, but had to be reminded not to push any buttons!



In the ambulance, they gave him the green light to touch everything! I hope this is the closest we get to being in an ambulance with our accident-prone little guy!



Eli held on tight to Daddy while we watched the firemen cut apart a car with the jaws of life. I had never seen it before and it was pretty amazing how fast they can get into a car. In about ten minutes, the entire top of the car was removed.



We learned that if there is a fire, you should crawl and stay low to avoid smoke, that we will meet in Gino's yard after we get out of the house, and that you NEVER run away and hide from a fireman in an emergency. Eli is also very good at stop, drop, and roll.

It was such a cool event that Eli didn't want to leave. I have never seen him that upset to leave before. Hopefully, this trend won't continue!