the cut.

my little guy looks so big without his baby curls. and with a mean scar on his cheek.

she ignored my "i love his baby curls, so just a little trim." sniffle, sniffle.

 i keep calling this one matty.

matt's kind of week....

we got rear-ended twice on friday. (both very minor.) and my guy says, "awesome!!" when he realizes we got "smashed."
and he played with his best buddy before and after swimming. here they are sharing the same stool and being silly.

then on saturday:

 yes, his toy gravedigger with the real thing.

 then he snuck down and finished the last 6 pieces of the 1,000 piece puzzle we have been working on. (by "we" i mean me actually putting it together and him asking 75,000 when it would be done.)

he has been having so much fun that tonight while in the bath, he told me i was more handsome than daddy.

warm florida

once the weather turned we stopped shuttling all over in the rental van and slowed down a little. a little.

 matty left this dozer here years ago. and still plays with it for hours on the beach when we come back.

it's just impossible getting these three to sit in front of the sunset.

 but they played in it for a while.

 this may be matt's favorite place in marco.

 wasn't exactly hot out, but it was ok enough for this guy. mr. shivers. all the time.

 one stuck on top of the bench, one stuck with his arm in fence. what to do, what to do...

 "smile, ben."

 yes, i am that mean mom who puts her kid in time out at the playground. (hey, we have a strict no pushing your brothers on top of the playset rule.)

 peek-a-boo!

 not everyone thought it was warm.

 matty and his stick tree. another "toy" he spent hours playing with.

 this was immediately after the night-before-we-board-a-plane-for-four-hours-vomit-episode. thankfully it appears to have been direct result of too many buttercreamed valentines cupcakes.

Cold florida

we made it to FL with three very easy children. well-timed naps, many lollipops and magic markers and the ipad helped. first stop: beach! 

 where is everyone?

they hibernate when temps dip below 60. 

ben remembering we said it would be hot...it was low 50's..

oh well, he had fun despite the chill cold.

matty was unfazed too.

sweet little jack? he did not like it. wind, cold water, similar to massachusetts temperatures...but without his puffy orange coat

 so we planned a trip to the naples zoo for the next day. matty helped keep his brothers entertained in the car. always teaching them new tricks. 

 taking cover from the cold in a weird photo booth. we left our winter coats in the car and dashed into the airport, so only had the light sweatshirts. and sadly they do not sell winter coats on marco island.

i was too cold to take pictures. but they had a great show at the zoo. and a boat ride. 

and it proved magical as these guys snoozed for two hours while vincent and matt took a polar bear plunge in the pool.

 we spent the late afternoon digging on the beach however.

cheetah helped dig too. mama and mema were huddled under towels.

 the next day promised 60's so we spent the morning at the estuary while it warmed up.

 

 matty showing off the "banana" he made.

 we learned that 60's and windy is not really pool weather...

one guy did not like the pool.

 the beach was much better.

 the weather did break for our last day...stay tuned for warm florida pictures! we are off to monster truck jam---yippee.