Celebrating the end of summer

The boys and I have fallen in love with the beach this year. And so, to celebrate the end of summer, we decided one more trip was in order. So we invited some friends, packed up the van and headed off for some sun and sand.

B's ready to jump in!

The boys have discovered how to dig really big holes...lets just hope I can keep from falling into them!

At one point, I looked over to see this. I have no idea how he got the sand up there, but once he discovered it, there was much whining until it was off.

It started raining while we were eating lunch, so what better way to stay dry?

Eating ICE CREAM!

And to finish the day off, we took a walk on the pier. A little heart stopping for this Mama, I will admit, but the boys loved it. They got to be really close to the boats and loved waving to all the captains.

And I saw this pic and love how it shows these 2 are definitely brothers. Maybe not from the front, but definitely from the back!:)

Adventures in Fruit

What do you do when you have an adventureous friend, 4 boys and a love of fresh fruit?

Go for an adventure, of course!

45 minutes north of us, we've discovered this great orchard filled with all kinds of fruits you can pick, primarily peaches and apples.

So, we decided to pack those cuties up and pick to our hearts content.

And boy did we pick! We came away with (ahem) 100 pounds of peaches. And 100 pounds of apples. Yes. You read that right. But in our defense, 4 big buckets and 3 little buckets definitely didn't appear to hold that much. And yes, we've made a note for next year so we'll know not to pick that much. Unless of course, we go through it and get a case of amnesia next summer.

And so, my brave friend and I got to work. How often can you go straight to the fields (or orchards in this case), pick the fruit, prepare the fruit and can the fruit all in one day!?!?!

We did make some rookie mistakes that we've learned upon for next year, but all in all, I'm pretty proud of our new knowledge! And I do have to give my her most of the credit, since she spent the entire evening canning them all for us.

Some how, all these...

Became all of these!!!

Don't they look gorgeous? If you're ever in the neighborhood, stop on by!

Preschool!

Today was the first day of preschool. Wow. It really feels like I was just announcing that we had him and here it is, time for school to start.

People kept asking if I was going to cry but you know what? I think Noah is more than ready for this next chapter (he's really ready to start driving, if he could have his way:)) and I'm excited for him. They said he had a moment when he got pushed and started asking for me, but she said it didn't last long and was back to lovin' every minute.

Look out world because I'm not quite sure you understand whats about to hit you!!:)

Photo ops gone wrong

There's just something about trying to get 2 ACTIVE boys stopped, looking at the camera and smiling all at the same time. Thought you might enjoy seeing all the silly things these 2 do when I point a camera in their direction. (I think they're starting to do it on purpose!!)

Hey, N! The camera's this way.

The camera isn't going to be loud, B. I promise!

We just need 2 other people and we can complete the looking in all directions...

This one made me laugh. I often say that taking care of little kids is like herding cats...ain't gonna happen! (and yes, that is a whoppi cushion on my child's head)

Atleast this shows them doing something together...singing. Uncle Danny-look familiar?!?!?

And well, I thought it was just my own kids, but perhaps its the age:)