Eggstravaganza and "oh my gosh, Logan is crawling"

We decided to have an easter egg coloring party today with our cousins Sophia, Maya, Logan and Bentley......baby Bentley had a cold so he couldn't come, but we colored some eggs for him anyways. 

I figured that the kids would come over and color/decorate eggs for a while and by the time they were done it would be lunch time.......boy was I wrong.

You have never seen a group of kids color 2 dozen easter eggs faster than these guys....I'm talking about 15 minutes of madness and then a quick hand wipe before they were off to play......

some needed more of a hand cleaning than others......

Side Note: Maya without a front tooth.....she lost it at Auntie Erin and Uncle Chris's house....tooth fairy left her $9....my kids are going to lose all their teeth at their Aunt and Uncle's House!!!

and while the big kids were being crafty, Logan and Ava snuck away for some quality time on our bed.....and I think it's safe to say they were both a little tired...

Before the days activities began, Auntie Dawnie and Logie came over a little early and how lucky was I to see Logan crawl for the first time.....not only was I the lucky Auntie, I also had my camera handy and caught this footage of my niece

And as she crawled on the floor of our porch.....just after my son tripped and took a head first fall into his train table.....I thought to my self, Dawn and Kyle are in for it now!!

Spring has sprung!!

At last after the winter that seemed to never end....the warm weather is here and we are outside soaking in every drop of it!!!  Here is a list of our top 10 things we love to do this spring (and lets face it, at 1 and 2 years old this list will probably change.....definately change.....most likely by the end of the day so I had better hurry up and finish this entry!!!)

1. Playing in our sandbox; the more the merrier....except when someone gets hit in the head with the large shovel that we thought was a good idea to put in the sand box last year....before we had 2 mobile kids...oh well, live and learn

2. Riding on our motorcycle......in a smoking hot outfit that Daddy put me in!!

3. Coed naked train table....because when the weather is this warm, who needs clothes!!

4. Waiting for Daddy to get home from work so we can GO OUTSIDE AGAIN

5. Snack time with cousin Bentley OUTSIDE on a blanket

6. No matter how nice it is outside, there's always time for a little Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

7. Taking out the plastic picnic table to have dinner with cousins on the porch so we don't miss the last rays of sunshine

8. Trying on our "summer pjs" because we are so big they fit already!!

9.  Hugs

10.  And Laughs

lots, and lots of laughs.......summer-time here we come!!!

Uncle Gregory's Birthday = party in the pack 'n play and photo shoot on the bed

We celebrated Uncle Gregory's birthday today......although with 3 toddlers in the house it was less about celebrating and more about trying to keep up with the little guys!!  Tyler picked out a special card for his Uncle and was very excited to give it to him....

as soon as that card was opened by his Uncle , Tyler was off to play with his trains....a small attention span for a small guy!!



Ava's gift to her Uncle was much simpler....some quality cuddle time!!

Dinner is about as relaxed as dinner gets with 3 toddlers running around....I think we all were seated at one time, but I can't be sure.  The food was great, it always is when I don't have to make it...and then it was time to have some cake....notice Tyler licking his lips in anticipation...

What happened after dinner is a little bit of a blur given my food coma and my son's sudden sugar high....all I can tell you is that there were 2 babies in the pack 'n play having their own party....

Ava: "Hey cuz...you know how to take these things off??"
Bentley: "sorry, can't help, I'm busy working on something of my own.."

Mom help.....she's got me pinned in the corner!!

Bentley don't pick your nose.....

Auntie can you please help me out....Bentley pooped again!!

The party in the portacrib was followed by a photo shoot on DeeDee and Dupy's bed which was very entertaining....

 In this photo the oldest cousin man-handling the youngest into photo taking position...














 Bentley is slightly resistive at first but Tyler is a bit stronger and wins the battle...

Now that Bentley is in place he becomes happy when he realizes his Mommy is taking pictures....while Ava is thinking "will somebody please just finish buttoning up my jammies so I can go to bed??"



Ava Still waiting for someone to button up her jams....

Oh yeah, and did I mention this is Uncle Gregory's Birthday Party?? Happy Birthday Uncle Gregory, from your crazy niece and nephews....we love you!!

