Happy 7th, Noelle!!!!

Sweet, precious Noelle.
You:
-love fairies and have created a whole little world in a corner of your bedroom so they can come visit you at night while you sleep
-love Shopkins, Calico Critters, and all things tiny and cute
-snuggle Disney every chance you get
-hate to disappoint people and cry when you think you have done so
-still worship your sister, but you are getting bolder about sticking up for yourself
-love to "mess around", which means your Daddy or I tickle you and throw you around the couch
-have made friends very easily and seem to have adapted really well to Lenox
-create art shows in the basement with your sister
-currently take ballet and ice skating lessons and you are about to be in your first Nutcracker performance!
-love one-on-one time with each of us
-think sheep are wonderful
-can get upset pretty easily...when you do, we call it "tiny rage!"
-can also calm down pretty easily, especially if we can get you to laugh
-have a great sense of humor and you make the funniest faces
-are wonderfully determined...when you put your mind to something, you won't stop until you can do it
-still snuggle like a champ

Your actual birthday fell on a Wednesday, which is trivia night. You definitely wanted to go, so the trivia gang celebrated you (and Megan, whose birthday is 2 days after yours). You wanted to have a gymnastics party, but the local gym wasn't available on the right day. So we hosted an art party at the Funky Phoenix. You and your friends painted birdhouses and played games and had a great time. I can't believe my baby is 7; we love you SO MUCH!!!!!!!

Cape Cod, Pumpkin Farms, Backyard Camping and Boston

The weather was absolutely beautiful this weekend and we made the most of it. I headed to Cape Cod with Alicia, Meghan, Megan, Elizabeth, and Erika to spend the weekend at Meghan's dad's house. The home is right on the water and absolutely beautiful. We stayed up way too late both nights playing games, watching movies, and having some fantastic conversations. On Sunday morning, I left early to go to Boston because Maddie was there on a BU college visit. Met up her, Marra, and Marra's best friend, Erika, for brunch. Then we walked around Boston, did a little shopping, and ate again. :) Such a fun day! Maddie fell in love with Boston and BU; it would be so fabulous to have her go there for college.
While I was away, Chris and the girls made the most of their weekend, too. Saturday morning they met up with several friends (Willow, Olivia, Ada, Cassidy, and Maddie) at Whitney Farms: corn maze, hay ride, donuts on a string, petting zoo, pumpkin patch...what more do you need? Then they took Disney for her first hike. They went to October Mountain State Forest and had a blast. That night, they roasted hot dogs and s'mores in the backyard and the girls spent the night in the tent by themselves!! On Sunday, Delilah's soccer team won their first game...hooray! Ice cream to celebrate, of course.
So everyone fell asleep early last night...understandably so. :)

Catching Up-Summer

After the wild road trip, it was time to come back to reality. We had been told summer in the Berkshires is beautiful, and we were not disappointed. I'll let the pictures below mostly speak for themselves. The girls had fun at a few summer camps (especially the Botanical Gardens camp...the girls even created their own commercial jingle for the camp), and the rest of the time was spent exploring our new location, visiting with friends, and playing outdoors. Highlights included: 

-Tanglewood

-Annie's visit from LA with her boyfriend

-visiting the Clark Museum

-getting ice cream with the Rawson family on their way up to Williams to drop Madeline off for college

-the Pleasant Valley Wildlife Sanctuary, especially when we were joined by the McNamara family

- seeing Company with Lauren, Zach, Francoise & Kerri

-the ropes course at Catamount with the girls, Lauren, & Zach

-Noelle's first sleepover with her new friend, Willow

-the girls' first lemonade stand (they are saving up to buy a trampoline)

- our 15th wedding anniversary