Our dress up items get used more than I ever thought. Maddy showing off her finest knight costume!
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Reiss Visit- January 2012
Sadly, another wonderful Reiss visit has come to a close.
Great-Grandma & Grandpa Reiss came out to spend the last 8 days with us.
We did just about everything kid friendly in the area, and were only kept indoors by rain for 2-3 days. And got lucky with a few days in the 60's even for outdoor fun!!
We visited the Zoo, Childrens Museum, Bounce House, Petting Farm, and the mall play area.
Their visit coincided with my 31st birthday, so we had a chance to go out together for dinner as a big family. The girls TRULY enjoyed having them here, and we will miss them greatly.....until we see them again this summer.
Abby & Grandpa enjoying some cookies
Hot chocolate by the fire on a cold night.....Abby's favorite!!
No surprise, the kids LOVED getting Grandpa on the floor for some fun. Burying him in pillows and blankets (fort-like) was Maddy's specialty!! Where did he go?? :)
Maddy's favorite time with Grandpa was doing her puzzles.....OVER & OVER on his lap!!!!
The night of my actual birthday I arranged in advance for us to attend a kids performance of "Clifford The Big Red Dog" stage show that was happening that night only. So we went to the show after a delicious dinner at The Yard House restaurant.
Girls during dinner
Mike showing off his half yard of beer
My birthday gift from Mike and the girls!!! A new waterproof camera for all of our water activities year round!! I can't wait! This way he will get to see the girls swim and play at the beach while he is away most of the summer, without me risking our good camera! We will test it out in March as we head back to the indoor water park for another fun 2-day trip, before Mike starts his new job!
The show! The kids were about 90% captivated....Maddy, a little less. But it was a cute outing for us all to attend together.
The first weekday of their visit, both girls were in school, so we got a chance to spend a few hours together without them. Unfortunately it was the one gloomy/cloudy day, but we made a go of it and headed to the Fort Story Lighthouse anyhow. We walked to the top to get a little exercise :) Then we had a nice lunch in downtown Norfolk without the kiddos before returning to pick them up!
(The new lighthouse that is currently in service)
(The old lighthouse that we walked up)
And their trip wouldn't be complete without a visit to Costco!! Enjoying a churro with Maddy while the van got new tires!!
Sleepy Sister
We had a long day week before last, and Maddy didn't get to take her usual nap.
So as I was making dinner and the girls were playing on the iPAD (see the first photo, she was actually awake!!), I noticed Maddy had zoned out to sleepy land, using Abby's shoulder as a pillow :)
Sharing & LOVE
Caught all THREE of my 'kids' watching the iPAD together, sharing quite nicely!
And sisters embracing!!
Saturday, January 14, 2012
NEW Seat!
Our BIG girl transitioned to a new car seat!!!!
She outgrew the limits of the convertible seat that Maddy uses, which we have a backup of in Mike's car. So we needed another seat for his car when she rides with him. She now surpasses the height/weight requirements for the harness-less, booster seat which only uses a regular seat belt!
Dad got it all setup today, and off they went for a little daddy-daughter visit to the kids museum!
(Kind of backwards, but the bigger they get, the cheaper the car seats get.....a WIN for the pocketbook)
Ahhhh.....CHOOOO
I forgot about this cute clip we caught while we were at the waterpark last week. Maddy loves to pretend to sneeze.....any reason to snag a tissue....for no real reason at all!
Here is her acting out a sneeze:
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Kitchen Helper
Maddy loves helping me in the kitchen. Last night they got a special dinner of eggs & pancakes, and she helped stir the batter. She knows how to push the kitchen chair over to the counter just right, climb up, and look for something to do! Her favorite past time these days has really been sorting and stacking the k-cups from the coffee maker! But stirring things is fun too!
Monday, January 9, 2012
iPAD GIRLS
The girls were up one morning this week and played on the iPAD together with one of their favorite "talking" interactive apps. I took the chance to grab a few quick photos of them sitting down.
They are so tech savvy!! Both girls amazing slept in 30+ minutes past normal wake up times this past weekend, and both mornings Abby quietly came in my room asking where my iPAD was. She took it to the living room, and played quietly allowing us to sleep a bit more! LOVE that kid!! And she even let Maddy out of her room when she got up too! I won't get too used to this, it rarely happens, but it made our last weekend of vacation, quite enjoyable!!
Maddy's 1st Day of Preschool!!!
Our little girl had her FIRST day of preschool (daycare at this age) last Friday!
Abby started at the same age, and I wanted to get Maddy acclimated to going to school in preparation for next year (when she'll go 2 mornings/week) and give me a slight break one morning a week this Spring as Mike gears up for his new job and is home less. She did GREAT! Didn't even stop to say goodbye, just ran in and started playing.
She is at the same school as Abby, same class/teacher Abby had 2 years ago, and so far she loves it. She had her 2nd day today and did even better.
For me, it is a WONDERFUL morning of 3.5 hours to myself of quiet. I hope it will give me the time to book personal appointments, and take trips to the gym and grocery store!!
Today was my first morning alone, and it was fantastic. In 3.5 hrs I managed to squeeze in an hour at the gym, a trip to the grocery store, Trader Joes & Target!!!
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
New Years Eve "Mustache Party"
Well, I wanted to do something fun and a little different this New Years......
So we hosted a mini 'Stache Bash!
We all got in the spirit, had a great dinner, then donned our mustaches for a little fun. Even the kids got in on the fun time.
Abby with her mustache!!
And my friend Danielle and I with ours....sooo serious.
Tracey and I with our staches!
Of course it wouldn't be a fun night without a game, right??
So we played "Name That 'Stache"
There were 20 celebrity mustache photos, cropped from the nose down.
Everyone had to take their best guess as to who each celebrity was!! Fun!!
Family Mustache Shot!! Jessica, Kolbey & Dan
The kids had a GREAT night! Couldn't have asked for better behaved kids...5 kids were here! Maddy crashed (pretty much put herself to bed at 9pm!!) and the big kids lasted til 11:15pm, then Abby and Casey crashed cold in Abby's room til midnight, when everyone had to go home!!
Even the tree was wearing its 'stache!
Maddy working the New Years hat
The New Years Kids!!
Casey, Kolbey, Abby, Addison
Happy 2012 from our home to yours!!!!
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