Wedding, Fun in the Common, Play Date, and an Art Show

Wow!  It's been yet another crazy and fun-filled week (two weeks ago) in the Franses household!  We did lots of partying and catching up with old friends and celebrating another union of souls.
Last Saturday, May 31, Joseph's med school friend Irun got married to his lovely wife Erika in New Haven, Connecticut (a little over 2 hour drive from our place).  Joseph and I were fortunate enough to escape for 24 hours, kid free, thanks to my sister Kristen.  It was our first time being away from the boys like this.  Thanks SO much for watching the boys and taking them (and Oscar) out and about to play, Kristen!  You rock!! 

Here's a quick picture of Oscar, sound asleep
on my lap, as always.  If I'm ever sitting on
the couch, Oscar will always be in my lap.  Always.

Me, Dr. Shikha, and Akshita at Irun and Erika's wedding.  (They are the
wives of Joseph's med school friends.)  We had a great time chatting
and shaking our booties on the dance floor.

Me and Jojo!!!  It was so great to have
some one-on-one time with him, since I didn't
see him much two weeks ago.  (~1 1/2 hours each day)
We had a wonderful time that evening celebrating with friends.

The next few (totally professional and better than anything I could do) pictures are courtesy of Dr. Gaurav Singal (one of Joseph's med school friends).  Bravo Gaurav!!  You captured some great moments from that night.  :)

Me and Joseph during the cocktail hour...as you can
tell, I refuse to take a serious picture when I'm with friends.

Lots of great looking doctors!!
Gaurav, Sid, Sanjat, Vijay, and Joseph - just a small collection of some
really great friends who just so happen to be ridiculously intelligent and talented.

My handsome hubby!!

Me, refusing to take a serious picture while Joseph watches in the background. :)

Gaurav kept asking me to behave for the camera....so I winked. :)

Ok, ok, okay....here's a nice one of me and Joseph from the evening.  :)
I finally behaved.

What wedding is complete without a midnight snack?  After the wedding,
Shikha and her husband Gaurav proposed that we get some late night pizza.
We went to this amazing pizza place called Modern Apizza.  Delish!
Great times with some great people :)

Woo hoo!!  FINALLY, some warm weather!  It was about 70 degrees on Monday, so after I picked up the boys from school, I took them to a park that was close to where we used to live.  It was nice because they just turned on the water fountain in the park that day, so the boys got to play in the water for a little bit.

William playing with the steering wheel,
just like Alex used to do when he was this age.

William at the water table in the park.

The water was a little cold that day, so
he had some reservations about playing.

But he did like it! :)

Alex took a stick and was stirring the water.
(He likes the idea of water tables, but doesn't like to get wet.)

William playing in the water

All three of our boys (Oscar included), running in the grass.

On Tuesday, I met Ai-ris (one of Joseph's fellow med school classmates) out at Boston Common so our kids could splash around in Frog Pond.  She has two lovely daughters named Yoshimi (4 years old), and Koharu (1 year old).  Yoshimi was actually Alex's first play date when he was about 3 months old.
Unfortunately, Frog Pond isn't open yet for kids to play in, so the kids just went on the carousel, did some great animal watching, and frolicked around the Common and Boston Garden.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day and it was so much fun to see the kids play together.  We're so bummed that this beautiful family had to move all the way to California, but are hopeful that they'll move back soon! :)

Yoshimi and Alex, getting ready to go on the carousel.

Alex chose the zebra.  I opted for William to sit out,
considering he abhored his carousel experience last time.

Alex and Ai-ris and her girls on the carousel in Boston Common.

It's time to Make Way for Ducklings!  The kids had fun greeting the Make Way for Ducklings (statues based off of characters from a children's book) statues, and riding them of course.

All three kids found a duck and jumped on,
while William was a little more hesitant at first.

Our cute little ducklings :)

I could NOT get enough of Koharu's cheeks!

So.absolutely.adorable!!

There he goes!

Alex spotted a tiny baby turtle sunning
itself along the pond.

Ai-ris, William, and Koharu looking at the pond.

I love how the kiddos paired up with their
counterpart.

Koharu and William having an in-depth conversation.

The amount of adorable in this picture is immeasurable.

Yoshimi, Alex, Koharu, and William checking out the ducks and ducklings
in the Boston Garden.

Ai-ris and her darlings

It was pretty hot that day, so we took a
nice snack break.

A lady was feeding the ducklings matzah and gave some to Yoshimi
and Alex.  Very sweet.

Snack time for the kiddos!

Yoshimi positioned herself back-to-back
with Alex while they were snacking.
Alex was completely oblivious.  :)

After snack, Yoshimi went up to all of the
ducks, ducklings, and birds and apologized
to each one for being loud.  She's such a sweet
and thoughtful child.  So cute!
Here's Alex, Yoshimi, and Koharu watching
the ducklings take a nap with their mother.

Yoshimi and Alex running around in a fountain.

After that, we had lunch and then wandered around Boston Common a bit more.

Alex and Yoshimi people watching from
the top of the bridge.

Then they moved to watch the people riding the Swan Boats.

Our cute kiddos

Then they started singing "Let it go" from Disney's Frozen.

Yoshimi, William, and Alex in Boston Garden

Time to say good bye!  Alex is a hugger,
and gave Yoshimi, Ai-ris, and Koharu
some nice hugs before we left.

So cute!

That next day, we had another play date with our friends the Hearnes.  After the boys had school, I picked them up and we met them at a park near where we used to live.

The darling James and William, having an adorable toddler conversation.

Apparently something was pretty amusing! :)

Alex giving Lucy a hug before we left.
It was so sweet!  In the middle of the hug,
Alex whispered to Lucy, "I'm going to miss you, Lucy!"
I simply melted.

Family froyo time!  We looooooove Pinkberry!

The boys, playing around after some froyo.

Alex, dancing along with a boy inside the store.

Here's how Joseph studies for the Step 3 exams
while the kids are awake - by holding a ninja turtle
in one hand and a pen in the other.  :-p

On June 5, the boys' school hosted an art show in the afternoon.  It was such a nice way for the families to come into the classroom and see all of the beautiful artwork that the kids have worked on at school.  The boys were SO proud to show off their work.

William posing proudly in front of his artwork.

"Cheeeeeeeese!"

Brotherly love :)

Too funny!

William posing in front of his flower collage.

And now it's Alex's turn!  We then ventured to the preschool room to view Alex's artwork.  As soon as he entered, he was greeted by one of his dear friends that he's known since he was 4 months old. 

So darling!  What a great hug!

Alex in front of his symmetry work.

Alex's "Snakes in the rainforest"
(as you can tell, he was SO proud of himself
that he was willing to pose for pictures.)

Alex wit his leprechaun hand print.

William busied himself with the train table, while
Alex took me around the room to show me his artwork.

The boys enjoyed some fruit to snack on during the party.

Alex with one of his former teachers in the toddler
room named Mercedes.  We refer to her as the
"Baby whisperer."  She was amazing with
Alex and has been so great with William.

They love each other. :)

Alex and William with the other Toddler room
teacher named Silvia.  She has also been
a huge part of our boys' lives.

William's "Rainbow collage" (on top).

William's caterpillar (second from top)

William's butterfly

William's last art piece

Cutie patootie William

William and Alex on one of our morning walks.
So adorable!

*Phew!*  We've been very busy but have been having loads of fun!  I can't wait to see what else this year has in store for us. 
Until next time...

Love and kisses,
Nikki