Fun Day at CNN/Imagine It

Just seems like our time all together in the week is limited, and will certainly be even more so when Trev starts Kindergarten. So when we found ourselves on a day with no school for Trev and no tutoring for me, we decided to spend the whole day in the city. I will NEVER forget what a fun day we had!

The giant Christmas tree in Atlanta

At the super-fun children's museum--the current theme is all about music and is fantastic!!

Aila with her old-school 80's rap friends...And a special treat--hanging with a post-retirement Larry King at the CNN center! I'm totally kidding--that's a cardboard cut-out.

Hotel Fun in Atlanta

Justin was in Atlanta for Passion 2011, a multi-day, morning to night worship experience. The kids and I got to stay with him at the Atlanta Hilton one night, and it was SO MUCH FUN! I'm telling you, forget big extravagant vacations. We could take these kids to a Motel 6 for a night and they'd be happy campers! Window fun

Hiding from her brother behind the curtains...

Silly bed head girl!

Trev really loves guitars, so we made sure to stop by the Hard Rock Cafe'. Guitars everywhere! He really, really wants to learn how to play. He got a little guitar for Christmas, so maybe lessons will come soon!

Two little monkeys jumping on the bed

Elevator fun!

This elevator was soooo fast, it nearly made me queasy! The kids didn't seem to mind...

The Girl Can Cook!

Tonight we had ravioli with a marinara/alfredo sauce. Aila made the alfredo sauce from scratch--with minimal help from me! Here she is swirling the butter around the pan by tipping the handle up and down...

...stirring in the cream...
Grating the parmesan cheese with the grater/zester (one of my very favorite kitchen gadgets, hands down!!!)...

Mixing it all together for the finished product...

The girl absolutely LOVES to cook! And seeing how I was like 20-something before I ever cooked anything, I am really happy she is learning early. Of course, her love of cooking may come back to bite her in the tush when I have her making all our dinners by the time she's ten! Ha!

Another Year, Another Burt's Run

Year Seven! Our first year, we weren't even expecting yet. Our second year, Trevor was just five days old! And each year we've gone and had a great family day today. Love us some Burt's!

Tiny, But Tenacious!

It was pretty amazing. Aila was determined to climb the web tower at Bounce-U. And she did! There were kids twice her age couldn't make it all the way up. But that's her at the top of the tower in this next picture!

That tiny little girl had this really focused, intense "Eye of the Tiger" look on her face.

It was hilarious!

Boston Trip Favorite Pics

I am way, WAY behind in posting about our trip up north. I took 300+pics...but I'll spare you the majority of them.

Here are some of the highlights!

Little Ailey


Sitting on the porch just rocking away...

S'mores!!! I rediscovered these glorious things when I was pregnant with Aila, but they're especially scrumptious with toasted marshmallows!
Justin and Pop with the kids
Mirror Lake. So pretty!
Kids at the cottage

We had a fun date afternoon while the kids went to Storyland with Pop & Essie. Yay Starbucks!

Cracking up...

Oh, I love this shot.

Trevor's train ride

Oh my word, the "Eat Me" lobster. From the front he looks like a family friendly character. You can see my children are happy to meet their new sea creature friend. But then you get a glimpse from behind... Storyland with Pop and Essie!

Essie and Aila at the T Station

Where it all began! This is right where Justin and I got engaged--in the backyard of the home where he grew up. My ring was in an easter egg on this stone fireplace right next to us.

Family day in the city! We had so much fun at the Boston Children's Museum.

Aaaaaaa! This was the face Aila made when "Single Ladies' by Beyonce came on the radio. The girl loves a good dancin' song!

The kids at the dock in Wolfeboro, NH. This is such a sweet picture...

even though I know they were looking at a dead duck in the water!!!

Trevor and trains....

Loved the lupine. Also love my camera's ability to capture the beauty of it all!

Running through the lupine...

Aila praying over her breakfast at the cottage.

Trevor reading his favorite book on a roadtrip

Smooch. :)

Justin and his hammock...I think he would've been happy spending all 2 weeks in that thing!

Aila at the Boston Children's Museum. Cuteness!!!

LOVE this shot--you can see on Trevor's face just how scrumptious this pizza was.
Oh, how I miss Flatbread's Pizza in Maine!

You can take the boy out of Boston...

T is for Trevor! I took this shot because when I was a 23-year old single woman living just outside Boston, someone took a picture of me inside the giant T. Now a decade later, here's my Trevor posing by the T!

Boston Aquarium

A starfish at the Boston Aquarium

Looking out at the water

Oh, the chasing of the pigeons....they would've been happy doing this all day!

The blur of the T (Boston subway system)

I love this--these are the steps of the home in which Justin grew up. I imagine he sat on these steps when he was Trevor's age!

Smooch. :)

Two Cali girls in Boston! This is my cousin Ashley who came to Boston for college and never left. Can't say I blame her! It was so fun to meet up with Ash and Ed in the city. Ashley's boyfriend Ed sinking to Aila's level. Love it!

Faneuil Hall -- Boston, Mass. Can I say AGAIN how much I love this city?!?

"N" is for Nelson! Pop was such a trooper to put up with this slow-shutter-speed-and-sparklers trick!

Pop and Aila munching on alfalfa