Off to Block Island....

 We packed up the kids and headed off to catch the Block Island Ferry on sunday morning to spend a few days with Meme and Grandpy at the "Berube" rental house......

Before the adventure begins and while Dad and Mom pack up the car,

Tyler and Ava have a battle of the hot mits....

where the victor is left with the biggest smile, and both mitts!!

The kids loved the ferry....despite a few adults having trouble finding their sea legs.....Tyler thought it was fun to try and keep his balance as the boat swayed back and forth while Ava enjoyed some TLC from Daddy

Meme and Grandpy were there to meet us at the docks and our adventure began....the house

was great...a playground for the kids including the long forgotten fun of a teather ball

a cute play house for little miss Ava

and lots of extra space.....including this movie theater which didn't get much use with the nice weather.....the kids watched Little Einsteinsthe and loved the big comfy chairs......

After a little down time, it was off to the beach with Meme while Grandpy went fishing....

and it was beautiful!!!

That's Tyler face first in the water behind Ava!!

The next morning Mom and Tyler go fishing with Grandpy while Ava, Dad and Meme wait for Auntie Dawnie and Logie to get off the ferry.....

Logie arrives and Auntie and I just can't help ourselves....the girls have to get in their matching outfits!!

It was off to the beach again in the afternoon where Grandpy got in on some quality swim time...

and the day ends with some ice cream (YUM!!!!)....

Followed by a family tubby!!! (Uncle Kyle came over on the ferry just in time for this picture!)

The next day (tuesday) was a blur.....Ava had been running a fever and just getting over an ear infection so it was off to the doctors for a $200 "she's just teething".....while the beach finally got the better of Tyler and he took a 3 1/2 hour nap!!!.... It was out for a Strazzulla family dinner while everyone else finished up at the beach and it was nice to have some time just the 4 of us....

The next day would be our last but not before we went to catch some crabs with Tyler....who was the only one who caught anything fishing that day....

And as we sat on the ferry on the way home, the kids exhausted but full of smiles and stories I think to myself "did we do enough?? did we do it right?? could we have done more??" ...This summer is sure to be filled with Mom trying to pack as many memories into one weekend as possible....and although she might not sit down and "just relax"....know that she is having more fun and is happier than you could ever know...because these smiles are worth it all!!

Top 10 Reasons to Love Logan Marie

Tyler and Ava's little cousin Logan came to visit us today......and as I watched as this little peanut tried to keep up with my kids I couldn't help but feel like a proud Auntie.....sometimes pictures speak louder than words so I will share my current Top 10 of Little LoLo...

#1. Hide and Seek behind the wagon

#2. Wearing her "Lurker" onsie with style

#3. Diving head first into the whale pool

#4. Looking cute as can be with my nephew Bentley

#5. Making her great-grandma smile on her 80th birthday

#6.  Happy as can be in her cousin's walker

#7.  Does this one even need a caption?? So cute...

#8.  Making grandpy smile with her tiny little legs



#9.  Her first fully flared-nostril photo....classic Rathbone



#10.  Makeout with Mr. Potato Head.....

 Oh Logan....can't wait for my next favorite photos.....can't believe you're already 9 months old.....soon you will be chasing your cousins around....and Tyler will stop saying "she's sooooo tiny Mom!!"

Staycation and Pink Whale Pool to the rescue!!!

We kicked off our Memorial Day weekend of 2011 by STAYING AT HOME!!! How soon we forget that sometimes it's just nice to have fun at home.....starting with popsicles at our favorite picnic table.

 Followed by lots of playing in the water table = many outfit changes for Ms. Ava, who recently inherited some great hand-me-downs from a fantastic neighbor including these little booty shorts....

 And what staycation would be complete without a mostly naked toddler doing some serious shoveling out in the sandbox.....

 Dad got in on the fun trying to hit Tyler with a soccer ball as he ran through the gigantic sprinkler-beach-ball....."don't worry mom, I'm too fast for Daddy"

 And Mom had to keep a watchful eye on our littlest member of the family as she aslways seems to put herself into a dangerous position....

 Our saturday ended with Tyler showing the neighbors

 #1: that we let him run on our stonewall in the front yard and

#2: that we let him do it mostly naked

On Sunday we made a trip down to CT for a graduation party.....it was a long ride but we made it there, and boy was it hot.....the kids were melting when Joe and I pulled out our secret weapon....a pink whale pool that Ava got for her 1st birthday.

