Boston, Massachusetts

Today we took the kids and headed to Boston for the day. I know it was a school day, but Nelson's brother Kimball was in town for a work training....so we wanted to see him. We haven't seen Kimball for 2 years...so it was worth the 3 hr drive!

We left early to go play around Boston, since Kimball wouldn't be available until dinner.

First, we drove around Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox...super cool. It was neat to see it...would love to go to a game there. :)

Next, we visited Quincy Market, which is a big hug long hall of different restaurants (like at the mall) but there are way more....they are situated on both sides of the long hall for about 400 feet. Any kind of food you want! It was crazy and crowded....the entire town was crowded.....people everywhere....walking and jay walking, and just crazy...a lot like New York City in that regard.

After we found a parking garage that could fit our mega van...haha...we walked over, checked out all the restaurants, and chose 3...for a variety for us and the kids.....Philly Cheesesteaks, pizza, and mac and cheese. Although it was cool to see it and eat there...I can now say I have done it...and could care less to go back. None of the food was to die for....it was less than average and way overpriced! Not to mention we payed almost as much for parking as we did for the food! YIKES!

Lesson learned....but we have the experience right? While we were there, we posed by a huge mac and cheese noodle :) which was fun, fed pigeons...who apparently like pizza.....and saw the bar the show "Cheers" was created from. So it was cool to see it all in the end.

After lunch, we went to the USS Constitution Museum to checkout "Old Ironside." It is a little museum about a Naval Ship that has endured many years. It was a cute museum with lots of hangs on stuff for the kids to do and learn about Naval ships and what it was like to live on a ship. They had a fun time!

 This is how the sailors slept on deck....not too shabby. :) 

Finally it was time to meet Kimball and go to dinner. We had so much fun visiting him and the kids couldn't stop hugging him. :) They really enjoy when we have a visitor. Even if it is for a couple of hours! (Funny this pic makes me look like I have no belly...do not be deceived.....I am HUGE...this was just a fluke...perhaps because of how I was sitting) *Note...do not sit in the first seat when prego and be the first in front of the camera..YIKES.)

Big Day

Today was a big day! Huge I guess in fact. Lots of great things took place today.
We started out the day by going to the Elementary and seeing Jayda do the morning announcements. I guess the 4th grader classes rotate doing it, so we went and saw her....it was so cute! I recorded the whole thing...here is is....

(sorry, apparently I am a genius and didn't realize I can only record on my phone one direction) It is still enjoyable anyways!

After Jayda's great "anchoring" we ran some errands then finally finished up a 2 week process of getting this...

We now are the proud owners of a 12 passenger van. It was a must.....and so here is is. A bit of a change from our suburban, but roomy enough for our soon to be 10...plus 2 guests. :)

So after we picked up our new van, Nelson, my sister Angie (who surprised us by changing her plans and coming to visit), and I all went to lunch at Chili's before heading to our ultrasound to find out what the twins are! :)

I realize this is a bit scary pic of me...the phone wasn't working so I unsmiled...then smiled real fast...yikes. :) 

So we finally headed towards the doctor appointment...scheduled for 3:15. A little nervous, having been in this position before, but having faith all was well...we headed to the Albany Medical Center. 

Once we finally got in, it was so fun to see the babies on the screen. Our tech was apparently an ole pro..she was flying through the tests, measurments, etc...while we try and get a glimpse, because, lets face it...we have had so many, we know exactly where and what to look for. The first one, we glanced in her quick scans and were pretty sure we saw a girl. Finally she said, Baby A was a girl! ;) Woohoo. So then our minds go to what if it is 2 girls....that was my least expectant......I would have been shocked to high heaven. So we wait for her to finish up with our Baby A and then change to baby B.....she ran through it so fast and commented it was a boy...we didn't even see it she was so fast. Luckily she went back and showed us. :) So there you have it. We are having a boy and girl (which most know by now)...here are a few pics of our little Juliet and Jace. (Again, I wish she would have taken two more seconds to get us some better pics...but oh well). We did have some 3D which we have never had before and that was super cool!

Here are some pics of the twins!!

