The Zoe and Silas Show

8/31/14: We had a fun day with friends today! First we had a lovely lunch date with Teresa, Tim, Josie & Theo. They kids were so happy to play and eat together! In the afternoon we had an impromptu play date with our landlord Mike's kids, Michael and Shawn. Lucy even got in on some of the action! In other news, one of the sunflowers that S&Z planted in June started blooming today! They are HUGE! It's amazing that we grew these from 2 single seeds!

8/30/14: We've been letting Lucy in every few days in hopes of scaring the mouse away. The kids love it! After Derek went to work it was back-to-school shopping, day 2. Who knew it would be so hard to find uniforms in their size?! Apparently we are not the only family to procrastinate this god awful task.

8/29/14: We were tortured with back-to-school shopping on Friday afternoon. The kids took a much-needed jumping break between Stride Rite and Old Navy...

8/28/14: Derek took the kids to the zoo on Thursday morning. They had so much fun feeding the budgies!

8/27/14: Zoe & Silas came to lab on Wednesday in order to help us pilot some new physiology equipment. Zoe volunteered to get wired up first. You can tell by those smiles that she was a super trooper! The equipment she is wearing allowed us to measure her heart rate, respirations, and overall activity level while she participated in a series of tests that measure a child's temperament (aka, personality). Of course they were fascinated by watching the various signals on the computer (Silas, in particular)... Silas was up next and he also did a spectacular job! They are our super star scientists in training!

8/26/14: Zoe's morning creation.

8/25/14: As I was leaving for work this morning the kids were getting ready to go "camping" in their bedroom closet. In preparation for starting K1 on 9/8, Derek took them over to the new school to ride bikes and play on the playground! Very excited (and love this picture of them!).

8/24/14: The kids were awfully quiet while playing on the deck this morning, so I went to check on them. They had a bucket of water, their stomp rocket blaster, and several empty containers of bubbles. They excitedly explained that they were doing "an experiment!". I course I couldn't help but give them lots of positive feedback for their scientific curiosity! We had some additional excitement when Derek woke up and told me that he saw a mouse run across the living room floor last night. I decided to let our friend Lucy come in for a house call, sadly to no immediate avail. All of us had fun watching Lucy explore our house, especially since she has tried to come in at least a few times each week this summer! We went over to Tom & Jen's house for a late afternoon play date and dinner. Silas was such a sweet boy and helped Jen set the table :) Another great weekend, which helps to fortify me for another brutal work week ahead...

8/23/14: Derek was off on Saturday so we had a family food extravaganza. First we headed to the Farmer's Market, and then after lunch we did the food shopping for the week. The kids love to help with the scanner! Family food inspiration means we ate like kings all day, including this tomato salad with red onion, balsamic vinegar, and feta cheese!

8/22/14: Playing baby animals after breakfast.

8/21/14: S&Z were hiding in the closet when I got home from work today. They were so excited to come out and surprise me! On an unrelated note, Silas is taking over as the family "calendar expert" these days. The scribbles on particular days denotes his work schedule :)

8/19/14: When Julia arrived today Zoe was wearing this amazing get-up. It was a gorgeous afternoon so Julia took the kids to the zoo, where they enjoyed a fun afternoon of carousel rides, playing on the playground, eating ice cream, and visiting the animals! Summer rules!!!!!

8/19/14: Reading a spanish book from the library with Ta-ta.

8/18/14: Two peas in a pod.

8/16-8/17/14: We enjoyed a quick getaway this weekend with the P family to Megan's parents summer cottage. The cottage is in an adorable resort community in Westford, MA where everyone gets around by golf cart. The weather was nice so first we hung out by the pond. Later in the afternoon we headed to the heated pool. We even played some basketball before heading back to the cottage to grill steaks for dinner. Lizzie came along for the weekend, so S&Z spent some solid time bonding with her. Derek was off on Sunday so Zoe insisted that Daddy read the bedtime story once we got back home... It was a great weekend spent relaxing with friends!

8/15/14: They are getting pretty good at flying their remote control helicopter!

8/14/14: Very grateful to start each day with these cutie pies! As well as for an awesome hairdresser!

8/13/14: Play-doh is serious business!

8/12/14: The tooth fairy came on Monday night! What a milestone for all of us! The kids start 'K1' in September, which is full day pre-K at the local elementary school. In preparation, Derek took them to a Countdown to Kindergarten event at the public library after gymnastics class. They are beyond ready to start school!