Off to Maine....

We took our first big road trip as a family of 4 to Bridgton Maine over the weekend to celebrate my grandmothers 80th birthday!!! Packed up the car on friday.......Meme joined us for the car ride up, as Daddy had to work and came up later with Grampy.....kids did pretty good in the car, except they were both awake for the last hour and getting very restless....some french fries, juice boxes, cell phones (and pretty much anything else we could throw at them) kept them entertained until we got to the house.

"Are we going to Maine Mom?"

We rented a log cabin for the weekend as this was a surprise for my grandmother.....we were the ones surpirsed when we got there and found the driveway wasn't plowed out....there was about 8 inches of snow on the ground!! Luckily Aunt Cathy and Uncle Robbie were there to save the day....and we carried the kids from the road to the house....a pretty good walk but Aunt Cathy cleared the path for us in her snow boots.....Tyler was so ready to get out of the car that he ran in his sneakers and Meme and I traded off who carried Ava (as she's no light weight these days!!)

Aunt Cathy and Ava looking at the snow

The place was really cute and as we unpacked and had some dinner the rest of the family showed up....Auntie Dawnie, Uncle Kyle, Logie, Dad and Grampy....a full house!!  We all settled in for a good night of rest before the big surprise party the next day....all of us, that is except for Ava.

Ava developed a nasty cough (I swear it happened on the car ride up) and she was up all night, both nights, along with her loving parents....while her brother slept through it all. We stayed in one room with twin bunks and the pack 'n play.....a tight squeeze, but we did it!!

We had lots of family to help us entertain the kids in the morning.

Playdough with grampy....who made the mistake of "pretending" to eat the spaghetti and meatballs that Tyler made him for dinner, and now Tyler thinks it's okay to eat playdough too!!

Ava spends quality time with her Uncle and Cousin....you know toddlers, you know that they are sick but they don't!!

Patty-cake on the couch with Meme, Auntie and Logie

The next morning Cathy and Robbie told my grandparents they were taking them to "a new place" for breakfast......my grandmother surprised when they pulled up to the log cabin and we were all inside!!

As the birthday girl spent some quality time with her great grandchildren, Uncle Kyle and Tyler spent some quality time.....watching 1 of the 3 channels they had on their TV.....

After breakfast it was nap time for everyone.....which meant a long car ride for Ava as she was so congested she couldn't settle in.....lets just say that Joe probably knows Bridgton and the surrounding areas better than I do now.  Then it was time to get ready for dinner....another surprise for my grandmother as she had no idea there would be about 20 of us there.

Brey's Brew Pub had a private room for us......a small private room, but we made it work and it was great because all the kids could play on the floor.....and get in the way of the waitress everytime she tried to bring something to the table!!   We had a great time....Tyler got to play with his cousins for the first time....

At one point during the night Tyler crawled under the table to find me and said "I'm having fun with my friends Mommy" and I said to him, "they're not friends honey, they're family."

As I looked around the table I realized how lucky we all were and although we don't get to see each other often, it's nice to know we can all come together to celebrate such a special person.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRAMMY!! 

Why are there goldfish everywhere??

So today I decided I would expose my kids to some "culture" and venture out into that crazy city of Worcester to this place I've been hearing so much about....THE ECOTARIUM.  My mother-in-law (DeeDee) agrees to join us and we jump into the car this morning with smiles on our face, excited to

"go to the big house with animals."

I should have just kept driving around on rte 146 because as DeeDee and I chit-chat, Tyler is busy looking at trucks and planes and Ava is babbling to herself, happy with her sippy cup.  Sometimes, a car ride is all a toddler needs for excitement.....but not today!!

We get to the ecotarium and there is a huge stegasaurus outside which catches Tyler's attention and I think, "oh, this is going to be good." I found out online that they will be having a preschool program today with story time, an animal encounter, and crafts....perfect!! Well, it seemed perfect until we walked in the front doors (at 10am for the 10:30 storytime) and this woman looks at us and says "here for story time??" as I nod my head she gives us a ticket and says "you're in for 11:30".....and DeeDee and I look at her and say, "yeah that's not gonna work." 

