The Big Dig

Over the weekend, we had the amazing opportunity to spend the day with the Carrier Builder Family, a local builder who generously donated The Big Dig as an auction item to raise money for the local elementary school.  Marc and I attended the fund raiser, and bid on this prize, knowing that our boys would absolutely love it!  And we were so happy to be the big winners!  We got to spend about 2 hours with Pat the Builder and his brothers, Danny and Johnny, and they showed us all the trucks, loaders, and other equipment that they use to move dirt and build houses.  The kids got to ride around in all the machines, learning about construction and getting to dig and move lots of dirt.  The Carriers had planned a very fun day for us, and the boys loved every minute of it.  The highlight of the afternoon was the race to uncover 2 orange rocks buried under a big pile of dirt, and both of the boys did an amazing job running the little excavators and finding the rocks.  It was a fun, friendly competition between brothers, and they just loved it!  For me, it was amazing to see that little boys can figure out very quickly how to move the excavator scoop, and so fun to watch them have a great time doing what little boys love best -- playing with dirt!

Getting ready for the Big Dig!  Look at all the cool construction trucks!

Peanut with Johnny the builder!  So fun to drive the excavator!

Can you see Bugaboo's face?  He's so excited to be on the big front-end loader!

He's all smiles!  According to Bugaboo, this was the "best day EVER!"

Can you see Peanut's face?  He's a bit nervous to be in the giant excavator, because it's on top of a huge dirt pile!

Relaxed and happy *after* excavating the dirt pile.

Here goes the excavator race!  Who will win???

You might be surprised to know that an 8 year old boy can run an excavator, but here's a photo to prove it!

Here's Bugaboo moving a dirt pile -- he was concentrating so hard, but got the job done!

Bugaboo in the giant excavator, having a blast!

Dad didn't want to be left out, so he got to drive the dump truck and an excavator, too!

What a fun day!

Trying to lift a big rock, just to prove how strong he is!

Their work is done, now -- what an amazing, fun, super-cool day!

All's FAIR at the BIG E!

On Saturday, we decided to take advantage of the beautiful fall day and go up to Massachusetts for the Big E Fair, the state fair event for all six of the New England states.  It was a gorgeous, blue-sky day, and the air was crisp and cool.  We made the quick drive up and spent the day enjoying the shows, rides, and of course, the food.  There seem to be endless choices of things to do at the fair, there is definitely something for everyone.  So, we attended a juggling show, visited the animal exhibits, enjoyed the midway rides and attractions, and ate some yummy food, including Ben&Jerry's ice cream and corn dogs.  The boys had so much fun, and it was a great family day!  Check out the photos below -- and let me just say that the high-speed, big zoom camera was just awesome and capturing the pix of the Motocross event -- I took tons of pictures and found that much to my surprise, watching an event like that was lots of fun!

Did you know that Bugaboo could twirl 2 hula-hoops at once?  And check out his style!

Gotta have a corn dog!

Bugaboo certainly had fun in the crazy fun house!

Peanut waiting for the swing ride to take off

Ready to ride the tiny race car!

Just looking cute :)

One of Peanut's favorite things -- the Mass State Police Humvee!

Posing with Tractor Mac, the title character of some cute books by Billy Steers

Bugaboo needed a turn with Tractor Mac, too

The super-cool Lego statue at the fair, located in the CT building

Isn't this horse beautiful?

The very gifted juggler.....

and his hula-hooping wife ---- that's 25 hoops on her!

I just love these cows -- so cute and fluffy!

Motocross action!

These guys were "throwin' down" some crazy tricks!

We loved the excitement of the Motocross competition!

Snapshot Update

Ok -- today, I'm finally uploading a few snapshots from the spring and summer, and even a few back-to-school photos.  I'm so happy that in my long break from blogging, Blogger has improved their photo uploading, sizing, and editing, making it so much easier!  So now that it only takes a couple of minutes, I'm going to get back on track with more regular updates.  And, now that the kids are both in school all day, I have a little more free time to write and post photos about what our little family foursome is up to!  So, take a look, and enjoy our spring-summer-school retrospective..... and notice how Peanut's tooth situation has changed over the last few months!

Boys Brigade Pinewood Derby -- isn't that an awesome looking car?

Art night at school -- check out Bugaboo's awesome little bird house collage!

This is Bugaboo ZIPPING thru the trees at Winding Trails this spring! 

Last day of school, in June 2011

Baseball!  Great fun with wonderful coaches and cute teammates!

Bugaboo's 6th birthday dinner, complete with a sombrero!

