First day of school

 My second grader and Kindergartener

 

 New backpacks (Jack wanted to stand with them)

 

 Waiting for the bus

Bus taking too long, so silliness ensues.

When bus pulled up they were gone. :( They grow up so fast.

Commons

 We made the trip up to Boston again today. I got to meet up with some of my Boston friends and it was lots of fun. Of course I didn't get any pictures of us adults. 

We made it to the swan boats.

 The frog pond

 Jack was a big fan of this place. He didn't want to get out. I told him to smile, and for the first time ever he smiled for the camera. He didn't LOOK at the camera, but he smiled.

 Pulling up to the park we saw this cool bubble guy.

 I don't think that they ever wanted to leave. We probably could have just spent all afternoon in front of this guy. Jack was beside himself with excitement.

 I know it is a lot of pictures of bubbles, but this one was my favorite. If you click on it to see it bigger you can see Ali's graceful jumping. It looks like she is dancing with bubbles.

 Of course we had to stop by and see Mrs. Mallard and her ducklings.

 

 Here is Jack, on Jack. (well, one of them is Jack, and since Jack decided to sit on this one then I dub it 'Jack')

 

 Finish off  the day with some balloons and a trip to see Jim, and this has been a great day!

Find Joy

 I miss California. I will start by saying that when I moved here I was very negative. I missed my friends and I missed Gaby and her boys, and I didn't want to like living here. I am not sure when my attitude changed, but I decided that I am going to make the best of living here. To start enjoying this new life of mine, I have to start by loving my house. It is after all a house!

 And now we have a nursery! I never had a nursery before and I am so excited. I bought a sheepskin rug because Jack loved it so much in the store. Now every time he gets out of bed he lays on the rug and snuggles it. This picture is from the first day we got it. The kids were so very stoked to be able to see Nick because he rarely gets home before they are asleep.

We also have an amazing yard! One of the trees in our yard has been designated "the butterfly tree" because it is always covered in butterflies. My girls found this one with its wing ripped off and were determined to heal it. We also have frogs in our yard which the girls have caught and released into the stream that runs through our backyard. Honestly how could I have been so negative?!?

 

 To top it all off, we have a great beach near here; it's only a 20 min drive to this cute beach. It is no Manhattan Beach that is for sure, but it is decent. Also, since it is along the Long Island Sound, there are the tiniest waves so the kids could actually swim in the water (plus the water is warmer here!)

 

 The girls loved digging in the sand and building a swimming pool. Not sure they can do laps in it, but they had tons of fun anyway.

 One huge difference about the beach here is that it is very rocky. The sand here is littered with millions of rocks. While it is painful on feet, Jack was in heaven. It is his ideal world, a world full of rocks that he is free to throw into the water at will.
I still miss California. It still hurts that I can't see Gaby (especially her boys) or any of my friends but I think that Connecticut might be a great experience, and if I have the right attitude it will be.

Sleeping Giant

3 miles from our house is a small state park called Sleeping Giant. It is called that because from an aerial view the landscape resembles a large man laying down on his back. It is a great little park, and there is a trail that is about 2 miles that leads to a "Castle" or more accurately a tower. Today we all made the climb since Nick had off work. Jack was in the stroller, and it is a pretty steep hike, so Nick and I were dying by the time we got to the top.

 The girls, however, seemed to have endless energy, and immediately ran into the castle to explore. Kat seriously makes THE craziest faces!

 I did finally make it to the top, and it was such a beautiful view. Connecticut is just so green!

 Here is all of us. Not the greatest picture, but at least we are all looking at the camera. (note to self, next time ask an adult to take picture)

It should have been a relaxing walk to the bottom (all downhill), but between Jack needing to stop every 2 seconds to pick up and change the rocks in his hand, and the girls falling while running down too fast, it was surprisingly much harder than the hike up. A little bit of wipes, and a few bandaids, and the girls were as good as new. Getting Jack to put down the rocks... not as easy.

Boston and Jim

 When we found out that Nick got into fellowship here in Connecticut, one big bonus was that we knew we would get to see Jim (oh and Boston).

 We had such a great trip up; it is only a 2 hour drive! I plan to make the trip many times. Pulling off the 90 freeway into Brookline almost made me cry since I miss it so much. Boston is a great city, and the people I met there are lifelong friends.

 

We arrived by 2pm and went right to our park. Of course Ali got Jim to push them on the swing. She can get him to do pretty much anything. Did you see that she got him IN the tire swing!?!

 Pure love

By 6:30, after some famous chicken, we headed home into this beautiful sunset.  The trip home would probably have taken 2 hours too, except that I missed my exit and almost ended up in New York. The freeway exits here are not very forgiving.