Luke lost a tooth!

Luke and Ben were wrestling Sunday morning (08-26-07) when all of a sudden we heard "AGH it's gone, where did it go AGH!! I found it I lost my tooth!" Ben managed to whack Luke in the mouth and out came the very loose tooth! Here is the more interesting part. He isn't sure if he believes in the tooth fairy and he would really rather keep his tooth so he won't put it under his pillow. I tried to tell him that the tooth fairy would probably save his tooth and give it back to him later, plus it's a good way to get some free money. But nope he doesn't want to do it! That's my Luke! Ben offered to put Luke's tooth under his pillow for him as long as he can keep the money.

AND after a month of back tracking for the updates I am finally caught up!!!! YEA!

Paw Sox Game!

A friend of ours called up and had some extra tickets to a Paw Sox game (the Red Sox minor league team) so off we went. We had a great time. There were about 15 of us that went, we lost the but enjoyed the company!

Arlington Friends Pool Party!

On the afternoon of the 18th we enjoyed having some of our friends (the Duke's, the Romano's and the Menzie's) from the Arlington ward over for a pool party and BBQ. It was great to visit, the boys enjoyed playing a game of football!

Father and Sons Campout

Fathers and Sons campout was the weekend of the 17th & 18th. The boys went camping and Kyaking and canoeing. They had a great time. They stayed up late Friday night playing games and roasting marshmallows. During the night a surprise summer storm came there was tons of lighting and thunder and rain. The boys managed to stay dry but Mike got pretty wet, and amazingly the boys slept through the thunderstorm. But they had a great time swimming and playing I on the other hand was at a loss as to what to do with myself. I was all alone for almost 18 hours!

Concord, MA

We drive through Concord, MA everytime we go to Costco but haven't ever stopped to see the sights. So this time (08-16-07) we decided to do a little shopping and then sight seeing. Concord is known for many things. Some of the battles in the Revelutionary war were held there, mainly at the Old North Bridge (in the picture below with the boys). There are also many famous authors and other people that lived and were buried there. I could go on and on, it's a neat place.

While we were at the Old North Bridge, some "Brittish soliders" came and were giving some presentations. They showed us how they loaded their guns and used their bayonets. Ben was also excited to learn (and wanted me to make sure that I put this in) that the drummer boys always wear the opposite colors as the soliders to make them more noticeable to keep them from being shot at.

One of the boy's favorite books is "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." The Sleepy Hollow Cemetary, which is the cemetary that Ichabod Crane ran through in the book, is in Concord. There is even a Legend of Sleepy Hollow path throughout the cemetary (the cemetary is huge).

There, are also many famous people buried there.
This is Henry David Thoreau's headstone. Most of the older family plots are in a square, and they each have a headstone that just has their first name on it. Their families have gone in many years later and put up monuments like this next to their gravesites.
Nathaniel Hawthorne

This is Louisa May Alcott's headstone and her monument, and William H. Prescott, a General in the Revelotionary War. He also led the battle at Bunker Hill. Ben did a report on him in school he thought it was pretty cool to see his headstone. Ralph Waldo Emerson is also buried there but we couldn't find his headstone.

After the Sleepy Hollow cemetary we went to Walden Pond. Henry David Thoreau lived in this modest one room house over looking Walden Pond. He moved into this home to be closer to nature and the "more simple" ways of life as he wrote his books. It was an eye opener for the boys. We stopped and swam for a few minutes at Walden Pond. It was a great day.

Puzzles

Casey and Amy gave Luke a puzzle for his birthday and Grandpa Ken and Grandma Joyce gave Josh a puzzle for his birthday so we put them together and here they are! Thanks guys we loved putting them together!!!!!!

Beach Boys!

Boston offers free concerts at the Hatch shell throughout the summer. One of the concerts this summer was the Beach Boys! We are all big Beach Boy fans so we packed up and went down there for the concert. John Stamos performs with them part time (when he isn't busy filming ER) so he was there as well - he is the guy in the light blue T-shirt. It was a little crazy because there were SO MANY people there, but it was a blast! We sang and danced to every song.

Darlyne Murawski aka "The Bug Lady!"

We enjoyed a wonderful evening (08-10-07) with an old acquaintance from the Arlington Ward. Her name is Darlyne Murawski. She is a children's author and also an author for the National Geographic. Above are a couple of her books this is her web page ://www.darlynemurawski.com.

Darlyne photographs all sorts of insects. For those of you who know my kids (mainly Luke and Josh) this is like a bit of heaven. She sat with them for almost 2 hours and showed them her books and just talked bugs! My kids loved it we all had a great time. Now everywhere we go when we see a bug we have to take a picture of it to send to Darlyne. In fact the other day we were at Costco and there was a Swallow Tail Butterfly flying around. We couldn't actually go in the store until we had a picture to send to Darlyne! I haven't downloaded that picture yet but I'll email it to her! But this is a picture of a dragonfly that we took in our backyard!

Duke's Welcome Home Party

Duke's Home! Taylor Duke was a good friend of our family from when we lived here before. He was best friends with Nate so we saw him on a regular basis. He just came home from a two year mission for our church serving in Armenia. The boys wrote to him for the two years that he was gone so it they were even more excited see him when he came home! So Saturday evening (August 4, 2007) we went to see him at a welcome home party at his house. He looks awesome. It was so good to see him. We also enjoyed seeing so many other good friends from the Arlington Ward.

Jaime LaPierre and Ellen

Dottie LaPierre, the boys and Betty Manderino

Renee and Laree

Mike and the Briggs