Sesame Place and Toms River Ice Cream Festival

On Friday afternoon Brandon, Wesley, and I met my parents at Sesame Place. It was the perfect time to go. The lines were not too long at all. We were actually able to walk right onto the roller coaster two times in a row with no wait! Wesley had a lot of fun playing in the wave pool and was the bravest that I have ever seen him in it. Brandon enjoyed going down the water slides and even went down one of them in the tube by himself for the first time instead of in a double tube.

We saw the parade for the first time since Brandon was 2. We usually go to Sesame Place in the morning and leave before the parade starts but this time we were able to see it since we went in the afternoon. Both boys really enjoyed the parade and Brandon was in the parade for a few minutes, jumping over a rope that they put on the ground for the kids.

After the parade we went on the merry go round.

Then we went to see some characters and went to see one of the character shows.

On Saturday afternoon Brandon, Wesley, Stu, and I went to the Toms River Ice Cream Festival with Stu's parents. We got to sample 5 or 6 different local ice creams. Brandon also went on some bounce houses. The ice cream was good but it was ridiculously packed at the festival. We saw some characters there that Brandon got his picture taken with. Wesley refused to go near them.

Last Week

We have had a busy week starting with last weekend.

Last Sunday morning we went food shopping. Brandon and Wesley had fun driving the shopping cart.

Later in the day we went to Ava's 3rd birthday party. It was at her grandparent's house and they have a pool. Both boys had so much fun swimming.

The big news around here is that last Monday we started potty training Wesley. Wesley helped me throw away his diapers on Monday morning and he put on underwear. He was really proud to wear it. By Wednesday afternoon he was pretty much potty trained.

Brandon also started going to the rec camp in our town on Monday. He missed the first week since he was still at Silton Swim School. He loves it there so far. They do different activities/ go on different trips every day. Last week he went to the pool twice, went to the movies one day, had a craft day where they went to the Oakhurst meeting room, and played pirate bingo. Brandon also gets to ride the bus to and from camp every day which he loves.

Brandon's friend, Shane, comes home on the bus with him every day and stays at our house for about an hour until her babysitter comes to get her. Brandon and Wesley have been having so much fun with Shane here. Wesley tries to be one of the big kids and play with them. They have fun playing Wii most days.

We made Wesley's crib into a big boy bed on Monday. He has been doing pretty well in it. The second night he got out of bed 8 times in about 3 minutes so he now has a sticker chart that he earns a sticker on if he stays in bed. That has helped a lot.

On Friday night we went out to dinner in Belmar at the 9th Avenue Pier. The kids enjoyed looking at the boats when we were done.

On Saturday we went to Charlee Ann's 2nd birthday party. It was at Gymboree.

Yesterday we went to Alex's 3rd birthday party. He had a bbq at his house. There was a bounce house set up, a wading pool, a slide, water table, and cars. Both boys had a blast. Alex's mom and her sister own horses so we walked over to see the horses. Brandon loved them but Wesley refused to even look at them.

Brandon's 6th Birthday

On the morning of Brandon's birthday we went to Silton to see what he learned how to do in the two weeks he was there. He learned so much this year. He learned how to do circle arms (freestyle) and jump off of the block. I was very impressed with how much he has improved.

After Silton we came back to our house for lunch. Both sets of grandparents joined us for lunch along with Stu's Aunt Carolyn and Uncle Charlie who were visiting from Florida. Brandon got a bike for his birthday from Grandma Marsha and Papa Earle and was so excited to ride it. He did a great job riding it!

After we ate lunch we sang happy birthday with number 6 donuts from Dunkin Donuts. There is one Dunkin Donuts about 15 minutes away from us that you can order number donuts for birthdays. They came out great!

Brandon then went to the Ocean Township Pool with my parents. When he came home he rode his bike to the playground near Firemen's Field. Brandon and Wesley played on the playground equipment and then we rode home.

Then we went to the fireworks in our town. They were supposed to be on July 3rd but were rained out and rescheduled for the same night as Brandon's birthday. Stu's fire department does a stand by for the fireworks each year. The kids have a lot of fun hanging out with the other kids there. We brought a birthday cake to the fireworks and everyone from Stu's fire company sang happy birthday to Brandon.