Weekend with cousins

One of my cousins moved down to Charlotte a year or two ago and we decided we'd go visit her and her lovely family for the weekend. It's nice to get to see family whenever you can. We had a great time going to see The Little Mermaid presented by The Charlotte Ballet and then getting to hang out and catch up while the kids played non-stop.

After church on Sunday we went out to eat and the kids got their very own table. They were so cute.
Here are my cousin's kids, who obviously know what to do when someone is taking their picture, and our kids, who look like they were to busy eating to bother.


Also, Goose had another baseball game tonight. He got to play catcher. His Uncle Todd would be proud!

The girl was too busy with crackers to pay attention.

Eating Outside

On the way home after Christmas, we ate outside! This mild weather is nuts! The little guy was pumped, but the baby was hangry.

She perked up after lunch.

Dreaming of a Cheeto Christmas

Santa brought Cheetos in the kids' stockings. (He usually brings a snack.) The kids woke up at 3am or so an we told them to get back in bed. The baby wrapped her little body around her bag of Cheetos and fell right back to sleep. Unfortunately, the little dude was bouncing around until well after 4am. Ugh.

We got yet another bag of Cheetos to split on the ride home. Here they are in all their absurd glory:

I also bought wet ones at the gas station to wash their hands and faces.

One more...

Here's one more picture of the snow. The poor little guy had puddles and balls of ice inside his little rain boots. He really doesn't need snow boots any more, but he could've used a pair last weekend!

For some reason I haven't taken any pictures this week. We'll get some over the weekend and be back on top of things soon.

Comfy

The baby aged out of being a lap child for this trip. I think she really enjoyed having her own seat! She definitely made herself right at home...

She was watching Frozen, which made the other people in our part of the plane laugh.

Snow!

When our flight landed in Connecticut, the little guy leaned over and said "So, what language do they speak here?" After we were in the car, he asked "Is it Halloween in Connecticut right now?" Too funny. He didn't get to enjoy a different language OR Halloween, but he got to shovel snow off the frozen pond with his uncle.

He also said he saw a hamster in our hotel room... I'm hoping that was actually just his imagination. Ugh.

Snowy Visit

We flew up to Winsted, Connecticut, for my grandfather's memorial service (which is why there have been no posts since Wednesday). The kids were AMAZING on ALL the flights, including our rerouted and delayed ones on the way back. I am one proud mama. Here's what the baby did after takeoff on the way up:

And here's the little guy enjoying the snacks we remembered to pack:

More pictures to come!

California, Here We Come

Actually, we went this past week, but I've had the O.C.'s theme song (California by Phantom Planet) stuck in my head for about a month. My mom and I took the kids to visit their great-grandparents and we had a blast! Here are the first of MANY photos I took.

Here are the kids at the airport, right before they were
perfect little angels on the plane.

This is why we went to California.

Introducing a new sport-- a hybrid of soccer, baseball, and
tennis (along with with fancy uniforms).

Both kids missed their daddy a TON, so it was great seeing him again last night.

Big Weekend!

We had a busy weekend that included an out-of-town wedding and time with some great cousins! Of course, one of the only pictures I took was during the drive home:

In other news, the little stinker is cracking us up on a daily basis with the oddball things he says. When Eric was working on the Jeep, the little dude told me that I wasn't allowed to work on it. He's started articulating strange ideas about what boys and girls can do, so I asked him why I couldn't help with the Jeep. His answer? "Mommy has to fix it after Daddy and I break it." Hilarious.

A Boy and His Duck

It cracks me up when the little stinkpot packs his stuff. "I'll take ALL MY SHOES" is his current attitude towards packing. Here he is, getting ready to go to his Nana and Pop's house with his duck:

He's having a blast!

Road Trip!

We cancelled our big weekend plans, but managed to sneak in a quick trip to a cousin's graduation party. We picked up the dogs on our way home. Whenever the five of us are in the car (and the trunk is full), I yield the front seat to Sadie.

The little booger hangs out in the back with me and Beau. He decided to stare at the ceiling every time he said cheese, so here's the best I could do:

Hope you all had a nice holiday weekend!

Two Zoos!

We went to two zoos on our trip: the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, South Carolina, and the Junior Museum (or whatever it's fancy new name is) in Tallahassee. The little dude loved both-- especially the playgrounds. So, here are a bunch of photos from both zoos!

