Grandpa Ron's Visit Sept 2010

 Love going to the beach!! It will be much more fun next summer when Maddy can walk on the sand instead of eating it!

 Standing with Grandpa!

 Maddy loved the water on her feet

 

 Abby was jealous that Grandpa went all the way in, so she begged him to come get her

 Watching TV together

 Maddy reminded me so much of Abby.....she loves to sit and be with her Grandpa too! They got along great

 Snuggle bug, just wanted to lay her head down on him

 

 

 Grandpa and his girls

 

 SPLASH!!! Off the diving board!

Update--

No, I have not been slacking on my photo postings......my blog has a glitch at the moment and is not allowing me to upload photos! Working on it! Hopefully it will be fixed soon.......my photos are stacking up!

Allison

Togetherness

BIG & LITTLE Watching "Cat in the Hat" together......

1st Day of School!!!!!

Abby had her 1st Day of real Preschool today!!! She is going Tues/Thurs from 9:30-1:00pm!

She was SOOO excited, and totally knew what it meant to start school again. She and I were BOTH ready for her to get on a schedule again. Her bff Emily got her this adorable backpack as an early birthday present, it has her name on it!! (and it matches the cute lunchbox they got her last year!!)

So now when I drop her off at school, she has her own hook to hang her backpack on outside the classroom, and a spot for her lunchbox.

When I picked her up today, I asked her what she learned.....her response "ABCD's mom"

Zoo "Boo Boo" Visit

Our zoo had another fun activity this weekend. With back-to-school in full swing, they held a "Teddy Bear Clinic" where your child could bring a teddy bear to get checked out by a doctor. Her teddy bear got his eyes checked, had a breathing treatment, and the doctor listened to his heart! Oh and he got a shot and a sticker for being such a good patient.

Abby's piggy mask!

This is what Maddy did at the zoo! Little snuggle bug.

Abby didn't used to enjoy riding on Mike's shoulders, but now she loves it.....unfortunately now she is getting heavier and giving daddy a workout!

Silly Sisters

Maddy thinks she is queen of this castle now that she can pull up to standing on everything in the house!

And she is a pro at standing at the baby gate speaking her mind.

Randoms from the last week!

Here are a hodge-podge of pictures over the last week or so!

Mike took Abby to the gym with him (so she could play at the playplace there) and on their way home they spotted the ice cream man making his way through our neighborhood. This was the first time we've bought anything from him. Of course she chose the most expensive item: The Dora Ice Cream!!!

Maddy is like a path of destruction these days. She leaves a mess in her path, so I always know where she's been. She has recently taken an interest in the puzzles! Well, dumping them on the floor at least :)

Here are the girls playing with one of my new company products in the bath tub! New "Bath Shapes" are so cute! Each shape has fun suction cups on the back so they stick very well! Abby enjoyed creating things while Maddy simply chewed on all of them! Of course!!

Sharing at its best! Here's a raisin little sis!

Peach anyone? Maddy eats everything these days. I got lazy and let her chew on this. She loved it.

Williamsburg Visit

This past Saturday we ventured up to Willamsburg VA, they were part of a nationwide event where certain museums and historical areas were being offered free to military thru Labor day weekend.

We took advantage of it for the day and went up. The regular ticket cost is nearly $50 per adult for what we got for FREE! It was a beautiful day and not very crowded.

Maddy and her 1st popscicle

Maddy jumps.....falls in!

Jump Video

She JUMPS!!

We have been waiting ALL summer for Abby to get up the courage to jump off the side of the pool (which she started doing a few weeks ago), but now she finally jumped off the diving board tonight with no coaxing! A HUGE accomplishment for her! She loved it more when daddy jumped off the side at the same time.

Relaxing after multiple jumps.

Our little sinker!

Loves swimming with her daddy

Baltimore Bound!

We headed up to Baltimore, MD for a quick trip this past Fri/Sat!

We ventured up mostly to visit the Baltimore Aquarium! And added the kids fun museum as a plus!

It was about a 5 hour drive both ways; especially after 3-4 potty breaks!! Yikes!

Our hotel room window! She had to check out the view below.

Baltimore Aquarium!!

They don't allow ANY strollers in the aquarium, but they do allow you to check your stroller and borrow a front or backpack child carrier FREE! So Maddy got to ride in style! She loved it.

The cutest part of the aquarium was the dolphin show! It was a fun 20 minutes of watching the dolphins. Abby's first time at such a show, so she was mesmerized! Maddy even sat like a champ and seemed to be paying attention.

A quick aquarium treat.....a popscicle! Of course Abby picked out the brightest one! And she even shared with her sister!

Dinner out on the inner harbour! We ate on the patio at one of the harbour seafood restaurants! The girls did great, that was the first time we've EVER kept them out late, nonetheless for a dinner.

The next morning we headed over to the "Port Discovery Childrens Museum". Lots of cute hands-on things to do. Abby's favorite was probably the GIANT rope jungle climbing structure in the center of the building. She is getting more adventurous these days!

One was the water exhibit. I sat outside with Maddy on a bench, and she LOVED spraying the squirt bottle on Maddy and I.

For lunch before leaving town, we went to "Dicks Last Resort". We thought it was just a lively looking burger joint......NOT SO.....well, sort of. Turns out it is a sarcastic and funny/strange place! Literally they warn you as you sit down that the waiters use sarcastic humour! On top of that they fit diners with a homemade paper hat with funny sayings......the young kids hat next to us read "I still wet the bed". The adult ones were a bit cruder! But funny!! I think they took it easy on us with 2 kids!

And of course, what trip would be complete without a stop for ice cream! I had a feeling this was going to be messy, and it was, but she loved it.