Open House at Fire Station downtown

Grinning from ear to ear! There was a bouncing house, a giant slide, a fire hose with a "flaming" house, hot dogs and balloons, but this was where Slater was the happiest.


Jade had her turn in the driver's seat as well.


This was Slater's favorite spot at the open house, if we had just been willing to leave him alone for 30 second he would have climbed to the top.



Family photo!! The babes weren't cooperating, so this is as good as it gets :)

The difference a year brings ...

Not so sure about horking down cake. The frosting proved to be to rich and she had a bellyache half the night.


The sassy side :) You could tell that she thought this was a cute thing to do, cheeky monkey!



What a privilege that we get to watch her grow!

My baby turned one today

Little things we will never forget:

1. She still walks a little bit like Frankenstein
2. While she enjoyed her cake, she was to busy watching everyone to giggle and be silly
3. Everything that Slater has is more interesting than anything else
4. She can make the best raspberry noises and loves to entertain herself with them on drives.
5. Drama is her best friend when she doesn't get her way
6. She says dada, mama, yup (up) and shit (???) I know interesting vocab for a 1 year old
7. The sweetest snuggles are given when she first gets up in the morning
8. When she wants Slater or another child to chase her she screeches, turns away, and runs for it. She is also learning to chase.
9. She loves to be naked
10. When asked she will hand you an object, go to the bathtub or find her brother.
11. She is a seasoned traveler who is a little wary of strangers
12. Her teeth finally started coming in and now she has five with two more on the way
13. Eyes are still blue
14. Hair is blond with tints of red
15. The great outdoors is her favorite place to be

How do you sum up a year? She has changed us all, given us a daughter, a sister, a friend. Time passes so quickly and this list will be very different a year from today. We love you sweet baby Jade, thank you for the joy, laughter and moments you have shared with us.

A trip to remember ...

This was our main-e vacation for the year. Over 5000 miles, 4 plane flights, hours (and hours) in the car, temperatures ranging from 50 to 95, fresh and salt water, laughter with family and new friends, tons of kids, more ice cream than is good for anyone and a chance to visit three states we have never seen. Traveling with two children under the age of three had its moments of insanity, but we were impressed with what they endured and how much we were able to see and do. The rest of this post has pictures from the end of the trip.


While visiting Boston it is required that you take the "T" and the kids thought it was a riot. Total strangers gave advice on how to get around, admired both the kiddos, and chatted with us like long-lost relatives.



Slater's favorite Frog Pond statue. There were many to choose from, but he loved the one with the goggles. This type of thing would be wonderful in Fairbanks, I heard that it is even used as an ice-rink during the winter and we could always use another one of those. The pond was only about 6 inches deep, which is absolutely perfect for toddlers (and parents) wanting to cool off in the heat.



The architecture and the flora was drastically different from what we are used to. We could have wandered the country side in Maine and the streets of Boston for days enjoying the buildings and gardens.


The old North Church on the Freedom trail in Boston.

So the following 10 entries show our time in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine. Hope you enjoy reading about it as much as we enjoyed going.

Mary Jo and family :)

I love to travel and see family and friends, but this is an unusual friendship. Mary Jo and I worked together at NPHS during the year that we were pregnant with Aiden and Slater. Although I liked her from staff meetings, school is always busy and there is not much time for getting to know people who work on the far side of the building. Naturally, after discovering that we were both pregnant, we were drawn to chatting. We each made a visit to one another when the boys were small (they were born only 5 weeks apart), then Mary Jo and family left for Boston.

If it had not been for the Internet and another blogging buddy I think we would have lost touch, instead we had emailed, blogged and formed a long-distance bond of motherhood. It was wonderful to get the chance to see the children we have watched growing up online. It makes me sad that we don't have the opportunity to see each other and physically get together, but oh so grateful for the friendship that was not lost.



Here are Audrey and Jade getting to know each other. Like all babies they were utterly fascinated with each other. Again we saw the difference that 4 months makes in motor skills, only this time Jade was the older baby.



This is Aiden and Mary Jo wading in the frog pond. This was one of many places that Mary Jo recommended that we loved. Thank you for being such a fantastic hostess while we were visiting Boston.


The boys playing together. I can hardly wait to see Mary Jo's posts, since she got some adorable pictures of both the boys and the girls.

Make way for ... Slater and Jade

So my son, the one that I hope out grows a few of his surly habits. We read him "Make way for ducklings" dozens of times before our trip and I would tell him how we were going to the Boston Commons to see the ducks on our trip. Moments after we arrived at the duck statues he was overwhelmed with with one of his "Mine, Mine, Mine" moments and actually pushed another little boy off of a duck and then tried to chase him away .. ugh, not one of my prouder moments. Needless to say we did NOT get the pictures or moment that I was hoping for.



You can see the surliness written all over his mug in this shot.



Sweet baby Jade loved the ducklings. Giggling and patting she made such a cute picture with all of the other toddlers enjoying the gorgeous Boston sunshine.

USS Constitution

Wade only had one real goal for his time in Boston: See the USS Constitution. It is the oldest commissioned ship afloat today. It was launched in 1797 and hasn't seen much action in recent years, but still goes to sea at least once a year. The most famous battle it was in took place during the war of 1812 against a British ship and de-masted her in 12 minutes, firing twice as many rounds as her opponent who had more guns.


Apparently the main masts were not actually up,they were re-rigging her for the celebration of the War of 1812,so only 1/3 of her mast is up and no yards, but this is one of her old anchors :)


Her nickname is "Old Ironsides." This comes from her first battle in the War of 1812, the first broadside that hit her bounced off her hull.


Hmmm, that seems safe.


The final image :) Here Slater is saying "Oh my goodness". He loved the cannons, ship and history lesson as much as his dad.