disney

we pretty much turned into the Griswolds once we entered the gates.

age 6.5 is perfect for disney.

he enjoyed everything.

ge almost-three is the worst age for Disney.

they enjoyed the cheap hotel arcade more than the parks.
ben gought the stroller every step. and if you let out one, you let out both....

thankfully, after chasing these two nut jobs around for three hours we enjoyed an 8-minute nap in the rigid, plastic stroller. (it was 47 degrees out and we packed for 80.)

thankfully it was warm in the gift shop. and luckily they bypass the $100 Disney princess stuff.

after a three hour wait, the 4 minute go-kart ride was a hit, even with ben!

i recommend animal kingdom for small kids. lots of kiddie rides and run around space. and they serve beer. 

and disney village was a hit with our guys too...

especially the lego shop. we should've could've stayed home and went to the natick collection.

they do all drop like flies after a full day of parks and i'm sure this is all we will remember in a few years and foolishly decide to go back....

florida part 1

praticing strokes for marco pool time.

(in unrelated news i seem to be funding the longfellow pool renovation with swim lesson payments)

and then we woke up to a beautiful monsoon-like rain storm.

 but my determined guys headed to the beach as soon as it cleared

 the boys quickly adapted from digging in the snow to digging in the sand. it is much easier pulling on bathing suits and forgetting shows than wrestling them into snowsuits and boots

 we didn't score perfect weather but better than what we left in  massachusetts

 the estuary walk/carry/drag

 warming up like lizards on the warm concrete

no pictures of mema and cheetah, but they were there! thank you for a great visit

Blizzard

Matty loved it. Ben hated it. Jack floundered somewhere in the middle. It was a ton of snow. So beautiful. So exhausting. So glad it's melting....

we monitored closely. 10,000 times. and thought it might be a bust until we woke up saturday. 25 inches and some huge drifts!

friday afternoon snowman

can you see him now?

matty wanted to cancel the snow removal crew because he had so much fun shoveling paths from the back deck to front door. must have been fun with big mama shoveling the top 24 inches

my little skeptic didn't trust the man blasting through the sidewalks

in his defense he did spend much of friday and a bit of saturday vomiting.

and my benny. just don't let snow touch his bare skin and he's fine

and definitely do not make him wear a hat.

Georgia

had so much fun in Alpharetta! circus, aquarium, dinner out, thank you for such a wonderful visit!

wrangling the super kids. no problem for super aunt P!

aunt patty was so nice to leave the tree up for us!

we discovered if you ignore small children all night they eventually conk out. (just kidding. we gave them benadryl.)

just kidding. it was a long day for them, followed by a lot of wii

this may have been the highlight...

Every bath is a challenge.

sigh.

Did I mention...

This guy is getting ready for a little brother?!

Wow

Time flies. We've been busy...Jack and Ben started preschool. Two mornings a week. It is a huge tease for me but you wouldn't believe what I can pack into six hours by myself.

Yesterday we we blessed with 60 degrees following a brutal stretch of bitter cold.

so the scooters were dusted off...and jump ropes attached...

matt and buddies playing after school

Matthew has been learning so much in kindergarten (although he also spends a lot of time begging me to make it snow...) here he is reading. or playing on the ipad.

bath time melt down.

"ben, you have sprinkles on your face."

the bubbles probably kill the germs, right?

we are off to georgia tomorrow to wreak havoc on the graces!