Bye Bye Baby

Baby TOOTH that is!  Our girl lost her first tooth (technically not her first because of the great hamper incident of 2008 - but we're not counting that)!  We put it in the cute little tooth box I ordered for them from amazon.com and she put it under her pillow.  She was adorably excited about the tooth fairy.  In fact, I have never seen this child fall asleep so fast in her life after I told her she had to be asleep for the tooth fairy to come.  'She' came and left $2 in exhange for the tooth. 

We weren't quite sure what to tell Aidan when he asked what she does with all those teeth...

Valentine's 2013

Our little Valentine's Chefs!  Initially Aidan was a little disappointed that it wasn't a playmobil, but eventually he warmed up to it :-)  He does love "cooking" after all (definition of cooking being making random weird experimental mixtures all over the house)...

 

Blizzard NEMO hits Mansfield!

I think this is definitely the most snow the kids have seen in their five years and so far they've had a blast in it.  I guess we can call it a mini-vacation since we are one of the lucky towns who never lost power.  No school Friday - Tuesday though because of the road & sidewalks.  

The news said Mansfield received 31.5 inches, but our deck seems to have only reached about 18 inches

Regardless, it was about thigh deep on the twins

Hi Maddie!

The snow pile at the end of our driveway (just to the right of it thankfully)!

It was no joke and took quite an effort to climb it!

By Sunday afternoon, most of our neighbors (those with young kids anyhow) made their way down to our cul-de-sac and there was a sledding party (off our snow pile if you can believe it).  Perhaps it was the alcohol they brought with them, but I had fun :-)

Kurt is quite sore and we're not sure if it is the fact that he snowblowed pretty much every driveway on our street or the effort it took to help about 15 kids sled off a precarious snow pile for hours on end.  Either way, he's a pretty nice guy...

Is there a Rehab for snow addiction?

 

 

At least it was a fresh snowfall!

 

 



 

 

 

This one takes the cake...

 

A couple of our girl cuz she's just darn cute!

Storyland or Bust!

We are back from our New Hampshire vacation and settled into our typical routine.  But we had a fabulous trip!  It was one heck of a drive, but the kids couldn't have been better behaved.

Here's Maddie during our pit stop at, OF COURSE, the 99.

Once we arrived, we were pleasantly surprised to find a lovely 3 bedroom condo waiting for us - and Grandma & Peepa too!  We checked in, relaxed a bit, ordered some pizza and then headed to the resorts evening bonfire.  Since the occassion that initally prompted this trip was cousin Julie's wedding, Mimi & Buppy were in town and joined us too.  Maddie & Aidan don't realize it now, but they will someday look back and see just how lucky they are to spend so much time with all 4 of the grandparents. 

We roasted marshmallows, I chased Aidan around trying to keeping him from either falling into the nearby stream or the fire, and Maddie had some 1-on-1 time with Cinderella herself! 

Peepa lending a hand in the quest to keep Aidan out of the fire pit.

To Grandma's chagrin, we woke up bright and early on Saturday and headed out for some nature lovin'.  We hiked down (and it was a treacherous hike) to a 84 ft waterfall. 

Group shot at the smaller of the 2 waterfalls.  Love that Kurt is scurrying to get out of the picture.

Larger waterfall - well worth the risking of life and limb.

Princess Peach & Piggy hanging out on the rocks in their "raincoat".

Next it was on to Wildcat Mountain to take a tram to the top.  Well, not quite next as it took a few drives up and down the road to actually find the mountain (darn GPS).  But once we got there, the kids LOVED the ride up.  It was windy and cold at the top, so we didn't linger.  Got some great photos though.

Aidan loving the ride up.

Mom & Maddie enjoying the views.



Our view.

Grandma not loving the wind at the top of the mtn.

Our view as we headed back down.  Pretty cool to be above the clouds!

While all of the Willners gathered for cousin Julie's absolutely beautiful wedding, Grandma & Grandpa took Maddie & Aidan swimming, to dinner (shockingly at the 99) and to another bonfire.  M&A wouldn't go near the clown, but no one fell into the fire - so a win!  Unfortunately I forgot to bring my camera to the wedding, but there was lots of fun to be had with daddy and his dance moves :-)  Congrats to the bride & groom, who are enjoying Costa Rica as I type.

Another good night's sleep for the kids and another early morning for all.  Then it was on to STORYLAND!  I had some concerns that the crowds, noise level and excitement would be too much for Aidan (and me frankly) - but I couldn't have been more wrong.  The both loved it and were so well behaved.  They went on way more rides than I expected them to and went all day long with neery a complaint. 

Pretending to be Little Miss Muffet.

She couldn't possibly have been more exited!

Swan boats (that Grandma didn't realize you had to drive yourself).

Captain Aidan Redbeard.

In his glory in the ball pit play area.

Taking full advantage of the Safari ride.

My sweet little princess. 

I think the face painting may have been Maddie's favorite part.  She kept asking the guy running the flume if her makeup washed off each time she went on the ride.  Of course a few hours later it did wash off in the outdoor heated pool at the resort (despite claims that it was 'waterproof'). 

Aidan wanted to know why Prince Charming wasn't around at Cinderella's castle and didn't love Mom, Maddie & Grandma going on the ferris wheel (it was too high).  But he loved driving the antique cars, riding the train and the pirate boat trip.  And of course the ice cream!!  It's always about the ice cream.

Despite being a die hard Cape Cod fan and a bit anti-New Hampshire, Daddy seemed to really enjoy himself.  Perhaps there is a repeat visit in our future next fall.  If we can find a way to teleport ourselves and avoid the almost 4 hour drive that is :-)

What we've been up to...

We've been busy and having lots of fun lately!!

Apple picking with the cousins!



First day of school (Aidan wasn't overly psyched to leave Mommy behind)!

First ice skating lesson & they did GREAT!

Lots of dress up, such as this fashion forward olympian pirate!

And of course, SOCCER with coach Daddy!

She LOVES it and asks me every night at bedtime to tell her about how she is a soccer star!

Supportive brother (who thinks he may want to give it a shot himself in the Spring season)!

Number 31 in action!!  She's super fast when she puts her mind to it.

Lots more skating, soccer and fall activities in our future before we hunker down for the winter.  And despite his rough start, Aidan is loving school and doing really well.  And Maddie is still Ms. Pat's favorite little 'Maddie Mouse'.

Countdown to F-I-V-E

The birthday season is upon us!  The chances of getting all of the cousins together on a weekend once sports have started is nil; so we had an early birthday party for Maddie & Aidan.  They were adorable waiting at the curb to greet all of their guests. 

Modeling their party hats



the Gang (of course Aidan was looking the other way)!

the cake

It was a Mario Kart theme and a fun time seemed to be had by all.  Of course when people ask how old they are and Kurt tells them, "five"; I adamantly deny it and remind him that my babies are still only four!  A couple more weeks before it's official after all :-)