The other side of the coin

It's not all smiles and fun ... around here. Sometimes we just have a bad day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAnbXHvyzPI

Visiting Jodie

While we were in PA we made sure to stop by and visit Jodie, Mike, Mickey, Sammy, and Charlie. A few other friends joined in the fun. Jodie and Mike have a beautiful house with a fabulously landscaped yard thanks to lots of hard work from Mike. The kids had a blast playing outside.

Vivie needed a bit of help in the sandpit.



Later she smiled on the porch.


And watched Charlie play with the jump rope.


This unfortunate picture captures another activity.


The only bad part about the trip was the traffic on the drive home. When we finally pulled into our driveway at 2:30am, 7.5 hours after leaving Ambler, we swore to this time mean it when we said NEVER AGAIN to 95!

Jen's Wedding Shower

Meanwhile Natalie, Jen, and Mrs. Balas we at Jen's Wedding Shower in Sinking Spring. It was great to see family and friends gathered to support Jen.

Playing at Grammie and Grandpa's

This weekend we were home for Jen's wedding shower. Pip and Viv were SO excited to see Grammie, Grandpa, Harry, and Aunt Jen. Pip's biggest problem was the long car ride. He kept telling us he wanted to go see Grandpa ... he wanted to go see Grammie ... he wanted to be there ... he just didn't seem to understand why he was still in the car.

Finally we arrived and Pip and Viv were so exhausted it was straight to bed. The next morning they had lots of fun playing. Viv sorted shells.



Pip lined up cars.


And Pip helped Vivian navigate the stairs.

Pip the Wild (and sometimes nasty) Pirate

Today Pip and Vivian had fun-filled days with their buddies. All morning it was mom's group and in the afternoon Aislinn came and we went to the park. Pip was so wild this morning he required an extended in-room time-out to calm down. At one point he disappeared and was found buck naked in the tub, running the water, and trying to convince a stunned Jameson and Nick to take a bath with him. Later he drenched my downstairs bathroom with water from the sink. Here, sans shirts due to the previous incident, he and his friends play pirate.

In this video he demonstrates why his official name should be Pip the Nasty Pirate:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Asx3Q0Uq2Z4

And here is just a nice slew of ARRRRGGGGHHH's!:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4iBufaO3rE

This afternoon with Aislinn was notable especially because Pip learned to play tag for the first time. At first he was trying to tag us with his words and then with jabs from across the room. Finally he realized he had to touch us and was so happy to have figured it out!!

Green Day

Later that evening Phil and I went to see Green Day at the Garden. Best concert of my life so far (Phil had fun, but can't quite say the same). Needless to say I rocked it!!

Mom's group at Janel's

We had a blast at Janel's on Monday with her 3 different sized pools. Pip splashed and swam and ran wild.



Vivie wasn't so sure about full pool immersion, but this bucket was enough.


Later, Pip worked on extra chicken in order to earn another chocolate cupcake.

Spaghetti

This is a classic video of Vivian trying to eat spaghetti. She insists on using her fork whenever possible these days which makes the venture even more daunting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqDIy_MtTWg

Birds

Phil took Vivie to the pet store and she was enthralled by the birds!

Devlin Lake House

This weekend we went to the Devlin Lake House in Tuftonboro, NH. It's only about 2 hours away but you feel like you've escaped the world. The house gives new meaning to rustic and relaxed. You have to just chill and go with the flow and we all pretty much succeeded. (I think.) It was four of Phil's rugby buddies who've all now married and had kids .. and maybe matured. Well a little. :)

Pip and Liam were fast friends and pretty much inseparable. Here they are on the dock.



Viv totally enjoyed the sand while Pip laid in a towel burrito for a sand nap.


Smores .... real ones on the fire.


And a motor boat ride with Daddy.


We also went to StoryLand ... FABULOUS! and had many more adventures. Too many pics to blog, if you want to check them out the album is here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/NatalieBalas/200907JulyDevlinLakeHouse?authkey=Gv1sRgCMj7yMfM17rXrAE&feat=directlink

Little buddies

Lately Pip and Viv have begun to actually play together and Pip has even taken to helping Vivian get up and down stairs. Here they played together in the "sand" box after a downpour.




