Our First Weekend Visitors

Last weekend was a very exciting one for us as we had our first weekend visitors.  Not Gram... she doesn't count... or Uncle Bill, again... doesn't count.  This was not only my visitor, a friend from high school, C, but also her adorable baby boy, Stretchy's first visitor, H.

I admit, I was a bit worried about having TWO babies in my house for 5 days, as sometimes ONE is enough to make me want to pull my hair out.  Half the time we don't get out of the house until 11am, and our schedule is totally unpredictable.  I could only imagine what would happen with TWO unpredictable babies.  Would we ever get to leave the house?  What if one of them cried and woke the other up?  Would Stretchy behave like she does at playgroup and fuss the whole 5 days because someone else was playing with her toys and getting her mom's attention?

BUT, fortunately, I worried for nothing.  It was a FANTASTIC visit.  I think we all had a great time.

C & H arrived late Thursday night.  According to the law of GPS, they had a rough time getting here.  Between countless "recalculating"s and turns onto roads that didn't exist, it was a miracle they arrived at all.  It was right around the time Stretchy would usually eat dinner.  We hadn't even started dinner.  I could see the evening headed downhill, but to start things off on the right foot, since Stretchy had taken a longer than usual nap that afternoon she seemed fine waiting on dinner.  We had the babies in the bath by 8:30 and Stretchy was in bed by 9.  H didn't really want to sleep after napping all day in the car (can you blame him?), but that gave me and C time to hang out with him and gave him lots of time to explore some new toys.

Can I say that two babies in a double sink is just about the cutest thing I've ever seen in my entire life?

Friday morning we got up (H even slept until 8!) and went to swimming lessons.  It was a little more of a hassle getting FOUR people out of the house.  Not to mention that we might have had a slight episode to take care of before we left (have I ever mentioned I have an escape artist cat that likes to get into the garage?)  H had never been in the pool so it was a lot of fun to see him in the water.  As usual, Stretchy loved every minute of it.  

After a nap, we headed downtown for lunch and a walk in the park.  We decided to feed the ducks.  A few weeks ago I'd been to the pond and fed the ducks and the cute little ducklings would waddle close enough to grab some bread and then run back to the mommy duck in the pond.  Well, this time the half-grown ducklings were so brave that the waddled onto our blanket and even managed to nip some poor little baby fingers and toes.  It would have been a video to send into America's Funniest Home Videos had we not been so involved in protecting our babies from being nipped to death, pooped all over, or carried away by some very hungry ducklings.  

We wore those babies out!

Saturday the weather took a turn for the worse, and again, I got worried.  When Stretchy and I have to stay inside all day we both get pretty cranky from a case of cabin fever.  BUT, again, the babies were angels and played nicely together all day and took long naps, which gave us a chance to rest up a bit too!  After another swimming session at the Y, C and I stayed up late chatting.  (Boy, you really feel old when you look at the clock and it's 11:30 and you both look at each other and can't believe you've stayed up SOOO late!)  

Sunday was a lazy day of getting up and hanging around the house.  We decided to go back downtown to re-do the duck feeding and capture the funniest video ever.  The ducklings didn't cooperate though, and this is what we got... 

At least we got to ride the carousel.

The weather turned in the afternoon and Monday morning wasn't much better so there was a lot of playing indoors, but both Stretchy and H seemed to enjoy each other's company and were very well-behaved.  

Not sure what we did for this captive audience

Yum! More please!

Tired of sharing the couch

Guess the feeling was mutual!

It was great having C & H and I think Stretchy misses having a live-in playmate.  Come again soon, guys!

Out-growing the Baby Tub

Last week we had a near escape in the tub.  We have a cute little baby tub that has gone from this

to this

and is now the next obstacle for our little escape artist to conquer.

After she almost flipped herself out of the tub onto the floor (where she likely would have encountered a traumatizing head bump on the counter on the way down) we decided it was time to move bathtime to the kitchen sink.

Now, I think babies in sinks are as cute as the next guy, but let me tell you... when you eat dinner at 6:30 and your baby needs a bath at 7:30 and is a "grabber" which means you can have next to nothing on the counter and you're already struggling for counter space... this is NOT a move to something "easier".

But it is darn cute!

...though I'm not sure how long it will last...

Fun Outside

Over the weekend we took advantage of the nice weather and the extra day off.

Saturday we hung around the house, finishing putting everything back in its place.  We grilled with some friends and enjoyed the backyard.

Sunday, we went to a BBQ where Stretchy spent some time outside on the playground,

got to meet some dogs,

(and even ride one!)

and made a new friend.

We took a hike at the Saratoga State Park.  Stretchy had a great time.

Such a good time, that this is how we ended the hike.

We also went to the park and fed the ducks

and rode the carousel.  This time, I forgot the video camera and the crazy thing was going so fast all my pictures were blurry :(

It was great to have a long weekend and spend time outside.  Today it is SUPER hot, so we'll hang around and get some errands done... looking forward to more nice weather!

Pool Season!

The weather has been so hot lately that I might be melting.  I hate strongly dislike hot weather.  Cold weather is so much better because you can always put ON more clothes.  There comes a point where you really can't take much else OFF.  Especially if you are in public.

The only real way to beat the heat is by getting wet.   I remember when I was little the best thing was to run under the sprinkler or get watered by the hose... or even to jump into a tiny pool filled with ice-cold water.  Now, I prefer my water much warmer, but it's still a nice treat to go for a swim outside!

Which is why we invested in a pool.  

I know what you're thinking, "first windows, then a pool!?!?"

I assure you, it was worth the money.

As you can see, we spared no expense.

At first, the bath toys were entertainment enough

Then she saw the grass

And decided it was time to escape

Was the water THAT cold??

After failing to escape... 

Enjoying some tummy time

Too much fun!

Hmmm... maybe I didn't want to get out yet?

Back to Normal

Our windows are finally finished and the guys are done working in our house.  It was a ridiculous ordeal with three windows needing to be replaced, still... one window needing to be reinstalled, and a general feeling of chaos.  Not to mention that after they tore open the whole wall to install a window, we had to paint it.  Thankfully my mom came to help out, so instead of pulling out all my hair and actually going insane, I only felt like pulling out my hair and going insane.  In reality, now that it's finished I am proud to sport a full head of hair, am relatively sane and am very glad for our awesome new windows.

During "Window-Hell-Week" I did not have time, energy or even the ability to post anything as all our furniture had to be moved away from the walls resulting in an inefficient and unusable furniture maze.

BUT, I did manage to get some cute pictures amidst the chaos!

Here are a few playing inside:

Most of the photo opportunities were outside because it was loud, dirty and kind of awkward to hang out in the house...