Easter Fun

This year we met the Easter bunny and hunted for eggs at our swim club. "Hunted" is probably the wrong word as the eggs literally blanketed the lawn! It was a beautiful day though and a good time was had by all.

Sports Fans!

We've been enjoying the warm weather lately and spent last Sunday hanging out at Grandpa Rick and Grandma Lesley's where Julia tried out the new tetherball pole with Grandpa:

And Benjamin worked on perfecting his batting stance:

If this is any indication, this should be a very fun summer!

Benjamin Sings: Twinkle Twinkle

Benjamin loves to sing and is building up quite a repertoire so I am hoping to get more of his greatest hits on camera. First up, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (with a cameo appearance by his loveys - two stuffed dogs he has named Bubbles and Lopart).

Tee Ball!

Julia has just started her first season of tee ball. She has been very, very excited to play and so far has been having a great time. She's been excited to practice, both with her team and at home.

 She takes her batting seriously!

Benj at bat!

First time in uniform

Julia's first game time at bat

Snacks with the team after a great first game!

Benjamin's Gallery - Jet Plane

When Benjamin showed Julia and I this picture he drew last week Julia asked him, "did you draw a rocketship, Benj?" His response? "No, jet plane! jet plane" And yes, that's what it is! Flying down to FL made a pretty big impression on him.

In the land of sunshine!

We spent most of the first week of April in Vero Beach, FL visiting Grandma Su-Su and Grandpa Herb. It was a quiet, relaxing trip with lots of time spent swimming in the pool - 2 sessions everyday! - and just enjoying the sunshine and warm weather!

 We left for the airport at 4am. Julia was ready and rearing to go!

Julia ready to leave at 4:00am!

When we arrived in FL we had about an hour and a half drive down to Vero Beach. Benj wasted no time in the car getting up to his usual tricks. He found the markers from Julia's bag and colored his face!

 The first trip, of many, to the pool

basking in the sun

snuggling with Mom when he was done swimming

There was also plenty of water fun away from the pool - getting hosed down by Grandma!

Benjamin took to the warm weather lifestyle pretty quickly! After his initial shock the first day when he kept pulling at his short sleeves and saying "why won't these pull down?!? where are my sleeves?"

Julia rocked her sunglasses as well...

As a surprise for the kids we booked a breakfast with Donald and Goofy at the Disney Resort in Vero. They didn't know what was going on at first, but they were thrilled when they saw Goofy and Donald.

Benjamin has been quite the adventurous eater lately. He especially likes any kind of dip or spread. At our Disney breakfast his food of choice was waffles... dipped in ketchup!

Then there was more pool time!  Ben didn't stay in the water quite as long as his fish of a sister. But he was also pretty happy laying in the sun for a few minutes while she finished up.

Andrew and I enjoyed a lunch on the beach, relaxing under an umbrella and watching the waves.

We were all very sad to leave but the kids loved riding the monorail at the Orlando airport. 

And we arrived home to our first sign of Spring! Yayy!

Julia Milestone: Loose Tooth!

Back in February we had a little accident happen. Julia and Benjamin were around the house like the crazy kids they are and as they each ran into the dining room from opposite directions -- SMACK -- a collision! Benj emerged pretty much unscathed but Julia bit her inner lip pretty hard and loosened one of her upper front teeth.

Since then we've been on watch to see what would happen with that tooth... whether it would fall out or tighten back up. Well that one has stayed loose but is still in place. Ok, no big surprise there.

Then on Monday Julia announced she had a loose tooth... another loose tooth. Turns out that one of her bottom teeth is also loose! She is very excited and has been wiggling it constantly so we'll see for how long she has a full-toothed smile!

By the way, even though it seems a little early to us, it also seems entirely inevitable as Benjamin just finished cutting his last 2-year molar last week!

Naptime

Julia has not taken a regular nap for over two years. She stopped right after Benjamin was born and except for the very rare occurrence has not gone back. Until the last month or so when she has taken a nap a few times a week.

I really have no idea what is going on or why she is napping; nothing else in our schedule or activity level has changed much at all. If anything we've been less active over the past few weeks because of the temperature and weather... Maybe she's trying to hibernate so she'll wake up to Spring? I'm not sure but this has been the regular scene at my house at nap time lately:

And while it is a sweet picture and it's nice to have a break in the afternoon it's balanced by the fact that on these days bedtime does not happen until at least 8pm (as opposed to 6:30!). So I'm also looking forward to warmer weather with lots and lots of time spent running around outside - then maybe they'll nap and go to bed earlier!!