A Puppy- and Train-filled Weekend

As our weekend time at the pool begins to dwindle, we started to explore other ways to amuse ourselves over this past holiday weekend.  Here's what we came up with:


We met Maggie, a friend of mine's new cockapoo.  She weighed three pounds.  Cassius loved her and wanted to squeeze her organs out of her nose; Maceo held back and played the role of the tyrannical overseer, bossing Cassius into doing things with a creature so small neither was certain it was a dog.

Jessica's new puppy, Maggie.  

Then we went for cupcakes at Buzz, a delicious cupcakery near Maggie-the-dog's house.  Don't be deceived - these are faces of pure satisfaction.

On Sunday, we went to Wheaton Regional Park, the Queen of Parks, and took a little train ride in the cool, quiet woods along with approx. 1,503 screaming toddlers.  Ah, nature.

And, to end our time at the park, we took a ceremonial carousel ride (I was the fastest! No, I WAS! No, ME!), went out to lunch for pho, and played two hours of soccer, give or take two more hours.  Labor Day weekend, done and dusted!

First Day of PK4 and 1st Grade for Two Big Boys

After a delightful summer filled with three mini-vacations to the Bahamas, Bethany Beach, DE and Long Beach Island, NJ, the first day of school seemed like an abrupt and entirely-too-structured end to an otherwise carefree June, July and August.   No one feels this more than Nick, though, given he goes from a cushy schedule of house projects, working out, and early afternoon naps to five classes to prep for and coaching the girls' fall volleyball season at WIS.

The boys greeted Monday, August 28th, with a sleepy-eyed, tentative optimism (see below) and Maceo and Cassius each seemed more than a little giddy about their grand entrance in 1st grade and PK4 respectively, two very Big Boy Grades if you were not aware.

Getting back into the groove of hearing Chinese all day long (Cassius) or every other day (Maceo) took its toll, resulting in pretty grumpy moods at the end of each day, irrational requests for multiple desserts, and entirely-too-early wakeup times.  Luckily, their little bodies and minds caught up with each other and by the weekend, they began giving us a brief window into how they may be as teenagers, sleeping late (for them) and vegetating on the couch for an hour.  Or three.