Hurricanes and Halloween

Well this Halloween sure shaped up to be an interesting one! With the threat of Hurricane Sandy ruining the actual holiday, festivities started early in Winchester. We had our town parade (both boys got maracas to play in the procession--the highlight!) and trick or treat on Saturday, which was so much fun. We met up with our good friends to show off our costumes, and collect as much candy as we could. Pierce loved filling his bag with candy and has asked for a treat following breakfast, lunch and dinner. Oh, no! He actually knows how good candy is now. On Sunday, we went to the Halloween party at Myopia and got to show off our elephant and giraffe costumes for Marmie and Darcy. Fortunately for us, Sandy did not cancel Halloween in our town, so Wednesday brought more trick or treating for both boys, who then crashed as they got back from their neighborhood jaunt. It was a very Happy Halloween here. Hard to believe November is already at our doorstep!

P.S. I just found out about a good friend of Santa's, the Switch Witch, who trades Halloween candy for a new toy. She is going to visit our house next year. Plus, then we can donate the candy to shelters and the troops. Our dentists will be happy!

Hanging Around the House

Along with all of our fall adventures, we've had plenty of fun times around the house, too. Yardwork and climbing on furniture outside, and "camping" inside have been big hits, as has dressing up! These boys know how to keep themselves (and us!) busy.

I neglected to give a report on Teddy's 15 month visit--he's up to 29 lbs and 34 inches, and is in the 95% and 99% for weight and height. His verbal skills are blossoming and he loves repeating any word he hears. He recently added baby, happy, help (and even says, "hep, Mama" when coming down stairs), Sadie, come, hoo-hoo, dump truck and choo-choo to his vocabulary. He loves animals--especially cats (mow-mows) and horses (neigh-neighs) and trains and trucks, and playing dress up!

Feeling Fallish

It has been a gorgeous fall in New England, and we have taken full advantage of the beautiful weather with trips to the farm, hayrides, nature walks, apple activities, eating cider donuts, and finally--today's adventures to Smolak farms for some pumpkin pickin' fun!

The boys bounded out of the car to run around and pick out the best pumpkins in the patch. Teddy tried to be the world's strongest baby and pick up some very large pumpkins, and Pierce loved running through the old sunflower patch and checking out the "pumpkin tree". Both kiddos loved the hayride through the orchards, especially when a small frog jumped out of a tree and onto the shoulder of a fellow passenger--too funny. We fed the deer at the petting zoo, and enjoyed a picnic lunch before heading home.

Everyone enjoying the hayride!

Annual Apple Picking

We went on our annual apple picking trip with the Bourque crew this last weekend, and, as always, had a blast! It was a beautiful morning, and we actually arrived to Honey Pot early in order to do our fall photo shoot. That went about as smoothly as you can expect with two toddlers :). The boys were actually great troopers and I hope we got some good pictures. Will be sure to post those pics in a few weeks!

After the photo shoot we had some time to enjoy a hayride prior to meeting up with the Bourques. It was so crowded at the orchard this year, partly due to the beautiful day, and partly due to the early apple season. People were everywhere--but we still managed to find some delicious apples.

As always, Pierce and Erin had a blast running through the rows of trees, rolling down the hills, climbing up the ladders into the trees to collect apples and chomping away on fresh fruit! Teddy and Nettie scoped out the scene from ground level and from inside the wagon, and polished off a few apples themselves. Thanks to Megan for lots of the great orchard shots!

Off to the races!

We brought home two giant bags of apples, and have already baked up an apple crisp, apple cake and applesauce. Yum! We love the tastes of fall.

Dinnertime fun

Just a little dinner time humor to get us through to bedtime....

"What? Do I have pasta on my head?"

End of Summer Adventures

August and early September brought us beautiful weather and plenty of chances to spend time outside and enjoy the sunshine and some quality family time! We started off August with a week-long trip to New Hampshire with good friends Scott and Alisa (and Timmy!) Harrison. Alisa was 9 months pregnant and such a trooper for all of our kiddo adventures! We managed to spend some time at the local Mt. Washington children's museum, swim (and sand digging) at the lake by our rental house, a canoe ride, and Pierce's very first hike in The Flume Gorge. He did it all on his own two feet (with minimal whining)--it was 2 miles! We are so proud. Teddy kept me company with early mornings and a chance for coffee overlooking the lake while listening to loons. He mastered the word "duck" on this trip!

Morning Coffee with the Lake...and Teddy!

Breakfast with the boys

Trailside picnic

Our first mini-hike

Boys reading time pre-swim

Family walk to Sabbaday Falls

Checking out the costumes at the museum (Pierce was SO sweaty!)

Musical bat....meet musical giraffe

Who is that handsome bat?

Construction giraffe

On our way to the Flume

Made it!

Nana and Pops came for a visit mid-month and celebrated our August birthdays while they were here. We went into Boston one day to explore the Greenway, and visited the sprinkler park and carousel and watched the seals at the aquarium on our trek. Then Halsey came to meet us for lunch at a restaurant before we headed home for a good long nap!

We had a relatively quiet Labor Day weekend, and took the opportunity to go raspberry picking at our local farm in town. The boys loved donning little buckets around their necks and sneaking as many berries into their mouths as in the buckets! We came home with some delicious morsels.

We are looking forward to our fall adventures which will include our annual trek to the apple orchard, some leaf peeping and a wedding in Stowe, VT, and, of course, the start of school!