6 Years Married!!!!

Selim and I went away for a very romantic anniversary weekend to Virgina. We stayed at an absolutely amazing hotel called Keswick Hall, it was part of the Orient Express Hotels, just stunning. Loved every second.

View at the endless edge pool

Main Entrence of Keswick Hall

We got to do every thing we had been hoping to do, swim lots, play some tennis, ride bikes, go for walks, and eat great food. But most of all we had alone time together. We eat dinner by this pool one night it was so romantic.

All of the rooms were decorated individually, and designed by Laura Ashley. It was such a treat to see all of the unique rooms.

Our Room over looked the Golf Course

But one of our favorite parts was the food tastings. When you first arrived you were first greeted with freshly squeezed lemonade, then when you arrived in your room there waited for you was a warm soft almond cookie(wow that was great, Selim wanted all of mine but I would not give it up)(the next day I had to ask for a second helping, to good to pass up). They served high tea each day and then at 5pm they would serve a sampling from the chef. Just a mini bit of delectable treats to leave the taste buds asking for more. Every where you looked on the grounds it was just so tastefully landscaped, from the 18 hole golf course to each individual garden.

TJ's House as Selim liked to call him

On one of our adventures we visited Thomas Jefferson's house, what a visionary he was. He was so far ahead of his times. The man had almost every thing we would have today in a modern home. Indoor pluming, Ice box, sky lights, dumb waiters, Smoke House, and so much more. Not to mention all of his books in his library, the man loved to read in many languages. Don Qihote was his favorite to read in its original language and he would give his grand children all goals to read it at least once fully in its original language.

Over all we had a very relaxing and restful vacation the two of us. And we have renewed our contract for at least one more year, up for negotiation ha ha.
We could not wait to get home to our little angel Alex after being away for such a long weekend. It is always so nice to get home.

Welcome Drive Visitors

Since we have moved to Welcome Drive in Concord we have had a chance to really get to know the local wild life. We have a huge family of Turkeys that come thru almost daily. At one time I counted 26 wild Turkeys.

They are the most wild thing to see just walking thru as if the own the place. Some times on really hot days you can see them taking dust baths behind my flower beds. They don't really seem to have to much fear of us. We have been able to walk rather close to them before the start running for the woods.

Then we have also seen a baby fawn in the woods still its white spots on the back. Unfortunately we did not have our camera when we saw the baby deer. Alex did not get to see the baby either because she was napping and Selim and I were trying to put to there her new play set.

But most exciting of all we have a couple of full size deer that do frequent our house as well. Each time they come Alex has spotted them out in our back yard close to her play set. She is convinced that they come to play on her swing set and slide down her slide when she is not watching. Although she is very aware that you need to be very quite went they do come to visit because they scare off very easy. Daddy scared them away when he was taking photos of them last time.

Summer Catch up II

Alex finished her Gymboree Classes that she had been taking for a couple of years now. Where it is summer there is just so much to do outside with the nice weather it is hard to have so much inside time for classes. It was hard to say goodbye to the class since she had been having so much fun for so long but this fall all sorts of new adventures will follow, SCHOOL. We had most recently been taking Gymboree and Art Class with some really great kids so it was hard to leave, but we have all committed to try to keep in touch and keep the play dates coming. So far so good. Luckily one of the girls from Gymboree, Madeline will be joining Alex at her new school in the fall. We are very excited to have a friend already in school.
Here are some shots from her last Gym and Art class.

Alex and Madeline as Teddy Bears at Gymboree Art Class

Play Dough Any One? Now lets Create!

A Day at Bear Brook Park:
As to make sure we keep up with most of our friends we also have been having park play dates. Here is the day we meet up with Caroline, Maxine, Alexander, Julie, Jamie, and Nicole at Bear Brook Park. Such a sunny day. Every one had a blast playing in the water and making sand figures. It was fun to see all of the kids get so involved in the sand creations.

Alex Now show your shinny teeth

Alex's Beach Buddies

Left to Right

Maxine 2.5, Nicole 2.5, Jamie 4, and Alex 3

Sand Art any one?

