Becky and Howie visit!

Aunt Becky and Cousin Howie came all the way from Ohio for a visit last week. We had a great time! We went to downtown for some shopping (all 20 minutes in H&M the toddlers would allow us), to the Common and Public Gardens and the Aquarium. Aunt Becky graciously took Frankie and Howie to the Children's Museum one morning to give me a morning off to go to the doctor's. What a treat!

Post-pigtail-crazy-hair-one-boot-on-lady with her adorable cousin Howie

Going on a squirrel hunt

Squirrel sighting!

Make way for Ducklings!









Turtles at the Aquarium

Exploring starfish at the tide pool exhibit



The best picture of the 5 of us from the week







What most of the pictures of the 5 of us looked like...

Punkins

Despite terrible colds, we went to Drumlin Farms this morning. I figured the fresh air might do us all some good. Frankie enjoyed checking out the "punkins" (which she sometimes calls apples):






Pigs say "oink oink"

Happy Fall!



Pigtails!

Riding in style in the new (used) Phil and Ted's

Chickens with a funny hairdo


I was supposed to take the kids to Drumlin Farms this past Wednesday with some friends, but alas, our 16-year-old Volvo decided not to cooperate. She wouldn't go into gear. I fiddled with the gear shift until I was able to figure out how to get the car into gear (y'all should be so proud of me - I took the housing off and everything). This saved us a tow into the Good News Garage, our mechanics. Good News Garage is the garage in Cambridge that is owned by one of the Car Talk guys. I've been taking Betty there ever since we got her, because it seemed entirely appropriate that they should work on my Volvo 240. I love these guys. They ended up replacing a fuse that blew (which is why I couldn't get it into gear), and didn't charge me anything. This is the second time in a row I've been there and they didn't charge me anything (the previous time was to get the front plate drilled on so I could pass my inspection - the other screws were rusted shut). Maybe it's walking in there with two small children and an old car? I know a fuse is about $2, but still, Craig spent a while looking at my car trying to trouble-shoot why the fuse blew in the first place.

Chucklefest 08

Yee-Haw!

Frankie last October

Frankie this October in Momma's boots (and Jack's hat).



Frankie and Hannah proudly wear their headbands this morning.

Does this remind anyone of the time Theo wore Kit's red headband to church and looked an awful lot like John Mcenroe?

Dankie

Our trip to NH was great fun, as Chris said. We hiked, quilted (mom and I!), ate, napped, watched movies, played board games, and made smores in the fireplace at the cabin. Dad and Chris manned it up one afternoon and did the alpine zip line. Frankie enjoyed watching the train at the North Conway station, playing blocks with Pawpaw, and counting blazes on the trail. Dex enjoyed nursing, sleeping, and chuckling at Nonnie and Pawpaw. It was a wonderfully relaxing week for us.

We also were able to attend the wedding of our dear friends, Eric and Sarah the weekend before NH. The wedding was in Long Island, so we took Dex, and Frankie had a slumber party with Nonnie and Pawpaw in NH. It was a gorgeous wedding, and had hands down the best food we've ever tasted at a wedding.

On the dance floor

Dex in his wedding duds


I was just about fully recovered from returning from vacation when I came down with a nasty case of mastitis last week, which I will use as my shameless excuse for not blogging for two whole weeks. I am feeling much better now thanks to the antibiotics my Dr prescribed, but the flu-like symptoms that I experienced were horrible. I felt like I'd gotten hit by a bus. Even my toe joints ached.

In other news, Frankie is saying her name now. She says "Dankie". It's very sweet. The kids have also been back in the same room together for a whole week now, and it's getting better, slowly. There have been nights I've been tempted to pull Dexter out and let him sleep in our room for the night, but then I remember that I'll just have to go through it all over again, and that I need to give them solid 2-3 weeks to get used to each other. Dexter is still waking at least once to nurse, but Frankie seems to be able to sleep through it/go back to sleep more readily as long as it's before 5am. Dexter also seems to be getting better at sleeping through Frankie's crying, which has been a lot recently. I think she must be getting some massive teeth, because she won't take her fingers out of her mouth.

Beautiful Weather for our Week in New Hampshire

Being a less frequent blogger than Jenny I'm not quite as adept at working this thing. Just for our fans (incl. Noni and Papa) I wanted to make sure we got some photos up of last week's vacation in the mtns of New Hampsha. I'll leave it to J to fill in the storyline that goes behind my selected shots.

Suffice it to say, I'm not sure anything could have gone much more perfect during this trip. Gorgeous weather, great company and very relaxing...