A Week with C & H

Now to our week with C & H.  Last week was the second time C & H visited us.  (Remember the first time?)  They were about a month earlier than last year, so no carousel or baby ducks... but lots of playgrounds and running around!

I wasn't sure how having two toddlers in the house was going to go, but both kids (and moms) were excited to have company and were really well behaved.

Naps and bedtime were a little tricky:

What? We're supposed to be sleeping??

But baths were WAY more fun with two!

We started out the week by taking the wagon to the playground by our house.  H. loved it!  MiniM.E. was pretty excited too (she's always up for a trip to the playground!) but I have a ton of photos of her there.

such a boy- vaulting over that springy thing!

Monday morning we ventured to the library while it was still too chilly to play outside.  H. dove right in and had a great time playing- MiniM.E. didn't even need to show him the ropes!

Then we walked over to Congress Park past Ben & Jerry's (too early to be open for ice cream) where the kids got their photo taken in the B&J's billboard.

Next we fed just looked at and chased the ducks. (There are lots of DO NOT FEED THE DUCKS signs...)

In the afternoon (after a couple micro-naps) we took a walk on the trails at SPAC with J. & A.  The end goal was the playground in the park... 

Wow! One slippery slide!

The best part of the playground for H. was the new construction (for a new playground coming soon). He just wanted to play on the digger!

We wore the kids out and they went to bed early.  We took advantage of the early bedtime and hit the sack early too!!

Tuesday we started our day at the mall playground after a few quick shopping stops.  (Still too cold to play outside in the morning!)  

making wishes at the fountain

finally on top of the flowers!

In the afternoon we met up with my normal playgroup, T. & H. and J. & A. at Kelley Park.  

and he's off!

water break.  too bad it's not our water.

A. was jealous and wanted to try too.  But MiniM.E. and H. were done...

The three girls

Wednesday morning we went to Kindermusik! C. & H. had a blast.  We drove over to Gavin Park afterwards to wear the kids out.

But again, micro naps...

Thursday we did brunch and just hung around.

Here is a series of photos so adorable I might have to frame them...

We squeezed so much into three days we were all tired out!

The kids might have been getting a little tired of each other. (or MiniM.E. might have been done sharing her toys...)

playing nicely

H. goes in for the hug

MiniM.E. pushes him away and launches herself onto the floor.

It was really nice to have company for a week and to see C. and H.  We had a great time and hope they can come again soon.  MiniM.E. still asks for H. in the bath and points to things he played with and says, "MiniM.E. shared ______ with H.!"  Too cute!

A Blogging Hiatus

Wow.  Should I even begin to make excuses about why I haven't posted in weeks?  Probably not.

But I will anyway.

First off, we had house guests.  C & H came to visit for a week during C's spring break.  It was awesome to see them, as always.

And... well, we've been busy.  Enjoying being outside in the warm, sunny weather.  That's it.  Who can sit in front of the computer when it's gorgeous out?  I will do my best to post over the summer, but with my outdoors-crazy toddler and short naps, I can't promise anything.

So let's go back a while...

MiniM.E. turned a year-and-a-half last time I posted.

The weekend before our visitors, we spent a lot of time outside.

Sniffing the flowers and searching for acorns

 At Kelley Park with Baby E.:

swinging!

a contemplative ride on the tire swing

 And at Gavin Park with S.:

And we visited the Saratoga Winery to see Rich Ortiz play.  It was a great place for the grown-ups to sit outside and drink wine, and it was pretty kid-friendly too!  (No playground yet... we should propose one!)

dancing queen!

must have: baby adirondack chair

We will definitely be back to the winery!! 

18 Months

I really cannot believe MiniM.E. is 18 months old.  She's definitely not a baby anymore...

She wants to do everything "all bine self" (all by myself), including walking down the stairs.  She carries on conversations with us and narrates our days, beginning to end.  She's extremely strong willed and has preferences for everything from food to clothes to stuffed animals.  I'm loving (almost) every minute of it. 

Sometimes she terrifies me because she's so fearless (like when she wants to go down slides and stairs "on tummy" or when she went down this slide all by herself).

I'm so proud of her for helping- putting toys away, cleaning, sweeping and mowing the lawn.  She even helps me make my coffee in the morning! (How much longer until she can make me coffee all by herself?)

She's becoming much more independent too.  Which is nice.  Not that I don't love having a toddler glued to my leg 24/7...

MiniM.E. feeding the ducks:

And chasing the ducks:

Just taking a walk:

Loving slides, mulch and teddies:

It's so exciting to watch her grow up!