Summer Catch Up I

Sorry to every one for the delay in posting on the Blog. I know to all of you that have expressed your thoughts on my lack there of updates. As you all know that as soon as the good weather comes there is less free inside time to work on the computer.

So let me see if I can back up a bit on what has been happening with the Tobey Family:
End of May:
Memorial Day Weekend Trip with Johnson Family

We drove up to Bar Harbor Maine with the Johnson Family for a fun filled road trip. We played a little bit of 80's music trivia, munched on all sorts of goodies (Robyn's Brownies yumy), and made tons of stops. Some for food and refreshments, and others for the boys to hang it out of the side of the car to let it go. I never knew that young boys had to go to the bathroom so much and how convenient it could be. Just pull to the side of the road and let them go out of the mini van. What a comical sight it was for Alex and I to see. We made it up to Bar Harbor by mid afternoon and got all settled in. It gave us plenty of time for a dip in the pool (which you could see the ocean from very cool) and get all cleaned up for a nice walk thru town and get a bit to eat for dinner. We tried to keep it authentic to Maine so we eat right on the water at a true lobster restaurant. The kids even got to see the fresh live Lobsters in the pools waiting to be cooked.

The next morning we all had a nice breakfast which was included(bonus) then Robyn and I got our feet a bit of well needed TLC. I had the best seat. While we were getting our feet done I had a seat over looking the outside where the kids were with their dads. Dads were in charge of the kids while moms got pampered. I could see them all run to the pool swim, swim, swim, then one by one they all had to go to the bathroom at different times. First it was Grady, then Connor, then Alex, then Alex once again. I understood that because she just can not do both functions at the same time. It is either on or the other. And the issues usually come with in minutes of each other. I truly found my time in the pedi chair very amusing watching the kids running back and forth from the pools to the rooms to use the potty with dads in tow.

This is the Bar Harbor Inn we all stayed at

Look at these great Dads with the Cute Kids

Next we adventured out to Acadia National Park, for lunch and what a lunch it was. Out side over looking a beautiful lake. The restaurant was known for its pop overs so we all indulged our selves. Over all we had a perfect weekend the weather was amazing but most of all the company was the best. We always love our Tobey/Johnson Family trips. Even though Shawn thinks that Selim does not like road trips, he does it for you Shawn and loves every minute of the trip, truly. It was just amazing how fast time flew and it was time to go home. I can say we all have great memories from the trip to take with us for ever. From hiking up to Thunder Hole, walking thru down town looking for "Got Moose" shirts, to pop guns with Grady in the Gazebo, and who can forget Diver Dave, crazy guy he was. I can say we all had a n amazing time. We are all looking forward to the next trip.

Daddy and Aly out front of the Hotel hanging on the Maine Rocks

Aly and her two fav boys, Conner and Grady

Again but only holding one boys hand at a time

Alex touching her first Star Fish

(ops We are supposed to call them Sea Stars Now)

Mommy and Aly Out to Sea

Hiking Thru Acadia

Ice Cream any One?

I spy Alex, Grady, Shawn, Robyn and Con Man

while Selim tries to get Alex's shoe that is floating way in the ocean...Hope he hurries back soon

What a great group!

Wilderness living

Hot Dog any one? It is on a stick.

We never thought that living in the woods would have its hidden benefits. Alex had a thought that she wanted to cook food over a fire like Curious George did on her favorite show. So we took her vision and made it a reality. We made a mini camp fire in our front lawn and cooked hot dogs and marshmallows on sticks. She just loved it. We did some thing we would never have even imagined doing in our old neighborhood. It is fun living in the country.This is the fire we had while Alex was around. It was still small and managable. After Alex left the fire got much much bigger. I can say that Selim has a small piro inside. We were grabbing any thing that was not alive or just did not look right in the woods to put into the fire pile. We had the flames going well into the darkness.

