Jackson Hole, WY

Jackson Hole, WY

My dad, bro Dustin, and me before taking off to go White Water Rafting down the Snake River. We had no idea what we were in for. The river as a cool 40 degrees, so we ended up wearing wet suits (not attractive on anyone). The river was twice as full as usual this year due to the large amount of snow fall they received, therefore the river was moving fast and the rapids were awesome. It started raining hard on us 1/2 way through the trip and we were all freezing. It was a great experience but would have been better on a warmer day with warmer water.

We had fun exploring the adorable town. Grandma even took the grand kids on a stage coach ride which they all enjoyed.

What a good looking family.

There was just never enough time to see everything. Especially when you have 5 little kids to keep happy. We had a great time however.

West Yellowstone

We spent 2 days in West Yellowstone and experiences nothing but beauty and amazement. What a beautiful place!
We hiked down a mountain be at the edge of a beautiful waterfall, it was a pretty amazing sight.
Here is the whole fam damily.

A drive through Hayden Valley and we saw this entire field of bison grazing; there were many little babies that we adorable. These creatures are huge.

Christian, Berkeley, Dad, Marci and I hiked up part of Mt. Washburn to see some amazing views of the National Park. There was still a lot of snow on the path so we only made it 1/2 way up.

We then drove to the Mammoth Hot Springs. They were so unlike anything I have ever seen; it was like we were on another planet. Our earth is a pretty interesting place.
Here is Berkeley and Grandpa Sorrels.

Berkeley loved hanging out with his cousins. Athena and Cautious became known as "The Guys" and it took him about 4 days to warm up to Tristen who is only 2 weeks older than him. There was some jealousy issues at first which included a lot of hitting from both sides, but by the end they were good buddies. Berke liked Tommy by the end cause he never really bothered him.

We saw Old Faithful erupt: again super cool. It is surrounded by tons of other geysers as well which we got to see, but none were as big and magnificent as Old Faithful.

Got love the Cousins.
Athena, Cautious, Tristen, Tommy, Berkeley

Old Faithful

This cute nephew of mine, little Tommy celebrated his 1st birthday visiting geysers. What a cool way to spend his special day.

Two Terrible Twos.

Homeward Bound

Our last night in Utah we we able to see Mom and Dad Gentry. It was pretty neat that Berkeley got to see all of his grandparents during our two week excursion. Even though it was much too short, it was good to visit with Christian's folks.

Berke did so well on our flight home. We left my mom's house at 7:30 a.m. and didn't get to our house in Boston until 12:30 a.m. Berke was a total champ the entire ride. We kept him occupied with toys, sticker books, books, ipad and more toys.

Unfortunately, when we got to Chicago for our layover that was supposed to be 2 hours, it turned into 6 hours. Berke spent the time eating, going up and down the moving walk ways, using his car seat as a slide, playing in the toy store and taking a little nap. It took a lot of effort from Christian and I to keep the kid happy, but he responded beautifully.

We are very glad to be home with our little McDuff but miss our family. Berkeley is constantly asking for "the guys", Papa Taft, Grandma Sorrels, Uncle Dusty, Tristen and Grandma Taft. I am so happy he had such a fun time getting to know his amazing family.

Around Town

Berkeley went to his first movie in the theater this week. We took him to see Cars 2 with his favorite car, Lightening McQueen. He did pretty well as long as he could stand up and as long as I was shoveling dried blueberries in his mouth to keep him from talking. I will say he did pretty well; we made through the entire show. However, I will mention he didn't do well enough for me to take him to another movie for a good while.
Overall I LOVED the movie, almost better than the 1st if you asked me. There was a lot of great humor and a lot more action. The star of the show was Tow Mater this time around and he definitely stole the show. I recommend it to all who loved the original.

Sunday afternoon the rain finally stopped and we headed downtown for a picnic at the Boston Common and to walk around the Boston Public Garden. It was the perfect day with my beautiful boys and our good friends, RyRy, Nicole and little Eloise.

I just love spending time with this little guy; he is always making me laugh and smile.

Berke saw the carousel and wouldn't leave me alone until he rode the horsey. The things we do for our kids.

Christian has a new hobby; identifying trees as we walk around the neighborhood is his new past time. We had a lot of fun trying to figure out some of the trees in the Common. Many of the trees in the Public Garden were already identified so that made things much easier for us.

Me and my pal Nicole who is a new mommy to adorable to little Eloise. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful gal pal.

Look at these amazing flowers they had at the Public Gardens! I am in love with these beauties; aren't they amazing?

These are the weekends I love. Beautiful family, friends and nature.
Doesn't get any better than that.

Family, it's about time

Dad's Day

Berkey and I feel pretty lucky around these parts; we just happen to have the cream of crop when it comes to the bestest Daddy in the land.

We love you Christian; thanks for taking such good care of us and for always making us laugh!

My amazing friend Rani took these photos of Berkeley for Father's Day.
Berkeley wants to be just like his Daddy when he grows up, hipster and all.

Happy Father's Day!!!

Out N About

We're a big fan of parades, but not such a big fan of clowns.
We attended the Bunker Hill Day Parade this past weekend. It is in Charlestown (where the movie The Town was filmed), and the people there are called "townies:" they have the BEST Boston accents. They truly are a special group. People lined the streets; beer and food were found in the hands of all who came out to watch. It really was quite the event. My co-worker invited me to her party, as the parade goes right in front of her house. Berke and I attended and had quite the enjoyable time; B man loved all the bands and seeing all the "cool drums." There were many colonial themed bands/groups, I just love looking at all the period clothing.

The Polish Band stood out due to their bright colored costumes; they had a lot of great energy.

Berke was happy as a clam until the clown band walked down the street; Berke turned to me in horror, buried his head in my chest and started sobbing. Occasionally he would look over his shoulder to make sure the clowns were not coming to "get him." Always interesting to me to see how fears in children are not always learned.

Christian has the summer "off." He has been SUPER Stay at Home Dad! He has been making sure he and Berke have an activity to do every day. He has joined our church's toddler group on Mondays, where he is the only dad. He also goes to "Mom's play group" on Wednesdays. I think it is pretty adorable that he goes to these activities with what we are calling his "lady friends." I know it can be awkward for him, but he does it because he knows it is good for Berke to learn and interact with other children. What a lucky kid our little Berkeley Boy is to have such a cool dad. Christian has also been taking a lot of trips to the park, the Science Museum and the Children's Museum. They are always busy having fun; lucky boys.

This week for Mom's group they went strawberry picking. Berke told me all about feeding the goat some grass when I got home, apparently the high light of the trip for him. I was happy to have a bucket full of fresh strawberries in the fridge when I got home. They will surely taste fabulous on our angel food cake this evening!