Our Jones Family Experience

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Melissa is 30 Years Old

That’s right. A few weeks ago I turned the big 3-0. It’s taken me this long to write a blog post because as you all know, us old ladies move slowly. I didn’t want to just stay around Vermont, so I planned my own birthday trip to Boston. We’ve been once before, but I had heard the New England Aquarium was really nice and wanted to go.


We left Saturday after Hadley’s music class. An added benefit of going to Boston is passing by Cracker Barrel at precisely lunch time (you don’t realize how important good restaurants are until you have lived in Vermont for a while). We stopped at Cracker Barrel and continued south to Boston.

That afternoon we went to the Boston Children’s Museum. I think it is the best children’s museum we have been to and we only made it to 2 of the 3 floors before they closed. We all had a lot of fun.


Playing in the bubble area


Using your body to make power



The crazy, 3 story climbing structure I wouldn't let the girls go in

Different sizes

Pretending to sleep in the giant doll house

Giant candy land (Hadley won)

Using the tools

Gideon getting into the fun too


Huge water table

Playing in the sand

Pre-K and Toddler area


After the museum we got dinner then headed to the hotel. Hadley was very excited about sleeping in a hotel and wanted to go to sleep right away. Bedtime actually went better than expected as both girls went to sleep quickly. Not long into the night though, Malia vomited in her pack and play. We got it cleaned up, but I didn’t want her sleeping in it with the smell.

Gideon moved to Hadley’s bed, and I brought Malia into bed with me. Malia is a very active sleeper, trying to crawl off of the bed while still sleeping. This resulted in a night of very little sleep for me. Gideon and Hadley were doing okay, until Hadley woke up and found Daddy in bed with her. She demanded to know why he was in her bed, and then ordered him to sleep on the floor. After a little discussion, they both went back to sleep (both still in the bed).

The next morning after breakfast we headed to the Aquarium. As always I had done my research, so it was like I expected. It had a five story round tank, touch tank, shark and ray touch tank and many other things. The girls were getting distracted by the end, but I think we all had fun.


Watching the penguins

Trying to get to the fish

Touch tank





They were both getting hungry and less interested in the fish


It has become a bit of a tradition to go to Hard Rock Café on my birthday if we are near one. This makes our third year going to one. We have been to Athens, Greece, Dublin, Ireland, and now Boston, MA. The food as always was great. Since we were in Boston, I told Gideon he didn’t have to make me a cake. Instead we got the brownie sundae from Hard Rock.


Dancing in her chair

Eating her sauce by the spoonful


After lunch

After lunch, we walked around Faneuil Hall Marketplace. Whenever my birthday falls on Sunday, it is also Super Bowl Sunday, so the city was very empty. We happened upon some horse drawn carriages, so we went for a ride. Malia fell asleep during the ride, but the rest of us had fun. After our ride, we headed home.


The ice sculptures made for the Super Bowl


After our carriage ride

I had a lot of fun. I was with my family, exploring, seeing new things, and eating good food. All and all it was a great way to turn 30.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Malia is 18 Months Old


Dear Malia,


I find myself telling people all of the time “She’s hilarious” when describing you. As I’m writing this I’m watching you trying to put your dress back on. You need to put it back on because you turned it into a strapless dress before taking it off completely. Even though you are nowhere close to getting it on, you are calm and determined.

Watching you put on the dress really highlights who you are. You are fiercely determined at everything you do, and calm and funny throughout. Not only do you make me laugh every day, you make me laugh every hour. I love being around you and watching your silly, mischievous personality.

You are very content to play by yourself, but you love playing with your sister. My favorite sound in the world is the two of you giggling together. You adore Hadley and want to do everything she does. You follow her around the house, color when she does, plays with dolls with her and will even fall down if she does. Even though you two are so different, you are definitely sisters.

You love to cuddle and we can spend hours on the couch cuddling and reading books. I love our one on one time. You give hugs and kisses, but only when you want to. No amount of asking or saying please can get a kiss if you’re not in the mood.

I can already tell that you are going to be a leader. You are very assertive and not shy at expressing your feelings. You care about others, but will not let anyone push you around.

While you are calm and laid-back, the monster known as toddlerhood has reared its scary, loud head. Tantrums are still rare and don’t last very long, but you know how you want things and are not easily dissuaded. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this will be a brief period and not very bad. Hey, a Mom can hope right?

I’m having so much fun being your Mommy. I love everything about you. I promise to keep laughing with you and to enjoy all of the little moments as it all goes by so quickly. Love you always.

Friday, February 10, 2012

Montshire Museum with 2

Last Thursday I debated taking the girls to the Montshire Museum. I actually started thinking about it the night before because I know Thursdays are our one day without anything planned, so I like to do something fun with the girls. I also can’t stand staying in the house the whole day. If we do, at least one of us ends up crying and screaming.


Thursday morning though, the girls weren’t being very cooperative and they weren’t listening very well. I posed the problem to the wonderful Facebook crowd, and everyone told me to go for it. As always, things didn’t go quite as I planned.

Right as we were passing Exit 2 (11 miles until the next exit) Hadley announced that she had to go potty. I asked if she could wait, but I knew the answer would be no. I tried talking to her to distract her, but it wasn’t working and she was on the verge of tears. Once I found a relatively clear area that didn’t have too much of a drop off, I pulled over.

Malia was napping, but the blast of 20 degree weather when I opened the door woke her up. She promptly started crying. I stripped Hadley from the waist down as she doesn’t understand the whole squatting thing. After going pee, I got her cleaned up and redressed. At this point both of the girls were crying, and I was ready to turn around and go home.

We pressed on though, and the day got better. While we have been to Montshire many times, this was the first time that Malia was extremely mobile and wanted to see what she wanted to see and not just what Hadley was doing. Fortunately, Montshire is very open so I was able to stand between the girls and see them both.


The Gravity Well is still one of Hadley's favorites

Malia loved the Gravity Well too

Bubbles are always a hit with kids

Looking so grown up playing on the computer

Looking at the differences in the birds

Digging for fossils

Hunting for more fossils

By the end though, Malia was done with the exhibits and thought it was fun to run away so I had to chase her. Hadley was never a runner (I’m sure all parents know what that is), so it has been a big adjustment for me as Malia runs the instant I put her down.

After Montshire, we headed for lunch. I was thinking Wendy’s because it is hard to say no when it is so close. Hadley had other ideas though once she saw Friendly’s. Because I’m such a good Mommy, and I didn’t want to hear the complaining, we went to Friendly’s.

It was a fun day, but going to the Montshire with two is an even bigger adventure than our normal outings.