Sunday, August 28, 2011

Come On Irene

Hurricane Irene...seems like a lifetime ago but she definitely gave us a run for our money.

Phil stopped at the grocery store the night before the storm hit. We just wanted a few necessities...unfortunately so did the rest of the Tri-State area.


We lost power overnight...luckily red wine doesn't need to be refrigerated and we drank our troubles away.

When the dust (and my headache) settled, we went down to our favorite place to throw rocks into the Brandywine River. Unfortunately we discovered it was completely flooded out and we couldn't even walk down the steps to get into the park.



Poor Charlie got nailed in the forehead with a muddy river rock. Turns out defending yourself against 3 brothers can be almost as dangerous as battling a Category 1 hurricane.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Swingers

When we go to a park, we take over. Literally.

The other day we filled up the swing set with Kerpers. Phil introduced them to the concept of the Underdog - I'm still trying to convince myself that it's not possible for them to flip over the top bar.


Our toothless wonder is the happiest he can be when he's in a swing. On a separate note - that top tooth is finally popping through, so hopefully he'll soon stop looking like he was in a hockey fight.








Here's our Turkey Bird soaking in the love. Just a little pick-me-up for this gloomy Tuesday.









That Boy Sure Was A Runnin' Fool

Yesterday Cole surprised me by asking to go for a run with him. He clearly (a) Wanted some alone time with me or (b) Thought I ate too much pizza over the weekend or (c) Just wanted to go for a run. I'm thinking it was probably a little of each.

I convinved him to stop at the water tower / smoke stack so I could catch my breath.





As we were going home I took advantage of our alone-time to ask him some questions:

Me: What do you like best about me being your Mom?
Cole: I like how you hug me and kiss me and snuggle with me. And give me chocolate.
Me: Is there anything about me being your Mom that you don't like?
Cole: I don't like it when I want something and you won't give it to me. Like chocolate.

A true one-track mind. Off to buy some Hershey's and raise my cred on the 4-year old scale.


Friday, August 12, 2011

What A Year

When we found out we were pregnant with Dean, we absolutely couldn’t believe it. We didn’t even talk to each other for a few days because we couldn’t form words. We were shocked.

The pregnancy was tough due to fears of complications. I was large, grumpy, tired, working, and raising 3 kids ages 5, 3, and 1. We were stressed.

When Dean was born, Charlie wasn’t walking. Cole wasn’t potty trained. We were stretched.

I very vividly remember walking up the back steps when I came home from the hospital. I was holding the baby carrier, and the other boys were jumping all around vying for my attention. I looked at Phil with tears in my eyes and said, “I don’t think I can do this.”

Then I walked into the Living Room and Grammy was sitting on the couch with her arms outstretched for the baby (literally). And from that point on, I knew we were going to be okay because we have very special people in our lives to help us through the hard parts.

It’s been an interesting year with a lot of laughs, tears, tantrums, hugs, and sleepless nights. But mostly lessons.

Lessons about multi-tasking, prioritizing, sharing, listening, and loving. Loving our boys, and loving the people in our lives who insist on helping us even when we say we have it all under control (because the reality is we usually don’t!!)

Happy (belated) birthday to Dean. Thanks for changing our lives and bringing love and laughter to everyone you meet.





Friday, August 05, 2011

Vacay - Over.

On our last day of vacation we hit up the Atlantic City Aquarium - we go there every year because you can touch the sharks and sting rays, plus the noise level from other kids is pretty intense so we sort of blend in (sort of).





At the end we went into the Children's Garden to check out the fountain and take some pics.


As you can see, I'm the only one who was really up for the picture taking part of this experience.



We went down to the beach for the afternoon. One thing we learned on this trip...Dean absolutely loves the water. Obsessed. Can't get him out of it. It's so great to let him crawl around and play in the waves (since we're so used to carrying him around all of the time).


Another great way to keep the kids entertained...dig a hole and let the water fill it up. This kept them busy for hours, literally.


Alas, our trip to OCNJ has come to a close - a totally exhausting experience but filled with great memories.

I'm headed back to work tomorrow - I'll really miss the kids but am looking forward to drinking a cup of tea in one hand without having to apply suntan lotion / hold a baby / pour milk / juggle fire with the other hand.

Cheers!

Vacay Day 6

There's this awesome shop on the OC boardwalk (if only I remembered the name of it...) that's filled from top to bottom with pirate paraphanalia. Perfect booty for little boys that are about to go on a pirate adventure...


On the way to said adventure, there were people giving free pony rides in a parking lot. Random!


Onto the adventure. There's this company called Pirate Voyages that takes kids around the bay and does all sorts of piratey things with them. This is also known as heaven for the 4-6 year old crowd.

There were flags to be hoisted...


Treasure maps to be decoded...


And this weirdly masked guy named Pirate Pete floating in the water, leaving messages in bottles and shooting them with "seagull pee." Awesome.



After a day of pillaging on the high seas, we drove over to Wildwood to have a dip in Granny & Pop-Pop's pool and share a pizza on the boardwalk.


The evening ended with the sun setting over the ocean as we walked hand-in-hand with our family. The kids couldn't stop thanking us for everything we did for them, and we all happily laughed about the magical memories we shared that day.

Oh wait - strike that - in reality Cole had a tantrum on the boardwalk because his ice cream cone was melting too fast. Darn you reality.

Thursday, August 04, 2011

Vacay Day 5

No exciting stories from Wednesday...especially since we bought a Powerball ticket and didn't win. Whomp whomp.

So instead of fun stories or $160 million, I have some cute pictures from the beach. I guess to some they're worth a million bucks (whom whomp again)...




Vacay Day 4

There's a magnet on the fridge for the Fractured Prune Donut Shop: "You Create 'Em, We Make 'Em." Um, yes please! Cole chose these hot pink Dora sunglasses for the walk down...whatevs.


It was perfect weather for the beach, and Phil had a perfect idea to go along with it...draw a circle in the sand and tell Cole to stay inside of it. And whaddaya know, it worked.




After the beach, Phil took the older 2 fishing. They didn't catch anything (except a sea robin, whatever that is) but I think it was still a hit - especially since the people next to them caught a shark (per Ry, "Because it's Shark Week").




Since the older guys were with Dad, I got to hang with the little ones by ourselves. We walked the boards then went down to the water to play ball and roll around in the waves. It's hard to remember life with 2 kids, but it was nice to take advantage of the quiet time with my munchkins.




Tuesday, August 02, 2011

Vacay Day 3

Day 3 began at the Cape May County Zoo. It was super-extreme-ultra-hottness, but we gave it a quick go since it's free and they have new baby snow leopards and an albino alligator. Score!



Hitting the beach was a must after the hot zoo...Ry went boogie boarding and "face planted" in a big wave - Phil somehow managed to capture the moment.


When we got to the boardwalk we attempted our annual boys-on-a-bench-on-the-beach photo. It was sunny...maybe not the best time to do it...but we managed to get a few good pics.


Here's Cole on the ferris wheel:


Phil & the boys on the log floom:


Riding the "Superman":


On the walk back the skies looked a little ominous. Needless to say we scooped up the kids and ran home before the lightning started.


We finished the first Harry Potter book and stopped pre-storm to get the second one. Ry wasted no time diving in...then he flipped to the end to read the last chapter. This is something I do almost every time I read a book...looks like he inherited Phil's dashing good looks and my impatience. Sorry Ry!