WHOA!

As Hattie says when she sees a big truck or something cool or something she can't believe her eyes, she says "WHOA!" That's what I have to say about the last week. I should probably break this up, but I'm not gonna.


We started on Labor Day with a fun family trip into Boston. We went to the public "gahdens" and rode the famous Swan Boats. Harriet and Grace went wild over the birds in the pond. We spent some time walking around downtown Boston - anything to help us orient ourselves a bit more to the city. Every time I go down, I wish I knew where I was and where I was going! After the gardens, we went to dinner and then Hattie and I bugged out and went home while David took Grace to a Red Sox game. The game experience consisted mostly of eating a chocolate ice cream, watching a few innings (the least exciting of the innings of the game as he found out after getting home and having to hear about it from Jared!) and then calling us for a ride from the subway stop only minutes after we had gotten home and settled. Still, Grace got to see a baseball game with her daddy and ride the subway!We took a break on Tuesday, and then on Wednesday, we went to the barn for a horsey ride. Grace hadn't ridden since early this summer when Janie came. Also, Harriet is LOVING the barn and the ponies and seems to like riding even more than Grace does, so Tink earned her hay for the day by going round and round the ring with the two tiniest riders at Hybid. I told Rita I'm going to start a toddler riding class - diapers required, NO BINKIES! Grace is really quite great with her sister at the barn. I thought it would be a huge source of sibling rivalry to share the pony, but she is so helpful and shows Hattie how to do everything and lets her do it and leads Tink while Hattie rides. It is a great thing we can do together!

THEN, Grace started pre-school on Friday. It turned into somewhat of a "false-start" as we found out very late in the game that the first day of school was really only a parent open house and school didn't start until the following Monday. Grace was and is SO excited to go to school. She's wanted to go to school since she could say "I want to go to school." She loves raising her hand and learning and playing and figuring things out and doing new things. I am really excited for this year for her.

THEN, on Saturday, we made our pilgrimage to Carver, MA (Edaville Railroad) to go to the Day out with Thomas.

Grace is still obsessed with trains and tells us she will be a choo-choo train driver when she grows up. She frequently tells David that she's not going to college and tells me that she's not going to be a mom, but that she is going to drive TRAINS. I half believe her too! Edaville is pretty fun. Along with the Thomas activities, there are lots of "train" things to do and see and also some carnival rides and attractions. Still, it was a long, hot, sweaty day filled for parents filled with too many circular rides for me, and a nearly lost wallet. We made it home with our kids and wallets and cameras and accessories, so it was a successs in the end...THEN, on Sunday, I got called to be in the Relief Society presidency! Alrighty then!

THEN, today, was the ACTUAL first day of school. Grace went school shopping with me last month and chose her own school clothes. Today, she wore her favorite new outfit (pink camo) and got ready for school pretty painlessly. The teachers greet the kids at their cars and take them inside. Grace jumped out of the car to go with her teacher and didn't even look back. She was all over it. I pulled the knife out of my heart and drove away totally happy that she is so ready for school. Hattie was a little disturbed that we just left Grace on the side-walk, but she and I are going to have some good times together now that we have a little time to ourselves.Keep checking our flickr button for ALL the pictures!