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We took a picture like this last year except, last year it was Christel who was the pregnant one, this time it's Erica!  And NO, there will not be a retake next year with me as the pregnant one!  Ha!

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Even the cat enjoys the new deck!

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The landscaping to finish off the deck renovation began this week!  Tomorrow they will add all the shrubs and perennials.

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And last but not least....Evan's official first day of school today!  He went on Tuesday for his open house, but I stayed with him during that.

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And it fell out in his sleep the night before his first day of school!  This morning he woke up and found his tooth was gone and in it's place was some money!  BEST. DAY. EVER!  Well according to the kid who FINALLY lost a tooth!

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Happy FIRST day of School!

David 8.0

My baby is eight.  I don't know how it happened.  I was looking back at his first day of first grade picture and he looked so young!  I remember thinking how grown up he looked at the time.  I am sure I will say this same thing next year too!

Today he had his well check and tomorrow he will start third grade!  Insert the cliche saying..."where does the time go?" here.  He grew 3 inches from last year and is now officially in the 50th percentile for his height!  He's always been between the 25th and 40th percentiles.

Height: 50.75 inches (55th percentile)
Weight: 55.8 lbs (46th percentile)

Our handsome 8 year old!

I can't believe he's officially a third grader.  That also means he's in a different school, since his school last year only goes to grade 2.  He has been so excited to start and is working on his reading log and looking forward to doing some division in math.  We love his inquisitive mind and how much he loves school.  He's getting to be quite the little piano player and enjoys preforming his new songs for family and friends.  He has really surprised me this year, trying new things like taking the plunge on Geronimo, a thrill slide at the local water park.  You couldn't pay me to go on it, but he did it three times!  I'm looking forward to seeing what being 8 brings for David.  I think it's going to be a great year!

Birthday Boy!

At his well check, healthy and happy!

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Someone found a lose tooth yesterday!  It's still hanging on by a thread, and he keeps wiggling it so he can finally get his first visit from the Tooth Fairy!

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Impromptu BU get together!  Glad we were all able to make this work considering how last minute it was!  Next time we take this picture it will be in NJ and with another little girl in the mix!

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And baby #5 is a...GIRL!  It was a very exciting day hanging out with our friends and being together for their big reveal.  We cannot wait to meet her in January!

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Back to School haircuts!

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Headed south to hang out at the beach today!  We lucked out in the weather department as it was cold and dreary here.   But at the beach, it was absolutely gorgeous; sunny and 75 degrees with a nice cool breeze!  It was a bit cool for swimming but perfect for being buried in the sand and searching for sea glass!  We are really getting the most out of these last few days of summer!

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Back to school kicks!

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One week from today and it is BACK TO SCHOOL!   Making the last days of summer count with some breakfast at Panera Bread this morning and a picnic lunch at the school playground this afternoon.

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Headed to Grammy and Papa's camp today to try and squeeze in one more day of swimming before school starts next week, but the weather feels more like Fall, than Summer!  Not that I'm complaining, it's gorgeous, but definitely too cold to swim.  At the very least they got to use the indoor pool and play on the playground!

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The boys wanted to go to Whale's Tale Water park today.  It was definitely not hot enough outside to make us want to spend an entire day being wet!  So...we compromised and took them to Canobie Lake Park instead.  They still got to do some water stuff and we didn't have to spend an entire day freezing our butts off!  David finally got up the nerve to do the Yankee Canonball; he's definitely a fan of the good old fashioned wooden roller coaster.

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Completely transformed!

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David spent the week at an art camp run by the Currier Art Center in Manchester.   The theme was witch craft and wizardry, and all the projects this week were Harry Potter inspired!  

Here is David showing off his broom and wand!   He also made a self portrait where the eyes follow you when you walk by!   He had a great time and I was very impressed by the amount of work they did throughout the week!   For anyone local whose children love art, I would highly recommend this camp!

