happy halloween!

hope you all had a terrific halloween! thanks to some great neighbors, zack & penny were able to trick or treat safely (not easy with severe allergies to all nuts, no dairy, etc). luckily, three houses were enough for these two! they were terrified by anything remotely scary....too cute!

busy day for penny

penny had an er....eventful day. first, she did #2 during her afternoon crib-time (she's decided she's no longer a napper). this in and of itself isn't news, but she decided to keep me on my toes by taking off her sleepsack AND diaper. so, that was interesting. when i asked penny what happened she exclaimed "eeew! it was a stinky poopie!". then, before her bath, she decided to go peepee on the potty for the very first time. perhaps she's telling us something? dreaming of a diaper-free household!

this pic of penny is from june, when we were potty training zack. she doesn't like feeling left out, so we indulged her a bit.

oh my goodness!

this video cracks me up.

what a weekend, part 1

this past weekend was certainly action-packed. so action-packed, in fact, that it takes up two posts. on saturday, we started the weekend off with a bang by picking up grandpa keenan ("abba dabba") at the airport. later, meme, papa, grampy, and nonnie came over for a joint b-day celebration for both zack & penny. here are some pics from the party. zack's favorite part had to be the monkey cupcakes, which he nearly downed in one bite!

fun on the swings with nonnie

mom helps z & p open their gifts

penny tries out her new mop and cleaning gloves :)

the whole gang says hello (minus tim, the cameraman)

goofing around with abba dabba in the tent

the whole family takes a break to watch a bit of "shrek"

you can't go wrong with monkey cupcakes

what a weekend, part 2

on sunday zack, penny, mom and dad had a great breakfast at miss mendon diner. afterwards, we had a lovely time taking a hayride and going pumpkin picking at tangerini's farm. the highlight of the weekend, however (at least for mom), was on monday. mom ran in the tufts 10K for women and her favorite keenans came to cheer her on.

ready for the hay ride!
zack & abba dabba
penny picks a pumpkin that's as tiny as she is
race day! penny looks for mom among the sea of legs.
there they are! (laura with friends jenn, melissa, and sam)
here I go! (taken by our friend karen at the harvard bridge)

while mom runs, the kids enjoy the carousel in boston common

penny & abba dabba at the post-race lunch
we need a beer!
zack gives a "thumbs up"!

visit with "cousins"

a few weeks back, while dad was on his "guys weekend" in idaho, zack and penny had a nice visit in ct with second cousins niko, charlie, and, of course, new baby lena. they had so much fun playing with charlie when we went to meet the new bundle of love. then, we headed over to the "corn fest" in wethersfield. truth be told, i didn't see any actual corn but they did have a bunch of fun bouncy houses, games and a hay ride. we were extra lucky to have meme and papa with us as well. zack showed of some of his new preschool skills (ie: waiting patiently in line) while waiting to get in the bouncy house. dad had the camera in idaho, so i wasn't able to capture many shots, but auntie sandy caught a few cute moments. coincidentally, today is charlie's 5th birthday - happy birthday second cousin charlie!

finally, the following day we took zack and penny over to the carousel in bushnell park in hartford. penny sat on mom's lap nervously but zack was thrilled to have his own horse! all in all, a perfect fall weekend!

"It's tape"

Zack has been in preschool for three weeks now and I cannot overstate how awesome his school is. Not only is it totally safe for allergy kids, but he gets to explore and play with his favorite things each and every day -- the way preschool should be! It's no wonder, then, that he's been spending some quality time at the playdough station and art tables. Here are a few of his creations thus far. My favorites are his first ever attempts at using scissors (he is SO excited to be able to use them!) and also the piece he made today -- it's the tube and tape project that he titled "It's tape". Too funny...

whoopsies!

Tim and I brought Zack & Penny to the local fire station on Saturday, where they climbed on the firetrucks and ran around like maniacs....only to realize later that the open house there wasn't until the next day. Oops.