Jack Archive

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Weekend in Philly… and Camden

By
Steve
– August 17, 2011Posted in: Jack
In a rarely seen phenomenon, we had an entire weekend with no plans. Nada. Nothing. Zip. Zero. It was shocking. Rather than sit around and stare at each other, we decided to do an overnight in Philadelphia. We had two things in mind that we wanted to do (three if […]

In a rarely seen phenomenon, we had an entire weekend with no plans. Nada. Nothing. Zip. Zero. It was shocking. Rather than sit around and stare at each other, we decided to do an overnight in Philadelphia.

We had two things in mind that we wanted to do (three if you include me getting a cheesesteak from Pat’s, which, incidentally didn’t happen, and four if you include seeing the Liberty Bell, which you will read about shortly); go to the Please Touch Museum and the Adventure Aquarium (which is not in Philly as we had originally thought, but across the river in Camden, hence the title of this post).

The Please Touch Museum is AMAZING. I have been to a few children’s museums. We are actually members at a museum in CT. And for those of you who have never been to one, but “museum” I mean area where kids can run around and play with stuff in themed settings. So, one area might be a supermarket theme and kids can shop, or work a register, or stock shelves or whatever. Another area might be all water activities. One might be animals. The Please Touch Museum is like a children’s museum on steroids. It is HUGE. My wife and I were very impressed.

That night I mentioned that I wanted to see the Liberty Bell. I mean, I’m in Philly, I should see the Liberty Bell. My wife was tired from walking around and from being 7 months pregnant. So, I asked my son if he wanted to take a walk. We set off to find the Bell. It is not outside, as I thought, and the building that houses it closes at 7pm. I got there at 7:09. So, I was able to peer through a dirty window, from about 25 feet away and see the Bell.

Our next stop was the Adventure Aquarium. Again, a home run. Great aquarium. Lots to see. A couple of interactive areas for kids. Just a great day overall. We missed the Hippo feedings, but other than that we saw everything we wanted to see.

I would definitely recommend either of these places to anyone looking for a good day trip (or weekend) who is within comfortable driving distance to the Philadelphia area. I also hear the Zoo is nice. And I still need to get back for my cheesesteak!

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First Last Day of School

By
Steve
– June 23, 2011Posted in: Jack
One of the great things about being a parent is seeing firsts. First steps, first words, first day of school… and first last day of school. Jack’s preschool held a party for the parents to celebrate the last day of school. They had prepared a few songs to sing and […]

One of the great things about being a parent is seeing firsts. First steps, first words, first day of school… and first last day of school.

Jack’s preschool held a party for the parents to celebrate the last day of school. They had prepared a few songs to sing and then we would have some snacks and say goodbye. It was a lot of fun.

The kids didn’t really sing (except for Jack who sang all of Twinkle Twinkle). They were all acting shy. But it was still fun. Everyone had a great time. I was glad that his first school experience was a good one.

We’re already signed up for next year… this time he does 3 half days!

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Ten Year Reunion

By
Steve
– June 22, 2011Posted in: Jack, Me
My God… has it been 10 years already? TEN?!?!?! I’m OLD! Okay. Now that I’m done with that. A few weeks ago the Shaw clan headed up to Loudonville, NY — a suburb of Albany — to attend our 10 Year Reunion at Siena College. We had a lot of fun. The […]

My God… has it been 10 years already? TEN?!?!?! I’m OLD!

Okay. Now that I’m done with that. A few weeks ago the Shaw clan headed up to Loudonville, NY — a suburb of Albany — to attend our 10 Year Reunion at Siena College.

We had a lot of fun. The family picnic was great. Jack was able to run around and play in a bouncy house while we caught up with some old friends. It seemed like we never left. Except for the whole kid and ten years older thing.

Jack kept telling us he was going to go there for college. I hope he does. We had such a great time there.

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Happy Birthday, Jack!

By
Steve
– May 14, 2011Posted in: Jack
I am the worst father… ever.  Its been three weeks since Jack’s third birthday and I haven’t yet posted anything. Terrible.  Terrible, terrible, terrible.  So, without further ado… I can’t believe our little Jack turned 3!  Three!  Tres!  Unbelievable!  It seems like only yesterday we were bringing him home from the hospital. […]

I am the worst father… ever.  Its been three weeks since Jack’s third birthday and I haven’t yet posted anything. Terrible.  Terrible, terrible, terrible.  So, without further ado…

I can’t believe our little Jack turned 3!  Three!  Tres!  Unbelievable!  It seems like only yesterday we were bringing him home from the hospital.  Now he’s like a regular person.  Well, a ridiculous person is more like it.

