Kate ordered a taco salad that was bigger than her head.

Leaving is lame.

We stopped by Wild Things to get Noah a new winter coat, he never made it more then 3 ft into the store, distracted by crayons.

Last stop of the day, PVD!

Julian’s binoculars.

The Deaner’s spoiled Noah with even more birthday presents.

School bus!

Crow puppet!  (bad flick, this looks a lot less creepy in person..)

Thanks Deaner’s!

Look at this!  Chicken, artichoke hearts, peppers, a little olive spread, and feta on garlic and herb bread!!  Everyday please!

Noah had a pancake.

After we walked across the street to check out an antique store.

Noah made friends with a butler.

Then we stopped to see Noah’s Nana at work.

Then a nap and some tickles from Grampa.

Rain, rain.. going away.

This statue looked on.

Noah picking the first apple off of his Grampa’s tree.

Then a visit to my Uncle Wayne and Aunt Patty’s garden(s). This first garden where the berries grow.

Noah was drawn to the weed garden… as in, where the weeds are growing…

Kate got right into the vegetable garden. She called this “harvesting”…

I might have called it “robbing”…

or “stealing”.. or… “taking”…

My Nana helping out.

Noah running to see his Nana and Grampa.

This is the hornets nest on my Nana’s porch. She asked my dad to get rid of it when he got a minute. The hornets don’t “bother with her” so… No rush…

LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THIS HORNETS NEST!!! IT’S 5 FEET FROM THE FRONT DOOR!!!!

You aren’t here to see hornets nest though, you are here to see Noah, who I can safely report was never near the hornets nest.

Kate, still going.

We also got to “harvest” some potatoes.

My Nana in some “J.Crew” light leaning on Uncle Waynes Plymouth Fury.

I’m starting to remember climbing into the front seat of my parents car and honking the horn to try and get them to leave too..

Bossy.

Slugs love shrooms.

Over lunch, Aunt Mindy and Noah discussed what part of her luggage he would sneak into.

Good-byes are always tough.

Thanks for planning, decorating, and everything’ing Noah’s birthday party Mindy!  Really glad you could make it.

Since we couldn’t just have the party on the lawn, we relocated to my Dad’s new garage.  Nana, Aunt Mindy, and Kate spent the morning decorating.

The remains of Saturday night’s fire.

Darn rain.

Noah’s first present of the day, a fire chief outfit…

…to go with the fire fighter theme!  Check out the great cakes Noah’s Aunt Mindy made!!

My Uncle Wayne got into the spirit.

Kaelyn and Jaycee.

This one is a real nice and thoughtful gift…

Noah asked my Nana to hold a gift for him.

Tagging the floor of Grampa’s garage.

One more look at those cakes before we tore into them.

Abigail and her Aunt Lori.

Abigail, making sure everyone has a fire hat.

“What a bunch”

Thanks to (Noah’s) Aunt Mindy, Nana, and Grampa for planning, decorating, cake-making, and hosting.  Thanks to everyone else for coming over, up, and down for Noah’s birthday party!!!

Luckily, about half way there is The Basketball Hall of Fame!!

After using the bathroom, Noah wanted in on some basketball games.

Instead I gave him 3 min. to try and dribble in the gift shop.  Not pictured, Noah being really bummed on me.

Lunch!  Brattleboro, VT.

Last stop, Milan, NH as ash was falling from the sky from Jasper and Doug’s bonfire.

Aunt Mindy made it up from Charlotte!

Noah was a little overwhelmed with everything being on fire, dudes with years of facial hair, and four-wheelers racing around..  Happy Birthday Son.

Uncle Gerry tossing some branches on the fire.

Doug.

Jasper…

Goodnight Noah.

There was a lot of wood to burn, and Jasper gets impatient.

A while later..

One last run in the driveway.

No scrapes this time.

Packing up.

Lisa was ready.

Fast forward 5 hours.

Lemon eater.

Disclaimer, Noah did not sleep in the cabinet, and he eats more than lemons.

Fast forward 3 hours and to a found playground.

Ok, not the greatest playground ever, but it did the job.

…just keep an eye on the car..

Rabbits, which are probably hard to see.

One last ride on the truck.

Balls over New Jersey.

12 hours after leaving Avon, we were back in Brooklyn.  Vacation over.

Noah getting more adventurous in the pool?  Must be the last few hours he can be in it!

Opa saved his aquatic acrobatic routine for the last day too.  Splendid.

Maybe Noah thought something was wrong because the sun was out and Uncle Tim was awake…

Noah showing off his “Situation” to Alex, who can’t handle it so he has to turn away.

Solid times..

A bike ride to Andy and Anne’s post-wedding brunch.

Dudes packing the wedding up.

Partied people.

Dog.

Opa, Nana, and Nana’s hat.

Sitting with Diane and Mike (the mother and father of the bride) with Nancy and Tammy.

A goodbye kiss from the mother of the bride…

…and a kiss from the mother of the groom for good measure.

“What the..?”

“Lisa! It’s raining…  …  …is that why you are doing laundry?”

“Nana!”

“Emmett!  Skateboard!”

Things were a little drier after Noah’s nap so we went to see the house where our friends The Kennedy’s were staying.

To recap we were on The Outer Banks because Anne Kennedy was/is/did get married on the beach outside the house they rented.

Anne’s niece Kate, and nephew Ryan were cooped up too I think.  They were eager to show Noah their cars…

..then they showed Noah some hermit crabs.

The ride home.

More games.

Noah and I began to go crazy.

Me, on the dune between the house we rented and The Food Lion…

…a closer look at the same photo reveals that I was trying to let everyone know that I got TWO different kinds of margarita mix so we could compare. (Photo by Katherine Holt)

Bruise update.

My view from the blogging nook.

Frog.

Park.

Lunch.

Pool.

Bike again.

Turtles.

Once again, the house where Mark and Sara got married a bunch of years back.  8? 7?

Kate waiting for Emmett.

That’s that house we are staying in, above the “Thank you” sign.

Home.

Slow going.

Test out some other strollers while we rent bikes.

Emmett thinking maybe I should just concentrate on giving Noah a safe ride, rather than trying to take his picture…  He’s probably right.

Uncle Tim’s skid mark…

Poolside baby sitting.

Exploring with Aunt Diana.

Deer.

…because after I got back from a grocery run with Emmett, Noah was running in the driveway and took a dive.

Nana dried up the tears with strawberries.

Then Noah got mad at us for trying to clean up his wound and ran into the corner of the cabinets and got a cut on the left side of his head, more strawberries.

Luckily, he’s alright.

The pool is fine too.

Intercom.

World Cup Final.

Post nap bruiser.

Birthday party for Emmett.

Bratty birthday boy with silly string.

The poorly influenced younger brother.

The battered and bruised birthday boys nephew who is nervous about all this silly string stuff.

More pool.

Kate hoping tomorrow can be less eventful.

…a particularly messy dinner.