coastal getaway.

For the 3rd year in a row we headed off to Seabrook this past week for some quality family time. We discovered this charming little town right before Simon was born and instantly fell in love. It's only about a 3 hour drive away, has the cutest little homes, shopping and dining, community pool, plenty of walking trails and the best beach! It's a perfect mix of relaxation and activities and everyone enjoys themselves. 

 The kids have been SO excited and eagerly anticipating this trip for many months. They kept saying this would easily be the highlight of their summer and I don't think they were disappointed. We kept our tradition going by meeting up with Matt's parent's at the nearby Walmart for a quick bathroom break and to pick out a new toy before making the final trek to the coast. The kids jumped out of the car and wasted no time playing in their room. After quickly getting settled we took off for a walk around town and our first (of many!) visit to the sweet shop.

 A quick snack to fill our bellies was perfect before jumping in the pool! They could have swam for many more hours each day, such little fish!

 That night we had promised s'mores but were just too tired to go through all the effort of building a campfire, so...dry s'mores were an even bigger hit (whew.). After a long day the kids crashed in their beds and Matt and I got to go out for a date night to celebrate my birthday.

We stayed in this cute house the first year we visited and loved it so much we chose to stay here again! It is huge and has plenty of room for all 7 of us to relax, plus the sunroom is the perfect spot to lay out and read...a family favorite any time of day! 

 The next morning Simon and I woke up early and headed out for our usual mama/Simon workout session. He sits in the stroller while I run and then when I'm done he gets out to run himself! We've gotten into a pretty good routine and I like having a buddy with me sometimes.

 We may have visited the sweet shop every.single.day. because vacation mom and real life mom are 2 entirely different people. ha!

 Then it was more time spent going on family walks, playing at the park, playing football, swimming and exploring.

 We even had enough energy to build a fire for s'mores on night 2!

 It was fun for the kids to spend time with Grandpa and Grandma Vance too. Our crew can be a circus sometimes but one-on-one time together is so nice.

 Day 3 we had planned for beach day, which was perfect because it was the nicest, warmest day of week.

 Seriously, this beach is just perfect. Clean, huge, no cars, no trash, perfect amount of wind for kite flying and plenty of space to play without getting too close to the water. A simple hike down the steps and we were there!

 We ended the afternoon with a walk over to Stumptown (another part of town with these super old, huge tree stumps the kids can climb and explore).

 Carter built a gnome home to go along with the hundreds of other little homes scattered throughout the forest, love it!

 Our final morning we had a simple breakfast, headed back to the pool for one last swim and stopped by downtown for 1 final trip to the sweet shop before packing up the car and heading home. It was the best year yet! We love this tradition we've made and can't wait to go back again next year.

Read more...

summer has (finally) arrived.

Last weekend we finally got a taste of summer. The weather was hot (like 95 degrees hot!), we had lots of family time together and headed outdoors to play. Anything involving water will entertain the kids for hours so simply pulling out the pool and filling it up kept them happy and giggling for most of the day.

 But, it was so hot we needed a break. After running a few errands we stopped at a local farmers market, bookstore and had an afternoon snack at our favorite froyo spot.

 The weekend was the perfect way to kick off summer. But....Carter still had 1 short day left of school! Ridiculous, I know. I don't remember ever getting out so late in June but with a few snow days to make up his last official day was on a Monday morning for 2 short hours. To say Carter had a fantastic year in first grade would be an understatement. He blew me out of the water. His handwriting improved, spelling was beyond my expectations, he now writes with much more confidence and clearly adores reading. He even became more detailed in his drawings, which tends to be his weakest area (or at least the subject with his least amount of confidence). He loved meeting new friends and having lunch, PE and longer recesses throughout the day. Can't wait to see what 2nd grade brings!

 Wasting no time we got a quick start on summer activities. We celebrated with a pizza dinner and then headed off for the kids first night of swim lessons. I love that they get to learn at an outdoor pool super close to home. It makes summer lessons feel more summery being outside, plus the nearby wading pool for Simon helps keep him busy while the big kids are in class. Win win for everyone!

The next morning was my birthday! Got up early to have a good workout, quiet time and coffee before being greeted by 3 (well, 4 if you count Matt) smiling faces and lots of hugs. Gifts galore and a quick breakfast before we headed out on a summer vacation. Summer is my absolute favorite season and this was the best way to kick it off! 

Read more...

a week in June.

My goodness it's been a busy week! I feel like as things wind down for the school year we are busy with end of the year gifts and projects while preparing for some fun summer plans. 

Last Sunday we celebrated Father's Day and the amazing dad that Matt is. There would be more picture except the kids refused to wear their pajamas and while they are adorable in undies it just wasn't appropriate to post. So, we gave him some special gifts and the kids made breakfast in bed all on their own! 

We had planned to go pick strawberries as a family except it was pouring down rain and the thought of 3 small children in a muddy, wet strawberry field just didn't scream fun. Crazy, I know. So, Matt spent some quality time with the kids at home while I ran out to the fields and did some picking to stock up for the winter. Luckily the rain stopped for the 40 minutes I was out there which helped...a little. I was still soaked from bending over but we now have 11 lbs. of strawberries to use all winter long!

Later in the day we had fun plans to go to the beach or a park but instead we went car shopping! Because there's no better gift on Father's Day to take 3 tired kids out to different car dealerships and sit in minivans. Ha! Loaded with snacks we made the best of it and got a lot of questions answered. No new car yet but I think its inevitable we are headed in that direction in the near future. Goodbye sporty SUV, hello new car payment. 

 Monday morning we got Carter off to school and then took Simon to his 2 year well child check. He is healthy and perfectly growing! He now weighs 33 lbs, 36 inches long and shot up to the 90% for height and weight, pretty typical for our kids.

 Simon got a new backpack and lunchbox for his birthday and is now obsessed with wearing it all around the house. He loves wearing it out to the bus stop and standing in line with the big kids while they wait to load the bus. Too cute!

 Wednesday I got to help out at Field Day at Carter's school. Sadly I haven't been able to attend any field trips this year or volunteer in the classroom so I was so happy to be there and help. He has such a great school with so many wonderful kids. We feel so lucky to be a part of such a great district.

 I got home and we played in the backyard for a bit. Simon loves our old lawnmower that we've had for all the kids to play with and while he was walking around I had this weird flashback to when Carter was a baby. Crazy how much these brothers are alike! Simon at age 2 on the left, Carter at about 16 months on the right!

 Carter has 1 last day left of school tomorrow (soooo late this year!) and got to bring home his final portfolio on Thursday.  A huge collection of all of his work throughout the year. To say this kid has improved would be a huge understatement. He started out the year writing simple stories with only 1 or 2 sentences and is now writing paragraphs with characters, problems and a conclusion. He has excelled in math, gained more confidence in his art skills and really loves learning. I'm so, so proud of this (almost!) 2nd grader!

 Teacher gift for his 1st grade teacher!

 And...today...the hottest day of the year! We are so excited for summer and swimming and sunshine....bring it on!

Read more...