A Day Trip to North Adams, Mass

On Saturday we took a drive to North Adams, Mass. to see Cory's cousin, Willy and his wife Julie and their son, Liam. Willy is an artist and had an exhibit on display. It was a beautiful drive out to Western Massachusetts. North Adams is a cute little artsy town so we had fun walking around. We had a nice lunch in a little coffee house. Then we drove up to Mount Greylock which is the highest point in Massachusetts and is along The Appalachian Trail. The leaves are just starting to change so it was beautiful looking out from so high up. The girls had fun running around and picking flowers.

Getting Ready for Fall

We are so excited that fall is almost here! We had a great week with some fun fall activities. We started out by going apple picking which the girls both loved. Avery did a great job of finding the reddest apples on the trees while Sierra picked up all the apples that had fallen off the trees. Then we hung out at the playground at the orchard with a whole bunch of other kids swinging, sliding, and playing in the sandbox. It was a great day and we were able to make a yummy apple crisp later in the week!

Avery had another great day at her sports class. They played soccer again this week but they focused on dribbling and shooting goals. She got three goals. It was awesome.

On Saturday, Avery and I went to Bemis Nursery to build a scarecrow. It was a lot of fun although, it was my first time making one and as you can see from the pictures it is pretty sad looking. I don't think it will be scaring any crows from our yard! But we had a lot of fun doing it.

Avery's First Day of School

After asking about it all summer long, Avery's first day of school finally arrived today. She was so excited. She had to wear her "Girls Rock" t-shirt, which is her favorite shirt that has never seen the inside of her dresser drawer because as soon as it is clean she wears it. And she got to wear her new Skechers for the first time. She was styling! When we all arrived at her school, Avery was a little hesitant going inside, but once we got in she was good to go. She was so excited to show off her project of family pictures to her teachers. Then she found her way to the rice table, which is her favorite thing. Cory and I said goodbye to her and off she went showing off her Skechers to Miss Tammy. She seemed to have a great day, although when I asked her what she did she couldn't remember a thing. She got a little upset because apparently she was so busy that she never got a chance to do the project for the day. But, we brought it home for homework and all was good.

Avery's Sports Class

Avery started a new sports class today. She's going to learn the basics of a bunch of different sports starting with soccer. Her teacher is Coach Lisa, who all the kids love. I think they really like calling her "Coach", too. There are also three boys in the class right around Avery's age. Today, they started out with a little warm-up and stretching routine. Then they all got to show off their muscles before moving on. Then they did a little running, which by the way, Avery won by a mile, not that it was a race but I'm just saying, "Go Avery!" They also worked on dribbling the ball across the field, stopping the ball with their foot, and passing the ball back and forth. Avery did such a great job with everything and I was really impressed with how well she listened to Coach Lisa and followed instructions. Hopefully, that will carry over to home! And Sierra so badly wanted to play along but luckily, the field was big enough that she could run alongside the big kids without getting in the way. So we all had a fun time!

Avery & Sierra warming up before class

A little warm up run

Avery dribbles down the field

Awaiting instruction from Coach Lisa

Getting ready to stop the ball

Sierra playing on Home Base

Labor Day Weekend

We have had such a great weekend! It started out with a little mini vacation. Thursday night we went out for a nice dinner and then we spent the night at a hotel in Sturbridge. The girls had a great time swimming in the indoor pool and hanging out in the hotel room. Then on Friday we went to The Ecotarium in Worcester. They have a small Children's Science Museum which the girls had fun exploring. We also went on a train ride which took us all around the Ecotarium and through a dark tunnel. It was pretty cool. There was also a lot of animal exhibits to see, including a polar bear. And we got to play on the playground too. It was a lot of fun!

Sierra & Avery relaxing at the pool

Avery checking out the wind exhibit

Sierra, Daddy, & Avery making a cool drawing

Sierra peaking in on the ferrets


Avery, our fearless leader, stops to check the map

Avery's getting ready to ride the train

Sierra & Mommy on the train

Avery on the train
Avery & Sierra in the sandbox


The Polar Bear


Then on Saturday we went to our friend Lauren's birthday party where we got to play with lots of friends from the neighborhood and jump around in the jump house. What a blast! And, finally, Saturday night we went to The Spencer Fair with Gracie and Jack. We got to see more animals including cows, bunnies, goats, horses, and chickens. Sierra loves looking at all the animals! Avery and Gracie went on the merry go round, a tug boat ride, and a big slide together. And they played one of the carnival games and each won a lovely toy horn. Avery and Daddy rode an elephant and Avery and Mommy went on the ferris wheel. Of course, Avery spotted the cotton candy stand from the top of the ferris wheel, which was the perfect ending to a fun night at the fair.

Avery, Gracie, Jack & Mark on the tug boat ride

Avery & Gracie playing the Catch a Duck Game

Avery & Gracie blowing their prize horns

Weeeee! Avery & Daddy on the Big Slide

Sierra checking out all the cows

Avery & Daddy riding an elephant

Avery & Mommy getting ready to ride the ferris wheel

What a fun ride!

A Fun Day at Davis Farmland

As usual, I am a little behind on my updates but I have to share these pictures from Davis Farmland from 2 weeks ago. The girls had such a blast. We started out by checking out all the farm animals. Of course we had to feed the goats right off the bat. Avery loved having them lick the food right out of her hand. And Sierra loved it, too. Except she was just picking mulch and dirt up off the ground and trying to feed it to them, which they weren't too happy about, but I was really impressed that she was not the least bit hesitant around the animals. Then we had a lot of fun looking at all the other animals, they were especially intrigued by all the chickens just walking around everywhere.

Avery feeding the goats

Sierra taking a turn

A demonstration on how long the animal's tongue is (Check out Avery in the corner)

Next we headed over to the Spray and Splash area. The girls both had a great time spraying and being sprayed with the water. And it was such a beautiful and hot day that I didn't mind it either.


Then after filling our bellies with lunch we made our way to the playground area. The girls had a great time climbing, sliding, crawling through tunnels, digging in sand, and making friends with lots of other kids.

We ended the day with an ice cream cone, of course, and a very quick face painting due to the melting ice cream cone. And, finally, a nice nap for the girls on the ride home and a nice quiet drive for Mommy. What a great day!

It's A Boy!

We are so excited to announce that Avery & Sierra's new cousin Luke Robert Smith Paradise was born this morning at 10:14 am. He weighs 8 pounds and is 19 inches long. Ami and Luke are doing great. Bobby said Luke looks just like his big brother Jack when he was a baby. We'll try to get some pictures to share.