As we make our way into the exhibits Ava and Tyler busy themselves in the play area while DeeDee and I figure out what to do.....and who was I kidding, DeeDee was going to make sure we got into that 10:30 show.  So we go upstairs and start a craft....and they had snacks which was great because it was all I could do to keep Ava in one spot....and before you know it an employee walks over to DeeDee and says "were you the one who said that 11:30 wasn't an option??....you guys can come into the 10:30 storytime right now."  Yeeeesssssss......so we drag the kids into this tiny room, which was like 150 degrees, and try to blend in sitting on these dinky little rugs while a woman begins to read a story about crabs and counting......

Tyler is bored in 2 seconds and wants out....it's hot, he can't move, and all the grandparents sitting on chairs around the circle (except for DeeDee who's on the floor with us because of our VIP status) are staring at him......he bites me, and so we're out to the hallway for a timeout next to the "stroller parking lot"......as tyler fusses I'm looking through the small jail-cell size window into storytime and see my daughter standing in the middle of it all........back to the story teller.....looking at everyone in there as if to say, "did you all come to see me!"

Story time was a bust but the exhibits were great....perfect size for the kids....and besides chasing to keep up with Ava and keeping Tyler insight....it went pretty well......and so I decided it was time to go outside to see the polar bear!!!

We go out to the back of the building where there is a playground....sandbox....bridges over small streams......very cute and kids were totally into it......no polar bear though, wasn't out of it's "cave" which was kind of a bummer......so before the kids get too exhausted and tired, we decided to check out the train ride......wow, was I pushing my luck, as it was getting dangerously close to lunch time!!

Tyler is really excited and we all hop on the train.....

and then they "start the engines" and Tyler completely looses it.....he's crying but DeeDee and I are not getting off this train.....so to sum things up, it was the longest 12 minutes DeeDee and I have spent together....Ava oblivous that she is even on a train, just wants food in her mouth and nobody to touch her, which is impossible because WE'RE ON A TRAIN!!.....Tyler can't calm himself down, despite the soothing tunnel we go through during which time everyone yells "choochoo"....and to top things off the train actually breaks, oh yeah, breaks and we are stuck waiting for them to fix it.....Ava is dumping goldfish everywhere.....but finally the ride comes to an end and as we walk away Tyler says to me

"I was really brave in those tunnels mom"

As we head to the car to go home....DeeDee and I both realizing that staying for lunch just isn't going to happen.....the kids slowly going into their respective naptime comas....I think to myself that the next people on that train are wondering "where did all these goldfish come from??"

But at the end of the day, as we wind down and I am grateful that DeeDee came with us, I decide that with two kids as cute and loveable as mine there are no bad experiences;

just good ones.....and REALLY CRAZY ONES!!

Ava winding down after a busy day

Terrifying Thomas the train and walking on sunshine....

So yesterday my husband took Tyler to go see "Thomas the Train" in theater with Meme and Grampy.....my mother's (Meme's) treat and he was so excited....

this is the only picture Joe got of the performance......was it because my husband doesn't like to take pictures?? Was is because Tyler was just so excited he was jumping up and down and Joe couldn't catch him on camera?  No.....it's because just before intermission Percy the train fell into a dark coal mine followed by the theater going pitch dark.....and Tyler hysterically crying "take me home Dad....we gotta get outta here"  Poor little man.....but not to worry because the special little light he has in his hand made up for everything....aaaahhhh the joys of being two.

Meanwhile back at the ranch Ava and I had a rare occasion to spend the afternoon ogether......we spent a good half hour making faces on the glass door......

Then Ava decided she needed a snack and we "fend for ourselves" in this household so Ava has figured out that if she crawls around her highchair she bound to find a few morsels on the floor....

once her tummy was filled she spent about 20 minutes trying to fit her bum and her legs into Tyler's booster seat.....it was so cute!

and we ended our afternoon with a little bit of walking (sorry I now you have to look sideways, but it's still cute).....

followed by a tub and a new hairstyle........

What a great afternoon!!!