August: Beach days and Date Night

Our studious 3 year old reading the paper

We had a few days that were pretty warm and one of them Zenith got home from work early, so we headed off for the rest of the afternoon and evening to the beach.

Excited boys

The beach was just gorgeous with lots of shallow water for the boys to splash in, and due to limited parking as well as the time of day, was deserted so we pretty much had the beach to ourselves!

I even got all the way in and swam, which says a lot about how warm it was!

Sandcastles with Daddy

After the beach, we drove into Newburyport, which is a quaint old ocean town, and enjoyed some burgers and fries from a small but delicious burger joint.

"You ordered me a burger too?"

A friend of my parents lives nearby and has a pool so we spent a morning there hanging out and keeping cool.  She's also our "emergency plan" for someone to watch the boys when I go into labor, so it was a good opportunity for them to spend time with her.

Another very generous couple from church, friends of my parents, offered their teenage girls for babysitting before they go back to school.  We took them right up on their offer since we haven't been out alone since a quick date night back in January!  And let me tell you, it was heavenly.  The boys had a blast playing with the girls, and we went back to Newburyport to stroll down the quaint main street, popping into little shops without worrying about little hands grabbing or having to be constantly on the move to keep them entertained.  We stopped for delicious tappas and drinks at a very good Mexican restaurant and had a table outside complete with heater to keep us comfortable and twinkle lights around us.  We spent a good amount of time enjoying the food and company and MOST of all, not having to rush home for bedtime!  Afterwards, we strolled around some more and ended up at one of our favorite European restaurants for a glass of wine and dessert, followed by a walk down by the harbor.  It was a lovely and refreshing evening.  I didn't realize how much I missed an uninterrupted dinner conversation with my husband, without constant questions and requests for various things.  Of course, one of the main topics of the night were those same little boys, who I couldn't stop thinking about and missing.  Being away from them always makes me realize how much I appreciate them and love them, in addition to giving Zenith and I time to reconnect.

The Mexican restaurant we went to

It is now the end of August and I wonder where the summer went.  It was a busy summer for sure, and filled with lots of fun activity.  I'm anxious for Autumn, not only because it's my favorite season, but also because this autumn brings with it the coming of a new little one into our family.  I'm anxious to meet this new little person, as much as I fear the coming changes and new challenges this transition will bring.  The pregnancy is going as well as to be expected, and all its aches, pains and sleepless nights bring new opportunities for sacrifice that can be offered for the soul of this little one.  If only I could keep myself focused on that, rather than the negative aspect of not feeling well! Ah, it's a constant battle and one that only God and His grace can help me master.  

The boys are well and growing in leaps and bounds.  We are still working on potty training with Marcellus, having some luck but of course the process is a tough one and we move forward and backwards.  His language is developing and he speaking more in sentences and phrases.

William has grown into a little man, very studious and sensitive, but at the same time social and lovable.  He has become very bubbly and cheerful, always willing to help me whenever I ask.  At the same time he can also be rather silly, but he just likes to try and make everyone laugh.  Marcellus has more of a temper but is very smart, and runs William around even though he's younger.  He's much more vocal than his older brother and is good at getting across his pleasure and displeasure!  

Reading the Bible to Marcellus

On the Phone

Newest Vocation

Off to feed the boys some lunch!  

~Lindsay

June and July: Special visitors!

I've been quite lax in my blog over the past year and once again over a month as gone by with no update.  I suppose I do have to admit it's partially from procrastination, but in my defense, it has been a very busy summer!  Toward the middle of June, we had some very special visitors...my parents!  

The boys were more than thrilled to see them again!

We spent a day at Hampton Beach and lucky for us, it was the weekend they were doing the sandcastles! We had a lovely stroll, despite the cooler weather. 

We ended up back at the coast that Saturday so we could drive up to Kittery Trading Post.  We also had a nice drive along the coast and then finished the day off with burgers at Five Guys.

Dad found a new hat while we were there ;)

William was a little confused by his reflection...

Cookout on Sunday at my sister's house

Cousin fun

My parents spent the next few days with my sister and her family but we were able to squeeze in a couple more visits and hated to see them go! 

BJs Wholesale store trips are fun...never know what you'll find!

New sunhats!

