Dad's rock! (And grandmothers are pretty awesome too!)

 

Happy Father's Day to all you wonderful dads out there, especially ours!

We've had a fun day of breakfast on our new patio, more settling in, and lots of soccer.  More on that in a minute - first, let me update you on our week.

On Monday, Grandma came to my school to hang out for a bit, and then she went to Lilli's school to read a book.  We loved showing her around.  We were sad to say goodbye!

We snapped out of our funk Tuesday morning when we woke to find that Lil had arrived!  (After a very long travel day on Monday.)  She brought us some new books, which we instantly sat down to peruse.

It was a really rainy and chilly week - not a good representation (we hope!) of a New England summer, but Lil was a trooper anyway.  She and Mom logged a lot of hours unpacking and decorating and hanging and doing all the things that it would have taken us months to do without Lil's help!  Lilli and I were especially thankful that we now have our own rooms all set up and have been reunited with some toys that we haven't seen since FL.  As Lilli said, "Now everything is just like FL, except the house, and now we have a hot tub..."

On Thursday, Lil went to Lilli's class to read Library Lion, and then she and Mom were able to sit in on Lilli's last ballet class of the year!

(When Lil returned on Friday to pick Lilli up from school, several kids came running up to ask if she was going to read the "library" book again!)

On Friday, I had a special Author's Breakfast in my class, where I was able to share all of the cool writing that I've been doing this year with Mom, Dad, and Lil.

My class also showed off some of the songs that we've been learning with our music teacher.

It was pretty crowded, but I was very proud to show off my work!

A little later that day (after things had calmed down a bit), Mom and Lil returned so that Lil could read The Dark to my class.  (It's one of the books she brought us.) 

The class loved it!  I did a good job of assuring them that everything would be ok in the end (it's a little suspenseful) without giving anything away.

Yesterday we had to take Lil to the airport and say goodbye.  We were sad to see her go, but we only have 2 weeks before we head down to FL to see she, Coach, and Amos!

The sun finally came out yesterday, thank goodness.  We celebrated by driving to nearby Concord, MA, for the Concord CrabFest!  It was a really fun event put on by some friends of Mom and Dad's, and it was the perfect way to spend a sunny Saturday afternoon.  Lilli and I both did a pretty good job of crushing blue crab claws thanks to Dr. Jon's tutorial!  There was also face painting, soccer, giant bubbles, cupcakes, and tons of kids.  What more could you ask for?

Today, of course, has been a celebration of Dad.  We made some great gifts for him at school.

Lilli also honored him by having her best soccer game ever!  She played hard, scored lots of goals, and had a great time.

Since it was the last game of the season, she even got a medal at the end!

After a short rest, it was back to the Y for my final game.

I also played a good game - after scoring a few too many goals in the first couple of minutes, I learned to hold up for my teammates and executed several nice passes and assists.

We will miss our soccer Sundays!

We still don't have many pictures of our new house, but trust me that it is looking good.  We have discovered a few other residents of our patio - a cardinal family (with only the male visible here)

And several squirrels. 

We plan to get a bird / squirrel feeder soon so that they stick around!

Happy, happy, happy Father's Day to Grandpa, Coach, Dad, Uncle Chris, and Uncle Parks (just to name a few!)!

Love,

James

We've moved!

We are officially in our new home!  Moving day was Friday, and of course it rained cats and dogs, but Mom and Dad still managed to get everything inside (with the help of lots of movers, of course!).  Somehow we have no pictures of the house yet, but we'll be sure to share some next week when there are fewer boxes and we have internet back at home again...

Grandma came to visit this weekend!!!

She wanted to see us play soccer, and we put on a good show.  Lilli's game was first, and after a slow start, she finished strong!  At one point she dribbled the ball the length of the field, and then passed to a teammate just before the goal to allow him to score.  What an assist!

I also had a big game, scoring enough goals that Mom pulled me back to play goalie to give some other kids a shot.  Turns out I'm not a very good goalie, so that experience helped keep my ego in check!

Lilli learned how to use the camera during my soccer game.  Here's a snippet of her perspective on things (in addition to the picture of me, above) -

Grandma is coming to our schools today and then flies back to NC.  We loved showing her our new home and our developing soccer skills!

Love,
James

PS - The crazy knight statue has nothing to do with our move but sure is cool!

Nomads

We have officially moved out of our beloved condo in Marblehead and are currently squatting with our dear friends, Jon, Erika and GG.  We enjoyed our last week to the fullest, having snacks on the porch

Swimming (yes, actually in the water!!) at the beach,

And enjoying all the spring foliage.

(Mom figured she should show the view in the spring since we've only ever shown it when covered in snow!)

We arrived at GG's house on Friday night in time for a heat wave.  We're talking 90+ degrees!  We've cooled off each day by playing in the sprinkler

Playing in GG's tent

 

and getting lots of ice cream.  Not a bad way to spend the weekend!

Today we each had soccer games, and man was it hot.  I was worn out from playing so hard. 

I think we'll have to cool off in the sprinkler again shortly!

If we get our internet set up in the new house in time, we'll update you next weekend from our new digs!

Love,

Lilli

Happy Memorial Day!

Whew, the sun finally came back today after several days of cold, rainy weather!  It definitely hasn't felt like the beginning of summer!  We didn't let the weather stop us, though.  On Saturday we went exploring up the coast to Ipswich, and we found a real-life castle!

Pretty cool. We ran around until all of our feet were soaked (except Mom's, since she actually thought to wear rain boots!).  Cold, wet feet aren't much fun, and Lilli was particularly unhappy.  So, we cut our trip to the castle short and went to get some yummy lunch

It rained the rest of the day, so we stayed inside and busied ourselves with art projects and the like.  I have become a big fan of the Bruins, and I made a pretty nice replica of TD Gardens before settling in to watch them beat the Rangers that night!

Yesterday was soccer day.  The rain cleared just in time, although it was pretty windy and chilly.  Lilli played great - several of the other parents marveled at her ability to run backwards at full speed while playing defense!  Now if she would just figure out that she needs to steal the ball instead of just escorting it down the field...

My game was against 2 good friends - GG and Daniel.  Daniel and I play soccer together at school every day, and he is really good.  (Mom note: REALLY, REALLY good.  So good that the parents can't believe it.)  I played well, but he definitely outscored my team.  GG also played well, and bounced back quickly when we had an incidental crash on the field.  To help her forgive me for knocking her over, and to help me forgive her for being on the winning team, we all went to get ice cream after.  Nothing like ice cream to make us forget our woes!  Then GG, Dr. Jon, and Dr. Erica all came over for dinner, and we were all having such fun that GG even went to sleep in our room!  We were sad when we woke this morning and realized her parents eventually did take her home...

Today the weather took a turn for the better.  We went to the town Memorial Day event, which involved a fairly modest parade and a nice service in Memorial Park. 

I was a little skeptical when they fired the cannons, though!

We followed up the parade with a yummy picnic down at the beach in front of our condo. 

We will miss this beautiful spot!

Speaking of, we'll be a little out of pocket the next few weeks as we move out of the condo, wear out our welcome with GG and her family, and then finally move into our new house.  We'll update you when we can!

Love,

James