Traveling like kings.

october

October has always been my favorite month in my favorite season and this year delivered in a huge way!

the weather was simply fabulous. and you know I love having the boys outside...here is ben continuing his quest to conquer the world.

and how do you say no to an ice cream truck the last week in October?!

 matt started cub scouts and loves it. a great feat considering he does not love much these days...here he is enthusiastically hawking popcorn at roche brothers.. 

..and catching the first fish at "a taste of scouting!"

 it was such a beautiful day I dragged the little guys up to the camp...

I regretted it soon after chasing them through the woods for an hour but captured this cute shot, so I guess it was worth it.

 we also had family wedding in new York state where ben hung with pepop...

...we played with carter...

...and celebrated tim!

 weather was great

 and maria and jim made it possible for us to really enjoy ourselves--thank you!!

 we also managed to squeeze in a NYC visit.  

even the kiddies had fun this time. 

 and the fact that the 9/11 memorial was done so incredibly right makes it worth the wait.

it was a nice break. I miss it there.

 we will be back. especially considering the kids are not nearly impossible to travel with anymore. evident on our trip to DC...we didn't bring a stroller. seems like a miracle.

first time on the mall.

 air and space museum

the rare shot of these two hugging, not slugging

carousel at the zoo

 finding out what the fox says...(sorry you will have to watch the video seven thousand times yourself before I tell you)

 just some fun walking to the metro 

 and a fabulous visit with the beautiful Vydareny and LaScola families.

 and of course the marathon fell on a most beautiful, fabulous day.

 and with a fan club like this, i'm shocked I didn't win!

 go mama!

and we celebrate three birthdays in October, most notably this guy's:

 he was really excited.

 I truly can not believe--for the first time, I think--how big he is. does anyone even remember this little pumpkin?

 aaannnnddddd....Halloween. a holiday that I love for its lightheartedness. we had a post-birthday-world-series-win-red-sox-player

 a cute dog and darth vader.

 my most favorite characters ever!

 (don't get it wrong, it was not all fun and laughs...I have plenty of these shots too: "my dog suit is wet, wahhhhh"...but overall a great month.)

 

 

 

School

matt is a big first grader now. 

before he realized there is only 30 minutes of recess and a pile of homework every day, he happily reunited with his buddies on the playground. 

and off he went.  

 he included both brothers in his family picture!

and to seems to be working...big bro has been exhausted at night!

 (it is exhausting faking illness every, single morning while mama is trying to fill water bottles, pack five snacks, three lunches and finish matt's homework before the shoe battles begin.) we are still adjusting but he is working so hard and i am so proud of him!

 a week later, jack and ben started their three-day-a-week (yippee) nursery school. no tears from these guys either

until the stay days began...was rough couple of days

they stay until 2:45 twice a week. they seem to love it now that they are adjusted to the time

and their school "works" too. they fall into their beds on school days. if only we could chain them to their beds at night...

even with all this school, we have plenty of free time to fill.

so matt and some friends started the unofficial nature club after finding some owl bones in the bushes.

and we still play, play, play all day  

 ben is trying to become master of the universe.

 and my sweetheart jack is finding his sense of humor. he's adorable.

...and ben is wild....

 and they are all fun!