Newport!

A few weeks ago we took a family day trip to Newport. We love that we live close enough to go and visit for the day, and always leave there thinking we should take advantage of it more than we do. This trip we walked around a bit, brought the kids on an hour long harbor tour, and of course- ate at Red Parrot.

I love seeing this house when we visit. I am curious as to what it looks like inside! It was built on this tiny island/rock, the angle of the picture makes it hard to see, but the island ends pretty much where the corner of it is in the picture. The house was destroyed by a hurricane years ago and the family left- but it has since been bought & renovated by an architect. I always imagine what a pain it would have been to get home from the grocery store and realize you forgot something, get in the boat and go all the way back. And I thought I had it rough without a garage, trying to get both kids out of the car, up the deck stairs and into the house when it is raining/snowing out......but then again, I certainly don't have the views that this house does, so it might just be worth it!

Really, Jill? Pose with the menu?

I think my little chicken looks adorable in hats!

Speaking of adorable.....look what I made! I found this memory box at Marshalls and immediately thought it would make a cute jewelry box I could hang on the wall in my bathroom. So I just got a few hooks that looked like they would hold necklaces & earrings, drilled them into the box, and wahlah! My shabby chic little jewelry box!

Emma's first dance recital

After 6 weeks of ballet, without mommy, she did great in her little recital! We put her in a class offered through the town, which was perfect. We are starting off slow, without all the bells & whistles :) You may notice, there were only 3 kids in the class, and my little Emma is wearing sneakers!! The teacher said they had ballet shoes for the kids, but apparently she didn't put any on Emma, and the other girls had their own.
She loves to dance. My favorite part of the video is her face at the end. I'm excited to see if she continues to enjoy dancing- but to be fair, we are also taking a sports class this fall :) Enjoy!!

Sharing the love.....little Emma takes after her mommy ; )

Picking out a sticker with Ms.Buffy, her teacher.

Playtime in the playground right outside the dance class.

My 14 month old....

My little 14 month old has become the most wonderful, happy, enjoyable little thing ever! And it only took 14 months!!!!! It has just happened recently....as in...about 2 days ago- so I don't want to jinx it, but I must say, I am thrilled with this little love of mine!

What is it that has made him so lovingly irresistable? He talks. Oh yes he does.....and it is a little slice of heaven!



For the last...oh......5 months or so, he has been screaming anytime he needs ANYTHING. A high pitched, ear piercing, patience-testing scream. And this momma has VERY LITTLE PATIENCE! So, I have been working very hard to teach him to sign for help, and to use his words. Only problem was- he really didn't have any words! And he isn't willing to say much, so I had to choose wisely. I chose "mama". And he loved it. And he basically sounds like a broken record, but I would rather listen to his sweet little voice call my name all day than the ear piercing screech. In fact, for the first time in 14 months, I woke at 7am to his sweet little voice over the monitor saying "mama, mama, mama" instead of dramatic miserable crying. LOVE my happy little boy!!!

And he is a sweetheart. I love his mushy little body in the morning, clammy skin, and sweet little smell as he holds me tight around my neck when I get him from the crib. He seems to understand everything we say- and it seemed to happen so quickly, all of a sudden- he just gets it! And get this......I think he is on his way to finding comfort from his binky!!! I know, a little late in the game, but he needs it. And I need him to have something to comfort him other than my chest (which, by the way, he now asks for by name- points and says 'ball'.) Ha!


Is he a sweetheart or what??!!!! Kisses are adorable- sometimes it is a gentle lean in with mouth closed, other times he comes right at you with his mouth wide open. We have so much fun together- he knows when he is being funny and loves to play around with Emma. I especially love his belly laugh...even his eyes smile when he laughs.

Library music class!

I brought the kids to a free music class at the library the other day, and we all had a blast! It was supposed to be geared towards Levi's age- but I think Emma had more fun. She was up and dancing, sharing the props, looking out for little Levi......it was a great time. I just sat in the back and watched my two little kiddows sing and dance, and it just made me smile. Perfect little family :)
Here is Emma in her monkey mask singing "no more monkeys jumping on the bed"....one of her favorites.

Nothing too exciting happens in the video.....but I wanted to share. I love Levi's bouncy dance, and the fact that he already knows the hand motions for itsy bitsy spider!

Fun day at Monkey Joes

These pictures are actually from May, but I had to share! We went to MJ's in May for a birthday party- and my friend recently sent me some of the great family pictures she captured. I love Felix & Levi's face going down the slide!!

New Ride!

Emma's new 4-wheeler....livin' it up true country style!

Levi actually rides it to. He needs help getting on, but he can hold on and press the button and go for a ride all by himself, giggling the whole time until he slams into a wall or piece of furniture. And what is most surprising- he actually swings his leg up and over the seat to get off the correct way!
Emma was trying to do tricks- standing on the seat and pushing the button to make it go.

For right now we keep the bike indoors, it is a special treat they get to play with when we are having a particularly long day. Plus, we don't have helmets- even though it only goes 2mph......you can never be too careful!

