Back to school

We are catching our breath after the rude awakening of moving from the relaxed pace of summer into the frenzy of fall. Hank started school last week at Washingtonian Episcopal and has been really enjoying it so far. Not a tear shed yet over being dropped off! He has even taken the really big boy step of staying at school two days a week until 3:30pm in stride. I'm always so proud of Hank when he enters a situation that for many kids (and, er, parents) is fraught with anxiety with such ease. Like, "yeah, this is a new school with new teachers and classmates. So what? Stay here all day? Eat my lunch here? Nap here? No problem!"  He is truly a big kid now.

First day of Nursery!

For his part, Gus started a playgroup this week. He will go three days a week with either moi or his nanny to enjoy playing with other kids, singing songs and learning how to be a social being.  We went mMonday and he had a blast. I wasn't able to get him to stay still for long enough to get a good shot of him! 

Work for both Matt and me has picked up considerably now that everyone is back in the city (although you would think it was still summer around here with the weather - it is 95 degrees today).  We are both buzzing around like busy bees trying to get on top of it all.  It is both invigorating and slightly overwhelming at the same time.  We just need to get through September and then I think we'll be able to relax a bit. Bear with me and my intermittent posting during this busy time.  Here are some cute shots of the brothers Kelly to get you through the drought. 

Glamorous Gus

This is how Gus plays with his baby...

Cape Cod 2013

This post is long overdue - I've been meaning to write this for some time now but we've been quite busy since we got back.  And now school has started and it isn't even summer anymore and I have been paralyzed by my procrastination.  I guess summer just got the better of me this year, and I think that's a good thing.

Cape Cod this year was our best trip yet.  We had the luxury of going for two weeks (our longest vacation since our honeymoon 6 years ago) and an added super bonus: we brought along a babysitter to help out with the kids.  These two factors meant that we actually. got. to. relax.  Hallelujah!

We drove up the East Coast and stopped to spend the night at our friends' the Heravi's house in Larchmont, NY.  An adorable suburb of NYC, they live in a sweet house near a sailing club, a pool for the kids and are surrounded by other families with young ones.  We don't get to see them very often since we had kids but we always have fun at their place.

After a fairly uneventful but loooong drive to the Cape, we arrived.  We spent the first week in Orleans, which has become a familiar town to us given that we've stayed there for the past 3 years. We had our friends, the Wolff's, join us for the first week, along with their two kids, Patrick and Addie.  Hank was doing his best to keep up with these older kids and it was fascinating to watch him try to hang with the "big guys".  We hung out by the pool, took a boat out a couple of times to do some seal spotting, checked out a baseball game and went to Nauset Beach.  The weather was pretty good, except for a day or two of rain but overall it was a lot of fun.

The second week we decamped to Brewster, a sleepier and smaller town than Orleans.  By that time the Wolff's had left us and we were on our own to just laze about as we pleased.  And we did.  We spent most days sitting by the pool, but had time here and there to check out the Brewster Flats (a very shallow beach on the Cape Cod bay side that's great for kids) and do some fun and unheard of things like shopping! Naps, lobster rolls, beer in the middle of the day....god am I missing those days this week.

It was an awesome vacation with good times had by all.  I can't wait to do it again next year.

Some pics below for your pleasure...those of you who want to see them all can click here: https://lafamillekelly.shutterfly.com/pictures

Everyone was a naked nudey at the Heravis...

Hank and Charlotte going for a drive au naturel.

Family boating time...

Daddy with his little ones

What a handsome Gussy...

King of the castle

Sigh

Double sigh.  That is a real sunset that we saw.  In real life. 

Hank napping on Daddy, napping on a float in the pool. 

A Gus in the wild.