'Round here

Around these parts, this is our idea of...

Fashion role model (heaven help us):

Free entertainment:

Temple:

Memorial (RIP Ted):

Art (thanks to Kate for the idea):

Love:

New toys (thanks to the town dump):

Harvest:

Date night:

Son (meet Jackson, aka Jax, Jack or Jacky):

{fyi, not named after michael}

We went to the beach today...

...and we looked so cool :)

Happy Phoebers

{mouth full of veggie dog...mmmm.....}

Welcome to the House of Girls

{who would you like to be today?}

LU-au

It was "Luau day" at Lucy's school today...thankfully, I had this semi-Hawaain-looking dress for her. The teachers told me she had a blast, so much so that she had a hard time calming down when it was over. Hmmm, maybe it was the pineapple daquiris they served the kids ;)

Oh and Phoebe's part of the school (they go to the same school) had "bubbles" day...I have some photos from her teacher that I will post soon.

Six Flags...More Fun

I turned 36 on Saturday...yep, closer to 40 than 30. Oh well...I am so happy with where my life is right now that I am not going to complain about being a year older. To celebrate my birthday, we did something a little different and took the kids to Six Flags New England. Lucy had a blast and Phoebe even had some fun as well. But judging from my goofy grin in these photos, it looks like I enjoyed myself a whole lot, too.

{lucy's first ever ride all by herself}

{thomas the train ride...passing the train yard}

{moi, birthday girl}

{phoebe was not having it at first...}

{...but she settled in for a good "flight"}

{i was just a bit too excited for a woman of my, um, age}

Girl meets Hoodsie

{in the words of Phoebe..."all done!"}

Summer...finally

{lucy...i guess it's safe to say we are being very responsible about sunblock...just look at how pasty white we have kept her skin!}

{gabriel}

{max}

{mini-max, i mean...anna!}

{sonia enjoying some watermelon}

We had a great, great day today. It was finally sunny, warm and dry all day. A true summer Saturday...and they have been rare this summer. We decided to stay at home and enjoy our yard and pool and to see who wanted to join us. To our delight, Lucy's pals Max and Gabriel came over, with their adorable little sisters and parents. It was so enjoyable to swim in the pool with our fantastic friends -- Ellenor & Mike and Rachel & Michael -- and just to soak in a bit of sun.

The kids napped well in the afternoon after everyone left, giving me a chance to go back in the pool where I just drifted around on the big blue float...heaven. After naps, our neighbors came over -- a little girl named Maya who is four and gets along great with Lucy, along with Maya's sweet baby brother Ryne and, of course, their parents who are super-nice new friends for us. We had another swim in the pool and Lucy had a breakthrough -- she was finally willing to "swim" on her own holding on to the noodle without us holding her or the noodle! I am sure that watching Maya do it inspired her. It was so cute, I was holding the noodle and she just said to me, "Mommy, I can do it now." She was ready. She spent the rest of the day asking if I was proud of her, and I was so overwhelmed to be able to give her what I consider one of the greatest gifts you can give your children...to tell them that, yes, you are overwhelmingly proud of them. (Of course, she doesn't need to do anything for me to tell her I'm proud of her...but she really does thrive on hearing about it when she does something new.)

As I said, a great, great day. Thanks to all who made it possible :)