A New Song

I sang a new song today for L&D and decided to show them the video for it. It was a great motivator to each that PBJ sandwich for lunch today. They loved it!

Busch Gardens

We had such a great time on our vacation to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg! We went to see the new "Sesame Street Forest of Fun" and even had breakfast with Elmo and his friends. I had outfits made for L&D and they looked so cute. Libby wore a monogrammed Cookie Monster pillowcase dress and Drew wore a monogrammed Elmo jon jon. I got them from a new seamstress, Patsy, that I met on Etsy.com (cool site for hand-crafted items). I like her work so much (she helped me with 2 other orders) that I'll be selling a lot of her things on my Cayenne Paper website. So, look for it soon...

We went to the breakfast on Monday morning, which was great because there was only 9 families there (when the room seats 35 tables). We got to meet and take so many photos and videos with ALL of the characters- Elmo, Cookie Monster, Oscar, Bert, Ernie, and Big Bird. L&D were like deer-in-headlights for the first few minutes, but they loved watching them sing and dance and giving hugs. It was so fun.

The park itself was also fun as they had a lot to do for the little kids. There was one section that had the kiddy boats, swings, airplanes, etc. We saw the Clydesdales and they are enormous! We even took photos with one of them, Marty. He was in several of the Budweiser Super Bowl commercials.

We saw lots of animals at the Jack Hanna Wild Reserve and went into an aviary where birds flew right onto you and played. We watched a show with pet tricks called "Pet Shenanigans". They had cats, dogs, mice, ducks, pigs all doing funny tricks. It was cute. We ate good funnel cake, walked ALL over and were pooped by the end of day 1. We went back again the next day and it was much more crowded, but also very sunny and hot. We decided to do lots of indoor stuff (like special shows) and played in the waterpark in the Forest of Fun. We went to a few shows, including one with Irish dancing, and even a 4-D Elmo movie. I had never been to one of those. You wore 3-D glasses and things were really coming out at you. Drew kept trying to grab them. Then, whenever it rained or wind blew, water fell on you or your seat shook, etc. It was cool. But Libby did NOT like it one bit! She mostly sat in my arms facing the other way!The characters came out for a show and it was great b/c we were able to meet and take photos with Grover, Zoe, and Abby since they weren't at the breakfast.

I was excited because in France, we got Libby and Drew's silhouettes done. I have always wanted these and found out they were very expensive and hard to find here. The young girl that did them was so nice and flexible with 2 toddlers before lunch. She sat down and while they wiggled and chowed down Fruit Loops (new-found vacation treat courtesy of Embassy Suites free breakfast bar), she hand-cut these without drawing them or anything. I thought they would come out horrible, but I think they look pretty good. Libby's hair is a little "big", but it was poofy that day from the humidity!

We drove home late that afternoon and have been trying to catch up on 2 days without naps and sleeping in a hotel room ever since! I made 3 different slide shows because we had SO many photos...

Breakfast with Elmo & Friends:

Day 1 at Busch Gardens:

Day 2 at Busch Gardens:

Libby's New Love

Libby has been so cute lately because she's starting to take more interest in being maternal with her baby dolls and stuffed animals. Uncle Jeff actually gave Drew a big stuffed tiger for Christmas. But Libby has basically taken it over and Drew doesn't seem to mind. She is always hugging it, carrying it around, giving it kisses, and asking for it when she's upset. At the end of this school year, our office made a big move to other buildings. There was a play car there-- and "vintage" since it was a woody station wagon-- that was about to go into the trash. I took it home, gave it a good scrub, and it's good as new. Libby and Drew have a hard time sometimes, though, because it only has room for 1. But it was so cute the other day when Libby brought her tiger out for a drive. She was talking to it, giving it "mwuh" (sound effect) kisses, and singing. Today, she wanted to put it in her chair and feed it a snack with the play food. Then, she put it in her baby doll stroller and grocery cart and pushed him around. It's really sweet to watch. I was able to catch some photos and a video:

Happy Independence Day!

Hope everyone had a nice 4th of July! We went to see the fireworks at the country club in our neighborhood on Friday evening. It was nice having a picnic with friends, listening to the band, and then watching fireworks. The weather was so nice! We actually were chilly once the sun went down and needed sweaters. So strange for JULY! L&D had a lot of fun. They were mesmerized by the very tall Uncle Sam walking around on stilts (he was nice enough to bend down for a photo by their wagon). They danced and Drew was so excited to hear "Life is a Highway" come on because it is in the movie "Cars", which is his favorite right now. You can see him singing along in the video below. Then they visited the firetruck and even got to get on it. That was a lot of fun for them.

They were so good, especially for being up 3 1/2 hours past their bed time with stomachs filled with funnel cake, popcorn, and just about anything else they could get their hands on! They didn't seem to be scared of the fireworks at all. I think by that time they were just zombies. The next day, we went to some friends' house for crabs, which were delicious. L&D partied again that day and stayed up a little later than usual. So, by Sunday it was time to get back to our usual schedule. After church, they napped for 3 1/2 hours!! So, we're back to "normal" now, I guess.










Watching the parade:


A little Michael Jackson tribute, which was really cute:


"Life is a Highway":


"I'm almost as tall as Uncle Sam!"

