first days of school

Jane started second grade on Wednesday. She was very excited to take the bus and see her friends in class again! Malcolm was supposed to have his kindergarten orientation on Wednesday but he had been sick on Tuesday. He went on Thursday instead. He was very eager to go and he's thrilled to be a kindergartner now. Friday he got to take the bus with Jane and he loved his first "full" day (he's going half-day).

Donuts were a special before-school breakfast!

Malcolm has two friends from preschool in his kindergarten class!

I'm excited about the school year and I'm glad they are too!

last(?) beach day

I think this was probabably our last beach trip of the summer. We went to Wingaersheek in Gloucester with some friends and had a great day. The kids loved climbing on the rocks and exploring the tide pools. I tried to relax and not take too many pictures!

zoo

We went to the zoo last weekend and had a nice time.

The kids watched the gorillas for a long time.

They would've stayed at the prairie dogs forever! They were so cute.

We saw this in the sky on the way home. Too bad they lost!

legos

Over the summer we didn't participate in the library's reading/listening program. It's difficult to keep track of all the books and the prizes usually fall apart. I told the kids they could get a present at the end of the summer and they both wanted legos. Jane got a big box of legos so now she can build whatever she wants!

Malcolm chose a police set. His favorite pieces are the german shepherds!

plus one more

We have narrow booster seats that allow three kids to fit in the back of my car. We were very excited to pick up Rosalie and bring her to the beach with us!

The girls spent most of the time in the water but took a break to make "hot tubs."

We stopped at Dairy Queen on the way home!

New Bedford

The Whaling Museum had free admission last Friday so we headed to New Bedford to meet our friends Ilana, Tyler, Lily and Nate!

There were a few crafts for the kids to do.

Malcolm wore his whale shirt the day before because he was confused about which museum he was going to!

The kids loved this small replica whaling ship.

There was a great view from the balcony.

They were interested in the whale skeletons.

We went to a burrito place for lunch and Lily and Jane had their own table.

After lunch we went to the fire museum. The kids had so much fun!

They slid down the pole many, many times!

The part that's missing from the photos is the extremely loud sound of kids ringing bells on the old fire engines. I wished I had brought earplugs!

They were thrilled when they realized they could try on the coats and boots.

Boston Children's Museum

I figured it was time to take our annual trip to the Children's Museum. We took the subway and stopped at South Station for a snack before going to the museum.

This pigeon was smart to stay under Malcolm since he kept dropping crumbs from his scone!

The kids love this dancing game.

The rock wall is fun, too!

Last year the Peep room was closed. They were glad it was open this time!

"My Sky" is a new exhibit. Jane and Malcolm walked around the moon.

Malcolm got a lot of work done in the woodworking area.

The kids played with foam building pieces in the art studio.

Jane and I put together this house in the Construction Zone.

I don't think we had been in the barber shop before!

We ate our lunch outside on a wooden pyramid!

The kids ran around this park and read a story.

It wasn't very hot out but they still liked the mist.

We stopped in the bubble room.

The kids dressed up in the kindergarten room.