Visting the Stone's

We stopped in Philly to visit the Stone's Sunday. Cade has changed so much! He's a laid back dude -- very cool to hang out with. I am not so sure he was prepared for the onslaught on his toys, but he handled it very well. We nearly forgot to grab our cameras, but did get a few before we left.

Cade was quite the scholar ... reading already! It's very cute to hear him talking to himself as he turns the pages. Vivian, meanwhile, was all about loud banging (figures). Here's a video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLRioUJU2Rs

Jump factory

Pip woke Saturday feeling a bit under the weather. He got through the day and did take a nap but when he woke and was told he was too sick to come with Viv and Mommy to the Jump Factory --- that was the last straw. Phil and I broke under the pressure of the so sad tantrum and let him come. Actually turned out to be a good decision. He had a blast.

 
 
 
 

Railroad adventures

We did a low of drawing at Grammie's this visit.



And Phil took Pip and Viv on a trip to see the railroad out back. (I napped). Here are the happy riders:



Pip was totally psyched about the big, big train and told me all about it on his return. While there, apparently he did some load yelling:


Coming back, Pip must have had thoughts of donuts dancing in his head:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8OLZh2M754

Thanksgiving

A few pics from a wonderful Thanksgiving at the Balas's. Here Pip and Matt hang out ... Pip was very excited to impress Matt with his eating skills. I'm not sure he achieved that, but at least it did get a few extra bites in his belly.



While Vivian loved all the dogs with equal enthusiasm, Pip was a softy for Maya. Here's his goodbye hug.


Later I snuck in and got this snap of Pip sleeping. Uncomfortable maybe?

Apple taps

No food allowed, so we sat down in the lobby and ate our apples before heading to the children's room. Just a cute video of an everyday moment. Who would sit still and eat quietly when you can start a game of foot taps?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jnGxMP_Wfc

November Ice Cream

As I said, we enjoy our frozen treats year round. It's a tradition whenever we get together with Rob, Tasha, and Aislinn. Here are our 3 Musketeers loving their cones.




Later, Vivian decided to try some ottoman tricks with her cone in hand. This required some quick hands on my part -- nice catch! And clearly Vivian employs the 5 second rule to the fallen ice cream.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEN9AGkBNAs

Going to work

I found some purses in my cleaning/organizing frenzy this weekend that were a huge hit. Pip and Viv "went to work" lots of times (of source they dropped their "babies" off at school first).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXwMWcb6y8s

November Pops

We've been enjoying some warmer days this fall - but honestly, even if it's below freezing my kids will eat popsicles. To their delight Liz offered them at Mom's Group. Some happy smiles and intent licks!

Happy 2nd Birthday Molly

Can't believe Molly is 2 already! Today was had a blast at her party.

Vivie even discovered a Sit and Spin!!! Wow, can't believe they still exist.


Cake was fabulous!


And we were all zonkered on the way home.


Pip can apparently eat Goldfish while sleeping.

Breakfast in Bed

One of my Survivor picks was voted off this week so I was up for the weekly penalty (complex betting pool .. won't bore you with the details). I had to make Phil breakfast in bed of his choosing. He requested a full Irish breakfast. I was up early with the kids whipping up this masterpiece .... Bacon, White Pudding (Irish sausage), Blood Sausage, Fried Tomatoes, Fried Potatoes, Toast, 4 Eggs, Baked Beans, and tea with lots of milk.



Pip and Vivie helped me deliver it (Vivie was in charge of the silverware)


And Vivie was a huge fan of the bacon (Pip preferred the beans).


Phil (amazingly) ate it all!!

Escape

On this particular evening Phil and I found ourselves completely exhausted. Like Jack Sprat and his wife, however, our children were our polar opposites. They were jumping all around us like fleas off dogs. We just put our heads in the sand and took cover. Soon that was literal as Pip took all the cushions off the sofa and flopped them on top of us one by one. Pip took this pic of us in our surrender.

Welcome Home!

I was welcomed home from my fabulous weekend by a happy family playing in the leaves. (Weekend synopsis: danced my heart out in North Comway Friday night, shopped Saturday, yummy food and great conversation all weekend!)

Luckily Pip and Vivie were wearing their Hoods of Protection and the leaves didn't bother them!





Even Phil was protected!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oTAC_4hEEE

The Sink-Sitter

Vivie's favorite fun-time activity is to play in the sink. If you need a half hour to make dinner, no problem! Just pull her chair over, she'll climb on up and go to town. Only downside is lately she takes to washing her hair which leads to quite the clean up afterwards.

Whoopie Cushions

I got Pip some whoopie cushions one day thinking it would be hysterical. It was, and we enjoyed some lots of fart jokes, but (as most things do) it ended up being a dragon shooter in the end. And, to my surprise, it also was a very nice tool for fine motor skills and patience. Turns out filling them isn't easy and so we implemented a straw method which worked but required lots of tries and dexterity. It's been fun watching him apply himself to make them work.

Here's a video of the action and of Vivie talking to me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUwjMGGutbo


And just a cute on of my sweets.

Donalds! ... no ... *Mc*Donalds!

Ahhh, I heard this over and over again all morning. Vivi, with her still-measureable vocabulary, is very proud of herself for even being able to voice this important word. Pip has appointed himself the defendent of proper advertising and must correct Vivi each time she drops the "Mc." It was cute and funny the first 100 times. In any event, we had a grand feast, and Pip invented the next breakfast innovation by putting a pancake inside his McMuffin. You saw it here first folks!

Later, we loaded up in the wagon and trekked to the Horace Mann park. It was such a beautiful day, and the kids had a great time. As usual, Pip met another boy, and in about 2 minutes they were BFF's, running all around the park and racing down the parallel slides. Vivi enjoyed a slower pace and worked the spiral slide for most of the time. Meanwhile, a large oak tree was busy depositing acorns all over the park. Once the kids discovered this, they began collecting as many as they could fit into their pockets and taking them to the top of the climber. Then they'd unleash a flood of nuts down the slides. I would try to catch as many as I could. This would be excellent training for any number of sports' goalies! After the walk home, we enjoyed the wonderful fall day by having lunch out on the patio. Ice pops outside in November...who would have thought!

Snakes and Spiders!

Pip, Vivi, and Dad took a trip out to Lexington to hang out with Daniel and Dave. They thoughtfully invited us to see an animal show with them. Pip was very excited to see what critters would show up...on the drive over, he speculated that there would be a giant octopus and maybe a shark. While he was sort of in the wrong ecosphere, he was not disappointed by the array of beasties.

The kids all lined up along parallel blue tape lines on the floor, and each creature was showcased down the line. The brave kids were allowed to touch most of them. We started off with something cute and cuddly...a chinchilla. In what I believe was not a staged move, the little guy lept from the handler's grip and started running all about the room and in and out of parents and kids alike. What a way to start off the show! We then got to see a skunk (sans scent glands), a big tarantula, a scorpion, and a corn snake. Dave got some better pictures than I did (picture a writhing Vivian in my lap the whole time), but here's a shot of the snake on Pip's shoulder.
There was also a Chinese water dragon in the mix. At the mention of the word dragon, Pip's head snapped around to look at me. I could see in his eyes that he half-expected Smaug to come flying through the doors. We also got to see a big tortoise and of course, an alligator. Once again, Pip was brave enough to give the guy a little pet. Daniel touched a claw and was very proud of himself!

All in all, a great was to spend the morning. We took a quick stop a Wilson's Farm to score some fresh cider donuts and yummy cider samples. The two adventurers did not stay awake long on the drive home.