Time flies...turkeys don't

Too much time has past since our last blog entry (too many excuses and not even enough time to use them all). So, I decided it could best be summed up in a few pictures we have taken over the last several months. I will start with these pictures from this Spring...we went on a nice hike with the boys through a trustees reservation in Hingham called Turkey Hill. There are real live turkeys, bison, horses, llamas...really cool place with nice trails and this farm open to the public where the kids can feed and touch the animals and stuff. Definitely will be back. If you live near us you have to check this place out...great view of the water and city from the hill and just amazingly beautiful...felt like we were thousands of miles from home...not up the street!

Uncle Wally turns 35...yikes

This past weekend was my brother Wally's birthday. We went down to Plymouth early on Sunday afternoon to enjoy the nice weather and do some walking/geocaching. Wally, Alicia and their bulldogs, Jackson and Lila, came with us. We walked all along the old rail trail/bike path in North Plymouth which takes you along the water. So beautiful and it was the perfect day to spend outdoors. The dogs and Colton walked as much as we did which was for a few hours and they were exhausted!!! We went to dinner afterwards at the Tuscany Tavern and Colton didn't make it past the hors d'oeuvres. Dinner was great and I feel so lucky to have my family so close that we can still have these little celebrations like we have for the past 30 years. We are getting OLD! Wally will always be older though...Happy b-day Banger.

On the old rail trail in Plymouth

Colton hugging Jackson and Lila
(the cache was under this old railroad track in a magnetic container)

All looks good to me...I will have the Chianti.

Corey, Brayden and Kerry

Hey...it is 35 candles...you would need help too!

Mackenzie and Jack

Colton with Mackenzie and Jack

I am pretty sure he was saying something really embarrassing or funny here...poor Mackenzie!

He just loves these Post kids!

A few weeks ago we went to yet another Disney on Ice. After the show Colton and I went out to dinner at Unos with Mackenzie, Jack and Kim. The kids had so much fun playing. Colton sat between Mackenzie the entire show looking after him! Colton will do anything for a laugh and they had them rolling in laughter at dinner saying silly things and acting like a goofball. Jack gave Colton some of his ninja turtles which really made Colton's day. When Kim dropped us off Jack asked if Colton could be his brother since he didn't have one. AH CUTE!!!! So yeah Colton is officially the pseudo sibling to the Post kids. Looks like Kim doesn't have to think about having another one...she just inherited a really cute but naughty-at-times two year old!

Manami gets the cache

Manami has come with me two weekends in a row geocaching. Finally she found a cache which had more than just a log! She was super excited and these pictures prove it. She is such a great kid! We are hoping this spring to get all the caches in the Wompatuck State Park in Hingham...I see lots of hiking in our future!!!

Nana Banana

This weekend I had some alone time with my Nana (aka Nana Banana to the kids so they don't confuse her with my mom, also Nana). Alone time with Nana doesn't happen often, if ever, since everything evolves around the great-grandchildren! It was a snowy wet Sunday here in Boston so her and I went to the JFK Museum since neither of us have ever been. She was so cute how excited she was over our little date/outing since it was literally like the second time ever in her life she had "done something like this". The museum was really interesting and she enjoyed reminiscing back to the 60's. She bought the three boys their own personalized dog tags, which are super cute. I bought her this little flag bead bracelet so she would have a little something to remember our day, she loves jewelry so it was a must. I love just listening to her old childhood stories, trust me she is an interesting woman, we laughed a lot!!! After the museum we went back to my house to play with Colton and then we all went out for Chinese food (her favorite) on our way back to drop her off. A perfect Sunday...here are some pictures!

Nana at the JFK Museum...right on the water...really awesome view!

Nana and Colton having a cup of tea at the Chinese restaurant...they both LOVE tea!

Winter Wonderland

This winter we have gotten a TON of snow. Colton took full advantage of playing in the snow with Daddy (he threw many, many, many snowballs at him to be honest). Of course playing in the snow is always followed by hot chocolate and cookies. This is Colton after finishing up his treats. Don't you just want to warm up those rosy cheeks?!?!

Hotlanta!

A few weeks ago I went to Atlanta for a business trip which worked out perfectly for me to get to spend time with the Lamphiers. Caryn's kids, Lauren and Ethan, were so much fun, we played lots of games and the best was the Cat and the Hat board game where we laughed so hard!!! We were quite silly and the kids, Caryn and Eric made me feel right at home...thanks! :)

My business trip was for a conference at the CDC so I brought the kids back some new stuffed animals...Colton got Ebola, Riley got Chicken Pox and Brayden got Salmonella. Have to take some pictures of these to share because they are really funny!

Geocaching

Thanks to my boss, Rhonda, we have started geocaching, she introduced me to it on my recent trip to Atlanta for work. It is sort of like "treasure hunting" where you use a GPS to find these hidden things. Checkout www.geocaching.com if you want to learn more. The kids are really into it and we spent all weekend searching for caches in the parks near our house. My brother Corey joined us on one of the days and we hit two separate dog parks with Aspen and found two really cool trails which we didn't know about. It is a great way to spend time outdoors with the family and get some exercise. Colton did a lot of hiking and has gone to bed early from exhaustion 3 days in a row...I am liking this trend! Here are some pictures from our first finds.

Ice Skating

We took the kids ice skating last week. Riley is a pro and has all the official hockey gear. He does so well on his own, especially considering he had lessons over a year ago...we were really surprised how it all came back to him. Colton did pretty well also with the help of Auntie Heidi. He is obsessed with playing hockey in the house...he is always the Bruins and the "other guy" (usually Daddy) is always the Mighty Ducks...Colton picks the teams. Since skating really tires the kids out...they are sure to get lots of ice time this year. Next time I have to remember his helmet and the milk crate...will be so much easier for Auntie Heidi! :)

Brayden is so cool, he just sat there the whole time taking it all in.

Colton's first skating lesson.

Manami gave a few lessons as well.

Riley is all business!

Disney on Ice

Big thanks to Uncle Zach who gave us the entire 1st and 2nd row seats to Disney on Ice. It was AWESOME sitting so close to the ice and getting to actually see all the characters. Some of our friends joined us as usual Mackenzie, Jack, Ava, Anthony, Will, Brady, Dominic, Madison...Riley and Colton of course were there as well. Colton and Riley say that Peter Pan was the best...the kids love the movie and with Tinkerbell and pirates, it was a favorite for both the girls and the boys. Everyone really enjoyed the show and it was so great to see the kids so excited and into it. I have to say it was the best Disney on Ice I have ever been to, maybe it was the seats, maybe it was that the kids were so well behaved, maybe it was a Christmas miracle...who knows. Thanks Uncle Zach!!!!