Happy St. Patrick's Day

I almost forgot it was St. Patrick's Day because I usually associate it with spring and it certainly doesn't feel like spring yet.  Our celebration entailed dressing the girls in matching shirts and going out to lunch with friends after an eye appointment.  Oh well... I think it's more of a drinking holiday for grown ups without kids...

This week we also did a lot of inside playing:

And I took the girls to the TreePaad for the first time just the three of us.  MiniM.E. did a lot of solo sliding (which I was really proud of her for, since she usually requires me to climb and slide with her)

And both girls spend a lot of time in the toddler area:

I guess both girls were pretty tired this week because this happened at 6:30 while we were watching a movie last night:

Lake Placid

Even though we only live two hours away from Lake Placid, we had never been.  We've heard great things about the cute little town in the Adirondacks from all our friends who seem to drive up at least once a year, but for some reason we never made the trip.  After we missed out on the dog sled rides at Lake George, we HAD to find a dog sled ride before the end of the winter, and Lake Placid was the place to go.

We are borrowing the van from my parents for a bit and MiniM.E. just got a new car seat so we were hoping the two hour drive would be pretty easy with a comfy kid that could watch movies the whole way.  Not fifteen minutes into the trip MiniM.E. started asking, "how many more minutes until we get there?" She repeated that question between one and ten times a minute until we arrived.  Despite the obnoxious questioning, she was otherwise good and LittleL.G. slept the whole time.

We met our friends there and started out with brunch at the Breakfast Club.  The girls chowed down on waffles and we all got delicious breakfast food from sausage and biscuits to egg sandwiches.

LittleL.G. ate her doll

The girls were beyond excited for the dogsled ride, so we finished up and took a walk down main street to find them.  The forecast didn't look good, but the "wintry mix" held off and the temperature was mild so it was a really pleasant day to walk around.

The dogsled ride was, hands down, the highlight of MiniM.E.'s winter.  (I was almost as excited...)  LittleL.G. slept through it... and Bob just wanted to watch.  The girls loved it so much they went twice and as soon as MiniM.E. got off the sled after the second ride, she asked to go again.  We will definitely be doing it again next year!

After the dogsled ride we did some shopping on Main Street then headed to the lake for some ice skating.  Even though the ice was bumpy and slushy, all the kids had a great time-- especially on the sled.

LittleL.G. was so excited to watch the girls skate around

We changed into dry clothes and stopped at the Lake Placid Brewery for a drink and a snack.  Best. Place. Ever.  They had a play room for the kids, so after they had a snack they played while the grown ups enjoyed a nice break.

Best Saturday ever.  We'll definitely be heading back to Lake Placid soon!

Ah, Spring

Gram was in town last week to switch cars so MiniM.E. was in seventh heaven with loads of attention and lots of play time.

On Tuesday the weather was nice so we gave Gram a break and went downtown with some friends for coffee and a walk in the park.  It is so nice to be outside without feeling like your face is going to freeze or your fingers are so cold you cant zip your jacket.

Wednesday was gymnastics and I had a chance to take some photos since Gram was there to help out.

Wednesday after school it was so nice out that we took a walk through the neighborhood and MiniM.E. showed off her fantastic scootering skills.

I'm looking forward to the weather being warm enough that we can put this:

in the car.  LittleL.G. hates her carseat and I think she'll be much happier driving once we put this in.  But I don't want to put it in until it warms up enough that I don't have to bundle her up to bring her in and out of the car.

Another exciting thing that happened in our house was the girls' first bath together.  I can't get enough of these two- they are so cute!

One Sitter, One Skater!

This weekend LittleL.G. learned to sit up.  MiniM.E. also learned to sit up about this time but it took her a few weeks to look like a sitting baby rather than one that was a little tipsy.  LittleL.G. just decided it was time to sit.  One day of flopping to the side almost every time we propped her up and the next day it was like she'd been sitting for weeks.  I LOVE that she can sit up because it adds another activity to our "rotation".

everything is so much more fun now!

it looks like THIS when I'm not lying on it?!??

not to be outdone... 

now to move on to the next challenge- reading

MiniM.E. also made some huge progress on a gross motor skill.  She is almost a skater.  She can glide with the best of them but hasn't quite figured out the footwork to propel herself forward.  We went to open skate on Sunday and she had a great time!

We celebrated our kids' successes with coffee downtown and a nice walk in the park because another awesome thing to celebrate is that it is actually starting to warm up!!

oops! underestimated how high she was going to go!

yay spring!!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Monday was my birthday.  I am not a huge fan of my birthday, though the occasional present is nice and who doesn't want a good excuse to eat cake??  But this made my day:

I also had a great Starbucks date with this girl:

Other than that, sleep deprivation has been getting the best of me so I didn't really enjoy the day.  Both girls have been getting up at 5:30 and neither sleeps through the night.  We are sleep training LittleL.G., and getting to sleep is now a breeze (go LittleL.G.!!)- we can just dump her in the crib-- the problem is getting her to stay asleep.

This happens pretty frequently:

2:06

2:07

So we are introducing some solids to see if that keeps her belly full a little longer:

I have to say, even if I didn't have the most fantastic day on my birthday, I am so excited for my 33rd year with my incredible girls!

1st stroller ride for LittleL.G.

LOL! Even when this one looks like this.

My favorite thing right now is this:

Only MiniM.E. can get her to laugh and it kills me every time!