Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Sleepy Bunnies and Some More Cuteness

Cheese!



Little Snoozers

Modeling Mommy's handiwork


It's potty time

Our fashionista

Hmmmm...

Still Swimming




Monday, July 15, 2013

Where Have We Been?

In our new pool!

Which is just deep enough for Ani Rose to walk around in the water.


And wide enough for the whole family to spread out.

We've been living in it.

Don't forget your sunscreen!



Friday, July 5, 2013

Vacation- 6/22/2013-6/23/2013

On our last day, Ani wanted to impede progress as much as possible.  She wanted to go to the beach, with kitty in pocket.

 After fitting in a few activities, we got the car packed and we were ready to roll.  Ani Rose makes eating a Danimals yogurt look stylish.
 We stopped at the Chesapeake Bridge for some photos.  It was really windy and overcast, but it felt good to get out of the car and stretch our legs for a bit.

 When we got to our hotel in Ocean City, MD, the kids wanted to go in the pool right away.





 Norrin stayed in until they closed.  This was not a heated pool and it was a chilly, windy night.  He's very strong or very crazy :).
 This was the view from our balcony.

 I wanted to duck tape Ani to me every time she wanted to go out on the balcony.  The bars were close together, but she's so skinny.  It made Todd and I very nervous.

 The next morning, I was up to see the sun rise.  Todd got up, too, just to see it and it was beautiful.  Then, he went promptly back to bed.

 I got myself a cup of coffee and my knitting.  Perfect way to end my vacation.
When the kids got up, we had some breakfast and went to the indoor pool...which was heated.  They swam all their energy out then we drove back to Philly.  I loved the Outer Banks and even though it was a little more money staying at hotels in Ocean City on the way there and back, it made the trip so much easier.  We could easily go back the next three summers and still not do all the activities they have to do there.  The pace was slow, everything was within no more than 30-40 minutes drive from our rental house.  We had plenty of things within bike riding distance to keep us busy if we didn't feel like piling into the car.  The house we rented was clean and simple.  The kids were happy, busy and exhausted by the time we got back to Philly.  What more could we ask for?

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Vacation 6/20/2013-6/21/2013

This was an early beach day.  As soon as they woke up, Norrin and Ani Rose wanted to get to the beach. 
 Ani Rose loves digging in the sand...
 But this day was really windy and it made the surf too rough to play in and Ani was actually cold.
 So, we decided to play miniature golf instead.  Please note that the thievery of my golf club is an ongoing theme.
 And of course, there was some tree climbing.
 That night Todd and I had another date for a grand total of three (thank you so, so much, Grandmom Jump)!  Of course, the downside to our date nights is we feel guilty and always seem to come back with a gift and a serious need to play or snuggle or do almost any activity they want without any regard to the time of night. This time we got them Outer Banks sweatshirts and took them for a bike ride to get ice cream.

Blue tie-dye for Norrin Radd...
 And pink tie-dye for Ani Rose.
 Waiting patiently for us to get it together.
Ready to roll. This is what happens when you ask my mom to take a picture in the dark with an unfamiliar camera.  You can see Todd trying to explain to her what he wants and how she can accomplish that.  As usual, all the women in this picture were not being very cooperative.  Ani wanted to get a move on and I was busy worrying about how many cars would show up on the road for the short three block bike ride (I'm not a confident cyclist by any stretch).
 If you could get in real close on this picture, you would see my brow furrowed in complete concentration as I pray silently to get there without incident.  Thank goodness the cutie on the back of my bike stole the glory in this shot.
 The next day, Grandmom Jump and Pop Pop Lollipop headed home, so we took the kids on a pirate adventure.  For some reason, I wasn't expecting much, but I was really, really wrong. They gave them a vest to wear and painted tattoos on them.  Their name tags said, Nautical Norrin and Adventurous Ani.  Before we got on the pirate ship, they taught them to talk like a pirate and when we walked over to the boat, which was across a street and through a parking lot, they made it so interesting.  They had to sneak and run and do crazy walks...and all of this was before we even got on the ship.



 Once aboard, they made it clear that they intended to wear out our kids and our only job was to enjoy the beautiful weather.  The kids were at the front of the boat and we were at the back.  Norrin loved every minute of this adventure.
 Ani chose to sit back with me and give everyone and everything the evil eye.
 On this adventure, they found a map, defended the ship with water cannons on either side, found treasure, did the limbo and posed for a hundred pictures at the end.





 Ani Rose decided to sleep.
 Which was good since we decided to go to the North Carolina Aquarium almost immediately after our pirate adventure.  I have a lot more shots of Ani Rose here because they were teaching kids how to "fish" for crabs on the dock.  So, we lost Da and Norrin to at least an hour and a half of crabbing.






 And as if we didn't tire them out enough, we decided to try to go to the Movie on the Sound. 
 Here's a picture for all of you who think my kids get along.  Mostly they do, but there are moments when they just don't. Especially when they're both overly tired and want the same bag of cereal to snack on.
 Ani never fully cheered up and was ready to go the moment we got there.

This was not the best outing.  Not only were the kids tired, but the sound system to this movie was almost non-existent.  Everyone started moving their blankets closer to the speakers and its even harder to hear the sound when there's a group of human beings blocking it.  However, the evening air was cool and the setting sun made the sky a beautiful backdrop for some pictures.