Summer Fun

I've been so bad about blogging lately, so I'm uploading tons of stuff for you. We've had a fun summer so far. We have mostly been playing outside when it's not TOO hot. L&D love the water table and sprinkler. Plus we went to the pool for the first time this summer last weekend. They have almost outgrown their little boats we have for them, so we'll have to get new ones eventually (or floaties)! They liked the baby pool, but poor Libby got scared when her face went in the water a little. I hate to see that happen!

Last Saturday, we went back to Great Country Farms for blueberry picking. They hadn't fully ripened, so it was slim pickings, or so we thought. It was HOT and buggy, even with bug spray covering us. But we managed to come home with 3 pints and they are delicious! Already made a batch of Lemon Blueberry Muffins from Deceptively Delicious (snuck in some squash this time). Yum!

Yesterday we went to the public library for the first time. L&D had so much fun. They loved the big stuffed animals and kept kissing them, which I just had to let go out of my germ-o-phobic mind. They don't understand the concept of quiet, but I think most kids were loud like them. Thank goodness! We're gonna try and sign up for some fun library story times and music shows soon, so that should be fun. I was so proud of both Libby and Drew. Drew picked up a book and sat at this table to read all by himself! And Libby took her time looking through them on the floor with me. Thank goodness for cell phone cameras! They're growing up so fast.

Dutch Wonderland

I've heard great things about this nice amusement park in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, which is only about 2 1/2 hours away. It's called Dutch Wonderland and it has rides and games for young children. We packed up the van and headed out early Saturday morning. It was a rainy day, but we were able to do a lot in between little showers here and there. We had a really great time, but poor Drew still doesn't like the carousel-- he wanted off right away. I thought he might enjoy it this time since we tried it before. But I think he's got his daddy's genes since he doesn't like amusement rides either. We took a fun ride on the log flume and got splashed at the end. It was a little fast and steep, so I'm surprised they said it was for little kids like Libby and Drew. After that, we stuck to the really slow, but fun kiddy rides. We headed out as it started pouring late that afternoon. It was a breezy day-- so much so that we had to buy sweatshirts for Libby and Drew-- in JUNE! But we had a wonderful time and can't wait to go back again.

It was funny b/c the mom next to me was calling her daughter Lizzy. It was a little confusing!

We laughed during this one b/c Drew had a death grip on the gun on the front of the airplane. He was looking a little "Terminator-ish", which scares me. ;)

Low, Low

Libby has been so cute singing lately. She keeps going back to some jibber jabber and then sings "Low, low, low, low" in a deep voice. It's really funny. We've been imitating her and have wondered where she heard this or what song it was from. Then, the more I thought about it, it sounds EXACTLY like the song "Low, Low" that's out right now (I guess??) Take a listen...

So now I wonder where on earth she'd ever heard this song! Every day at daycare, the kids have fun dancing to music before the parents pick them up. I hear different kinds of music every time and Drew dances the best to the Latin songs! I'm wondering if their sitter let her 8th-grade son pick out the music one day? I think it's pretty funny but hope there aren't any bad words she'd pick up from it. Oh my gosh--- I sound like I'm 75 years old, don't I??

Strawberry Picking

Today we took a nice drive out to Great Country Farms for their Strawberry Festival. It was our first time to this farm and we had such a great time. We plan to go back for blueberries in a few weeks and pumpkins in the fall. There were so many fun things for the kids to do, plus it wasn't very crowded since we got there early. And the weather was so nice after almost a week of non-stop rain! The patch was full of the most delicious strawberries I've ever eaten. Good thing they are grown chemical-free b/c we ate about a pint while picking! We came home with about a flat and even made homemade strawberry ice cream, which was sooo good. Now, I need to surf online for some other recipes since we still have tons of strawberries left over!

Our Portraits are Here

I picked up the portraits and they are gorgeous. It was so hard to pick only 20 for the CD, but we came up with these...

Bye Bye Nemo... for now

I've assumed that no matter the age, everyone dreams in some way or another. But I wonder if L&D's age is one where dreams become more vivid or even nightmares. Libby has not been sleeping well the past few nights. She wakes up crying like she's hurt, but doesn't seem to be when we check on her. It's the saddest cry ever-- like she's afraid or maybe having a nightmare. Last night, she just wanted me to hold and rock her, which I don't really mind. ;) But after I put her back down, she tossed and turned all night long. No crying- just awake and unsettled. Poor little girl.

So, I was talking to my friend, Leslie, at work today and she asked if they had seen any new movies lately that may have been scary to them. Turns out that Darrell bought "Finding Nemo" last weekend and thought he fast forwarded through the bad parts. But there's a scene with a robot-machine-looking piranha that is scary to me! As soon as it came on, I ran over to the TV, but they did see a second or 2 of it. So, sorry Nemo, but you're officially being put on hold for another few years. This makes me ponder--- why is Disney so opposed to women and mothers? Almost every movie of theirs has some sort of mother dying or turning into an evil witch or something. What's the deal??

Meanwhile, as I'm rocking Libby last night, Drew was turning a little bit, but still asleep. Then all of a sudden, he started giggling and had the biggest smile on his face. It was the cutest thing. He only did it a couple of times, but I wonder what he was dreaming about because he surely was tickled! Libby looked at him and then up at me as in, "What's so funny?" Maybe he was thinking about his favorite new movie "Cars" and "Nie Nih MaNeen"! I think that one is safe for now since there's no talk of his mom anywhere in it.