Boston

We have been wanting to visit Chris and Jessie in Boston,

so we took the plunge at the end of October. We decided to take the kids and make a good old fashioned family vacation out of it. I knew the cross country flight and nights in a hotel might be a little dicey with all the kids but thought we would be ok. I totally underestimated how hard it is to sight-see with toddlers and over-estimated the challenges of the flight and hotel. Let's just say by the end of the trip Ryan and I were ready to NEVER travel with the kids again and we all needed quiet padded rooms before we could function normally together again. I am exaggerating but for honesty's sake I had to get that out there. I will do my best to paint it in a positive light for posterity's sake.

We decided to hit the freedom trail first thing Monday morning. Here is our tour guide having Luke demonstrate what it would be like to be in the stocks on the Boston Commons.

Next stop was the cemetery. Noah just wanted to run around and climb on the big rocks.

I have done the freedom trail a couple of times and so I tried to keep the Noah & Charlie under wraps while Ryan & Luke got the full tour experience.

I may have put Noah to work to keep him occupied.

This is how Charlie and I spent most of our time. All wrapped up and strapped to each other. ;)

It was neat as always to see how old these cemeteries and other stops on the trail are and all the history behind them. After lunch we put the kiddies down for a nap and then we did the whole Halloween thing. (See previous post)

The next day we hit Walden Pond. This was probably my favorite site we visited because the kids could run and play and yell with no one around.

We did have a lady stop her car and warn us that we were being irresponsible letting our kids into the woods because the branches might fall and hit them..... Needless to say we did not heed her advice.

The boys are really into running and running "super duper fast". We let them show us their stuff.

Luke and Thoreau got to be buddies.

Not as close as these buddies though!

We had lunch and then did the Duck boat tour of Boston. This was the boys' favorite thing. Luke got to drive the boat/car.

He was thrilled and talked about it for weeks.

Wednesday we had breakfast at a cute cafe with Jessie then went to Harvard to do a tour.

That was a disaster. For some reason the kids didn't want to stand quietly and listen to the history of Harvard. Jessie and I took the kids to a playground while Ryan took the tour.

After lunch and a bookstore adventure we were ready to throw in the towel for the day. We did just that. Ryan took Haddie home and I took our kids to the hotel. We chilled and took advantage of room service.

The next day we had lunch in the park where the book "Make way for ducklings" is set. During lunch something didn't go Luke's way. He went off to pout.

Look at that boy's grumpy face....

Make way for Luke and Noah!

We drove out and visited Salem. Made a stop the witch museum... kind of creepy. I don't know if I would recommend it but it was interesting.

We then boarded the plane for Home Sweet Home! The kids were really good on the flights there and back. It was a fun trip and I am glad that we went, but the next time we want to go to a city on vacation the kids are staying with Grandma!

Halloween (2011)

We kind of had two Halloweens this year. The first was the Halloween carnival at Ryan's facility.

As you can see, Ryan was working the dunk tank and so I tried to take the boys and Charlie around the best I could. Unfortunately I didn't get a good picture of the 3 of them in costume. The boys fit into our German Lederhosen perfectly this year. I thought they looked dashing. These are the best pictures I had.

And Charlie was a witch... see the hat?

Right after the carnival we headed out of town to visit Jessie and Chris in Boston. So we were there for the actual day of Halloween. The climate in Boston is far different from California so we pulled out the costumes from last year and wore those.

Charlie was acting up so she and I waited at the apartment while Ryan and boys went with Jessie and Chris trick or treating on St. Charles Street.

It was a very cool atmosphere and I am sorry that I couldn't have done more outside but Charlotte dictates quite a bit what I can and can't do these days.

That was our Halloween in a nutshell

Can it be true?

For the first time in our marriage... and my life for that matter... I have got some Christmas cards done. The bad news is that I don't have most people's addresses, emails and/or phone numbers. So I am putting it out there. If you would like a Christmas card, I would love to send you one. Just put your address in a comment.. I moderate them all before they are posted and then I will just delete it and not post it! Or you can email it to me at general@niguelsante.com (my junk email just incase there are spammers following my blog...ha ha ha.)

