Hello, Acton!

We closed on our Arlington house in the a.m. on Friday and then closed on the new Acton house that afternoon.  Finley napped at home while my mom kept watch and we took Dagny with us to sign the papers and get the keys.  Hooray!

We immediately drove out to our new home, here it is!

We plopped Dagny down on the carpet in the family room and she seemed to like the new place.

Later, when Finley got to come to the house, he also seemed happy to be there!

The next couple of days are a blur as my dad painted Dagny's room and our dining room, my mom unpacked all the kitchen boxes and countless others, the cable guy hooked us up for FIOS, Dan and my mom cleaned out old house, and I did what I could while the kids did their thing.  My parents were invaluable from the minute they arrived to the minute they left.  We could not have moved with a toddler and newborn in tow without them!!  We did take a break for a family photo (photo credit to my dad!) before Finley went off to his last week of camp and my parents headed back to Virginia.

Goodbye, Arlington!

My mom arrived a few days before we were set to move and when we weren't packing, cleaning, and organizing--we were soaking up all the wonderful playgrounds that we would be leaving behind.

Finley and Grammy were digging a basement for a new hotel.

Finley showing off his new hanging skills on the monkey bars.  I am still nervous about this trick and usually hold onto him, but he really can do it by himself.  

The moving truck arrived early Saturday morning and the four moving guys got right to work.  Things were emptied out fairly quickly and it was certainly bittersweet to watch it all happen.  Dagny took turns being held by my mom and me and Finley bounded around trying not to get in the way.  The highlight for him was the arrival of the moving truck and watching the guys come in and out.

 After it was partially full, he decided he wanted to watch them load the truck from outside so we set him up in the garage with a chair and a snack.

And it sure was fun to race around the big empty space once most of our stuff was out.

The truck(s) were packed and we headed out to the new house to settle in.  The next day, Dan, my mom, and Finley returned to the old house to get any remaining items and clean the place for the new owners.  Dan sent me some pictures from his phone.

 We had seven wonderful years in this house.  We got married and had two kids while living there.  Goodbye, Udine Street, we miss you already!

AHNS Camp

Finley enjoyed eight wonderful weeks at Arlington Heights Nursery School's summer camp program.  He loved it from the first minute he arrived and it broke my heart when we had to say goodbye in August.

 The playground!

Mrs. G and Ms. Paula were Finley's camp teachers.  However, it seemed that every other day Finley would come home talking about other teachers that he met and spent time with (since the small campers group would join bigger classes for different activities).  Mr. Michael, Ms. Rachel, Ms. Alexis and on and on.  What a people person he has become!

 Here he is on his last day after giving Mrs. G and Ms. Paula the pony bead necklaces we made for them.  He refused to take a picture with his teachers (such a toddler!), but at least I snapped this one!

His teachers took a lot of photos throughout the summer and posted them outside the room.  During the last week, these pictures were sent home.  Here are some of the best ones!

We miss camp (and I do mean "we") and we were so proud of how quickly Finley acclimated to his new surroundings and while we are sad he won't go to preschool at AHNS, his kind teachers said that he is such a great kid and will do wonderfully anywhere he goes.  Splendid!

Sibling Fun in the A.M.

This morning was a whirlwind of diaper changes, clothing changes, breakfast, lunch packing, sunscreen application, etc. but we still found time for a little playing in the playroom.

Finley, our Truck Master, was pleased that Dagny was awake and alert this morning and wanted to share his trucks with his little sister.  Now granted, he probably wouldn't share any of his prized trucks-of-the-moment, but I am happy to see any sharing with a toddler at the helm.

Finley was thrilled that Dagny made a few swipes at this truck as if she was trying to play with it.  He then offered her a second truck and got up close and personal to show her how it can dig.  "You pick up the boom and scoop up the dirt in the bucket like this"

It will be interesting to see how much he willingly shares with her when she can grab, hold, and actually play with his toys...

Weekend Recap

This weekend flew by (as most days do lately), but we sure managed to fit a lot in.  It began with a swim at the Arlington Reservoir for Finley and Dan (is was near 90 degrees and the water was perfect Dan reported).  I wasn't quite ready for Dagny to be exposed to all that heat since she can't wear sunscreen yet (I'm a worrier, what can I say?).  The boys returned home sandy, tired, and happy.

On Saturday morning, Finley and I headed to IKEA while Dan stayed home with Dagny.  We couldn't all go since we would need to put down some of the seats in the jeep to get the dresser we planned to buy home.  This particular dresser is now the 5th of its kind purchased by our circle of friends who have all had kids around the same time.  Kelvin and Stacy started the trend by getting this dresser that was quite spacious but doubled as a great changing table since it was a bit higher than most horizontal dressers. Aliza's room looked great with this dresser and it seemed amazingly functional.  Eliot and Finley were the next owners of these dressers followed by Samuel who got his last spring.  We were on the fence about getting one for Dagny but her new room will be quite spacious and while Finley doesn't use the top for changing diapers anymore, he does use all the drawers, so we couldn't swipe his.  These dressers will work well for decades to come and the entire line of this IKEA furniture was on sale this weekend, can't beat that!  Dan was armed with a bottle of pumped milk for Dagny, but nevertheless Finley and I promised to make an efficient trip there and back.

