Monday, April 30, 2012

Gloves Off. Hike Time.

Remember that amazing Flyers playoff game the other day?  The one with a zillion fights and total hockey awesomeness?  Oh and also remember that Phil is a huge gigantic Flyers fan?

Well I chose that afternoon to go out for a hike at Ridley Creek.  I offered for Phil to stay home but he insisted that he wanted to go.  Oops, my bad.




Running away. As usual.


Boys + Mud = Joy

Phil was Mr. Tough Guy climbing out on this tree that had fallen across the creek.  Until he got out onto the middle of it.  Yikes.






Phil spend most of the time trying to get reception in the woods to check the score. I spent most of the time trying to keep the kids from throwing themselves in the river.  Ahh, family time.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

One Picture A Day

Dear March,
Thank you, thank you, thank you for turning warm.  You have completely changed my life. 

You allowed us to get 4 very stir-crazy kids outside to go on hikes, explore new parks, ride bikes, play baseball, and just plain leave the confines of the house.

You also brought us awesome birthdays for Ryan, Grammy & Poppy.  Love you, March.

Kind Regards,
The Kerper Family


Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Date Nights

As the parents of 4 young boys, there are lots of things that come easily. Organizing a hockey game. Feeding them pizza. Dishing out hugs.

On the flip side, there are lots of things that don’t come quite so easily – most notably giving them the individual attention that they so love and deserve.

So we came up with a plan. Each boy gets one night per month of pure 1-on-1 time. They get to pick what we do and who goes with them, and for the past 2 months I’ve been the lucky recipient of Cole’s night out.

Up first was a trip to Chick-Fil-A and the park. Just committing to hanging with him at the park (when I would usually be “watching” from afar while I checked email from a bench) made him light up. We chased each other, played hide & seek, and he even got me to slide down the fireman’s pole. All together it was a great time and at the end he declared, “This has been the best night of my life.”





This past weekend we went to the Phillies game together. Despite the fact that we were in the second to last row (hey, at least it wasn’t the last row) and the Phils lost miserably, Cole was just happy to have me all to himself (and to eat the gigantic helmet of ice cream I bought him).

Speaking of which, we had this convo on the way home which I wanted to document for posterity:

Cole: Is white a color in the rainbow?
Me: No.
Cole: Then why were there white sprinkles mixed into the rainbow sprinkles?
Me: *palm slap to forehead*


Smiling with a mouth full of Cracker Jacks

My vision for the pic of Cole with the field in the background didn't work out as planned.  He kept saying, "Mommy it feels like my neck is getting all twisted up."  He's yet to learn we sometimes need to suffer for our art.

I’m hoping we keep up with this…more importantly I’m hoping Ry picks Dad for the roller skating adventure he’s been talking about…

Monday, April 16, 2012

Out-Of-The-Box Easter

Since we came home from Florida on Saturday, there wasn't much time to make detailed plans for Easter Sunday.  So we woke up in the morning and had jelly beans for breakfast, went for a hike in the afternoon, then topped it off with burgers, fries & frosties for dinner.








Here's a sequence of Cole taking pictures of Phil and me in burst mode.  Ahh, young love.


A holiday as untraditional as the family.  L'chaim.

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Floriday Vacay - Last Day (Sniff Sniff, Sob Sob)

The last day in sunny Florida ended exactly as it began - the boys in the pool, the dog running laps, and the grown ups watching from the comfy pool chairs.






Thanks to Nelly for actually listening and smiling in the picture.  Our boys...not so much.



This was one of the best vacations we've been on.  I won't go back to the utter & extreme sappiness from my first Florida post, but I'll just wrap by saying I love you guys and can't wait to come back soon.  xoxo

Florida Vacay - Day 5

Thursday was our last full day and it started off in the most surprising way. My dear old friend Jyl from LA was in town shooting an awesome show so we got to catch up for breakfast.  However traffic and timing kept us from our gourmet breakfast so we caught up for an early Wendy's lunch instead.  Love you Jyl-O.



Another great surprise was getting to catch up with our friends from Georgia.  They were also in town visiting (and putting an offer in on a house - keep your fingers crossed blogworld) so we spent the day together at Sea World.




If you've been to Sea World then you've probably seen Clyde & Seamore Take Pirate Island.  Hysterical.  For those that haven't seen it I won't ruin it for you, but I will say that when Cole saw the seals for the first time, his face was absolutely priceless.




In typical theme park style, you can pay a zillion dollars for something that costs a dime normally in order to participate in a fun activity.  And so went Ry getting some dead fish to feed the sharks.  Good times!




And here's a shot from the end of a long, hot day.  No one was in the mood to smile, but Charlie's face is just priceless.  He looks so maniacal it's funny...muah ha ha ha!!!!


And then came the ride home.  After almost 2 hours in the car, we were about 5 minutes from home.  The boys were totally stir crazy and Ry threw something at my head (a granola bar, I believe).  After a stern lecture, we forged ahead.

About a minute later, he said, "Can you give me back the dolphin I threw at you?"  Turns out that the granola hit my head but the dolphin went out the open window.  After many drama-filled moments, the mini van turned around and Mr. Dolphin was found on the side of the road. 

You're welcome dear son.

P.S. Don't throw anything else at my head.


Floriday Vacay Day 4 - Busch Gardens

Day 4 led us to Busch Gardens.  The weather was hot hot hot but we pushed through because we knew the kids would love it.  (Plus we had pre-paid for our tickets so they had no choice.)

Our first adventure was the treehouse.  It was really (really) high up and I was starting to wonder if the ropes supported by the football goal posts would support my old bones.


Charlie also took the cautious approach and it took him about 72 hours to reach the bottom.  Slow and steady wins the race.






Ry and I used our Fast Pass to hop on the Congo River Rapids and it was quite the experience.  Ry was freaking in the beginning and secretly whispered in my ear, "I'm really scared Mommy."  It's very rare for Ry to share any emotion with me and he even let me keep my hand on his back for the whole ride.  Progress.