Rhode trip

We were able to take one more family trip to the Rhode Island coast and had such an amazing time.  although traveling with 4 little ones is not easy I have to say i just loove our little family getaways.  i love that i have nothing else to do but spend time with my family.  i have so much fun with my hubby and my babies.

one morning we headed to newport, rhode island just to drive around.  the girls loved going over the big bridges.  we found a little beach with lots of shells and let the girls and levi have at it.  they loved it.

I thought daddy looked so cute i had to snap a picture...he wasn't thrilled.

the best i could get...sad, i know.

after lunch we headed to the Mystic Seaport Aquarium.

abbie attempting to feed the bird from her stick...she was a little apprehensive about it.  ella wanted no part of it and waited outside with daddy and levi.

sophie loved it. of course.

levi loved watching the fish.

this guy was so funny.  apparently this teenage beluga whale has been known to get a bit sassy. 

he would go from being a good boy like this

to this

to THIS. 

to THIS!



we all thought it was funny so we would laugh but apprently miss beluga whale lady from the acquarium didn't . she told us not to laugh at him because he was putting on a show for us. oops.

so we would keep quiet and he would go back to this. 

silly whale. 

the girls were allowed to pick out a small toy at the gift shop.  of course sophie picked out a stuffed animal.  ella picked out a note pad (ella looves to write sentences and words)

and abbie picked out this thing.  i tried to convince her to get a cute little stuffed animal but she was all about this biting beluga whale thing.  oh abbie (don't mind that long piece of hair in the middle of her face).

on saturday daddy had a show to work at so i took the littles to the beach.  we went to a near by grocery store and bought beach toys and a beach chair for 75% off (yay!) and spent the day relaxing at the beach.  it was a beautiful day, too cold to swim of course but beautiful nonetheless.

sophie was so excited when she found a starfish had washed ashore (mommy was pretty excited too!)










and here is the picture right before Levi was consumed by a big wave...not a mother of the year moment...but levi forgave me!



and he was on his feet again in no time...just a little wet.


the girls loved running away from the waves.





then abbie joined the fun.





sophie liked it until she was caught by a wave. 







saying goodbye to her starfish.







and then i got to look at this cutie



doing this on our car ride back to NY. 





can you blame him?  look at those little fat feet. 
i would eat them too!





what a great weekend.  i am so blessed.

My cute little First Graders!

Sophie and Ella are officially First Graders. 

oh my. 

where has the time gone?

I swear just yesterday they were my sweet little 2-year olds?

 and now they are my sweet and sassy First Graders. 

say it ain't so

Abbie always has to crash her sissies pictures.  but i don't mind because she is just so cute.

and of course in true whitacre fashion we had to pretty the girlies up on "first day of school eve".

and of course miss abbie had to partake in the pampering.



Here they are in their classroom.  I don't think there will be many more years in which they (they being Sophie and Ella as well as the school) will allow me to photograph the girls every move on their first day of school...is mommy a little over the top, perhaps.





Of course the first day of school took a strange turn when all the schools in the area dismissed early because of terrible flooding that was happening in our area as a result of a hurricane.  We ended up having the rest of the week off due to the devasting floods. 

We tried to make the most of the rain by playing in our flooded yard while daddy kept pumping 4 feet of water out of our basement.







and the next day we played some more.





We were definitely spared from the devestation that others in our community had to face. The worst part is these poor people had to deal with this 5 years ago when the first "100 year flood" hit our village.  We never dreamed it would happen again several years later.














It was awesome to see our community come together and help all those families in need...we are so blessed to live in a village made up of so many loving and selfless people.  We are blessed.

Sophie hearts horses.

Sophie looooves horses.  I am pretty sure that she developed this love while spending time with her babysitters daughter, Sarah, who loves horses so much I remember she would be galloping around on her knees every afternoon when I would pick Sophie up after work. 

Her first toy horse was purchased while we were in Hilton Head when Sophie was 2.  I remember it so vividly.  I told her she could go pick out a toy if she could put her face under water.  I remember going to target and Sophie picked out a Schleich horse which she named Kalum (pronounced Kaylum).   No idea where that name came from.  I wish I could find a picture of Sophie with Kalum but unfortuntatly my memory stick broke with all of those pictures on it (sniff, sniff).  However, I did find this picture from that same vacation and low and behold look what is in her hand...a stuffed horse (apparently we bought her 2 horses on that vacation, ohhh the days of only having one child).

Her love of horses continued to grow...
 she would be soo happy when she had a chance to ride on a horse!

Here she is at 3 years old.

And here at her 4 year old pony party!

4 years old at the Apple Fest

So you can just imagine her excitement when Mommy and Daddy told her we enrolled her in horseback riding lessons. 

She was so ready.

And handled her horse with such ease.

and confidence.

She paid full attention to the teacher

and loved

Every second of it.

The rest of the clan came along to cheer Sophie on.

I have to say.

we have found Sophie's thing!! 

And we couldn't be happier.

Playdate with the little ones

While Sophie and Ella were having a special day with their Yammy and Papa, my sister and I decided to bring the little ones to the lake one last time before it closed for the season.  They all had a fun time as did mommy and keekee.

Levi taking a stroll