This boy has style...and yes he "dressed" himself

New way of keeping the boys together when I'm alone with them since Marcellus is much to big to be carrying around (or more like I am to big to carry him around :P)

One of the weekends, we headed up to Rye NH in the afternoon to try to go to the beach.  Thankfully we found a lovely, very quiet spot!

Who doesn't love getting dirty in the sand!

Nana and Bumpa very generously bought William and Marcellus a watertable for the summer!  Mommy was just as thrilled as them since I've needed a way of keeping them cool and entertained during the hot days.  

They LOVE using it!

Apparently it has more than one use...

We also got out the pool one of the days that I had bought for them last year...it's a bit difficult to blow up and then deflate to store after every use so we only use it when Daddy is around ;P

Can't remember exactly what set this expression off, but let me tell you, what awesome timing with the picture taking!  Pretty sure he had heard a firetruck or a train and got excited. 

They recently finished putting in a 1/2 mile rail trail over the old railroad tracks just at the bottom of our street.  Its a lovely walk along the river and we love that its so close to us!  Unfortunately our street is on a hill, and the trail is at the bottom so I haven't been able to huff and puff my way up and down to take the boys down by myself very often.

Another BJs trip...one of the highlights of their week!

Haircut for this handsome man!

One of the mornings I could hear the boys playing and then after a few quiet moments, William comes running to me laughing and saying Marcellus is "inside."  I made my way to the dryer, which was closed, and opened it to find a very contented Marcellus, playing with his toys. The things you never thought you'd find when you used to imagine motherhood!

They have a play walkie talkie that Marcellus likes to pretend is his "phont" (phone)

Just over a week ago, we had another special visitor all the way from Australia!  Zenith's brother, Fr. Ruben came to spend a week with us and we all had a great time with him.  The boys instantly warmed up to him and thoroughly enjoyed having a playmate for the week.

We took him into Boston to see the North End (the Italian part) and had lunch and then made our way over to one of the pastry shops (no, not Mike's).  We then took our little treats over to the wharf where we enjoyed them.

Tuesday we took him down to the Cape to visit Plimouth Plantation, which is a replica of the village the original settlers from the Mayflower lived in the 1600s.  The whole thing is very authentic with everything made as it originally would have been.  All the houses were built with hand tools using old methods, and food is cooked right in the houses over open fires by people in the roles of the original settlers.

Hitting the gift shop first ;)

Wednesday we went to Plum Island and then into Newburyport to walk around and finished up with an ice cream

Thursday we caught an earlier train from the station just down the street from home into Boston.  As you can see from William's face here, he was in Heaven on his first train ride!

We took a harbor ferry to one of the islands around the city for a lovely (although hot and humid) walk and picnic.

Both boys also loved the boat ride!

After returning to the city, we stopped at an indoor (and air conditioned!) market that had all kinds of locally made things and each got a pick-me-up including smoothies, juice, apple cider doughnuts, and ice cream.  Feeling refreshed and more cool, we headed to North Station and caught the train back home.

Friday we went out in the afternoon to go tour the Anheuser-Busch brewery.  It was very interesting to see how it was made and the process it goes through and the free tour even ended in samples!

Saturday we drove down to Gloucester and strolled downtown, then walked around Stage Fort State Park and let the boys splash around in the water there.  We finished the day off at a small, family owned Italian restaurant that had really good food!  Hidden gems like that are the best to find.

Sunday, we dropped "Uncle Father Ruben" (as the boys called him) off at the bus station which would bring him to the airport so we could get to Mass. We were all sad to see him go but we look forward to seeing him again, as well as Zenith's parents and sister and her lovely family in December when we fly down under.  Tickets are booked and it's official, we're (all 5 of us!) going to Australia for Christmas!

I'll leave off with just a few other snapshots of the month as this post has gotten long enough. 

The boys at the chiropractor...the 3 of us go regularly, mostly for me during the pregnancy.

The skunk in our backyard, who we've seen numerous times this summer, got his face stuck in a cup.  Poor thing was bumping into everything and couldn't get it off.  Haven't seen him since, so I'm not sure what the outcome was! (not that I would be overly sad to not have to worry about him prowling around)

The boys were fascinated with the "gunk!"

Until next time!

~Lindsay