Laughing at goats! Goats are the best animal ever.

Super-Tourist!

There's an elephant in this picture... down at the bottom left.

This slide made his life! He still talks about it over a week later.

Here we are leaving at closing time. We shut the place down.

The Junior Museum is a bit more laid-back than the fancy zoo in South Carolina. It's all native species to Florida-- which is kind of fun. I think the little stinkpot enjoyed being able to run around on the walkways as well as the really amazing playground. He wasn't really interested in the animals. Boo.

The little guy is small, but really fast!

Gramps has infinite patience. 

And here's a giant scary train to climb in! How much better  could it be?

Two zoos in three days makes for a happy toddler!

Now That's Good Luck

My parents don't get to see the little dude that much because we live really far away. Their visits are always uncannily well-timed, though. They got to see the little booger take his first steps last year, and this past weekend they (with my brother, sister-in-law, aunt, and uncle) got to witness our first "Can you please make that order to-go because this kid is driving everyone in the restaurant crazy with his bad behavior" moment.

Here's the little dude enjoying his spaghetti in the privacy of our hotel room:

Terrible twos, here we come!

Forget the boy, I'm getting a new Jeep!!!

Ha, I just had to blurt it out.  A new black Jeep Wrangler Unlimited is being scheduled for build especially for me!  Alright, back to the kid.

We had a wonderful time visiting family in New Hampshire this past weekend for a wedding.  Here is the little guy (not looking too happy) on Trot-Trot, the famous horse in front of Polly's Pancake Parlor.

Here's the little guy and me waiting for our breakfast at the Littleton Diner just like all the presidential candidates do.

And here we are in front of the New Hampshire State Capitol.

The little guy had a lot of fun.  We received this video from Gramps.  He did this forever and had a blast!

Busy Weekend!

We took a long weekend off of work and flew to New Hampshire to go to my cousin's wedding (it was lovely). The little dude had a great time on the airplane (he was pretty good!).

He also had a blast watching the rain with his Gramps.

We'll have some more pictures up soon.

We didn't leave anything in San Francisco...

We got back from four days in San Francisco today. The trip was great-- the little guy was amazingly well-behaved on the plane and we had a great time (even though I had to work). But, like an idiot, I left my camera in the hotel room for most of our sightseeing. Here are some highlights that I managed to catch from our trip.

1. Baby's first room service! What can I say? We travel in style...

2. The city, as seen from the top of the MOMA. The weather was perfect and the city is stunning.

3. The little guy, giving me a heart attack. This is five stories up, and I have a somewhat paralyzing fear of heights. It was terrible. I was trying to keep an eye on him and not look at the same time. The picture isn't anywhere close to as stomach-churning as the reality.

4. The little guy sacked out in his crib at the hotel. Play hard, sleep hard. 

All in all, it was a wonderful trip but it's always nice to be back home.

Eight Months Old!

He turned eight months old yesterday. He celebrated (belatedly) by knocking over the condiment rack at DQ. A really nice family helped us pick up the packets of ketchup and mustard and the plastic utensils.

This was pre-DQ, but he already looks like trouble.

Just another day in paradise...

The little guy started out the day by sneezing blueberries and oatmeal all over the box of apple fritters from the local bakery. Then he spent a long time playing in the water with his Gramps and some cousins.He tried to eat a handful of sand, salt water and coquinas-- yuck! I think I got most of them out of his mouth... I guess we'll find out in a day or two. He's a little young for raw shellfish, especially with the shell included.Here he is with his Gramps and his dad after dinner. He had a bottle and a bite of cheesesteak. You're never too young for cheesesteak, amirite?

Life's a beach...

Today was the little guy's first day at the beach. We went down to the water yesterday for a few minutes, but today he went in the ocean (it was fine at first, but a little cold) and the pool (he loved it). Here we are by the water at the beginning of the day.

He also crawled around on the beach and ate a ton of sand. Seriously, he was picking up fistfuls of sand and shoving them in his mouth. Crazy kid.
After he ate his fill of sand and fruit, he played with shoes!

Do you see the sand around his mouth? To quote one of my cousins, that's going to be a fun diaper.

Ferry ride!

We took a ferry on our way to the family reunion to let the little guy out of his carseat for a while. I think he liked it. Here he is ignoring the view and checking out the restaurant:

And here he is ignoring the view and trying to climb over my shoulder: