Florida Vacay - Day 1. This Post May Be A Little Deep But I'm Feeling Sappy.

We just got back from 6 amazing days in Florida.  Amazing not just because of the beautiful sunny weather every day, or the pool 10 feet from the house (well, that was pretty amazing), or the cocktails that kept appearing in my hands, or the theme parks that are totally worth the gazillion dollars in entrance fees.

Amazing because I learned a lot from our family about how to enjoy life.  It may have been the buzz from the daquiris, but there was a lot of love and laughter in that house.

The older 2 boys had to share an air mattress and it was getting a little territorial.  Luckily I found a gigantic stuffed animal tucked away in Lissy's closet that broke up the turf war for the remainder of the trip.

I feel like this quote sums up what I have kicking around in my head:


What most people need to learn in life is how to love people and use things instead of using people and loving things.

When we develop a love for things in our lives instead of for life itself we truly miss the point of life. Remember that material things may be able to satisfy your appetite for a short while, but love will satisfy appetites for lifetimes. Learn how to love people for who they are and use things around you as water to a plant, only to create growth and beauty, not to create and maintain life.

Toothie

All of my boys were/are late to get their teeth.  Dean will be 2 in a few months and we're still waiting on some of his chompers to pop through.

For this reason, it wasn't a huge surprise when Ry was late to loose his first tooth.  This didn't come as any sense of comfort to the poor kid, especially when he was the last of his friends to get a visit from the Tooth Fairy. 

So imagine our surprise and delight when he lost #1.  Only to be followed by a literal loss because he misplaced said tooth about 5 minutes after it fell out of his face.

So we wrote a note and lo & behold, the Tooth Fairy still came.  Cut to yesterday when he was eating an apple, and out popped #2.  I put it in a plastic bag so we were sure not to loose it.  And whaddaya know - we lost it.

Phil whipped up this note and all was well with the world:



I don't know where all of these teeth are going.  I figure (a) Sammie is stock-piling them for some doggie arts & crafts project, or (b) There really is a tooth fairy scooping them up. 

I calculated that we'll eventually work through 80 lost teeth (I did that math myself).  Hopefully we get this under control before the other boys get into the mix, otherwise Sammie is going to build up quite a collection.

In A New York State Of Mind

The good news: We had an incredible weekend visiting with our friends in upstate NY. The bad news (for them): It was Hall Of Fame Induction weekend at Cooperstown (right near their house) so all hotels were sold out...which meant the Kerpers descended on their peaceful little home in full force. Sorry guys!! Love you!

We were somewhat looking forward to the 4-5 hour drive. We figured with everyone sleeping we'd actually be able to talk. We realized about 3 hours in that sleep was nowhere in sight and the car had an opposite effect on Charlie, who was singing and screaming for most of the ride.



The first night we piled everyone into strollers and wagons and walked down to watch the mighty Oneonta Outlaws. We ate fast-melting popsicles and Ryan heckled the crowds by screaming that the Phillies rule. Gulp.





Saturday morning we kicked off the day blueberry picking. I think we ate more than we bought, but we still managed to pick enough to make 3 pies.






After the picking we went to Grandma Jeanne & Grandpa Paul's farm. The boys got to feed the sheep, make the pies, and go riding on the 4 x 4s...pretty cool stuff for the "city kids."




After quick naps we made a run to the local pool. The water was amazing and we were literally the only people there. Bonus!


The last thing on the agenda was a drive-in movie. It was the first time I'd been to one and it was pretty cool (despite the bees that attacked Jim and me). The boys had fun too lying in the grass, watching the movie and trying to pick out the constellations.


On the final day we packed up the car and left our poor friends to bask in the quiet of their destroyed house. Here's a picture of the twins before we left.



Thanks so much Aunt Mel, Uncle Jim & Graham! We had a ball and can't wait to do it again. Hope you didn't feel like this while we were visiting...xoxo.

Happy Birthday. And Grossness.

We had a joint birthday party for our youngest guys and Phil's friend from The Big Bug Show came out to wow the crowd.



I think that the kids both loved it and were horrified by it at the same time - as evidenced from this picture below.


Part of the show had the kids eating bugs - a few ate the larvae worms and Ry ate a chocolate-covered cricket. Um, ew.


Although she's dressed like a princess, she's eating a worm. Now that's my kind of princess.

My two-year-old chowing down on the cake (bug-free)...

And my almost-one-year-old living the dream in Icingville.

At the end of the day we asked our friends to take a family picture. I wouldn't say that we're in full compliance, but we're getting there.

Happy birthday to my youngest babies! P.S. Please stop growing up so fast.

Happy 4th

To celebrate the 4th we loaded the kids in the car and party hopped. First stop was our friend's house in Jersey and we fist-pumped all the way to the festivities.

Next up was hanging with some cousins to eat some BBQ and fight over the helium balloons (only a few unfortunate popping incidents).

For some unknown reason - in the middle of all this madness - we decided to paint our bedroom. One coat of primer and 2 coats of Dove's Cry later...we were transformed.

Our final day was spent swimming at our Aunt & Uncle's house and then our annual neighborhood party.

We consumed the family's weight in beer and hot dogs, and had a great time catching up with everyone. Proud to be an American...U-S-A!

Best. Husband. Ever.

For Mother's Day this year, Phil booked a Girlfriend's Weekend at the Golden Inn in Avalon, NJ. Not only did he score total brownie points for the idea, he scored double brownie points for willingly watching the boys for 3 days in a row.

Beachfront hotel...spa treatments...food and drinks...lots of drinks...heated pool...live bands...did I mention no kids? It was absolute heaven to hang on the beach without having to chase anyone down.

It was an awesome way to celebrate 10 years of friendship with my gal pal Sue. See you next year Golden Inn!

Cheerio

I know the hype has died down, but I never had a chance to post about the Royal Wedding party. Thanks to the miracle of TIVO, we were able to record the festivities and watch later that night.

Ironically, my parents were cleaning out their basement and had just given me my wedding dress and veil that had been hanging down there for 8 years. I didn’t dare try on the dress (out of fear that I wouldn’t be able to get it past my ankles) but the veil fit like a glove.


Many glasses of wine later, we settled in to watch. Despite the fact that I was continuously yelling “PIPPA!” in a drunken British accent, I’d say it was a jolly good time. Hopefully Harry gets hitched soon so we can do it again.

PIPPA!

Caution: Toilet Humor Ahead

What started out as the terrible twos soon spiraled into the even-more-terrible threes. So when Cole's 4th birthday rolled around, we celebrated with a vengeance.

The day of his party was double-booked. We had another shindig for his buddy at the firehouse, and Cole got to ride on the truck and shoot off the hose.


While we were at the party, I texted Phil to see what they were up to. He sent me back this picture - you go Ry!

After a long morning we finally got to kick off Cole's party in classic style. He asked for a bowling party, so we found the only joint in town that allowed us to bring beer in coolers. Classy.

Cole LOVES to hear the story of his birth. He'll go up to strangers on the street to tell them, "When I was born my mommy's water broke over the toilet." Even more classy.

But that's just part of the unmistakable Cole charm. It's taken 4 years, but he's growing into a hysterical, sweet, loveable, energetic little man. He keeps us on our toes, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Love you Coley.