This year Jack’s birthday fell on a Saturday.  It was nice.  Since he is older — and now has little friends from School and Gymboree and home — we decided to have a little kid’s party.  We had it Gymboree.  First, let me just say that it was amazing.  The people at Gymboree were EXCELLENT!  The party was a huge success and it was all in thanks to the staff at Gymboree.  I didn’t have to do a thing.  It was so nice to just be able to enjoy the party… and take a lot of pictures.

Jack had a good time too… It was so much fun.  To any parent out there reading this, Gymboree (or a place like it) is the way to go.  It was especially nice since Jack is a member so the woman who did the party was his regular teacher and he had kids from his class there.  I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

We also had a small party for Jack with my in laws at Aunt Christy’s new apartment (the second set of photos).  Jack got some great gifts and spent time with his family and friends.

 

 

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Easter 2011

By
Steve
– April 25, 2011Posted in: Jack
It was a full Easter this year.  Jen and Jack spent the weekend before with Jen’s grandparents and parents while I was away.  Then the Saturday before Easter Jen’s parent’s came over to give Jack his Easter basket and do a little babysitting while we went out to dinner.  Lastly, […]

It was a full Easter this year.  Jen and Jack spent the weekend before with Jen’s grandparents and parents while I was away.  Then the Saturday before Easter Jen’s parent’s came over to give Jack his Easter basket and do a little babysitting while we went out to dinner.  Lastly, Easter Sunday we celebrated at home, then went to my Dad’s and then went to my Mom’s.

Of course, it was this day that Jack chose to wake up before 5am, then not eat or nap all day.  He was a bit of a maniac towards the end of the day.  We hit traffic on the way home so Jack slept almost the whole way and then we had to wake him up to get him in the bath and then off to bed. He was exhausted, so he basically cried the whole bath and then fell right to sleep.

All in all it was a great day.  He was exhausted and goofy, but he had a great time and think all the family did too. Hopefully he will nap next holiday… or at least not wake up at 5am.

 

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Playing with Grandpa

By
Steve
– March 22, 2011Posted in: Jack
I haven’t posted in a while… sorry to my dozens and… well… probably no more than a dozen… followers. Grandpa and Grandma T came over recently to hang out and then do a little light babysitting while Jen and I went out with her family for my sister-in-law’s 30th birthday […]

I haven’t posted in a while… sorry to my dozens and… well… probably no more than a dozen… followers.

Grandpa and Grandma T came over recently to hang out and then do a little light babysitting while Jen and I went out with her family for my sister-in-law’s 30th birthday dinner.  While we were all sitting around the house Jack and Grandpa started playing with Jack’s trains which somehow turned into a game with his laundry basket which then turned into a game where Jack was choking him.

I have no idea how it started… but it was very funny.  We all had a good time.

 

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Jack’s First Circus

By
Steve
– February 19, 2011Posted in: Jack
I had gone to Ringling Bros and Barnum and Baily Circus a few years ago.  I don’t know if it was the fact that our memories are very different as adults then as children, or if the circus itself just hit on hard times, but it was awful. There was […]

I had gone to Ringling Bros and Barnum and Baily Circus a few years ago.  I don’t know if it was the fact that our memories are very different as adults then as children, or if the circus itself just hit on hard times, but it was awful. There was some terrible story line about a family and a little girl and flying and other nonsense.  The acting was terrible, they did these little skits all through the performance and it generally was just painful to watch.  Then… the cats came out.  CATS!  House cats!  Not lions.  Not tigers.  Not even a panther.  HOUSE CATS!  A whole performance with cats.  I wept for my future children that this was what they had to look forward to.

Fast forward to 2011.  We decided to take Jack to the circus for the first time.  But, rather than go into Manhattan for Ringling Bros, we decided to start small at the Westchester County Center in White Plains for the Royal Hanneford Circud.  I was not expecting much, but I thought he might enjoy it.

WOW!  Was I impressed.  The venue is small so everyone is close to the action and they had a lot of great performers.  So much better than Ringling Bros!

How did Jack like it?  He enjoyed himself.  He really liked the animal acts.  He liked the ATV stunt guys.  He was so so on the juggling and trapeze stuff.  Was not a fan of the other stuff.  But, all in all he had a lot of fun.  They even had a human cannon ball.  Jack claimed this was his favorite part.

As this was not only his first circus, but his first live event, I think we all faired very well.  I would definitely go back.

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Farmer Jack – E-I-E-I-O!

By
Steve
– January 15, 2011Posted in: Jack
If anyone is going to Blue Hills at Stone Barns in the next few days, you just might eat an egg that was collected by Jack. We drove up to Stone Barns this past Saturday to take part in the Saturday Family Activity, which is egg collecting. After the eggs […]

If anyone is going to Blue Hills at Stone Barns in the next few days, you just might eat an egg that was collected by Jack. We drove up to Stone Barns this past Saturday to take part in the Saturday Family Activity, which is egg collecting. After the eggs are collected they are either sold in the store or bought by the restaurant to be used in their meals.