It took a team effort getting this thing blown up as NOBODY HAD A BIKE PUMP....

Thankfully there is no picture of me doing this.....but the look of shear joy on Tyler's face lets all of us know it was worth the effort. 

And I keep reminding myself of these joyful images as we make our way home........as we are sure, after running our kids ragged all afternoon and into the evening, they will sleep for the just over two hour trip......a car ride that reminds me that just when you think you've got your kids "figured out"....they STAY AWAKE THE ENTIRE RIDE....awake until we get home at 8:30.....talking the whole way, whining, kicking, pleading with us to take them out of the carseat......but when their little heads finally hit their pillows, we didn't hear from them again until 5AM!!!! Oh yeah, that's right.....at this age the concept of "sleeping in" just doesn't exist.....but it was worth every minute to see our kids playing with their cousins, laughing with their aunties and uncles, and enjoying their family.  Which is exactly what we did the next day....

 Great Grandparents back from Florida.....Auntie's stopping in for a visit.......(these pictures are of Ava because Tyler just doesn't stay still long enough!!)

 DeeDee getting some quality time with an armfull of grandchildren...

 and an upclose and personal visit with my nephew Bentley....who is no stranger to the camera!!

 Sometimes a little Staycation is a great reminder that there is no place like home!!

Is it okay to eat miracle grow??

Finally.....after a VERY long week, we have a day of sunshine, and an evening outside......after feeding the kids we head outside for our gourmet feast....

I mean really, is there anything else that says summer is coming better than a grilled hotdog, fries and a cold beer??? Okay, so maybe an ear of corn on the cob would have clinched it, but let me tell you that hotdog was so good......well, I was enjoying it so much tyler had to have a bite!!

As we sat in our "vintage" and up-to-date lawn furniture the kids played in their new little tikes garden house.....gifted by Meme....

I think it was a pity gift because she knew how terrible our rainy week inside was......but these kids love it....all of it, especially cooking on the stove and checking the mailbox....

The picture on the box showed the "window box" filled with colorful gerber daisies....so I thought it would be a good idea to put flowers in their little house....I got as far as putting miracle grow in the window boxes.....and although the kids don't seem to know the difference I'm not so sure extra dirt was such a good idea...

Although they have already eaten....Ava just has to try a taste of dirt for desert....and has me actually asking outloud...."is it okay to eat miracle grow?".....Joe takes a sip of his beer and shrugs his shoulders "maybe she'll be bigger tomorrow."We let the kids play until they are completely covered in filth and ketchup.......and then we let them play some more because it's just SO NICE OUT!!

Tyler mows the nieghbors lawn because "his gwass is so wong Mommy!!" and Ava finishes mowing our lawn before we head inside.....

and I'm left thinking, "is it sumer time yet??"

Morning Sunshine and wagon rides

This morning when the sun peaked through the clouds and started to dry out the ground from yesterdays showers.....we were dressed, sneakers on, and ready to go!!

Of course as soon as we get outside the kids immediately need a snack.....it seems they are always snacking.....going for a walk in the stroller, better have a snack......going for a car ride, have to have a snack.  It's to the point that now when we get in the car Tyler actually says "so what do have for us to snack on today Mom?"

And as they munch away they also work on that wicked word called: SHARING!!

Which I have to admit they do pretty good at most of the time.....but notice in this picture how Tyler has understood that sharing means bringing the bowl closer to him and giving his sister rations as he sees fit...

So they finish up snack time and it's off to the sand box....

and you're wondering, well where is Ava?? Oh she's still snacking...

This girl would eat all day if I let her.....but we finally tempt her away with the promise of a wagon ride from her big brother (notice she still has her sippy cup).

Tyler realizes his sister is a little heavier than anticipated and takes a pit stop at the oak tree.....which he convinces himself that he and Ava (still holding her sippy cup) can pull over if they could just get this rope around it.

Then we were off to visit Daisy and Clover (two pigs) at our favorite place...West End Creamery!!

A magical place only 10 minutes from home that has ice cream, an electric train, a farm, and miniature golf.....fun for the whole family!!

We visit the animals today....Ava gets a little nervous when the goats start making noise and starts to run away, luckily for me she's still pretty easy to catch..

and as Tyler starts doing things that typical boys do I decide it's time to head home for lunch....

Sign reads something like Please not climbing on the fence