Winter 2011

It has been a snowy winter here on the east coast - we certainly have had our fair share of blizzards and cold weather. This feels like the first year that both Rachel and Carson are old enough to get out and play in the snow without being overwhelmed by it (its only up to their knees instead of their thighs). We found a great sledding place nearby which the kids just love.

In January we attended the annual Princess & Pirates Brunch at the navy base nearby. This is the second year we have been and Rachel was just as excited to see all the princesses. She was even more brave this year and wanted to have her picture taken with each princess. Carson hardly remembers last year, but this year he was very excited to dress like a pirate and to see all the pirates at the brunch. He even got to 'shake hooks' with Captain Hook!

Christmas 2010

This year the whole family managed to gather in New England so we could spend the holiday together. Not an easy feat for a family as spread out as ours - all parties had at least a full day of travel, some had two days of travel (with a baby!). But it proved to be a wonderful week and a great time to visit with relatives we haven't seen for a long time.

Rachel and Carson were very excited for Christmas morning and had lots of fun opening all their toys.






The kids were very eager to play with their aunts, uncles, grandparents and their new cousin Alexis!

What a happy baby (and she even smiles for the camera)!

The whole gang.

November 2010

Here in New England the month of November brought crisp, cool days and plenty of sunshine - great leaf jumping weather!

A friend gave me the idea to take photos of the kids artwork so I am including two paintings. The first is Rachel's painting of a turkey and the second is Carson's red painting. His artwork tends to be more abstract and he likes to stick to one color. Rachel pressed him to tell her what he painted, "What is it Carson? Is it a house, a firetruck...". Carson replied, "Its a firetruck!" Rachel's response was, "Yesterday you told me it was a tree!".

We decided to have Thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant this year since we had a small crowd and a good restaurant nearby. It was delicious and so nice to have no dishes to clean up afterward! The first picture below was taken by Rachel, the second picture was taken by Carson. Not bad!

The kids each made a Thanksgiving hat at preschool. Rachel's is a pilgrim hat and Carson has a turkey on his head!

The Sunday after Thanksgiving Grandma and I took Rachel to see her first ballet, The Nutcracker. Hopefully it will provide some inspiration for her in her own ballet class. And it was fun for the girls to get all dressed up ("fancy", as Rachel would say).

More recently we took a trip to the Providence Children's Museum which the kids really enjoyed. The highlight for Carson was the construction section - he even got to ride his own steam roller! Rachel loves to play house and shop at the kids grocery store. And they both loved the water table.

Rachel's Fifth Birthday

Its hard to believe that Rachel is 5 years old! Her birthday party was at a farm this year which turned out to be lots of fun. And we got so lucky with the weather - a gorgeous fall day. At the beginning of the party the owner of the farm presented Rachel with her special birthday accessories - a hat, gloves, fan and boa made of pink feathers. Rachel couldn't have been more thrilled!






The party festivities included a corn maze, a hayride and pumpkin painting. And, of course, pizza and birthday cake!

Daddy was a good sport while the children had fun covering him with hay.



Rachel is now taking dance class (ballet and tap) and she seems to enjoy it. She was hesitant at first but when she saw the dresses they wear for the recital she was sold.



In early October we enjoyed the last few warm days outside.

Halloween! Now that the kids have been trick-or-treating a couple times they are more comfortable with it and had lots of fun. There were only two houses that were too scary for Rachel, so Carson got extra candy for her.

Maine Vacation

In August we ventured up to northern Maine to visit Grammy and Grampy. First stop was their 'winter home' where Rachel and Grammy picked flowers together and Carson got a ride on Grampy's tractor. Rachel also had fun throwing the frisbee to the dogs.






Next stop was 'camp' which was a wonderful stay in the woods. The kids enjoyed their first campfire and Rachel loved the smores. Carson sat still for about 5 minutes which is quite a feat for him.




The kids enjoyed playing in the woods and on the docks. Grammy found some old paint brushes for them to 'paint' the dock - what fun! Carson's favorite activity was throwing rocks in the water. We had to teach the dogs not to fetch what he threw! And Rachel enjoyed picking the handful of blueberries still on the bushes. Yummy!

One of the highlights was a sunset cruise in the motorboat. This was the first motorboat ride for Rachel and Carson and they loved it. Daddy had to hold on tight to Carson since sitting still is not his forte, but fortunately no one got wet. We were lucky enough to see a moose swimming across the lake. If she hadn't been such a fast swimmer we might have some pictures to share.

Another highlight was making our own trail! Grammy's casual mention of "..wouldn't it be nice to have a path for walking here..." did not fall on deaf ears. It didn't take long to incite this group into action and within a day we had cleared quite a bit of Andrews Trail. Look for it next time you are in the woods of northern Maine.

Grammy and Grampy had fun showing the kids around their camp and the surrounding woods. Carson was very excited about seeing Grampy's tools. Here he is practicing with Grampy's drill. Carson has a passion for tools that is hard to believe for a 3-year-old. One afternoon was chilly enough for 'the girls' to have a tea party inside.

One of the best parts of the trip for the kids was playing with the dogs. Rachel was a little bit hesitant around the dogs at first, but she and Buttercup soon warmed up to each other and were good friends by the time we left. Below, Carson is hiding behind Daddy's legs while eating a cookie, making sure that the dogs won't take his treat away!