Damon. Second Grade?

Can't believe I have a second grader.  I could go on and on about how grown up he is, about how I can remember the day he was born....etc...but I'll spare you. I am not a good writer so I'll just say that I love this kid more than words can say.  He's crazier than I could ever imagine, and I love him so so so much.  

not sure what he's so mad about. 

 headed to the bus.  :).                                                            his arms look creepily long in this picture

Road Trippin'.....Pit stop in NYC.

It was time to get back to real life, and even though I'd prefer to forget about this entire day, we did try to be fun and make an afternoon pit stop (as in a 7 hour pit stop) in NYC on our way home. 

NY skyline

 

We walked through Highline Park in NYC.

                                    This was Mike's apartment during his summer internship.

The main plan was to take the boys to the American Museum of Natural History.  It did not disappoint. Despite the fact that the 4 of us sort of got separated, we tried to make the most out of the time that we had to explore.  

 Spiders Alive Exhibit

 This museum is GINORMOUS.  Not kidding.  The maps didn't even help.  It was so big.

 Central Park

Would have LOVED to spend more time here.   Central Park is one of the most amazing places around. 

Maryland, Pt. 4, Friends

Gotta love showing up to church matching your good buddies! 

 Brixton, Bobby, and Ethan.  

 me and sweet Deb....mother of those cute boys above.   These sweet friends had us over to hang out Sunday night, and it was SO much fun.  We miss our fun MD friends so much. 

 we seriously took 14 different pictures and this one turned out the best.  haha.  Thanks Damon. 

 I met up with my good friend Jenny, for a kidless lunch date.  It was so fantastic to hang out without kids.  We hardly ever did that!  (okay, that's not true, but it was still fun to do it some more!)

This last pic is Mike's sweet cousin, Heather, who I 100% consider my family.  She invites us to stay with her with open arms, she's honestly the most gracious host, and we LOVE getting to spend so much time with her when we are in town!  love you lady! 

Maryland, Pt. 3, Damon's besties

That night....we headed to see my crazy awesome friend, Shannon, and her son Trey.  Damon and Trey were in the same kindergarten class, and lived just across the street from us, so we became really good friends with them.  She had us over for a bbq, and actually had a couple of other boys from Damon's class and their parents over as well.  It was soooo much fun seeing friends from Damon's school.  Watching Damon play with his friends before dinner actually sort of broke my heart.  He had such fantastic friends in Maryland.  

The school boundaries are so spread out up here in NH, and the school is so weird, that I hardly know any of the parents/students from Damon's class.  I loved catching up and laughing with my sweet friend Shannon, but seeing how much fun Damon was having reminded me of how hard it was to move away. 

 just playing some football

 Leo, Damon, Trey 

my hilarious Shannon. 

Maryland, Pt. 2, swimming, sweet friends

My sweet friend Sue was one that I knew I would have to see while we were in town, and not only did I get to see her, but we practically spent an entire day with her and her beautiful girls.   We met up for breakfast at our favorite "pancake store" - as the kids used to call it....and followed it up by swimming, chatting, laughing, and more eating.  I love this friend so much, I can't begin to say what an amazing person she is. 

 These two have been the cutest little friends since they were 1! We died laughing when we met up and saw that they were both missing their front two teeth.  I love when two kids can go a year without seeing each other and pick up right where they left off.  As goofy as ever.   I guess that's how Sue and I are too.  :)

 Mike even met us there after a round of golf with an old co-worker. 

 lovin' some chicken

 Sue's adorable daughter, Lizzy, and my little dude.....not camera shy at all. 

and the two love birds.  they are hysterical. 

Maryland, Pt. 1, ice skating

So....we (Mike) are (is) really weird.  The first thing we did when we got to Maryland, (as in drove straight there) was go ice skating.   I mean, we live in New Hampshire, with an ice rink in our backyard.....and yet, this was what we did.  Mike and Damon were so excited, and Brixton couldn't wait to get these skates on for the first time.  Me....well, I don't ice skate. I'm lame like that. But I take pictures. :)

 'cut off that circulation' kind of tight. 

 after last years pond hockey, this guy is a super confident little skater. 

 this little guy, not so much.  

 this is all he would do.  I was laughing so hard. 

 group shot

 don't let go! 

we followed this fun family activity up by going to Mike's favorite restaurant in Bethesda.  Cava Mezze Grill.  www.cavagrill.com.  We used to walk there almost every Friday for dinner before we moved. Sweet Heather (Mike's cousin and our hostess with the mostess) met us there because it is also her favorite place to eat in Bethesda, and since we moved she doesn't have a reason to get down there as often.  Guess we better go visit again.  

And....We Are Road Trippin'...

Mike got back from his summer internship on August 10th, and for the couple of weeks after that we kept talking about heading down to Maryland to see our old peeps.  The days went by...and by the 23rd of August, we realized...if we don't go now, we won't have time to go...so we literally decided the day before, and started packing up....and off we went. 

I love electronic devices, snacks, pillows, and car naps.   

Soccer Camp

One thing that got us through a little chunk of the summer was soccer camp.   It literally might have saved our summer.  It took up almost half of a day for 3 of the weeks that we were home.  Thank heavens. 

 he's the one in all black, with the orange shoes

 cool kid with the head band

This camp did a lot of fun things each day, and gave the kids "homework".  They played a mini world cup, each team was a different country....they had to find out facts about their countries, make their country flag...etc...and they threw a crazy hair day into the mix.  Thanks to Maren for the crimper.  

Damon made it into the top three best hair do's for this girlish look.