Cape Cod 2011 Overnight

It has been a long winter, so we decided to do an overnight trip down the Cape to get out & about and get the kids in the pool. Upon arrival, we hit the Chatham fish pier. A chillier day than we had hoped for, but the kids had a blast. We weren't lucky enough to see any boats unloading, but it was a nice view. And the kids were thrilled enough with all of the seagulls ("Hello Mr. Seagull" they kept yelling).

A HUGE improvement from last year's overnight where Maddie fell out of the bed multiple times and Kurt had to drive her up and down Route 28 to get her asleep again. This time the kids shared a bed and we remembered to bring bed rails :-)

Mr. Chatty on the phone (kind of):

Chillin' by the indoor poool after an exhausting, but fun, swim!

Now we are very anxious for the warm weather and lots of trips down the Cape to visit the b-e-a-c-h! Of course we are expecting a potential Nor'easter on April Fools Day. UGH.

Puddle Stomping

There's a glimmer of spring outside and we're desperate to be out there; so this is what we do:

CHEESEEEE (so proud of her missing tooth):

He looks innocent....

But seconds later he was in trouble for running off!

Don't forget to turn the clocks back; spring is coming!!!!!

Beauty School

Maddie love, love, loves the Disney Princess beauty tote that Morgan & Vivie gave her for Christmas (which is somewhat surprising since she isn't much of a girly girl and has little interest in princesses). She does like to watch me do my hair though and now she can do her own!

And wasn't Aidan such a good sport to play Beauty shop with her?? (Actually he was having a grand old time):

These days they are doing so many cute things, it's hard to remember them all!

Buried, but not forgotten!

It's been quite a while since I've posted here, but we've got some legitimate excuses. We've been buried under snowstorm after snowstorm here in New England. So we've spent an inordinate amount of time shoveling and an equally inordinate amount of time in the bathroom (potty training two stubborn 3 year olds)!


Yes, that IS our house just peeking out from the top of that snowbank:




Luckily this was the year we decided to purchase a snowblower (with hand warmers no less):




You may be wondering how we occupy said 'two stubborn 3 year olds' in such crappy weather. We let them watch way more tv than the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends:

We do lots of coloring and other art projects:

We drag almost every toy, blanket, book and other available item out of our bedrooms and into the hallway to build a "nest": (Yes, you guessed it; Mommy gets to do the cleanup)

And when all is said and done, we become OFFICIALLY POTTY TRAINED!!!!!!!

And yes, we bribed them with lollipops to get us there!

Just the other day as we were driving home from school, Maddie said, "Mommy, I don't like winter anymore".

We've had lots of wistful conversations lately about all of the fabulous things we can do once spring & summer arrive. So while we are in hibernation mode right now, I'm sure there will be lots and lots of posts once we have anything to report other than "played in the snow".

Happy Winter (may it please be over soon)...

Togetherness

Ever since Aidan started preschool, he's been significantly more interested in playing with Maddie. Perhaps the socialization at school has rubbed off on him, or, dare I say it, he realizes that Maddie won't always be right by his side and he's decided not to take her for granted. Whatever the reason, it's very cute :-)


The other day I noticed things were awfully quiet in the house (which typically means trouble). I walked down the hall and heard Aidan reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas" to Maddie - at least the version of it that he remembers:




You've been caught!! (They said, "Go away Mommy. We're reading")

Aidan has even reluctantly agreed to play dress up to make his sister happy. Here's the astronaut and the ballerina:

Hopefully there will be lots more of this to come!

Popcorn Craft

Here's Maddie creating a painted popcorn snake:




Was there really any question as to how Aidan would utilize his craft materials??

Luckily we left some unpainted!

Blizzard of 2010

Day after Christmas we were hit with a blizzard. Luckily Kurt had already planned to take the next day as vacation day anyhow; so we were all able to play in the snow.


The deck (about 18 inches):



Aidan wasn't particularly fond of the deep snow; he kept sitting down and saying he was "stuck":

Looks like Maddie is ready for snowshoes:

The snow was fluffy and didn't pack very well. So we ended up with a slightly pathetic snowman: