2011: First Day of School

Every year I feel the same way - where did the summer go? I know we had a fun and busy summer but it is still overwhelming to think it is almost fall. With the start of September comes the beginning of school.

The first to head off to school was Garrett who was ready and excited to head back to preschool. Garrett is lucky this year because he knows his teachers from last year and 13 of the 20 kids in his class were in his class last year. As you can see, Garrett was ready to go.
Just another example of the many faces of Garrett.
Emily was excited to get into the action as well. Emily started class at a school nearby which gets one year olds together to sing songs and just have fun. Although Emily still had to eat breakfast, she was already planning what shoes to wear.
When Monday rolled around, Connor was ready to start school. This is his big year - off to Kindergarten. I will be honest and tell you it was hard for Mommy to think of her big boy going off to school. I just want you to be happy - so I was just hoping everything went well. Connor was ready to head off.

The Boys!

Goofy as Always!

Let's Go!

It is with great pride that I get to report that the boys absolutely loved school. Both boys went in confident and happy and came beaming out of school with huge smiles on their faces. Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you and love hearing all the new stories you have to tell.

Labor Day Weekend

About a week before Labor Day, we were psyched to hear that our friends were coming to visit for the weekend. We are always excited when anyone is willing to drive the five hours to see us. However, the boys especially love playing with Luka and Aidan so the weekend couldn't come fast enough.

The boys spent Saturday morning running around the house playing with every toy and leaving no corner unturned. We decided it would be best for everyone's sanity to get outside and enjoy what turned out to be a beautiful day. Since it is peach and plum season, we headed over to LookOut Farm for some fruit picking and fun. All aboard the train so we can venture into the orchard.
There is a play area with lots to do - playground, pony rides, haystacks, bouncy house, maze and camel rides. We headed there to let the kids run wild. They all jumped onto the caterpillar for a spin around the area.
After lots of play time, we headed back to the train so we could go find some good fruit. Look at Emily and Aunt Jenn ready to hit the orchard.

The boys were very serious about fruit picking - I think we picked enough fruit to feed an entire army. Thank goodness Aunt Jenn was willing to make a peach cobbler and an apple crisp. (Did I say how much I love having visitors who bake?)

I got some cuddle time on the train too.

The next day we headed off to the pool to let the kids swim and play. After a couple hours in the pool, I don't know how anyone had any energy. But guess what - we all did. We headed out for a hike a couple minutes from our house. The kids were totally into it. Look at them following the red dots and running ahead.

They all held tough and walked the entire time. They even let me have a photo-op on the way back.

Look at these trouble makers.Monday came too fast for everyone and the boys were so sad to say goodbye but it was time for them all to start school. Before they left, they did manage to play for every last second.

Guess Who's Walking???

It is the end of August and our little girl is growing up so fast. Here are some pictures that I thought were adorable.

Playing with Mommy.

Check out my new shoes
Emily needs new shoes because she is WALKING!!!!!

Emily won't even stay still for a second or for a picture.

NH: Santa's Village

Of course our next stop in New Hampshire was Santa's Village. Personally, I absolutely have a ball every year and it is definitely fun to get in the Christmas spirit in August. After all our fun in Storyland, everyone was excited to get to Santa's Village. Before heading off to see Santa, we sat with the huge snowman - smile everyone.
The one thing I learned on this trip is that taking pictures is getting harder. All of the kids ride the rides which means Brian and I have our hands full holding them safely...so picture taking becomes quite problematic. I am happy to have been able to get a few shots in throughout the fun.

The carousel is always a favorite.

Connor coming up on the outside.

Now it was time to visit Santa and Santa didn't disappoint. He was so happy to see us but Emily wasn't too sure of him. So we all got into the picture with Santa for the first time and Santa was so impressed we all received candy canes. Yeah!

The kids went into the Christmas shops and Emily was so cute carrying around stuffed animals and playing with some of the toys. We learned that Garrett is a huge fan of Chuggington trains and Connor just wanted to get on more rides.

It was a race to the finish for the boys....who won??

As always, I like to take a minute to figure out how much we have grown from the prior year. Garrett has sprouted up out of no where clearing at least 39 inches.

And Connor is just a hair shy of 4 feet - maybe I shouldn't have gotten him a buzz cut.

The boys loved going on this ride with Daddy because we all know Daddy does not like heights. During the course of the ride, I kept hearing the boys tell Daddy to open his eyes when they got near the top of the Ferris wheel. it was a Super Fun Day!

As always our trip to New Hampshire flies by because there is never a dull moment. Everyday we made a point to get to the hotel water slides. I don't have any pictures because we were so busy in the water. Emily and Garrett went down the big blue slide and now that Connor swims, he went down the adult water slides. He was crazy - constantly racing us down the slides. Oh how they are all growing up so fast and as you can see keeping their mommy and daddy very busy.

On the way home, we stopped at our usual diner and our happy moods continued...smiles from all. We also found a cute little candy shop that will definitely be a stop over on our future trips to come.

NH: Storyland

Since Aruba was moved to July this year, we decided to head for our annual New Hampshire outing in August. We made it to our usual hotel and the kids were ready to get going to Storyland.
First stop in Storyland was the ball pit and Emily was so excited to have her very own place to play.

The boys were leaping and jumping into the ball pit - they could clear halfway across the pit.

Connor is quite the little man now. He even goes on rides all by himself now that he is tall enough. Garrett has become adventurous too and tried out all the rides.

Unfortunately, Emily and I had to sit a couple of rides out but we found places to practice walking and even a fun train ride to keep us busy.

There was one game in particular that all the kids loved. The object of the game is to throw this big ball into three rows of buckets and the color of the bucket it settles in is the size of the prize you win. Emily thought this was easy.

Here we are relaxing on our train ride.

After the train ride, I managed to talk Connor and Garrett into going on the roller coaster. This will go down as the first year they tried the Polar Coaster. After the first ride, it became clear we were going to be riding it several more times before we left the park. Every good train ride and roller coaster excursion deserves an ice cream cone. This might be the one time all trip the boys sat perfectly still for any length of time.

The wooden shoes were a first time ride as well and the boys loved taking control of the movement of the shoes...Garrett had me bouncing out of my seat.

Our last adventure before saying goodbye to Storyland was Connor and I going on the flume. I taught him Uncle Scott's trick of tucking himself in the front of the flume to avoid getting wet. Connor loved emerging from the ride perfectly dry, yet Mommy was definitely wet.

We spent a day and a half at Storyland and we managed to have the best time. We were on so many rides and attractions it is hard to recount them all. We learned that Emily is a daredevil just like her brothers - going on rides like the Whirling Whale. Connor surprised us all by going on every ride in the park. Of course, Garrett loved the rides and all three love to win prizes. Can't wait to head back again next year.

Everyday Moments

Sometimes you look back at pictures and realize that the everyday moments really are the most special. They make me smile so big and realize how lucky we are as a family. Look at all three of my munchkins having a Mighty Mini Ice Pop together. I know I am biased but I think my childen are so well behaved and adorable.

I don't know how Brian and I got so lucky. Love you!

Canobie Take 2

One weekend we were looking to find something to do and at the last minute decided to run up to Canobie Lake Park again for a quick visit. This time the boys went on all the rides again. We even added some new ones - this dinosaur bounce was a favorite.

Hands up Boys!!!

The swings were also a favorite ride on this trip...they rode them four times in a row.

It was a fun trip which made everyone smile. Can't wait for our next fun trip.