school

The other day I brought the kids to the school playgrounds so they could get used to them before school started. This is the kindergarten/preschool playground.

This is the first-fifth grade playground.

I took these before Jane got on the bus today!

She seemed upset she couldn't sit with Maddox, but hopefully one of her friends down the road sat with her.

This is Malcolm before we left for preschool orientation. He was so excited to go!

We met his friend Colin outside and I took a picture.

He found his cubby right away.

He wouldn't talk to the teachers or anyone else, but he really liked all the toys. He's excited to go back for real!

cuties

I took these photos of the kids on the porch. I can't believe how big they are. Jane starts first grade this week and Malcolm starts preschool!

beach bums

This was probably our last beach day of the summer. Luckily it was perfect.

Here's our sand castle.

I guess Jane really liked this boat!

Before driving home the kids wanted to explore more of the island. We drove south until we came to a tower we could climb. We saw so many different kinds of birds including herons, cranes, geese, ducks, swallows and swans.

You can see the tower in the background. They really wanted to stay longer and explore but we had to go home. I told them we'd come back in the fall and skip the beach part!

couple of wild animals

I took the kids to the zoo last week. It was a nice day and we had a great time!

There was a room where these birds flew all around us. Malcolm liked it but Jane absolutely loved it!

Here's part of Jane's picnic lunch.

We ate on some grass near the car so we wouldn't have to carry the cooler back and forth. The kids loved this car and wanted their picture taken in front of it.

Eventually we made it to the playground.

Later we went to a bird show. It was fun! The birds swooped right over our heads. It was a little scary!

This bird accepted donations!

The kids loved this "dino dig."

family reunion

We went back to the cottage on Saturday for our family reunion. The kids swam for a little while but the tide was going out and it was chilly!

Malcolm and cousin Brooke at Starfish Rock!

Croquet:

Bike/scooter ride around the neighborhood with Brooke and her big brother Jordan:

We explored a nearby wharf. It was really fun!

Malcolm needs a photo of his family to bring to preschool, so we had cousin Torrie take this for us.

On the way back to Massachusetts we stopped in Portsmouth.

We had dinner at the Porstmouth Brewery.

It was a great place to stop, and so nice we didn't have to worry about dinner when we got home.

soccer

After the beach we raced to the soccer field so Jane could participate in a clinic.

She's excited to start for the season; she knows half of the team from softball.

beach day!

We visited our third beach of the summer with another group of friends: Nicole and Eliana and Kim, Duncan and Cassidy. It was a beautiful day and the beach was so much fun!

The waves are really big there and the kids loved them.