Oh we're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo

This morning Josiah and I met some other moms and their littles at the Franklin Park Zoo. It was our first time to the zoo here and we had a great time. Josiah is always a fan of the camels but the big cats wowed us the most. The tigers and lions in Albuquerque were always sleeping...must have been the weather that made them feel hot and lazy. The tigers here were walking around and even jumping up on each other and playing! The lion was great too! His name was Christopher and he was roaming all around and roaring! So cool! It was a great time to get to know some of the other moms from our church and we're just enjoying the mommy/ Josiah time. :)

Mama needs a dollar

Joshua's new smile...freshly pulled. Looks a little yucky doesn't it.

Josiah's thoughts

Josiah has been thinking a lot about Albuquerque recently. Here are a few of our conversations:

Josiah: Remember our flat house?
Me: (thinking...hmmm, flat house?)
Josiah: Yeah, this house has stairs but the other house was flat.
Me: Oh, yes I remember.
Josiah: Can we go back to that house?
Me: Well, somebody else lives there now.
Josiah: We can switch!

A few days later,,,
Josiah: Remember the house at the circle
Me: (cul-de-sac = circle) Yes
Josiah: I miss that house.
Me: What do you miss about it?
Josiah: (quiet for a moment) Ellie.
Me: (thinking..ah, he's so sweet)
Josiah: She's my best friend. She loves me.

Yesterday as we are getting ready for church:
Josiah:Remember our old church
Me: Yes
Josiah: Can we go to that church today?
Me: No, it's too far away.
Josiah: We can drive.
Me: We would be really late for the service.
Josiah: I want to...I want Miss Linno to be my teacher!

So my dear friends in Albuquerque I hope you know how much we love you and that we're all missing you very much!

Not your average Labor Day picnic!

Today we went to a Labor Day weekend celebration at the home of one of Bob's classmates in Marblehead, MA. The host and his family are very sweet people and invited the entire class! This was not like any Labor Day picnic I've ever been too. Their beautiful home is right on the ocean and the view from the back porch is breathtaking! I was trying to imagine waking up in the morning and sitting there for coffee and breakfast. AMAZING!
They had professional face painters there and the kids were more than happy to keep them busy. There was also a DJ keeping things lively. We were asked to bring an appetizer or dessert but our generous hosts were providing the main meal. First they brought out the clams and clam chowder. Which were fabulous and I wasn't expecting any thing else. But much to my surprise the next thing that was being served was lobster and corn on the cob! It was very delicious. Abigail was our brave, seafood lover and she had a lobster of her own. The boys were just interested in the claws when we had emptied them! :) Oh, and that wasn't even the last surprise...an ice cream truck came and parked in the drive way for quite some time and you just went up and told him what you wanted! The kids were beside themselves because we never buy ice cream from the ice cream man! He even had all the cool character ice cream bars! The kids went back several times to sample different treats! The generosity of the hosts and the beauty of the surroundings left me speachless. WOW is all I can say...WOW! The home of our hosts from the ocean-side.

A backyard with a view!

Chloe on the rocks...she didn't even lose her shoe this time!

Beautiful butterflies!

Joshua opted for a tat instead of the face paint.

Dinner is served


Abigail's first taste of lobster. She liked it which maybe isn't such a good thing.

Josiah was not so sure about this...he was very cautious until he was absolutely sure that our little red friend wasn't going to jump up and snap his finger!

Joshua taking it all in during our after dinner stroll on the beach.

More "First day of School" fun

As previously stated, Wednesday was Abigail, Joshua and Bob's first day of school. Abigail and Joshua had a half day and since we knew Bob was going to have a long day and wouldn't see the kids before they went to bed that night, we decided to meet up for lunch in Harvard Square. Bob grabbed a pizza to go and we enjoyed some time together. The kids were so happy to share their first day experiences with Bob so it was a great time. We finished off our time together with slurpees! :)


Friday was Chloe's first day of kindergarten. Last year the first couple weeks of K4 were pretty rough for her...she was sad. But she's all grown up now and she was so brave for her first day of kindergarten! She had a wonderful time and made a new friend right away. Her teacher is a lovely woman who has been teaching kindergarten for many years. We think she is really going to enjoy this year at school.

Happy First Day of School

This post may be a bit confusing to those of you who knew that we were planning on homeschooling the children this year. Always keeping in mind one of Bob's favorite Air Force sayings, "Flexibility is the key to Air Power" we have changed the plan. We actually started the video program that we had planned on using and we did for a while. However, in the end we did not feel that it was engaging, it was actually rather boring, and we didn't think the kids were going to get everything out of it that they should. We took everything into consideration and decided to put them in school.
So this morning Abigail and Joshua started and Chloe will have her first day of kindergarten on Friday. Everyone was very excited. The school is very close and we can walk. Even daddy was able to join us this morning which was a special treat! It is actually his first day of school too. His fall classes begin today and he too is very excited!
All this means that Josiah and I will be able to spend our days together and I am very much looking forward to that!