Then we thought that since we were going to be having some landscaping done a few days later we created a huge brush pile that we had grand plans of burning. Unfortunetly we were not able to get a burn pirmit so no more fun fires in the front lawn. We had to pay to have the pile chipped up. No fun in that. Now our goal is lush green grass.

Now that the loam is down and the spriklers are going the seed has been spread we are finaly starting to see baby grass growing every were we had wished it would come in. Big Cheers all around theTobey home we will have grass!!!

Any one that knows Selim you know how crazy he can be about the way things look. He always wants every thing to look just so. And this was one of his last issues he had with the outside of the new house. All we had was a ton of dirt and mud. There is light at the end of the tunel. We will have a lawn in the not to distant future.

Happy 3rd Birthday Alex

On Saturday April 14th we took Alex to see the Doodlebops in Lynn, MA what a great time we had as a family.

The Doodle Bops are a dancing, singing, Children's band on the Disney Channel that Alex just loves to dance along with.

"We're the Doodlebops"

Alex and Daddy on there way to a sugar High

Then on Sunday April 15th we celebrated Alex birthday with a huge party with many great friends and family. The theme of the day was Curious George, complete with the cake, pinata, and party hats. A great time was had by all. But I think that the birthday girl forgot that you need extra energy for parties. She did not want to take a nap before the party in fear that she may miss some thing. So when it came to Pinata time Alex was not all that ready to share in the fun of hitting Curious George. Thankfully it was the kind of Pinata that just needed the strings to be pulled and one lucky child would have the magic string....Alex had the lucky string after all.

Then the actual day of April 19th was yet another family party to celebrate for the third time the third birthday. But that is the way we Tobey's celebrate birthdays. We make it a month long celebration for all to attend and have fun. Big on the memories that can be made for each occasion.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

I am now able to update the Blog, we had some minor difficulties on updates. I will be posting all sorts of new updates.
Alex's Birthday Party
Doodle Bops
And so much more!
Stay tuned more to come!
So sorry for the major delay!
Best regards to all from the Tobey Family

Easter 2007

We started out the weekend with an Easter Egg hunt at Shaws at 7:30 am with Selim and Alex running around the store collecting all that they could get. Way to Go to Alex for her first Easter Egg hunt and finding so many great treats.


Then Saturday night we came home after a long day of Retailing to prepare for a White Fuzzy Visitor. We colored Eggs for the first time and made sure to leave carrots and colored eggs for the Easter Bunny. Not to mention the sweet note to thank him for his visit and safe travels.


Sunday we started the day with an Easter Egg hunt at home with Alie, mommy and daddy. Then we ate candy for breakfast, you know the only way to start out a proper holiday, a kid on a sugar high. Then out the door we went to have a wonderful Brunch with Jim and Nikki at the Red Blazer. Lots of great eats and so much fun to be with family.

After Brunch we headed over to Alex's other house Bubbi's house to check out what the Easter Bunny had left for her. Low and behold another great Basket full of treats.
Then it was off to the Hamilton's for Easter Dinner and more Easter fun.
We had yet another Easter Egg hunt with Cousins this time, Noah, Nicolas and Auntie Nikki. More wonderful Easter Baskets full of treats from Mumma, and Ama and Great Gramy. By the time we got our little Easter girl home that night we were not to sure when her head was going to hit the pillow and stay there. The days sugars were running crazy through out the house and up and down on the beds. Finally around 9:15 pm we had some silence. All and all we feel we had a wonderful Easter holiday for 2007.

Potty Training in Progress

I can say we are having great success on they potty training front. Alex is very receptive to the idea and feeling very proud of each of her accomplishments.

We started Potty training this past Tuesday April 3rd, and have not looked back since. On Monday I told her that Tuesday was the last day of Diapers and she was on board with the idea. We woke up on Tuesday morning dry and went right into Big Girl Panties. Tuesday and Wed were the tough days but since then we have not had any accidents. Alex takes so much pride in being a Big Girl. At home we do not have any issues with using the potty but out and about there is still some hesitation. She is learning more and more each and every day. Mom and Dad could not be more proud.