The farmer takes you to the chicken coop and tells the kids about the chickens and the eggs and the farm Then, they bring you into the coop and let you collect all the eggs. After the eggs were collected, they took us to see the pigs and the sheep.

Jack was a little unsure of the chickens because there were so many of them and they peck at your feet and legs the whole time. But he was having fun holding the basket and seeing the chickens When we went to see the pigs he was just yelling, “Oink oink!” at them. The farmer threw one of the cracked eggs into the pig sty as a treat. Jack very politely asked if he could have a turn. Unfortunately they don’t let the kids throw the eggs. I bet that could get messy.

Next time we are going to try our hands at vegetable picking in the Greenhouse. That is their Sunday activity. We will definitely be spending more time at Stone Barns.

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Christmas Parts II, III and IV

By
Steve
– December 29, 2010Posted in: Jack
We got lazy playing with our new toys (both mine and Jack’s) and then had a fun snow day on the Monday after Christmas so I never put up any of the Christmas photos.  So, I got even lazier and decided to put it all into one big post. Christmas […]

We got lazy playing with our new toys (both mine and Jack’s) and then had a fun snow day on the Monday after Christmas so I never put up any of the Christmas photos.  So, I got even lazier and decided to put it all into one big post.

Christmas Eve Eve (or Festivus for the “rest of us”) was fun.  Jack and Jen made cookies for Santa and Jack drew Santa a nice picture on his Christmas plate.  Jack was very excited about making Santa cookies.  He was also very proud of his drawing for Santa.

Christmas Eve was — as it is every year — at Jen’s parent’s house.  It was a lot of people, a lot of presents, a lot of noise and A LOT OF FUN!  Last year Jen’s Dad dressed up as Santa for Jack to take pictures and add a little extra fun to the day.  This year, he dressed in the suit again, but Jack wanted no part of it.  For some reason he was very scared.  I can’t figure it out.  Last year he hated the Mall Santa, but loved Poppa Santa.  This year, loved the Mall Santa and hated Poppa Santa.  I guess we will never get the balance right.

After the Santa drama, Jack opened his gifts… all of them.  He got some great new toys.  Then, Jen and I opened our gifts.  We too, got some great new toys.  Then the rest of Jen’s family came over and the magical chaos that is Christmas Eve ensued.

Christmas Morning was fun.  Jack woke up and came out to see if Santa ate his cookies — and if the reindeer ate the apple.  He then proceeded to tear through all his presents as fast as he could.   Then the fun of opening each toy and putting in the batteries began.  I realize its only been 3 Christmases that I have had a kid, but it seems that each year the toy companies come up with new and inventive ways to cause grief for parents trying to open their kids toys.  This year I actually needed a screwdriver and a pair of needle-nose pliers to get the gifts out of the packages.  CRAZY!

After our Christmas Morning it was off to my Dad and Theresa’s for Christmas dinner.  Jack made out like a bandit there as well… as did me and Jen.  Then, Jack spend the rest of the day playing with my Dad’s trains.  He would run the trains as fast as he could and wait for them to fall off.  Then he would laugh and wait for someone to put them back on.  He would have done this all day if we let him.

After a long day of Christmas we headed home… Jack fell asleep in the car and barely moved in the transfer from car to bed.  Another great Christmas in the books!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

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Christmas 2010 – Part 1

By
Steve
– December 13, 2010Posted in: Jack
Jack is a lucky, lucky kid.  Each year he is guaranteed to have at least 4 Christmases – One with my Mom, one with my Dad, one with Jen’s family and one with us.  Add in a school party and whatever might be happening in our complex and Jack could be looking […]

Jack is a lucky, lucky kid.  Each year he is guaranteed to have at least 4 Christmases – One with my Mom, one with my Dad, one with Jen’s family and one with us.  Add in a school party and whatever might be happening in our complex and Jack could be looking at 8 days of Christmas.  Its the Hanukkah of Christmases!

This past Sunday was Christmas Part 1 with my Mom and that side of our family.  It was a windy, rainy day, but we were glad it wasn’t snow.  Everyone had a great time, and just when we thought we were going to lose Jack during dinner, Cars saved the day!

Jack got some really great gifts and had a fun time playing with Jasmine – the dog in the photos.   We all had a really great time.  Now we just have to hope the rest of our celebrations go as smoothly and that we don’t get too many new toys… or we will have to buy another apartment just for jack and his stuff.

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