boston // new england aquarium

This past weekend we visited my sister-in-law in Boston. We took the kids to the New England Aquarium. Although Lillia has been there before, this was Zane’s first time. He didn’t say much while we were there, but all the way home he talked about everything he saw. He was particularly impressed with the turtles, the “skeleton whale”, the seals, and the “diver”. The aquarium was surprisingly not crowded for a weekend day, and I think it was our best experience there so far. There’s always something new! Here are some photos from our trip:

boston // new england aquarium
boston // new england aquarium
boston // new england aquarium
boston // new england aquarium
boston // new england aquarium
boston // new england aquarium
boston // new england aquarium
boston // new england aquarium
boston // new england aquarium
boston // new england aquarium
boston // new england aquarium
boston // new england aquarium
boston // new england aquarium
A whole lotta fish.

New England Aquarium, Boston from Kelli Wilson on Vimeo.

merrymaking

From “A Christmas Carol” by George Wither:

So now is come our joyful feast,
Let every man be jolly;
Each room with ivy leaves is dressed,
And every post with holly.
Though some churls at our mirth repine,
Round your foreheads garlands twine,
Drown sorrow in a cup of wine,
And let us all be merry.

advent details
Advent calendars
Zane cutting paper
Winter greenery
more winter greenery
Zane decorating
Zane needs a boost
Zane through the tree
Zane making a wreath
Homemade wreath
Lillia decorating

Zane decorating the tree 2013 from Kelli Wilson on Vimeo.

Field Trip // Walpole Valley Farms

As promised, here are the photos that Lillia took during her class’s field trip to Walpole Valley Farms in Walpole, NH. As with the collection from the sawmill, these were entirely her creation. I’m beginning to wonder if she might be a better photographer than I am! If she doesn’t go to art school someday, I will be really surprised.

field trip // walpole valley farms
field trip // walpole valley farms
field trip // walpole valley farms
field trip // walpole valley farms
field trip // walpole valley farms
field trip // walpole valley farms
field trip // walpole valley farms
field trip // walpole valley farms
field trip // walpole valley farms
field trip // walpole valley farms
field trip // walpole valley farms
field trip // walpole valley farms

Field Trip // Woodell & Daughters Sawmill

Today I have a special treat for you! Lillia’s class recently went on a field trip to Woodell and Daughters Forest Products in Langdon, NH. I brought along my camera thinking that I might take some photos for posterity, but I ended up handing it over to Lillia instead. I figured that, since she’s only 10, she would take a lot of blurry pictures and/or ridiculously up-close portraits of her friends. I was so surprised when I started going through the photos that she took. They are actually quite good — very artistic! She took a lot of photos, so I curated a little collection for you. All of the following photos were taken by Lillia with absolutely not guidance or instruction from me, using the manual setting on my DSLR. I have not cropped or adulterated them in any way, other than to boost the color a little in Photoshop (which I do to most of my own photos). We also visited a farm so I will post her photos from that part of the trip tomorrow.

field trip // woodell & daughters sawmill
field trip // woodell & daughters sawmil
field trip // woodell & daughters sawmill
field trip // woodell & daughters sawmill
field trip // woodell & daughters sawmill
field trip // woodell & daughters sawmill
field trip // woodell & daughters sawmill
field trip // woodell & daughters sawmill

lillia turns 10!

My “baby” is a decade old. Wow.

[Note: I accidentally left my camera in my car overnight so the lens was too foggy to take decent pictures. I had to use Damian’s camera. I’m definitely not used to it anymore, so I apologize if the quality of these pictures is not great.]

Check out this amazing Minecraft cake that my mom made!

lillia birthday 1

Poor Lillia was so sick on her birthday. We had to pry her out of her bed.

lillia birthday 2

But, she perked up considerably once the presents appeared!

lillia birthday 3

lillia birthday 5

Zane was pretty pleased with his gift, as well. As you can see, he’s something of an expert when it comes to power tools.

lillia birthday 4

An adorable cat amidst the rubble.

lillia birthday 6

lillia birthday 7

If you ask her to smile these days, this is what you get.

lillia birthday 8

lillia birthday 9

lillia birthday 10

We love her anyway. Happy Birthday, sweet Lillia!