Juliet

Jace

Juliet 3D

Jace 3D

After we finished at the doctor, we concocted a plan on how to tell the kids. :) We finally decided to make them go through an obstacle course to find out. It included binkies, bottles, baby food, and diapers. :) It was hilarious, and all recorded for everyone's enjoyment! :) 

Enjoy!!!!

2nd Day of School

Today is Sienna's first day of full school! Here they all are looking adorable and ready for the day. Sienna was so excited to get on the bus...I may or may not have had a few tears in my eyes as the bus pulled away and I saw her little head on it. :)

1st Day of School 2012

Today was the girls' first day of school! They woke up so early...6:15 to get ready...they got dressed and put their backpacks on and were ready 'apparently' at 6:30...well...good thing the bus doesn't come until 8:45!!! YIKES. We had a long morning. :) But no worries...outside and ready for the bus 20 minutes early!

 Sienna's first day (Kindergarten) consisted of going to a 2 hour orientation at school. So we went up to the school, she got to ride on a bus around the block. Meet all 3 Kindergarten teachers, make a shirt with her hand prints, trace her hands, read books, play with toys...and then go home and anticipate a full day of school tomorrow! :) She was excited, but I think a little disappointed in the 2 hours. It was hot, crowded (with all the parents) and we were both ready to bust out of there!


                              Her bus ride: she is right about the word "operator" on the left. :)

                             

Mia's Front Tooth

Today Mia finally lost her 3rd tooth. Right up front! Say cheese!!!!!!

Sienna's Kindergarten Day

Before the any of the kids go to Kindergarten, they get a special day with Mom. We usually go to lunch, then go get a backpack and stuff for school.  I promised Sienna today would be her day. She was so excited! So I couldn't let her down...even though I was very sick with food poisoning. (Yep...I ate an under-cooked grilled chicken sandwich from Wendys in the mall before haircuts yesterday!) I was in bed all day Friday...then had a blessing and was hoping to be out of bed Sat. I felt better in the morning, but not great. Heavenly Father blessed me though I could get dressed and at least go to lunch and Target. That was about all I could manage. I wish I could have done more with her, but that was all I could handle. I went straight home back to bed! But the little time we had together was super fun. We went to Moe's Southwest Grill.

The girls love it...they like the food, but they have one of those new age coke machines where they are all in one big space looking machine and there are over 1000 choices...yep...you can imagine! It's their favorite place! :) We ate lunch...or tried to...then went to target and got her a cute little Monkey backpack she picked out! :)

What a cute little Kindergartner she will be! :) I will miss her dearly at home. As I always say...Ryder will now have to step up to the plate!

Free First Haircuts...at a Salon

So JCPenny was doing free kid's haircuts all month...woohoo....for school kids, so instead of mom slaving over all those heads of hair, we made appointments. The girls were so excited! Of course, because they are free, they don't do the whole hair washing, but still they thought it was exciting! :) Here they are in pictures!

PS. This is me today...pre food poisoning...at 14 weeks....I actually look quite smaller than I am in this picture. :) Hooray for the right angle. 

Mia's 7th Birthday!

Today my Mia turned 7!!!!

We had a little shin-dig for her at our house! Actually the day started out with me taking her to lunch and to get the food for the party! That was fun. She is a little talker and kept me entertained...it was so fun. For her party, we invited friends over to eat Fettucine Alfredo with us...but we ate it a little differently! Right off the table! It was fun and the kids were all excited! No plates...just scoop it over and chow. We have done it a couple of times before and it is so fun!

After they chowed down, we played "the penny toss" game...that is a game I always played at my birthday parties! Toss the pennies in a bucket of water and see who can get the most. Since we had 20 kids...it took awhile...so that was our one and only game! :) We had 4 winners! :)

Next we had cake and icecream, then presents! She got some wonderful gifts from her friends and from family too. We are so grateful for everyone's generosity! Then we busted our lovely "homemade" pinata! Yep...homemade! We went all out this time. Actually it was so easy, I doubt I will ever buy one again.

Overall it was so fun and we were so happy to have a fun party for her and her friends! In Mia's owns words, "I can't believe it's here!" Me neither! She is already 7!!!!




Happiest Birthday Mia Pea! We love you!