And here....is Levi's new ride! I realized we are often out for a quick errand or visit that doesn't require Emma being in the double stroller, so I was just carrying him on my hip in the sling- but my little guy is no lightweight! I finally caved and bought an umbrella stroller to push him around in for those quick trips.......he looks so big in it!

Apparently, the yellow crayon tasted much better than the green....

The other day I was digging in our "toys/misc.items" basket we keep in the minivan and came across my winter gloves. My immediate reaction was "ugh......I'm going to need these soon..."! So, needless to say, we have been taking full advantage of the weather! In fact, I actually feel guilty if I plan an indoor activity for the kids instead of the playground/pool! So today, we spent the end of our afternoon playing on the deck while Felix mowed the lawn.

Levi- loves throwing sand EVERYWHERE! Emma filled a bucket of sand and put it in the trunk of their toy car. Each time I tried to return it to the sand table, Levi would grab it and bring it back to the car, dig in, and throw it all over the place. Determined little one.

Emma has been working on her bike riding skills/strength, and she finally got it today! She was having a hard time pushing the pedals so the bike would move. And...I missed the best photo opportunity today...... so I'll just have to write about it! As she attempted to ride the bike this afternoon, she kept struggling to push the pedals but the bike just wouldn't move- and sure enough, Levi waddled up behind her, knelt down and gave her back tire a nudge. She moved an inch. He nudged again, and again, and again until she was on her way. He then returned to his car to throw his sand.
And here she is.....pedaling all by herself on her way back! Look at the determination in her face in the 1st picture! In the 2nd she realizes she is doing it....and finally makes it to her destination....so proud! I loved it!!

Storyland!

There is nothing I love more than family vacations! Well....top contenders are ice cream & cookouts, but family vacations definitely take the cake! ahhhahahahahaha.

I convinced the fam to take the obligatory "Humpty Dumpty picture" that has been plastered all over facebook lately. It was our last stop before leaving Storyland- and it shows! The kids nearly fell asleep posing!
We drove to NH on Tuesday afternoon to enjoy a few hours at Storyland and get the lay of the land. Then- ate dinner at the only restaurant we could find on the way to the hotel, which happened to be totally awesome...they had a movie room & a toy room available while we waited for a table. The food wasn't that great, but we were very thankful for the kid-friendly entertainment! In fact, while we were waiting Felix made friends with a family that was also there to visit SL and we kept running into them all over the park the next day....we even ended up on a ride with them, and saw them on our way out of the park to the car!

This section of the park was fun- it brought lots of nursery rhymes to life! They had all the parts of One, Two buckle my shoe....REAL 3 little pigs and their houses, London Bridge, and even a ball pit sized perfectly for Levi and a bigger one for Emma.

Check out her face on these spinning tea cups- sooooo happy with Daddy!

Our hotel was great! It was like the perfect little kid-friendly bed & breakfast, tucked away in the woods with beautiful scenery. They cooked us fresh breakfast in the morning, which we tried to enjoy- even though Emma was an absolute horror show during breakfast! So we scarfed down our food and brought the kids on a walk to check out the grounds.

One room with a king bed, 2 portable cribs, a tub in the corner of the room, a bathroom with a shower, and a 13" flat screen mounted on the wall. Oh yea, one moth and 3 spiders- but Felix got rid of those for us! We finally ALL settled into the big king bed by 10pm, and after much tossing & turning by the little L-man, I made him sleep in the crib. He cried for about 30 seconds before falling asleep, which completely shocked us! So to show him up- Emma ASKED to go in her crib. Heaven! Although, Emma ended up in our bed at some point in the night, but I didn't even notice!!! We all slept peacefully until about 6am when the little guy woke up. I brought him in the bed and nursed him back to sleep....I woke up about an hour later and Emma was lying on his belly like a pillow....and he was fast asleep!!!

Back to Storyland the next day.....Emma was in LOVE with this flying ball exhibit. We literally had to take her out kicking & screaming the first day....and tell her it was closed the 2nd day we went back so we could see the rest of the park first! They had all these vacuums and hoses and the kids could put balls in that would shoot out somewhere else, or vacuum them up. Tons of germ-filled fun!!

"Milking" the cow. Shortly after this picture, Emma pulled the whole utter off and exposed the true source of "milk" as the hose head sprayed water everywhere.

Fun driving tractors.! There were a few of these types of rides we were able to go on that were so fun for her. Poor little L.....he didn't get to do much on his own like his big sis did, but he was a trooper and had lots of fun on all the rides and entertainment.

We even got to see a couple shows. One was a circus, and since then- Emma has been reenacting the performances. The other day she threw a blanket over me and then ripped it off to show my amazing costume transformations! And she makes us all sit on the couch, turns off the living room lights and yells (her face turns red) "Ladies & Gentlemen, it's the Emma show......" followed by some crazy dance moves/full body convulsions.

It was a fast trip, and a lot of driving for such a quick, action filled trip! I vote next time we stay for a few days and do more fun stuff that NH has to offer.....gotta love those family vacations!!!