Davis' Farmland, My First 10K, and More Summer Fun!

Over two months late, and a vacation from blogging because we've been super busy this summer with adventures-a-plenty.  Here's the remainder of Joseph's "staycation" that went from the end of June to the beginning of July.  It was two weeks of pure bliss that we got to spend with him.  It was so lovely to have him home - even though he was studying for his Step 3 exams...at least he was home.  :)  When he wasn't too exhausted, we were able to venture out on a few excursions together.

One of our stops was one of Joseph's (and the boys' of course) favorites:  Davis' Farm Land!  It's a nice, clean, and gigantic petting zoo.  It was the perfect summer day to venture out together.

Joseph holding up William to feed the very
eager goats.

Pony ride time!  Here's Alex riding the pony.

He did it all by himself :-)

William had Joseph along with him for the ride.

Joseph and William on the pony ride.
William's not very adventurous with rides,
so he only made it around the circle once
instead of twice.

Alex loved petting all of the friendly animals.

William was brushing this pony's hair.

Piglets!!!  These piglets were only a few weeks
old and they were absolutely adorable!  Alex
was waiting to snuggle with them, but they were
incredibly wiggly.

William petting a piglet.

That animal is looking at William like he's lunch.  Lol!

William insisted in sitting on the fox.

Llama llama!

So sweet :)

Reptile show time!  This goat's backside
was blocking my view.  :-p

The boys checking out a turtle.

Whenever Alex sees a tractor, he just can't
help himself and has to get up on it.

William, riding a lawn mower.  I don't think he
quite understood how to use it.

They had the cutest little fishing pond
where Alex caught a fish (not a real one).

Water table fun!

Since we don't really have a yard, William
hasn't seen how to properly use a lawn mower.  Lol!

Alex was so happy to be around the baby cows.

Baby goat time!!  These were just a few weeks
old and were soooooo soft.  William enjoyed
brushing them.

William doing some bird watching.

Alex too!

The donkey was longing to be petted
so the boys and Joseph gladly obliged.

HAHAHAHA!  I couldn't resist :)

Time to check out the hen house!  As I walked in, I felt something flutter up my back.  I turned around to see this evil looking thing STARING at me straight in the face!

Something out of my nightmares.  Ugh...I hate birds.

Joseph feeding "Llama llama" as we told the boys.

Little man, cheesin' it.

The kids with some....kids.  :-)

Horse riding fun!

Little man's turn! :-)

After recovering from my foot injury (while still having some slight knee pain in my left knee), I powered through (with the help and encouragement of Joseph) and ran my first 10K!!  (6.2 miles) and I ran every inch of it!!  That's the farthest I've ever run in my life and I was so glad that I could do it alongside my partner in crime, Joseph. 
He's a runner and I'm definitely not (although my physiatrist wrote in her notes that I was a "pleasant, 32-year-old runner..." that seriously rocked my world that anyone would EVER describe me as a runner...let alone being pleasant) and he cheered me on and pushed me to run faster during the race.  Thanks so much Joseph, for encouraging me to be my best during the race and for not letting me slow down when things got difficult.

Me in Boston Common before the race.
It was a little chilly in the morning on June 22, 2014.

Me and my running mate :)

Woo hoo!!  We completed the race and
were treated to B.Good burgers afterwards!
A delicious treat at 10 a.m. :)
Here's Joseph, enjoying his burger in the Common.

Me too!

Two happy runners :)
Thanks for coaching me through the race, Joseph.
You're amazing!

My stats!!  Woot wooot!!!  I was so happy
that I ran 6.2 miles in less than an hour...sure it was
close, but I'm still counting it. ;-)

Our quirky and sassy, 8 1/2 year-old Oscar. :)

Oy....I love that head tilt :)

Play date time!!  After finally matching up our schedules, the boys and I were able to have a play date this summer with my former teacher friend Jean and her two darling children.

William, ready to glide down the slide and
splash into a pool.

William is such a water baby. :)

Owen and William on their swing set.

Our boys had such a blast playing with Owen
and Catherine.  Thanks so much for having us over! :-)

Joseph and I decided to venture out to a fancy restaurant with the boys.  We took them to B&G Oysters (because it had been ages since I had had raw oysters and we were both wanting some really badly). 

William brought Elmo along and decided to give Elmo some water.

My beautiful men at B&G Oysters.

Elmo was enjoying some delicious grilled peaches.

Our handsome big guy :-)

Oy!  Our poor, sweaty little baby.  On our
morning walk, we went about 100 feet away from
the house, and I looked at poor William and noticed
that he had beads of sweat on his nose and upper lip.
This poor guy sweats at the drop of a hat. :-(

Play date number 2!  The boys and I met my friend Suzie and her dear son, Coda, out at Hopkinton State Park to splash around and cool off.
To my surprise, there were teeny tiny frogs EVERYWHERE!!!!  As soon as you stepped on the ground, the little critters would scatter this way and that.  I was in my own personal nightmare, but the boys absolutely loved it!  I powered through for that morning....but chose not to go back to that park for the rest of the summer. 

William playing with the sand.

Here's Coda, fishing for tadpoles.

Alex, holding one of the small frogs.

See??!!  Look how small these things were!
And they were EVVVVVERRRYWHERE!!
Plus, the tadpoles were all in the water. 
Certainly not my cup of tea, but like I said,
the kids had fun and that's all that matters.

Alex and Coda had such fun collecting tadpoles together.

William simply enjoyed splashing in the water.

The tadpole collection.

Alex and Coda, hard at work.

William loved getting messy.

Snack time!

Snuggle time with the little man :-)

Awwww!  So sweet!  Alex was helping William
put on his sandals.  Brotherly love :-)

And now for your viewing pleasure...Alex's rendition of
Frozen's "Let it go!"

Woo hoo!  A lot happened in those two weeks that I just captured.  Hang on, because there's a lot more summer fun that will surely be coming your way!  We had a wonderful summer together exploring New England and having quality family time and terrific play dates with good friends.
Love and kisses,
Nikki