After an early bath, we played a bit more inside. Cutes.

Talking in the bath

Vivian is totally impressive with her communication skills lately. She is really coming into her own and loves it that she can work out things between us and Pip. During this bath I offered Pip a toy and she watched him tell me he didn't want it. So when I turned to offer it to her, she shook her head back and forth and said "naa" -- this was her "no!" It was so cute we repeated it over and over. I got a little on video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRoTF4Hym5A

Katie, Jon, and Chase visit

We were very happy to have a visit from Katie, Jon, and Chase over 4th of July weekend. Chase is the happiest, snuggliest baby ever and it was pure joy to get to see him again. Pip may not seem it here, but he was in a good mood. He's just camera shy these days. Has to pretend he's too busy for the snap!

While we forgot the camera, we also had a great 4th of July BBQ with Tasha, Aislinn, and Rob on Saturday, complete with Dairy Queen blizzards for dessert. YUM! Vivian fell asleep in Aislinn's doll bassinette while Pip played through (mostly) happily until we left at 9ish. On the drive home fireworks were going off all around us. Pip was so amazed we pulled over to try and watch them. When we got home the big Boston spectacular was on the TV and Pip stayed up with Daddy to watch for a little. Apparently Little Einsteins is actually educational because he recognized the 1812 Overature (he calls it "The Queen Song" because it's on the episode with the Queen and the unicorn) and was asking where the unicorn and queen fireworks were when the Pops played it!

4th of July

Thank goodness Rob has his camera out on the 4th of July! He caught this very cute pic of Pip and Aislinn riding in the Jeep. Well, more hugging than riding. CUTE!

Croquet

Pip tried his hand at croquet at Mom's Group at Liz's Wednesday. He was pretty good at whacking the ball, until he discovered the 90 degree straight-up rock wall at the back of her yard. They he just had fun running back and forth and trying to climb it.



Vivian decided to get in on the running action.

Tales from the grocery cart

This episode might be my favorite so far. I am not sure how it will translate in text but here goes ...

Monday I took Vivian and Pip to the grocery store early morning. It was quiet, not many people. We grabbed a car cart, where Viv and Pip sit down in the front. I can't really see them when I push it, but they both honk away and chatter. All of a sudden Pip starts yelling that Vivian is hitting him. I ignore it briefly but he's getting frantic. I stop pushing and walk around to the side and peak in. Sure enough, Vivian is hauling off and slapping Pip on the head. Over and over. Huge smile on her face.

Amidst shrieks of delight from Vivian and anger from Pip, I tell Pip he's going to have to get out. "No! Vivian should get out". I try to explain that Vivian can't really be trusted to follow me in the store and there's no other place to put her. Pip is getting more angry. So then I advise Pip to try using his words. "Tell Vivian she needs to stop hitting you or you are going to have to get out" ... all this while she is beating him.

For some reason this makes sense to Pip. So he bravely turns towards her, facing the continuing assault, and explains calmly that if she does not stop hitting him he will have to get out. This is what ensued:

Vivian: laughing ... Whack!
Pip: "ok Vivian, then I will have to get out" ... gets out of the cart.
I attempt to walk forward two paces
Pip: "Wait Mom! Vivian, I am going to get back in the cart now, but if you hit me I will have to get out again." Pip has started to laugh and gets back into the cart
Vivian: laughing ... Whack!
Pip: "ok Vivian, then I will have to get out" ... gets out of the cart.
I attempt to walk forward two paces but realizes this has now morphed into a game
Pip: "I am getting back in now" ... gets into the cart
Vivian: laughing hysterically ... Whack in the head!
Pip: "No, no Vivian, it's not ok to hit me. Now I will have to get out of the cart" ... gets out of the cart
I succeed in moving forward 2 spaces
Pip: "Ok, Vivian, here I come, but remember if you hit me I will have to get out of the cart ..."
Vivian: Whack!

You get the picture. This continued about twenty times with both Pip and Vivian laughing into hysterics.