High Five

Uncle Dan, Aiden & one of Aunties new birthday presents!



It is only fair to include Uncle Dan, Chris and of course another gift of Aunties



Auntie Laura with Chris hoarding some tissue up his t-shirt! Notice the smirk on his face!



Chris helping Auntie open her presents.



Chris loved playing in the mini pool at Grammie & Dziadz's - I love the action droplets of water!



Aiden skipped nap to save himself for his swing ride!



Daddy with the boys relaxing in hammock.



Chris picking his first blueberries - He was great at picking and even better at sharing the fruits of his work, feeding everyone but himself!



Grammie and Aiden reading Aiden's favorite truck book.



Dzaidz and Aiden reading yet another book - Can you tell what Aiden is into these days?



Aiden.... This can't end well....



Chris... The innocent victim!




I've heard that my cucumber picture brought a few laughs - I was just trying to mix it up to share some variety in case you were sick of seeing nothing but pictures of two identical faces! Our garden is growing or should I saw overgrowing! This weekend I was excited to plant a raised bed of strawberry plants. Although we won't get any fruit this year, I am hoping that over the next few years, the boys can have some fun enjoying fresh fruit from their own backyard. We have also already yielded/harvested (maybe I should touch up on my farmer lingo!)12 heads of lettuce (of which came in WAY TOO quickly and we only enjoyed 2 heads ourselves, 5 mini tomatoes (not cherry, not grape but something similar), and 5 cukes! Yum! It is so exciting to actually see results for the hard work that we put in with the help of Dziadz!

Yes, I am a broken record but we had another great week. On Thursday we beat the heat in the kiddie pool at our friends Caroline and Mathieu house. Aiden and Chris are warming up to the water more and more. They aren't exactly daring but you won't hear me complaining about that!

Friday we packed up early and headed to Belchertown to visit with Grammie and Dziadz Pt and Uncle Dan. The boys LOVED running around so much that they boycotted their naps all together. For not having good naps, they held up pretty well and managed to stay awake until we arrived home around 8:30 pm. Daddy met us at Grammie & Dziadz's mid-afternoon and Auntie Laura came after work. We had an early birthday celebration for Auntie and the boys loved "re-gifting" Aunties gifts to everyone around. They had a great game of taking her presents and sharing them with someone else in the room. GG Mimi also shared in the festivities and seemed to enjoy watching the busyness of A & C. Lauras birthday dinner was delicious as was her yummy peanut butter pie! What can't we have a birthday party every week?

Yesterday Mike and I had some errands to catch up on in the morning but headed out with the boys for a little shopping adventure mid-day. We were down one sippy cup which is not a good place to be (the fights were only hours way) so we made a shopping trip to Target. Aiden and Chris got to ride in the two man fire truck shopping cart but preferred to be carried by Mike and I. Go figure! I guess I shouldn't expect anything different since I wouldn't consider them seasoned shoppers. As a treat we let them run around the play area at the Enfield Mall afterward. They LOVED being with the other kids and loved being able to climb on all of the soft structures. I am still working on getting over the whole germ idea as they suck everything there but as they saw, "what doesn't kill them will only make them stronger," right? They quickly made a few friends and Christopher has been quite taken by little girls and lately feels that it is his job to make sure they are all smootherered with kisses. It is very sweet although I am not sure strangers would agree!

Last night I had a girls night out with Auntie Laura! I headed to Worcester to meet up with her and we then headed to the Comcast theater near Boston to see Jack Johnson in concert. What a great time and fantastic concert! He was amazing and we had good seats and even got lucky enough to have good weather. The rainy forecast wasn't looking so hot so we were both pleasantly surprised. If you haven't heard Jack's newest CD, you should check it out. He has some great new tunes! He also had a special guest from Hawaii who joined him for two songs with a great voice and a fun, island beat. Even leaving the concert a bit early, I realized how old I really am staying up that late. It was a bit of a late night but well worth it to see Laura and to be treated to an amazing concert and intersting entertainment not only from the music but from the people around us. Thank you Auntie Laura for a wonderful night and a fantastic treat!

This morning Mike and I had nursery duty at church and had fun seeing all of the little ones. Since we only work in the nursery once a month, it is amazing how quickly they all change in a matter of 4 weeks.

Today we had a great day and got to meet up with our friends Suzy, Pat, Sophie, April & Jenna Schilling in the afternoon. They were great sports and came all of the way to Suffield to meet us at Sunrise Park for some swimming, beach time and fun in the sun. Aiden and Chris actually both really enjoyed the water and loved playing in the sand. We had perfect weather and I think all of the kids played so hard that they are bound to sleep well. Surprisingly, A & C came home and loved their bath. It has been weeks since they (Chris especially) wanted to stay in the bath to play. What a treat for Mike and I.

We wish Auntie Laura and Grandpa Hopkins happy early Birthdays! Auntie will be 21 tomorrrow and Grandpa will be turning 31 on Thursday! We wish them both great days and wonderful years ahead! oxo