Love

Ella is smitten with little baby No-No...  Very sweet.  I love Nora's expression in these last two where Ella's wearing ear protectors.

Let's go for a hike!

One of the best parts of our trip north was hiking around Grammie and Gop's property, doing "Ella's Loop" which takes about 10 minutes with Ella galloping along and 30 minutes at Liam's pace, but with the height of some of the ferns and fallen branches that you have to step over, it is impressive that he can make it all the way around!  Here are some photos and a video from those trips.

A great trip to the ADKs

We had a wonderful week in the Adirondacks with Bill (Gop/Bop) and Sue (Grammie/Banyae) - in fact, on the way home, Will and I agreed that it was probably our best trip up there with the kids.  This was because we got to show them so many new exciting things - like the rocks under the covered bridge in Jay, the top of Whiteface mountain, the cool water of Copperas pond and more.  Here are some photos from the trip.

Run, marbles, ruuuuuuun!

Ever put a toy away for a few months like parenting books recommend and then bring it back out and it feels like new?  Well, I did that inadvertently with our marble run that David and Deanne gave to the kids for Christmas.  It sat it the closet for a couple of months and boy, has it been the hot toy lately!!

Waking up in the mountains

We arrived in the Adirondacks last night for a one-week vacation with Grammie and Gop. The kids are all very excited to be here and we plan to get some good hiking, swimming, playing time in while we're here!

Nora, looking older!

News flash - Nora is no longer a newborn!  She has already grown one inch and two pounds and is looking older every day.  She has also moved into the fussy phase of infancy, but is really quite pleasant most of the time, so we aren't complaining.  She spits up a great deal, but to no great worry, as she is packing the pounds away with no trouble.  We all adore her.
This is a goofy shot, but I love her look - there's a lot of personality breaking through.  We even got some screams from her the other night, which worried her parents less about her physical discomfort (she was obviously okay) and more about what's to come in future years...

Rain, rain, come and play!

We have had some hot and sticky days lately, so we welcome forecasts of storms with open arms.  One just came today to break our most recent mini-heat wave and we are now enjoying the windows-open fresh, cool air!  Liam used to HATE having rain fall on his head, but I'd say he's gotten used to it now!  Where big sister goes, this guy follows...

One, two, THREE!

As we are attempting to adjust to life with three children, I am also making an effort to get all three of them on film together.  I love the series where Nora sleeps through the chaos of a sibling battle just inches away...  But my favorite is certainly the final shot.

A fun retrospective

These pictures hang on our fridge and remind us how much has changed in the last five years...  Can you tell which baby was born mid-winter?

One month old today

"Hi, I'm Nora. I'm just going to insist on being held for the next ten or eleven months - hope that's alright!"

Fun

Liam has loved having an excavator in his yard these past few weeks and his obsession is certainly now on all diggers and loaders.  And tools.  Choate's campus is a great place to be in the summer, because everything seems to be under construction in June, July and August.

And last night when Will was setting up the trampoline and Nora was lying peacefully on the basement floor, Ella and Liam got out their light sabers and fought it out Luke-Vader-like.  Then they had a 30-minute jump-wrestle on the trampoline that has been in storage for the past two months...  Let the wild rumpus start!

New construction!

There has been a LOT of action at our house this summer, much of which involved drilling, hammering and digging.  Here are some pictures of our new patio and basement play room!  We move into that space today and are very excited about that!

Adventuring!

We are loving our August vacation and getting out for as many adventures as we can handle...  We even made it up the Tower trail at Sleeping Giant park, which was an impressive testament both to our jogging stroller and to good ole' Dad who pushed 80+ pounds of kid up and down much of a hilly, rocky 1.6 mile trail!  I felt pretty tough, too, as I rounded the bend at the top of the trail with Nora in an Ergo frontpack and Liam on my shoulders...  Not too bad for 4 weeks postpartum!

The mini-est Mo'

Here are some recent photos of little Nora, our wee-est one, who, as many have noted bears resemblance to both her sister and brother in certain photos.  And then has so many of her own expressions!

This one seems a bit cheeky to me!