NASCAR

very cool for this crew.

 but oh so loud.

 



good times.

love in virginia

matty and his new buddy

 the five grand-boys

 uncle scott and the butterfly watchers

 and with sweet marshall

 the beautiful Lundy family 

 the big boys and

 the big girls

 the annual Peepop fireworks show

 getting ready for the real thing.

 bestest buddies

future pet owner

these little guys love their animals. not ready for a pet, but see one in our future. ben was offering the horse some goldfish

Lulu the sheep chased them around in good fun

yes, ben loved the rat. 

jack snuggling a guinea pig. guinea pigs are very loud. not good pet candidate.

brushing a miniature horse.

taking a ride on the horse. 

sigh.

we are pretty sick of the snow here. even the kids are asking for spring already...

did make for a cool luge that lasted over a month!

and a snow fort that's probably still on the deck

even my #1 my snow lover is ready for some sun. he promised never to wish for a snowy winter ever again.

even the very rare "warm" day this year involved snow banks and slush puddles.

but still we scooter...

..and play at the play ground

and everyone has been on skis now--except mama!

sigh.

cheap trick

candi is a cheap trick to get the kiddies from running all over the museum for a few minutes

benny needs a doggy

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.)