Florida Trip- December 2009

We have had a wonderful family vacation in Florida. While there was an impressive cold spell up north we were enjoying sunny and 80 degree days. In retrospect, we accomplished a lot given the fact that we have a 6 month old who still isn't sleeping through the night and an almost 3 year old who acts "like a 3 yo". Not to mention the fact that both boys were sick, which just got progressively worse as the week went on. Although, I must say that Great Grammy and Grampy did get to experience a brief glimpse of what it is like to ride in the car with James:) These pictures are just a brief highlight of our adventures... we went to the Clearwater Aquarium, Busch Gardens (twice), and our hotel was right on the beach, so we tried to take advantage of the beach, pool and shuffle board court. Can't wait for the next vacation!!

Florida Bound!

That's right... in just 2 days we will be boarding a plane for the sunny south:) Noah is beyond excited to ride on a plane, swim and play in the sand. This is the first year he has been able to verbalize and understand where we are going and what we will do when we get there... it is so cool to watch him get so excited about things. He is this was about Christmas too, so this year may be the most fun yet. Equally as amusing is to watch James get excited when Noah does... you can tell that he has no idea what is happening, but figures if Noah is excited then something fun must be coming:)

Christmas preparations this year have been so fun!!! It is so great to be able to "teach" Noah about Christmas. He is such an eager learner. He helped me put the outside lights up on that 65 degree day last week while James was napping. I wish I had been able to get some pics of him in his long sleeved shirt and santa hat, pulling the lights back and forth across the lawn. I also learned that Noah knows how to quickly climb a ladder:) After the lights were up all he would say is, "oooh, pretty lights, they are so pretty". Noah has been watching the Charlie Brown Christmas and the Curious George Christmas movie almost daily. Like George in the movie, he keeps a santa hat on his bed and every time he wakes up he puts the hat on and says, "is it Christmas yet?". Then when I tell him no, with disappointment like George, he puts the hat back on his bed and gets up... very cute!

I don't have any new pictures to post b/c it has just been the kids and I here for a while, and everyone has been sick. Gabe is finally on day 15 of 16 straight, so we are VERY glad to have this vacation coming. Gabe hasn't been to Florida in almost 7 years, but I think more than anything we are all just looking forward to some good family time in the warmer weather:):)

Thanksgiving 2009

We had a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving this year! The weekend started off with a very fun visit from the Pelkey crew (minus "Unlce Brynan", which Noah hasn't stopped asking "where he is?") on Tuesday night. Because of our crazy schedules we had our Thanksgiving dinner on Wednesday night. It was a great time to be able to spend time and good food with family. One of the top pictures is of Noah reading his Thanksgiving Prayer book, which he had memorized more than I had realized... it was very sweet:) As it turns out, the best part about a Wednesday Thanksgiving is having a very relaxing day on Thursday!! The bottom picture is of Noah and James impersonating Gabe... watching Charlie Brown's Christmas... this is why we don't let them watch tv often.

Big Trucks & Bowling

The kids and I recently had a great visit in E. Millinocket. The top pic is of Noah and Grampa riding in Uncle Jon's "big truck". Noah got to ride in the "front" seat, my dad said that Noah was so excited he just talked the entire trip to Millinocket to drop the truck off. The middle picture is from our visit with Great Grammie Civiello. Noah enjoyed playing with the toys that both daddy and grampy used to play with, and James very much liked all of the attention from everyone:) The bottom picture is from our trip to the bowling alley... Noah had a blast, hopefully he will get a little stronger and be able to get the ball down the lane soon (thank goodness for the bumpers!).

Bradbury Mtn. Hike

We recently had a rare Sunday when Gabe was off AND it was a beautiful day outside! So, we decided to check out Bradbury Mtn. State Park for a hike. This turned out to be a perfect little mountain for us. It was a mere 0.3 miles to the top which gave surprisingly beautiful views. Noah hiked the whole way up and was very proud of himself for that:) He, of course, refused to hike back down, but that worked out better for Gabe and I b/c we could take the longer trail back down to the parking lot. In the top picture that is his map in his back pocket.... he always reads maps and directs us where to go, just like in Curious George;)

Noah & James:)

Noah has recently been going through a conflicted time of becoming 3 and "being a baby like James". He does have more and more moments though where his tender heart shines through, especially now that James is more interactive. Noah loves to read to James and teach him how to use all of the toys, he also talks to James which is so funny to listen to:) James equally loves Noah, which is quite evident by his facial expressions when Noah is near.

Trick-or-Treat 2009

The kids had a great Halloween this year! Noah LOVED being a turtle and James tolerated his skunk costume well!! Noah wasn't in the best mood at the start of tick or treating, so we weren't able to get great pictures, but I think you will get the idea:) The first few are of getting dressed and Noah modeling his costume. As it turns out, people in this area don't start trick or treating until it is dark out, so we were ready VERY early and Noah was very anxious to get trick or treating so the top pic of him at the door is of his very first trick or treating stop... yes, this is our house, but he didn't care... all he cared about was that he could walk up to any house, ring the door bell and someone would give him candy. He ate quite a few candy bars for supper last night! The 3rd from the bottom pic of James is actually of him asleep... he fell asleep two different times through the course of the night... his costume was nice and warm and cozy:) The last pic is of the boys in their long-johns just before bed... not that they needed them b/c it was over 60 degrees! Overall, I think that Noah's favorite part of the night was when we got home and people would ring our doorbell and he could run to the door and hand them candy!! I am just happy that Halloween is over so that we can stop watching "Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin" everyday... of course now we just watch "Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving" or as Noah says, "Watch Mr. Brown please":)