Speed Racer

I think the video speaks for itself. Pay particular attention to the way he looks directly at me and NOT where he is going!

(and yes, I have mini heart attacks every time he goes down this hill!)

Boo! The Ghost!

A ghost made an appearance at Julia's school this year. Well, I guess, "appearance" is the wrong word since no one actually saw the ghost! But every time her teachers read a particular book, the lights in the classroom went off and the kids were convinced that it was their class ghost - Boo!

This is Julia's portrait of Boo that she created on our driveway:

You'll notice, on the middle of left side of the picture, that she wrote his name as BBO. I didn't comment on this when she did it - impressed that she was just trying to spell different words herself. But I was even more impressed the next day when she was looking at her drawing again and without any input from anyone else she said, "wait, that's wrong!" and then went and got the chalk, crossed out the extra "B", and added an "O"! Wow!

Heard in Our Car Recently

We were having a conversation about boys and girls and this was one of Julia's contributions:

"Mom is a girl, I'm a girl... Benjamin is a boy... Grandma is a grandma"

Swinging Benj!

So much has changed over the past year but one constant has been Benjamin's love of the playground and the swings in particular! Somehow I'm not surprised that he enjoys flying through the air!

October 2012

October 2013

A Trip Up North

Over the first weekend of October we made a very special trip up North. Merrill, Alex, Steve, Andrew, Julia, Benjamin, and I went to North Conway to visit my grandparents! It turned out to be a beautiful weekend - the leaves were changing, the weather was great, and everyone had a fabulous time.

We spent Saturday at Storyland; for Merrill and I it was a bit of a walk down memory lane as a lot of the things in park haven't changed that much since we were there as kids. There have been plenty of new additions as well and the kids had a great time on different rides. The highlight for Julia was driving an antique car and Benjamin just loved walking around looking at all the new sights.

Humpty Dumpty hadn't changed a bit!

Leaving the Shoe from The Old Lady who Lived in a Shoe
This was a typical shot of Benjamin from the day! He happily wore his monkey harness, which was a good thing because he was constantly trying to escape us!

Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater

Rowing the Pirate Ship

Two more pirates!

Can you see me now?!?

The Little Dutch Boy!

Snuggling with Mom in the balloon ferris wheel

After a fun day of fairy tales and nursery rhymes, we headed back to Grandma Irene and Grandpa Andy's house for a dinner of mussels and pasta. Benjamin and Alex were in heaven - each of them finished a huge helping of mussels!

The next morning after a good visit, and some time exploring the yard - rolling down the hill in the leaves and getting acquainted with "picnic rock" (a favorite spot of mine as a kid) - we headed into town for a bit before getting on the road. The kids got to check out the trains up close and Merrill introduced another generation to the rock shop!

Clubhouse Warming

In late September we celebrated a summer of hard work! After many, many hours the finishing touches were put on and it was time for a clubhouse warming party!

The finished project!

The clubhouse (or pirate ship) mascot - Bucky.  Hand crafted by Great Grandpa Carl!

Of course every pirate ship (and house) needs a bell!

Grandpa and Julia relaxing on the deck!

Thanks to everyone who worked so hard all summer! I know Julia and Benjamin will enjoy playing in here for a long time to come!

Catching Up

I have a lot of catching up to do around here! After a very emotional and stressful last few weeks, I have finally cracked my computer back open and started downloading photos. The good news is that there are plenty of pictures and stories to share - so I'll do my best over the next couple of weeks to get everyone caught up!