Now all we have to do is master the comfort to actually let the number two go with out any issue or hesitation as well. We will get there.

Basement Project

Well some of you know we have been working on getting our basement finished for the past 7 weeks and we feel as though we are in the final days of construction now. We just had the carpet put down today and let me tell I can finally see the light at the end of the road. I hate living in construction. Selim and I have come to the fast conclusion that we can never get a fixer-upper of a house ever! We are the type of people that when we think of a project we want it done that day, not down the road. And not to mention the mess, dust and just over all inconvenience of getting these things done.
All we have to have done now is the doors to the closets put on and touch up paint then we should be able to claim that space back to be ours by Monday night! We are all so excited here in the Tobey home. Alex is really excited to be able to put back together her playroom and we just want to have things back in order. Let me say that all of this started back in the fall when Bubi came over to play with Alex and said that it was to cold to play in her play room since the small space heater just was not working on warming up the room efficiently. So in Feb we decided to do some thing about that and we are almost done. We have heat, carpet, doors, walls, paint every thing. We hope that Bubi well come back to play in Alex's playroom again.

Get a way weekend

Charleston and Savannah Weekend

Mid March Alex and I met up with Selim on one of his work trips South. We meet him in Charleston, SC. We just love it there, the town is so full of history and so beautiful. Not to mention that every thing was starting to get into full bloom for Spring, just breath taking. One of the first things we have to do when we arrive in Charleston is visit the horses. As we did.

Hello big fella
Then we found the most interactive toy store yet, it was perfect for every one that is young at heart. Lots of dress up cloths and free play toys to keep you playing for hours. It was a bit of a challenge for me to get Selim and Alex out of the store but I managed with bribes for both of them.

Any one looking for the Princess of Alie land?

After a great day of walking and shopping in Charleston we headed down south to Savannah. We took some time to rest and relax when we arrived in GA. The weather was just perfect sunny and warm. We stayed in the Westin across the river from they historic district of Savannah, which was fun to take the boat across each time we left the hotel.

Daddy and Alie Chillin

We took a nice long horse drawn carriage ride through the old town to learn about all of the history. And we also got to eat a Paula Dean's, Lady and Sons. Now I know what the t shirt that I saw meant, "Southern cookin keeps you good lookin". In other words it keeps you round and happy. That food was so rich and yummy, comfort food.

This is Bat Man and Robin giving us the grand tour.

We had such a great time all together, exploring the town. Savannah really enjoys celebrating Irish holidays they do it up all of the way in the town. They make all of the water fountains green too. We came across an Irish Fest with folk dancing, food, music, and face painting. It was so much fun. Alex had her first face painting done. See my little sun shine.

She was so good. Any ways we highly recomend the trip to Savannah and you must stop at the local candy shops for warm pralins(again with the southern goodies).

So much Change

We have moved to Concord!

Every one is doing great still traveling lots and enjoying life to the fullest!

We will work on making more posts and updating what is going on with the Tobey Family.

One Little note Alex got to meet her most loved tv star Curious George in January at Universal Studios. That was such a treat!

Other than that we have been doing mini trips just got back from Charlston and Savannah what beautiful cities.

Feb 2006

I think Alex thinks she is already for School

(Mommy and Daddy still think she too little)
Where has the month of Feb gone? I feel like time is just going by so fast that I am unable to keep up with it. Between Selim's travel schedule and every thing else that falls between the weeks go by like hours.

We had a great day with the Johnson kids and Cheri and Isabella at the children's museum back on Feb 17. It was so much fun to see the kids run around and test and try every thing out. It was just like organized chaos. Here are a few photos to remember the day by...

Alex and Bella shopping at the CM in Boston

Grady, Conor, Alex and Bella checking out the rainy day in Boston

Selim was gone for much of the end of the month to Las Vegas for his Bi Annual Trade show. Leaving Alex and I to find all sorts of trouble to get into. And as usual he worked him self to the bone and brought home a cold with his return. So we are still mending him back to health.