Captivating Captiva

We escaped the cold of Boston for the warmth of Captiva, Florida in mid-March for our spring break. I flew down with the boys myself and met Halsey, Liz, Fred and Darcy at the South Seas Island Resort for some fun in the sun. The resort was gorgeous and set up perfectly for families with small children. There is a trolley which takes you to different buildings/locations in the resort and is a highlight of the resort. We quickly got into a groove for our days. We'd have breakfast in the condo, and as the sun was rising, head to the beach for some morning playtime, digging and running in the sand. Then we'd head back to the condo to put on our bathing suits and head to the pools for some more swimming before lunch and rest time in the afternoon. One evening we took a dolphin watching cruise, and Pierce and Teddy delighted in watching the dolphins splash and play in the boat wake. Pierce even got to captain the boat for a bit. For the rest of the vacation, Teddy would clap his hands and say "Yay, dolphins" whenever he got excited! 

Chris, Liz, Foster and Molly joined us for a couple of days, and the cousins had fun playing, hugging, and exploring together! Molly and Teddy really discovered eachother on this trip, and it was precious to see them seek out one another, hold hands, and laugh together. Pierce and Foster were best buds as always! They are such a great balance for one another, and it is so fun to watch them grow up together. We would love to go back to the same spot next year. It could become an annual tradition.

Art Show and PJM update

As a three and a half year old, Pierce is really coming in to his own. He has started writing his letters, and loves to know how things are spelled.  He loves art and other projects. He is into imaginative play, and will spend up to 2 hours in his room doing "quiet time" entertaining himself with his "boat game", "circus game", school, and reading books. He loves to play with others, but is also perfectly content on his own. He is increasingly independent, and can do his own carseat buckle, put on and zip his coat and unbutton his shirt. He loves teaching Teddy about all of these things, and is still just as loving and affectionate as always. When he grows up he wants to be a bear trainer, a doctor or teacher, and a Daddy! Pierce is looking forward to welcoming another baby into the house, and has a baby of his own growing in his belly. 

Recently, Pierce's class put on an art show for the families at school. He worked hard all month on different art projects, working in different media and using different tools to create artwork. We didn't hear much about what was going on in the classroom. We were then invited for a gallery reception where our proud artist showed off all of his work. We all got a little dressed up for the occasion and Pierce took so much joy in his artwork. The event was adorable, and the hard-working artist and his little brother got to celebrate with some snacks and juice in the classroom at the end of the show!

It is amazing to watch Pierce grow and change, and really turn into a little boy. He continues to amaze us daily with his knowledge, and his questions as he begins to understand the world around him!

Our proud artist greeting us at the door

A treat to have Daddy in the classroom

Pierce with Ms. Annemarie

Snack celebration

Finding Nemo

February was full of excitement! Just on the heels of Valentine's Day, we had an epic snowstorm hit the region which dumped 2 feet of snow at our house over the course of 2 days. The first day we got out to play in the falling snow in the backyard, but once it started picking up, played inside for the rest of the day.  The boys "camped" which meant they knocked the tent onto it's side and brought the entire contents of the bookshelf into their tent for some light reading. When we woke up the next morning, we couldn't even open our doors to peek outside. Halsey and Pierce worked tirelessly to shovel us out, and after hours and many cups of hot chocolate later, we all ventured outside for a walk in the snow. The boys were literally in over their heads, and we made it just around the block before heading back home. The city and town were shut down for two days, so this is certainly a storm for the history books!

Such focus

Sneaking in a tabletop read!

A little indoor camping

Happy 2013!

Happy New Year! We celebrated the day with some fun in the snow and had a party at 5 pm with our little lovebugs. We then rang in the New Year with sparkling cider and chili pie. Yum! Pierce and Teddy loved throwing the confetti (then ripping it to pieces), wearing their party hats and blowing their horns. We didn't make it up to watch the ball drop, but had lots of fun celebrating with the Bourques the next day. It's hard to believe that our annual New Year's celebration has changed so much in the last 5 years. What used to be a raucous night on the town for the grown-ups, then progressed to sleepovers and movie nights, which turned into a daytime brunch celebration this year. The highlight was meeting little Ryan Bourque who arrived on Dec. 23rd--the best Christmas present ever! The new family of 5 seemed so happy, and are adjusting well to their new dynamic. We can't wait for all of the New Year celebrations to come!

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas...

It's amazing how many more Christmas activities we could do this year now that both boys are a little bit older! We took full advantage of the season, and peppered our December with lots of Christmas outings. We picked out our tree the day after Thanksgiving and got right around to decorating it, as well as officially starting to sing Christmas carols (though Pierce has been regaling us with "Deck the Halls" since August). We baked and decorated Christmas cookies (and Teddy ate his while decorating), went to the Pops Children's Concert (both boys adored it!), went to breakfast with Santa in Winchester, a Christmas party at Myopia, and then finally flew out to California for the actual holiday.

Pierce and Foster were roommates this year, which was much more successful than we thought--though it didn't stop a couple of 4 am wake-ups. They loved palling around together, and all 4 cousins had a blast playing, exploring local museums and taking trips to the playground. Nana, Pops and Santa were all so generous with the kids, that this will certainly be a Christmas to remember. We also shared the news that we are expecting Mini-Morris #3 in July, and can't wait until he/she can join in the playtime!

It was a very Merry Christmas in Tiburon!

November musings

It is embarassing how empty the blog has been for months. I figured out how to post-date, so I can go back and edit the year to make it look like I was on top of things. It's hard to remember too many details from November (now that it's March), but there are always some pictures!

There were two very exciting reasons to write about this month. One was we took a family trip to the Winchester Hospital ER to get some stitches for Teddy. While playing with Pierce, a small push from behind sent him flying into the bottom corner of our stairs, and 10 stitches later, Teddy came home with a lifetime memento of that moment. Pierce, Teddy and I were all in tears when it happened. It seemed to take forever to stop the bleeding enough to get to the hospital in our own car. Halsey met us there in a cab. Teddy was super brave, and was discharged with his papers after only 2 hours! Our neighbors, the Pines were on call in case we had to bring Pierce home, and spend more time at the hospital. Thank goodness our local hospital has a Pediatric ER--something to keep in mind if we ever move. I think I was more scarred by the event (no pun intended), with Pierce in a close second. Once the stitches were in, Teddy didn't seem to mind his little "owie", but it sure is hard to look at your perfect little baby with a gash on his head! He's a great sport.

The end of the month brought Thanksgiving at the Morrises. We celebrated with Marmie, Papa, Darcy, and the Loomises. The boys were our adorable little turkeys, ate up all of their yummy Thanksgiving goodies, then played on the indoor slide and bouncing horse until they were exhausted!