Knock Knock

Knock knocks are still by far our favorite jokes. Even Vivie gets in on the action. I love how they squeal with absolute delight -- soemtimes even before the punchline.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ij7Z4h2NrNA

Puddin Pops

A genius idea came to Phil one morning. Freeze some pudding. They stuck plastic spoons down the center and carefully slid them into the freezer. When I picked Pip up from school he said not a word, but as soon as we got home he made a bee-line for the freezer and pulled them out. Awesome! A little warm water and they came right out. Pip and Vivian sat happily -- and very carfully -- on the sofa to eat them. Their faces were covered in all manners of pink, red, and blue ... but the sofa remained clean!

Pip's worm

Pip dig up his first worm under the deck! The little squiggler was looking a bit dry and unhappy so after snapping a few pics and celebrating, we put him back in the yard and gave him a water bath. I was impressed that Pip didn't mind holding his in his palm. This time the sheer joy of discovery overrode his squeemish side.

Newburyport with Liam and Jack

We took advantage of school vacation week to hang with Liam and Jack (and their Mom Nicole) who we rarely get to see since she works during the week. We drove up to Newburyport and enjoyed a nice walk to their fabulous park on the water. It was hard to get any pictures with all four of them running divergent paths through the park and it's many climbers.

Finally, with food as the "carrot" (heh, heh) we got them to sit for a quick pic.

Hangin with Al

Whenever we visit Al -- this is pretty much how he and Phil end up! Often they hide away in Al's room to prevent harrassment from the rest of us, but this time they gamed with us present. How nice!

The triple mermaid/man

Our final day was spend lolling around the house, cherishing the warmth and enjoying the pool and sand. Pirate Pip and I tried fruitlessly to unearth his buried Spanish dubloons. Apparently his hiding skills are better than his memory skills. Perhaps the next young pirate to visit will enjoy finding Pip's treasure!

Later Vivie and I decided to make her a mermaid. She loved it!


But I think she loved getting out even better.


Pip got in the action next.


And soon Aislinn joined the fun. I tried several attempts at a triple mermaid/man, but these three could not stay buried for even a second for a pic!

Currituck Beach Lighthouse

Another day we piled into the car and drove a few miles north to the Currituck Beach Lighthouse. Currituck is the county, and the lighthouse is on the northernmost shore of the outer banks (I think).

Here Pip and Aislinn pose before heading up!


I didn't seem too intimidating from the ground. Then I started climbing. Pip had no problem at all tackling the 214 steps to the top of this 158 foot tower. I must admit to being a bit tired huffing it with Vivie. All our excitement turned to fear when we stepped out onto the deck at the top. Yikes!!! That railing did not seem very high!

The Aquarium

We decided to take one afternoon and drive to the local aquarium on Roanoke Island, about 40 minutes away. Before we left, Pip and Phil played some baseball while Vivie napped. Pip is getting quite comfortable with his hand-eye coordination!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWyFgSj_Tf4

After that homerun, Pip needed to unwind in the hammock!


There were lots of fun fish, sharks, eels, turtles, and otters at the aquarium!!


And outside was a huge turtle statue that just begged to be climbed.

The Beach

I have to admit that despite been 400ish short yards from a beautiful beach, not only did we pretty much avoid it, but the one time we did go, we were too lazy to walk! How could we when we had our own golf cart!! Just before dinner one night we all piled in and rode down.


Pip immediately disappeared into his own imaginary world in his own sand pit. Lots of talk, lots of excitement, not sure what it was all about.


Vivie and I thought the wind was quite cool and tried to huddle in this bigger pit.


While it was fun, it was hard to beat the pull of a heated pool and wind-sheltered (warm!) sand stretch. PLUS, easy bathroom and food access. Simply could not be beat.

The Outer Banks!!

Day one of our grand vacation to the Outer Banks. We had a fun-filled (sometimes relaxing) vacation to Duck with three of our close friends and their families. It is crazy to think we have all moved into family mode and are consumed with thoughts of nap schedules, healthy food choices, toys/games/distractions, and bedtime routines. No more sleepless beirut-filled nights (ok, but just one) -- instead our evenings were mostly buffered with good conversation and low-key games amid the din of the baby monitors. But somehow this seemed just right to me. I didn't miss the hangovers at all and seeing all our kids laugh and run and play so happily was a bit of heaven.

I think overall, Pip's favorite house-attraction was the swimming pool. Over the winter he worked on mastering indpendent swimming on Saturday morning at the Y. It all paid off! The little man owned that pool with his floatie dog paddle technique. It was awesome to be able to be in the pool with him without having to hold him!




Vivie loved the pool too, but did require holding so much harder to get pics! Here's an after shot of the sweet pea.

Bob the Builder

Vacation time!!! This year we decided to take our first trip to the Outer Banks in NC. The upside of having to drive 12+ hours to get there was that we got to break up the trip with a stop in PA on either end. It really was like a vacation within a vacation. We were excited to see Grammy, Grandpa, Aunt Jenny, and Uncle Matt.

Aunt Jenny heard about an awesome Bob the Builder exhibit at the Reading Public Museum and of course we had to check it out. Pip enjoyed pretending to steamroll Dad with Roley!


After that it was near impossible to corral Pip for further pictures. He ran about hammering here, pounding there, and working various knobs and levers. We did get this snap of Vivie with her tool belt on. She prefers it Miss America style.

Mystery Trip

Having just decided to throw our house on the market and see what happens, Phil and I thought we should maybe check out some potential towns to move to. We had to make a long car ride sound somewhat appealing, so I stole an idea from my Family Fun magazine and announced "Who wants to go on a mystery trip!!"

This was thrilling for the first hour. Then Pip and Vivian got smart that there didn't seem to be a destination to this mystery trip. Quick -- find a park! This is the one in Bedford.


Pip and Vivian got into a nice game of hide and seek. Here's them hiding...


And later Vivie counting. She cheats!

The red coats are coming!

One of Phil's co-workers participates in the reenactment of the Battle of Lexington and Concord. The actually reenactment takes place at 5am on Patriot's Day, but they hold a dress rehearsal a few weeks before. Neither the 5am part or the 20 people deep crowds were appealing to us, so we went for the dress rehearsal (and you simply could not beat the super-warm spring weather).


We packed a light picnic and our stroller and grabbed a bite before exploring Lexington.





We got there early, so even after our little walk we snagged a patch of grass up front and waited another hour. Finally the minutemen arrived.


Usually there are no musket firings at the dress rehearsal, but apparently Sam Adam's brewing company is about to launch a nationwide effort to make Patriot's Day a national holiday and they wanted some pics for their promotional material. Phil took the perfect picture if the Sam Adam's cameramen wouldn't have been in the way.

Crack Eggs

Here are the egg-crackers with their crack-eggs! Need to takea shower in peace? Easy ... crack-eggs!






After a nice long shower, Phil was ready for work. Who knew they'd find our trash barrels completely full of water from the recent rain. Whoa. Check out the dumping video too.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yw6uOwAL1rM