April Vacation Part 3: Boston Adventures

Admittedly I am getting spring fever, spring is not here, but I have been feeling the need to start getting out on road trips and adventures... and I was feeling a bit guilty about this being Noah's April vacation without anything "fun" planned. Luckily my mom was up for an adventure and didn't totally dismiss my crazy idea to take a trip to Boston.... I figured it may be the safest time to go given the increased security. I was also hoping that lots of other people would change their travel plans, so maybe the aquarium wouldn't be as busy and crazy as it would have otherwise been during a school vacation week.  

We got up on Wednesday morning, got the house in "showing condition" and left for the big city.  We got right into the city, found parking and were able to enjoy the aquarium for just over 3 hours, which is no small feat with 4 little ones.  James's favorite part was finding the lobster and hermit crabs.  He even touched a rock crab in the touching room!  Noah's favorite part were the harbor seals outside of the museum and the seals and sea lions inside.  Ben's favorite part was being able to run around on the ramp... he did have some interest in the sea life, but boy is it hard to take a 32 pound, busy 18 month old anywhere;) After the aquarium we walked up to the north end, bought some cannoli and played/enjoyed the gorgeous 70 degree weather at the Christopher Columbus Park.  

We left the city in the late afternoon and headed for our motel on route 1 in Peabody.  I had spent much of the day before trying to find a "fun" place for the kids to stay, but being the day before during April vacation most things were full.  We did find a great hotel with a pool and that is all the kids really cared about.  All three boys got lots of swimming in and met some new friends.  Noah spent most of his time in the pool without his lifejacket and both Noah and James got up the courage to jump in the pool unassisted and even in the deep end going underwater.  They were both so proud of themselves!  Ben loved splashing and "jumping" in from the steps. Audrey spent the morning lounging by the pool;) By Thursday afternoon everyone was exhausted.  

The top three pictures are ones that Noah took (he is getting good) he also took several of the parking garage "so that daddy can see what it looks like where we parked", but I spared all of you the piping and sprinkler system of an underground parking garage;)

April Vacation Part 2: Bikes, Bouncing & Beaches

Gabe made it home from Nashville Saturday and we made it home in time to pick him up at the airport.  The best part was that he then had Sunday and Monday off.  Sunday we had a fantastic time relaxing, playing at home and riding bikes.  We got Ben a new tricycle that he will actually be able to pedal and (more importantly) we will be able to steer.  It was great to have all three boys on bikes riding around the neighborhood... now if we can only get Noah to take off the training wheels... after one trip he told us firmly that he wasn't ready yet.... maybe in a few more weeks;)  

Monday I tried to convince Gabe to take a road trip to the aquarium in Boston to which he refused because he thought it would be too crazy with the marathon happening.... I thought otherwise, but well played Gabe.  Monday morning we took the kids to the Bounce Zone in Saco and they wore themselves out jumping and running from place to place.  Afterwards we had lunch and explored Higgins beach for a bit..... it is still way too cold for outdoor stuff that lasts longer than 10 minutes...... where is spring????  Audrey only spent about 60 seconds out on the beach, but it was long enough to take her picture as documentation of her first trip to the beach.  True to form the boys could have cared less what the temperature was and splashed in the water and played in the mud/sand... luckily I had packed a change of clothes for everyone.... I have learned something over the past 6 years;)  We rounded out the afternoon with more bike riding and trying to keep track of the events in Boston without the kids seeing the tv or hearing what was happening... so heartbreaking!

April Vacation Part 1: Audrey Meets Great Grammy Civiello

Our house went on the market on Thursday and we almost immediately had several showings set up... did I mention that Gabe left for Nashville on Tuesday?  It wasn't leaving the house with the kids for each showing that was a problem, but instead keeping the house picked up and cleaned in "showing condition" by myself that I was finding challenging. So, the kids and I went north for two days until Gabe got home.... hopefully next week the number of showings will slow.  We spent Friday morning visiting Great Grammy Civiello and Uncle Jon's farm.  The kids had a ball at both places.  Great Grammy got to meet Audrey for the first time AND I managed to get some pictures.  The only group shot I could manage was without James, but maybe we could add him later... he was too busy eating the bag of Chex Mix he found. Despite what the photo looks like Noah and Ben were enjoying themselves and were not terrified;)  Noah enjoyed exploring all of the sewing and knitting things she had lying about.  Ben really liked the Chex Mix too... when James would share it with him, oh and running to the back room with the scissors he so sneakily grabbed from Noah... he thought that was really funny.  

Our next stop was Uncle Jon's farm. Aunt Amy and Trey met us there to play with the animals.  Everyone but Audrey drove the Bobcat and tried to drive anything else sitting around.  I think that James is ready to drive the tractor on our next visit Grampy!  All the boys also spent a significant amount of time digging up the pavement and collecting "rocks" for their rock collections..... thankfully I was able to convince James to leave his "rocks" behind for next time.  All in all it was a pretty short trip given that it was not even above freezing and very windy... we will have to visit again if spring ever arrives.

Audrey's Newborn Pictures

Here is our sweet Audrey Alice at 8 days old. I am not a huge headband fan, but these ones are pretty sweet;)  Thanks to our fantastic photographer Lisa Quinn for some wonderful photos!

Noah's Gymnastics Finale

Life is getting back to normal here and Noah is finishing up his gymnastics run.  He loves gymnastics and has come so far with his gross motor skills over the past 2 years.  I would guess that this will be his last class of gymnastics since we are moving this summer, but we will see what the Farmington area has to offer.  Noah did so well in his last "show" he can flip over the uneven bar and does so well on the balance beam.  His biggest accomplishment today was going down the hippo slide.  This is a covered twirling slide that goes from one level to another.  Every class they slide down at least once.  For the past 2 years Noah has never dared to go down the slide, not for lack of trying, but he was just scared to death.  At various times his teachers have offered to go down with him and offered him many bribes, but to no avail.  Today he was determined and after several failed attempts we were about to walk out the door after class and his wonderful teacher stayed after to help him go down.  He finally did it and was SO proud of himself!

Settled

We are all happily adjusting and settling into life as a family of six.  Audrey is a great baby so far, loves to be held and has an uncanny ability to sleep through anything (personally I think that this is a coping mechanism that will serve her well with these boys). All three boys continue to be huge helpers and just adore their baby sister.... I hope this continues! My dad came this week to visit and help out for a few days which was fantastic since we are trying to get our house ready to go on the market next week!  Audrey also had her newborn pictures done on Tuesday, so hopefully those will be posted soon:)

Attempted Easter Group Picture:)

Here it is... our first attempted group shot of the kids on Easter..... this is pretty funny in retrospect.  Maybe I will have to invest in some editing software and just edit everyone together from individual photos;)