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Deck Renovation Project Day 60:  It's like it was meant to be here all along!  It's 99.5% finished, but it's close enough and all the work left to do are some finishing touches and landscaping.  I can't tell you how much I love being able to sit outside, especially on a night like tonight.

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Big brothers are at camp this week, so it's just me and Evan this week.  Today Omi met up with us and so there is only one thing to do when Omi comes for a visit and you've been forced to run errands with mom while big brothers are off having fun...go out for ICE CREAM!

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David has always enjoyed legos and building sets, but he has always built the sets he receives with a little help.  Recently he's been determined to do them on his own.  For his birthday we got him this set, from Guardians of the Galaxy.  It's the biggest set he's ever received and again he was determined to build it all by himself.  It took him 2 days, working little by little when he had some free time and tonight he finally finished!  He is so proud of himself!

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Shaun ready for his first Summer Camp!  He's doing the same camp that David started in at the Rec.  He must have had a great day because he fell fast asleep as soon as we got in the car to head home.

Vacationland 2014

After the boys birthday celebration we headed north for our annual summer trip to Maine!  We started our trip by spending the day in Saca at Funtown Splashtown USA!  The kids love that it's a water park and an amusement park all in one!

It wasn't until we arrived in Saco, ME that I realized that two of my bags (my camera bag and my purple travel bag that had all our towels and sunscreen) never made it into the car.  I was bummed out about not having my camera for vacation but I had my cell phone to take pictures so not the end of the world.  The end of the world discovery was realizing that I wasn't going to have my glasses for the entire trip.  Oh well.  I would make due, but I was tempted to see about finding a Lenscrafters in Maine!

Ready for some fun!

Water slide fun!

Shaun and I before heading to the Funtown side, we both tried some super fast (and kinda scary!) slides and we were very proud of ourselves!

David and Maddie try their first really big wooden roller coaster - Excalibur!

I have to say I was really proud of all 3 boys at the park today, they all tried something that seemed really scary at first.  Evan even did some big slides all by himself!  David did all the thrill slides and even went on Excalibur!  And Shaun tried two thrill water slides including one where you have to ride on your belly super fast while racing your friends!

Special treats for trying new things!!

David and Dad in front of Excalibur!

The following day we just hung out and relaxed.  It was a long weekend with a birthday party and day spent at amusement park that we planned a "do nothing" day at our friends house!  The day ended with campfire where the kids got to roast their hot dogs over the open fire!

Hey Mom, we need one of these!

Fire pit fun!

Fire roasted hot dogs!

This is the life!

On Wednesday the men decided to build a fort.  I know that they guys enjoy drinking beers and building stuff!  The started with the frame in the afternoon and then we took the kids to get some ice cream and more supplies before a storm rolled in and all work was halted.  Since we had already planned for the rain we got the kids ready to head to the movies to see Guardians of the Galaxy.

The tree fort frame!

The littles staying out of the way while the Dads work on the fort.

After the movie!  It was AWESOME!

After the movies we tried out a new seafood place in town!  YUM!  The fried scallops were amazing!

On Thursday we took the kids down to the rock beach to look for sea creatures and throw rocks.  I love the smell of the ocean breeze!

Climbing the big rocks!

More climbing

Top of the tiny rock mountain!

Evan and Me!

David and Maddie!

The kids at the rock beach

Evan was really proud he was able to climb the ladders by himself!

Friday was our lake day!  Every year we spend one of our days at Swan Lake.  This year the weather was just not great for swimming, for me anyway, the kids didn't mind!  Then the guys did some more work on the tree fort before it rained again!  So much for a second camp fire.

The annual jumping off the dock!

More jumps!

Dad tossing Evan into the water!

Shaun going head first down the slide!

Back to work on the fort!

Saturday, David's birthday!  The guys finished the fort and then we headed to have a big truck stop meal at a diner up in Bangor before hitting the road home.  It was a nice and relaxing trip but I was happy to be home with my glasses!

The tree fort it complete!

The Birthday Boy!

Home sweet home with my glasses selfie!