Catching Up with Friends

This past Saturday we got together at Honey Pot Hill Farm with a couple of Jen's friends from college and their families.  We had lots of fun eating apples, feeding the farm animals and getting lost in the hedge maze.  Some pics of the day below

On Sunday we met up with a bunch of families from our China Travel group to celebrate the girls 3rd birthdays.  We got together at Southwick zoo again this year as it is always a hit.  Seeing these girls together is always a highlight of the season for us.  It is apparent that there is still a connection between all of them as they always pick up right where they left off the last time we got together.

Our New Toy

For the past 6 months or so Jen and I have been discussing picking up a DSLR camera.  Our current point and shoot is really bad causing us to get blurry shots or totally missing shots of our fast moving three year old.  With the holidays as well as lots of great photo opportunities coming up we decided not to wait any longer and went out and bought a Canon Rebel EOS XS.  We are still learning how to use it but this thing takes pictures 100 times better than our old point and shoot.  Some of our first practice shots below.

Three

On Wednesday we celebrated Grace's third birthday.  As Grace gets older she is really starting to get excited about parties, and presents and getting dressed up.  We celebrated her actual birthday with just the three of us.

Birthday Outfit

Three

Mom, I can fly!!!

On Saturday we had some friends and family over for a party.  Grace loved hanging out with her friends and cousins and celebrating her big day with them.

Birthday Girls

We had yet another bithday party to attend on Sunday for Grace's China travelmate Annika.  We were also joined by another travelmate, Mei Lu.  It is great seeing these girls playing together and how much they have grown over the past few years.

File This Under

Things I never thought I would find myself doing before I became a dad......

A Couple Firsts and Our Annual Trip to Smolack Farm

This was am action packed week for us.  On Thursday Grace had her first day of Preschool.  We are having a hard time believing she is already in preschool.  She was a little nervous on her first day but did great overall.

Grace also started dance class this week.  She will be takng tap and ballet.  Jen is already well on her way to becoming a  stage mom.

This past Saturday we took out annual trip to Smolack Farm for apple picking, pumpkins and a hayride.  Always a good time.

Oh Dear!!!

I can't decide, I guess I will take them all.

A boost from daddy

Enjoying the fruits of her labor

Hayride!!!

Weekend In Maryland

We spent the weekend in Maryland visiting with family and catching a Navy game.  Appropriate place to be on the anniversary of 9/11.  Some pics from the weekend below.

The Brigade

Littlest Cheerleader

The Goat!!!

Grace and cousin Nathan

Back to Work

Summer vacation is over....Jen and I are back to work on Monday.  Grace has a couple weeks before she starts her new preschool so she will be spending the time between our parents.  We tried to make the most of the rainy week last week and actually had some really beautiful days at the end of the week.  Summary of our week in pics below.

Rainy Day Activities

Helping Daddy with his candles

Trying out braids

Who doesn't love a trolley ride?

Go fly a kite

4 little monkeys in a hammock

Vacation

This will be Jen's last week of summer vacation before going back to work.  I took the week off as well so we could enjoy the last unofficial week of summer.  Unfortunately it looks like the weather is not going to cooperate.  It has not rained here practically all summer and this week there is rain in the forecast for the next three days. 

We started the week yesterday by attending the Lowell Southeast Asian Water Festival.  We had a fun time watching the dragon boat races and checking out the exhibits.

Today we braved the rain and went to a Lowell Spinners game.  Unfortunately it rained for most of the game and we only made it through the 5th inning.  Grace was quite a trooper though.  She was pretty happy as long as she had Cracker Jacks or cotton candy to stuff in her mouth.

A Couple Weeks In Pictures

Just a quick summary of our last couple weeks in pictures....

Fun with friends

More friends in Maine

I love the beach!!!

Mmmmm, smores

Rockport with Mommy

Rockport with Daddy

Make Way For Ducklings.....and Grace

We have been reading Make Way for Ducklings at night to Grace for the past couple weeks.  She just loves this book so we decided to spend the day in Boston yesterday and see the ducklings in person.  When I worked in Boston and spent a couple hours a day driving back and forth I never wanted to drive into Boston on the weekends.  Now I look forward to going into Boston, especially to spend the day with my girls. 

We started our day walking along the Rose Kennedy Greenway to Fanueil hall for a bite to eat for lunch and then back to the Greenway for a quick carousel ride.  The Greenway is still under consruction in some areas but it is going to be a really nice space for families when it is complete.  

Then it was off to to the Public Graden to meet the ducks.  First we had to say hello to "Michael" though, Grace was very impressed that he now has a horse.

It was a bit crowded around the ducks but Grace patiently waited her turn and finally got her turn to sit on mama duck.

We finished up the day with a swan boat ride

Summertime at the Beach

No explanation needed

Catch up

Seems like it has been a little while since I last posted.  We've been pretty busy here and just getting over a little heat wave so I finally have the energy to sit down and type up an update.  The day after we returned form out trip to Storyland Jen and Grace flew down to Maryland for her nephew's induction into the US Naval Academy.  Grace had a blast hanging out the the Browns in Maryland and is very proud of her cousin Nathan.

The girls came back just in time for the 4th of July and a little fireworks at the beach.  Grace was pretty impressed  although we didn't get too close this time.  We also enjoyed some pool time to cool off from the heat.

This past weekend our friends Kristen and Biren had a wedding to go to and asked us to watch Kath and Karina overnight.  Of course we happily obliged and the girls had a great time on their first sleepover.