A Happy 6th Birthday Party

One of MiniM.E.'s closest friends turned 6 yesterday. It is incredible to think that our girls have been friends since the very beginning (we started "play group" when H. was less than a year old!) and are still the best of friends now. And it is incredible how fast six years flies by!

The girls really enjoy playing together now, so they had a blast running around and playing chase and hide and go seek and eating cake and opening presents. And the second generation of play group is starting to join in too.

Happy 6th Birthday H!

Welcome Spring!

Thank goodness the cold is gone and we are having an unseasonably warm spell!

Yesterday we stopped by the library but it was too nice to stay for our usual classes and activities so we took a walk downtown and stayed outside until rest time!

 We spent the afternoon at the playground and playing in the yard.

Today, I promised to take the girls to the beach, so we packed up the sand toys and headed to Moreau Lake.

MiniM.E. remembered catching salamanders last year and we were lucky that they were out today.

Salamander catching was the highlight of our morning. LittleL.G. was disappointed I couldn't warm up the water for her so she could swim, but she got over it and made me lots of sand food instead.

It was a lovely first beach day of the season.

Well, Not QUITE Spring...

Even though I was hoping spring for when we got back from our trip, we aren't quite there yet. Maybe starting tomorrow though.

Today was Saratoga Springs EGG-stravaganza, and we were in need of an activity after the let down of coming home from vacation, so despite the wind and cold we ventured out for the egg hunt and activities.

We didn't last long.

BUT, both the girls were excited to see the easter bunny this year and they had a great time hunting eggs and riding the carousel. After a quick balloon animal, we'd had enough and decided to call it a morning. Brrrr....

The End of A Great Trip

Yesterday after breakfast we headed out to get Doughnuts from a cute shop in downtown Hampton. Then we stopped at the beach one last time to feed the seagulls.

After the beach, we headed to Auntie Jen's to say goodbye to Dan and Little Kitty.

Then it was back to the hotel to pack up and head out.

Even though we left on time right around noon, the 6+ hour estimated drive still took much longer than we expected after all the stops for snacks and leg stretching and bathrooms, etc. and even though we planned to get to our mid-drive hotel in time to swim before bed, we didn't end up arriving until after LittleL.G. had already fallen asleep and it was 9:40! Thankfully MiniM.E. was tired too and didn't put up a fuss about missing the pool.

Today we got up, ate breakfast and had a nice swim. We tried to hang around the hotel for a while hoping the girls would sleep a good part of the rest of the drive. MiniM.E. slept for a while, but LittleL.G. didn't fall asleep until we got off the highway at our exit and was so excited to see home that she didn't stay asleep when we got here. Oh well- early bedtime tonight?

It was a fantastic trip and I was so proud of the girls. Hope we can visit again in the fall!

PETCO, Playground, Beach

This morning we went to Petco again, this time to see all the animals. I think the girls could have stayed all day! And I'm pretty sure we need some guinea pigs.

From there, we went to Fort Fun, a really cool playground that we visited last year too.

After lunch and Rita's Italian Ice (which was amazing), we went to the beach for a while.

And then played in Auntie Jen's yard for a bit.

Time for another yummy dinner, a last swim at the hotel and another late bedtime. One more day in Virginia!

A Day With the Animals

This morning after breakfast at the hotel, Auntie Jen had to swing into work to take care of some things. The girls couldn't wait to go since Auntie Jen is the manager at Petco. She promised lots of animal holding, but since we also wanted to go to the zoo today, we settled for just holding the guinea pigs.

Next it was off to the zoo

It turned out to be a beautiful day and the girls loved seeing all the animals. We had zoo lunch and finished the walk around the zoo while LittleL.G. dozed. Then it was back to the hotel for a swim, then a nice dinner out with Auntie Jen and Dan at Smokey Bones. And then ANOTHER swim and another late bedtime.