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

The Beach.......in April??

So we decided that it was time for a visit down to DeeDee and Dup's cape house. 

The kids had a midmorning snack together.....

and then it was into the car for a ride down to the cape.  It was this day that I discovered the slow, constant rhythm of the car was no longer enough to get my 2 year old to fall asleep....so while Ava passed out as soon as we left the driveway, Tyler stayed awake.....the whole ride.

"What's that mom?? Where are we going mom?? Is DeeDee going to be there?? Are we going to the caboose restaurant?? Is the sun coming up??".....an hour and a half of that and I decided our next vehicle will have a DVD player!!!

We made it to the cape.....Daddy had to stay behind to work and Duppy too.....so it was up to DeeDee and I to take the kids to the caboose restaurant!!

Twenty minutes of maddness later and we had been seated.....ordered.....eaten our dinner while coloring and doing stickers at the same time.....and just like that we were on our way home.  Did you catch that TWENTY MINUTE part because that's no exageration....even the hostess was like, "did you guys already eat?"  I think the look on my face said it all....as poor Ava is cutting some serious teeth and not herself while Tyler was so excited to be eating on a train.....it was a quick meal.

The next day we were greated with a real treat....SUNSHINE!!!

As soon as the fog burned off and the sun came out, my car was packed up and we were backing out of the garage to head to the beach....oh yeah, the beach IN APRIL...what could be better.

and eventhough we told Daddy and Duppy that it was "chilly" and "not really a great beach day" to make them feel better......we were having a fantastic day!!

You played with your new buckets....

ran away from the crashing waves with Mommy.....

had snacks on the beach.....

and started what will surely be a summer full of great memories!! At the end of the day, you cuddled up with DeeDee and read a story before bedtime.....and I couldn't help but take this picture of your feet as it made me realize how lucky you are to be so close to your grandparents....and how lucky we are as parents to have family around to share these precious days with.