We found the dresser, picked up some laundry baskets and lamps, and hurried to the check out.  Finley was a champ running through the maze that is IKEA.  We paused briefly to play in some toy kitchens, slide down some slides, pretend sleep in some beds, and sell some tickets at the little green playhouses that are scattered around the store.

The highlight for him was getting to help push/pull the flatbed cart with all our loot piled on it.  He yelled, "We are the delivery drivers, Mommy!"  We had some help getting things into the car and then put the pedal to the metal to get home and check on the two we left behind.  Dan reported all went well and I was proud to have survived my longest time away from Dagny and given Finley some one-on-one Mommy time.

Dan headed off to practice while the kids both took decent naps.  When they were up, we headed off to play at L.L.Bean since it was still super hot out.  We checked out the toy store next door first and then went into the Bean. Finley was disappointed that there weren't any kayaks on the floor to "captain," but there was a big tent set up with cots, chairs, etc. that he thought was pretty excellent.  The grill was his favorite and he asked why it was so small, "not like Daddy's big big grill."  The funniest part of our time there was that he hopped onto the tricycle that is the exact one Aunt Caitlin gave Finley for his birthday last year that we have kept in the basement.  He can't seem to pedal it on the carpet and the one time we took it outside, he wasn't terrible interested in putting in the effort to use the pedals.  Arg.  

However, at the store, he immediately put his feet on the pedals and off he went! I was shocked and scrambled to find my phone, but I did manage to capture his second ride (which was much shorter than his first).

Proof positive, he can generate enough momentum to get this trike moving! I can't wait to get him outside on his ASAP!

The weekend wrapped with a visit from Aunt Ellie who was en route home to NY from NH.  It was her first chance to meet Dagny and she brought some lovely gifts for both kids.

The next time we see her will be at her wedding weekend when Finley will be carrying the rings down the aisle!!

Uncle Chris!!

A couple weeks ago, my brother emailed to see if he could drop in on us to meet Dagny.  As a busy father of two who travels A TON for work, I knew this was a special offer and readily accepted!  He arrived not long after we got home from blueberry picking so Dagny was passed out and Finley was thrilled to his Uncle Chris!  His time would have been more than enough of a gift to us, but he did bring a couple treasures along with him.  Finley was UBER excited to open the tractor front-loader that Chris brought for him.

We played for a while and then had some lunch before Dagny began to make noise and like a good brother and experienced parent, Chris popped up and offered to grab her for me.  Heaven.

 After some niece-bonding time, he passed her off and sat with Finley to read some Richard Scarry.  Heaven again.  Chris had to get back to the airport and Finley needed a nap, so we said goodbye to Uncle Chris :(

Thank you, big bro, for coming all the way up here to see us, we love you!

Blueberries in 2012

Almost exactly one year ago, Finley had his first blueberry picking experience.  Here is my blog entry about our morning at Honey Pot Hill with some friends last August.

http://findingfinley.blogspot.com/2011/08/blueberries-for-finley-and-eliot.html

Despite the extreme heat and being a sleep-deprived mother of two, I felt the need to take the kids blueberry picking this morning.  We checked the web site of the orchard to make sure blueberry picking was a go and then we piled into the car (have I mentioned how difficult that is with two in tow?).  

Blueberries for Sal is a favorite of Finley's at bedtime and he was thrilled to be living the plot himself. Dan freaked him out a little bit last night, though, when he asked him if there would be any bears at the "blueberry farm" like in the book.  Bad Daddy.  I successfully convinced him that bears wouldn't be there and he seemed relieved to tell me that bears only live at zoos.  I left it at that. To follow the story, Finley asked if he could bring his pail to collect his berries and while I knew we'd get a box for picking at the farm's store, I figured giving him his own receptacle with a handle would prove worthwhile.  I tried and tried to get a solid picture of him before heading to the bushes...but he was too excited and goofy to give me one.  Can you sense the spirit of the moment??

In the car, we had talked about which berries to pick--not the green or purple ones, but the blue ones.  He got right to work and knew just which ones to pick and happily dropped them into his pail  He reminded me that he was "Little Sal" and I was "Little Sal's mom" as we picked in the first row of bushes.  I asked who Dagny could be and after a brief pause, he said, "How about Baby Sal?" Genius! If you don't know the story, I'm sure this doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but hang in there with me!

He picked a few handfuls and then asked if he could eat some and I said, "of course!" and that was the end of the pile of berries in his pail...

 We trudged along the rows, looking for "good" bushes to pick from and Finley munched away just like Little Sal.  He even asked me to dump some of my blueberries into his pail so he could eat them--I obliged and he munched on.  I kept reminding him not to eat too many so that he wouldn't get a belly ache and he assured me he was okay.  Thankfully, he kept picking with about 50% going into his pail.  He had fun going in and out of the rows and trying to show me where to pick.

 It was SUPER hot and Dagny was passed out in my front pack, which made it feel twice as warm out to me, but Finley was happy as a sweaty, purple-handed clam in the blueberry patch.  I smiled and thought how proud I was of myself for making this adventure happen when we could have just as easily stayed home in our PJs :)

We made out way back to the stroller and Finley dumped most of his berries into my box, but kept a few to snack on en route to the car.

 

Our spoils!

Now it will be Blueberries for Finley, Dan, and Allison (and Dagny, indirectly) for the next several days!