October Escapades

The easiest way to record what we did in the month of October is to show the photographic proof. If you regularly read our blog you saw the Monkey video. This "funky monkey" (as the boys refer to him) paid a visit to our house. He knocked on the door and Luke let him right in. I don't know if I should be worried that Luke and Noah didn't question a giant monkey knocking on the door and coming in to visit. Maybe it was the bananas and candy that we was carrying, or the games of peek a boo he played.

Either way he was a hit.

Later that day we went to a car show at a friend's facility in town. The boys loved the old cars. This was half of an old model T that you could sit in and mess around.

Luke and Allie had fun. Luke kind of has a crush on Allie and would follow her around all day if he could.

The bounce house was a winner as well.

What kids don't love them?

We hit the local pumpkin patch one Saturday. The boys were very excited to get "face painting" done. I convinced them that getting something on their hands was much cooler than their face.

Thank Goodness because the paint was smeared in about 10 sec. It looked good long enough for a picture.

The other thing they were excited about was measuring next to this pumpkin. They LOVE to measure stuff. They like to measure how tall things are and everything is 13 tall. Whether it is me, Charlie or the stuffed animal. Luke always reports that it is 13 tall. You can see him explaining this to me here.

We also took a little family drive up to see General Sherman in the Sequoia National Forest. It is about and hour and a half away and so worth the drive.

You can park and take a little hike to the General Sherman (the largest tree in the world, no joke). Luke was excited and showed it with his classic thumbs up.

It is hard to explain how huge these trees are. It is very awe inspiring to see the groves of them. They bring a feeling of reverence and awe of God's creations out of me. Here are the kids nestled in the trunk of one.

You can just here them saying "CHEESE". Here are the boys running out of an alcove in one. You can kind of get a feel for how large they are.

And here is the big one.

The boys are learning their letters and like to pretend to spell things out and read them. This is them "reading" the sign.

Luke's preschool took a field trip to the pumpkin patch so Noah, Charlie, and I tagged along. Here are my little turkeys.

The boys enjoyed the hay ride and the whole experience (again).

Luke loves his pre-school and all that he learns and does. He recently explained to me the difference between deciduous trees and evergreens. Here he is with his teacher, Mrs. G. She was kind enough to take him and Noah on the hay ride while I stayed with Charlie.

Noah loves to run around. He has an innate need to move and run. He especially loved the little maze they had. I couldn't get him out of it because he would run back in as I would try to grab him.

It was a lot of fun to go with the kids and Luke's class.

October was a really fun month for us. I have enjoyed the warmer California temperatures and extended fall weather.

Charlotte's Blessing

We blessed Charlotte Labor Day weekend and so it was a really fun weekend. We had Ryan's parents up as well as his sister, Casey and her three boys. We spent the weekend enjoying the heat in the pool.

The boys loved having cousins and grandparents to share the pool with. Kevin is Luke's best buddy.

Charlie enjoyed some quality pool time with Grandma.

As well as a nap in her pool-side bed a.k.a. the camping chair.

Here is grandpa and the boys. I cut off heads and half of Kurt trying to get the shot before they all jumped in the pool.

Ryan made a cool video of the day. You can view it here... Summertime fun

Sunday was all about Little Miss Charlotte.

She behaved as beautiful as she looked. She went to sleep at the beginning of Sacrament meeting and slept through the blessing. What more could a mom want? Ryan gave her a beautiful blessing. I always love baby blessing day. I feel so close to the quads at each child's blessing. I think because it is then main earthly experience we had with each of them. Anyhow, here is our family after church.

And here is the whole group.

Nine o clock sacrament meeting doesn't lend itself to pre-blessing pictures, but here is Charlotte later in the day.

My mom made the dress and it turned out beautiful. We are lucky she is so talented and enjoys sewing for the grandkids.

Great day, good friends, and wonderful family. We are so glad this little girl joined our family.