Fun days at the beach with our best buddies!

Peach Picking at Lyman Orchards -- so delicious!

My big first grader!

My amazing second grader!

Brownies on the patio after a successful first day of school

Here's Bugaboo, in a BOX, in the garage -- so creative and fun

Homemade pizza night -- daddy and Peanut hard at work

Peanut with his cello, just starting lessons at school and LOVING it!

The World's Tallest Sandcastle!

The World's Tallest Sandcastle is under construction now, at Winding Trails in Farmington CT. I took the boys last week to help move sand, and they had a blast! There is nothing quite like climbing huge piles of sand, filling buckets, and then dumping them out! Since I was encouraging them to get all sandy and dirty, they were loving it! We saw some friends there, too, so that made the day even more fun. We will definitely plan to help again, and can't wait to see the finished castle!

Bugaboo's Dance Moves

A Last Look at Winter.....

I really and truly thought that I would be more of an actual *blogger*, not just a seasonal, random, photo-taking and posting kind of hobby-blogger. But sadly, I'm not. I love the process of selecting photos, thinking of clever things to write, and recapping our days, but I just haven't figured out how to carve out time to actually get it done without leaving some child or chore completely neglected. Today, though, I'm home with a child who is sick with bronchitis, and he's watching a movie on TV. Daddy and Peanut are off to Rhode Island for a Taekwondo tournament, and I'm anxiously awaiting updates from the event. So, I find myself with few minutes to spare, and photos to upload, so here goes!

Our winter months were very snowy and cold, but we were able to embrace the winter and enjoy skiing, including a long weekend to Vermont to ski at Okemo. The boys have done great with lessons, and really love skiing. Marc has done really well, too, even though he had not skied in at least 10 years. Now for me, skiing was more of a challenge. First of all, I'm scared -- of falling, of going too fast, of the ski lift, of other skiers and snowboarders -- you get the picture. I'm just not that athletic, but because all my boys love it, I decided to take lessons and do my best. Thank goodness for Hank and Marty and Tom, 3 instructors at Okemo who were so patient and kind, and strong enough to haul me up when I fell down again. After two days on the beginner slope, I was actually doing okay. I could use the "magic carpet" (conveyor belt for people on skis) to get up the hill, then ski ever-so-slowly down, mostly without falling. The one big snafoo was that I had boots that were not *quite* right, and they bruised my shins and big toe to the point that now, 2 months later, my toenail is still black. Next year I'll try again, though, with better boots and a little more confidence that I can do it. Here's just one photo of the boys, getting ready to hit the slopes:

Our next adventure was a long weekend trip to the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. We were there for three nights with my mother, brother, and sister and her family, so a total of 11 of us all together in a very lovely 4-bedroom cottage. It was a wonderful weekend together, given to us as a Christmas gift from my mom. What a great gift to have our family together, especially since we all live so far away from one another. We enjoyed delicious meals, swimming, bowling, exploring, and just enjoying being together to catch up. It is truly a beautiful resort, and we loved every minute of it!

This is the famous Spring House, where people would come to "take the waters" for their healing properties

Do you see Bugaboo? He's pretending to be a mannequin in the Ralph Lauren window -- perhaps the only time ever that he's stood still for more than 5 seconds!

Here's Peanut, all dressed for dinner -- he loved wearing his jacket and tie every night for dinner!

A rare photo of me with the boys -- Cheese!

In March, Peanut competed in his first Taekwondo tournament. What an experience! He competed in board breaking, forms, and sparring. In board breaking, Peanut had 4 boards to break using a variety of techniques, and he did great, earning a SILVER medal! In forms, Peanut had to memorize and perform a whole series of moves, kicks, turns, etc. It requires concentration and confidence, and I could tell he was nervous, but he did his best and earned a BRONZE medal! Then, in sparring, Peanut had to spar against one of his teammates, kicking and striking to earn points. Sparring is very difficult and fast paced, but Peanut did well and earned another BRONZE medal. We were thrilled with his performance, and he was so proud to have earned 3 medals during his first competition.

Peanut getting ready for his board breaking event

Peanut with his master and teammates -- Great job, guys!

Sweaty and tired, but so proud of his medals

Posing at home, trying to look tough

Finally, just a few other photos from recent weeks:

Um, that's me, making my birthday dinner, to enjoy with my good friend Kelly and my boys. I'm really a goof :)

Here's Peanut, sans front tooth -- he really looks like a big boy now!

Well, that's the update for now. I hope to make this more of a regular thing, especially with spring coming, baseball starting, and more events on the calendar to capture on film and share with you!