Playdoh Cookies

On Saturday the kids got the playdoh out and had a great time.
They made long worms, shapes and then rolled it out and made "cookies"


We are looking forward to seeing family in Chattanooga this weekend.

a fun and full day.

after a great trip to d.c. for the weekend i was glad to have the day at home before going back to work.
we certainly made the most of it too.
we went pumpkin picking at sweet berry farm.

there were lots to choose from, but there were also a couple of tractors the kids could sit on.
nell loves sitting on a tractor:




after that we got some wheel barrows and headed to the fields


we tried out a lot of pumpkins before deciding on just the right one for each of us.


then it was back to the tractor for a little while longer,

then we came home and carved our pumpkins. nell liked scooping the gook out of it. nell kept calling the white pumpkin she chose "the skinny one".


after that we toasted some pumpkin seeds and nell had a nap.
then we played some tennis in the driveway and went to the grocery store

zaven has been wanting to make pizza for a couple of weeks so today we bought some dough in a bag and zaven made dinner.

his pizza turned out great. he rolled the dough. chose the toppings. it was delicious. when i told him it looked great he said "todd taught me how at woody's" so cute.
after dinner, i gave zaven a much needed haircut (see above), pictures to follow- I am still fine tuning it.

then we made cupcakes so that I can return someone's cupcake carrier tomorrow without returning it empty. and yeah we each ate one too!

the kids are asleep.
they both sleep in zaven's room these days.
nell gave up her crib and then decided she did not want to sleep alone.
we also stopped at a yard sale today and got a doll size set of bunk beds and the kids have all their babies in them asleep next to them.
nell is pretty well out of diapers at this point. it all seemed to come together for her rather quickly, which is great. we are proud of her.

back to work tomorrow.
le

Vacation

We had a great vacation.
There were some long parts in the drive, but all in all we had a fun time and loved traveling and seeing family etc.
Here are some quick photos and stories.
After our 24 hour drive from RI to Florida we were ready for break. Being in St. George with the Eppersons was just the thing. Floating in the pool, reading, running eating, playing etc was super fun and relaxing.
One evening after dinner we took to the beach for some photos, Chris got some great ones.
Sweet Nell

Zaven and Nell have their moments- the sweet ones like this are pretty regular and we are so happy that they love each other so much.

The sky was amazing.


After a great time in Florida, it was on to the mountain for some time with the Burbanks.
We got to meet sweet baby Beatrix.
Upon meeting her and getting to hold her, Nell announced "i'm going to keep her"


The fountains at the park were a big hit


Zaven decided that he wanted to do the Diet Coke and Mentos experiment and Uncle Brice was happy to oblige- it was a great time


From there it was onto DC for some site seeing.
I am pretty sure that Nell could be President if she set her mind to it- she might be thinking the same thing.


We did not get to tour the White House, but luckily we ran into President Obama on the street ;)


We are home now and getting into full Fall swing.
Zaven starts 1st grade tomorrow and Nell started her new class at preschool today.
LE

recently

we had a great weekend last weekend.
although nell had a big fall last friday that left her with very little skin on her nose and a big fat lip.
saturday morning i took her to the dr and it turns out she also had a stomach bug, though short lived- as she was dancing by bedtime.

chris and i continued getting more of the house in order and the kids had a low key day.
sunday after church we loaded up and drove to cape cod for a friends wedding.
nell managed to have no nap on sunday but still did well at the wedding and reception. it was a nice, low-key event.
we spent the night on the cape and got up monday and had a nice breakfast, took a swim in the hotel pool and headed home.
this is nell at the wedding


this is a picture from a few weeks ago- but i love it!


on wednesday the kids and i went to the Wednesday service and after Zaven and his friend climbed a big tree


on monday we had a great time visiting with meg and chris. always fun to see them!

Childhood dreams!

The other day Zaven said,
"Mom, I think I know what I want to be when I grow up"
I said,
"Oh great- what's that bud?"
Zaven said,
"I want to be a Zoo Keeper"

Without missing a beat Nell said,
"And I want to ride pigs"

I have NO idea where she came up with that. But it really cracked me up.

The kids had dentist appointments today. They both got good reports.
I guess Nell refused to get into the reclining chair so they cleaned her teeth while she sat in another small chair.

Zaven heads back to swim lessons tomorrow. They seem to be going well - he is getting more confident.

We are finally having a good stretch of nice weather. It is a nice change.

Kite Festival

We had a great time at the Newport Kite Festival today.
It was a beautiful day and the festival is held at a park on Ocean Drive.
There were a LOT of kites and we had a great time watching. There was one guy who flew three kites at once and did some amazing tricks.

Then this afternoon Chris had a wedding at Castle Hill and the kids and I went to Sweet Berry Farm and got dinner and went to 3rd beach for a dinner picnic. We had a great time.





Close up of Nell

Happy 4th of July

Hope everyone has a great 4th. Love and miss you.