Monday, November 23, 2009
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Finding Trouble and Discovering Red Vines
Owen is a very healthy, happy, curious, and quick little dude! Lately we have caught him in some pretty funny and messy situations.
This is what happens when Kaitlyn and Ethan leave their plate within reach of Owen. Look how happy he was to try ketchup! Red is just an irresistible color, right?!
We finally sleep trained the little man, and this is how he started to fall asleep. He looks like he is being punished, or exploring the corner of his crib! He has slept through the night 3 times this week and he no longer nurses at night, which is good considering he will be weened in the next couple of months.
Thanks to our friend Edna we found out that there is a Target that stocks Red Vines, which you virtually can't find on the East Coast! We were so thrilled that we made a special trip to get some, and as you can see Owen loved the 2 small ones he had! I love that he is showing me that he got it on his feet too!
He kinda looks a bit like a very happy and well fed cannibal, I mean at first glance it looks like blood. Don't tell me you didn't take a closer look! LOL! He was laughing and loving every minute of his Red Vine adventure! Ryan and I had not had Red Vines in over 2 years and we ate way too many, but man they are so much better than Twizzlers! Painted Faces
Have I mentioned how sucky the fast food joints are here? Well between lack of selection, drive-thrus, and playlands... they pretty much frustrate me! Except for one thing, every week they have one family night where the kids get balloons, face paintings, and a small pack of cookies... FREE. So we took Kaitlyn's friend Kumari with us and had some fun. Owen stayed with Kumari's mom and took a nap, so I brought a book and we all enjoyed it!
Ethan wanted to be a tiger, Kaitlyn is the cutest puppy ever, and Kumari wanted a spider.
The expressions on their faces are just too funny, goofy kids of ours!
She just couldn't help the eye squinting that night, she does that sometimes, I don't know why.
The girl told Kumari that she must be dangerous because she wanted a spider, which Kumari thought was very cool. It is amazing to me how kids just latch onto things like that and feel so grown up, if only they knew what being a grown up was like, they wouldn't wish it faster than it will come!
Ethan roared and roared that night, but being the true sweetheart he is, he smiled sweetly for the camera. Not all things that are free are great, but this one was a good break for us in an otherwise hot and dull week. A Bite of the Big Apple
We love going into the city and a few weeks ago the perfect day, a Saturday no less, presented itself to us and we seized it whole heartedly! We ran into some friends on the platform of the train and started out with burgers, shakes, and fries from the Shake Shack. It was so good that I am salivating just thinking about it. Then we hit Central Park and unleashed the kids at a park right near the Tavern on the Green. We had been here before and knew that there was water for the kids to play in, so we came fully equiped with suits and towels!
Even though the water was cold, even Owen couldn't resist, although he didn't last as long as the others! Our little friend Anna was a little maniac in the water, we had a good time watching her run all over in a diaper and tanktop (2 year olds can pull that off)!
Kaitlyn and Ethan were brave enough too, with Ethan enjoying everyone else's toys. This is a little "pool" where the water is the deepest from the run off of the fountain.
I dared Kaitlyn to go all the way under for a dollar, and being my daughter she did!
She popped up, hopped out, and ran to her dad who had a dry towel. She was so funny, no crying or anything, she just wanted to make sure I was going to give her a dollar still, which I did!
Owen was loving the little birds that were flocking to eat kid crumbs and he was contemplating what it would be like to be free as a bird, instead of strapped into the stroller.
When he inadvertantly got splashed with some cold water this was the look on his face, so being the wonderful mother that I am I had to squirt him to recreate it for the camera. I know, kudos to me! I love how his neck is all strained, it was mid-shiver, so cute.
Round 2 for Owen found him with a shiny volleyball borrowed from a pretty 8 year old girl. Only 10 months old and he already has a way with women! I wonder if he will play volleyball when he gets older? He certainly has the height for it and tracks very well, hmmm....
Ethan is a skinny dude, he just grows very tall very fast and to tell the truth he doesn't eat any vegetables for me. He does like meat, beans, and most anything dairy, but I have to sneak his vegetables into his food in casseroles and V8 Fusion juice! So here he is with his daddy's hat showing of his "muscles" or lack thereof!
Kaitlyn is very observant and likes to strike poses that she see's in other pictures of people. Proving she is "with it" she has to wear dad's hat with her own personal flair! I am so scared of the teenage years!
After everyone dried off and changed back to clothes we really couldn't fathom leaving just yet. Like I said it was a beautiful day, low humidity (rare for NY summers) and the perfect temperature. So we walked over to "The Bowl" as it is called and just hung out some more. I love that you can see the skyline behind Kaitlyn, Central Park truly is this huge green patch in the "cement jungle"!
Owen loved playing with his toys, eating grass and anything else he could find. Meanwhile, Ethan was off flirting with two different groups of women right by us, he has good taste too! The couple that was sitting near us got engaged and a woman was so taken with our kids she kept taking pix of them, which stroked our parental egos. All in all, it truly was a perfect day in the Big Apple, can't wait for fall when the leaves change! Sunday, August 23, 2009
Our Weekend in DC
So we drove down to DC a few weeks ago and here are the highlights....
We started with Capitol Hill and made the slow hot trek all the way down to the Abraham Lincoln Memorial.
Already too hot to get excited after one hour!
Owen was not too keen on sitting with the kids, but we wanted just one pic with all three of them! You can see the G. Washington memorial in the background.
Owen was perplexed by the heat and all of the pictures, he really was such a good boy all day!
Half way, can you see the excitement on our faces? You know you see these memorials in movies, on TV and in pix, but they are really amazing up close!
We were celebrating our 7th Anniversary a couple weeks early, and it was a lot of fun.
This is Ethan's "Yes We Can" shot, only he was saying, "Super Batman!"
We were awed and moved at the Vietnam Memorial. Both Kaitlyn and I were moved to tears thinking of all of the lives lost in the pursuit of freedom and equality.
This is our "Babe-raham Lincoln"! She loved that this was the same guy from the penny.
I love this picture because I love my Kaitlyn and even though we were tired of posing we weren't too tired to hug after the picture. My kids are hugger's, and we love it that way!
By the time we got to the Lincoln Memorial the boys had just plum passed out! Ethan was leaning on Owen's head at first until I repositioned them. To tell you the truth we were all jealous of them, it was 90 degrees with humidity and we walked more than 3 miles that day!
The man behind the trip... thanks for taking us to the nation's capital we had tons of fun!
We are a goofy bunch, which is the only way we like it!
We went to the back of the White House because it was less crowded. Ethan thought it was a cool house.
They all have smirks on their faces, wonder why?
Outside of the Treasury Building, Kaitlyn was excited to see where all the important $ decisions are made... well maybe not all of them!
At Arlington we were also humbled and grateful. Then we saw this beautiful fawn playing in the cemetery and were reminded of the freedom we all experience thanks to the thousands of people laid to rest on this spot.
The tomb of the unknown soldier was really inspiring. These Marines are so dedicated and even when we were sweltering they didn't even wipe at the sweat not once!
A fitting throne for the Queen and her children... too bad it wasn't air conditioned!
The longest part of the trip was the drive home. It took twice as long thanks to a huge storm. All three kids passed out, but unfortunately Owen woke up a few times and I had to climb back to soothe him. It took us 4 hours to go 25 miles, and the thunder, lightening and rain were relentless that whole time! But it was fun and the memories will stay with us forever! 
