Pics from the trip...post below

Our Road Trip Adventure

We just returned from a 10 day road trip with the kids.  Honestly, we expected the worst and they surprised us.  The 11 hour trip to Philly went well, a few stops, lots of snacks, and tons of Dora DVD's and they were happy. 

Philadelphia was a great city for kids.  I was able to meet up with my friend Kristin and the kids had a ball at the Please Touch Museum and we got a workout chasing the little ones.  Thankfully her husband came along to watch the big kids Braeden and Kourtney. That night Ed was able to get out of his conference for a few hours to do a duck tour of the city with all of us.  It was a crazy little tour, it toured the town on wheels, then took a dive into the Delaware River.  Braeden was a bit nervous, but loved it.

The following day I took the kids to the Aquarium, it was a nice place to go (keeping the little ones on lockdown in the stroller)...I was outnumbered and knew better.  They were very happy and loved the hippos, birds, and fishies.  Braeden loved the hippos, they were so close!

The next day we headed to my friend Kristin's house for a few days.  The kids had a blast, so many toys to play with...like Toysrus.  Braeden had fun playing with Kourt.  When the kids were sleeping Kristin and I snuck off (monitors in hand) to the jacuzzi and relaxed a bit.  So much fun, we were all sad to leave our friends...even Brenna was saying "bye bye Istin" for about 5 minutes after we left.

Back in Philly, Ed was almost done with his conference and headed up to the Franklin Institute and Museum of Arts and Sciences which were two great museums for older kids (about 5 yrs and up).  The little ones still had a bit of fun too.  We came back to discover a parking ticket....we missed the time on the meter less than 5 minutes...there were 3 parking people just sitting there waiting.  The ironic thing was what made us late was Braeden lost his museum map in the wind, and he said he didn't want it anyway.  We told him we couldn't litter, so we sat through a few lights at the intersection while Ed retrieved our litter.  The ticket...well no brotherly love was felt there. Our only negative experience in Philly.

On to NYC, new hotel, lots of luggage....that is the worst thing about this was all the gear and not knowing where things were.  Anyway, we did a double decker bus tour with mean bus lady. (long story!)

We headed up to FAO Schwartz and the kids looked at all the cool stuff and danced on the big piano.  I think this must have been Liam's favorite vacation experience.  Then back in for the night. The following morning we took the bus tour down to the pier and took a Waterfront Cruise which the kids loved, we were able to see the Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge, and NY Skyline which were nice.  The kids danced on the dance floor until they lost their balance.

Took the bus up to Central Park and spent the afternoon there.  Brenna LOVED it, all the dogs, ducks, and birds...she was just sooo excited!!! This girl LOVES animals.
Next we were off to TRU Time Square.  We rode the ferris wheel and headed back to the hotel for a bit...did baths and pjs on the little ones and strolled through Time Square at nightime and Brenna fell asleep on the way back.

We headed home through Canada...much nicer drive, we stayed the night halfway in Niagara.  After the little ones were sleeping, Braeden and I headed down to see the falls at night, Braeden loved the rainbow lights that were there as we left....and finally my camera battery ran dead.

The next morning we headed on home.  The trip was a lot of fun, a bit of work.  Naps and bedtime were bad, they are used to going to bed on their own in their own bed.  They learned how to escape the pack and plays. It was nice to get home....one unexpected surprise though...the first night home Brenna came running out of her room.  She escaped the crib.  We planned to convert next weekend, but last night she climbed from her crib to the diaper table and got stuck.  So we may be starting the conversion tonight...wish us luck!

Will the bugs go away…please!!!

Liam and Brenna were finally on the mend this week…hooray!  We were able to get out and do some fun things.  Braeden had a few days off of school for parent teacher conferences. (which we got a good report....yeah!!!)  I was able to help work the book fair for a few hours before the conference too which was nice.

We took off for the Children's Museum for a Dr Suess, Cat in the Hat event.  We arrived and the parking lot was crazy with a few buses, I should have turned around and left then.  Two 2 yr olds are hard to manage there on a slow day, thankfully we were meeting friends and had a bit of help!

          Braeden, Megan, and Anna in their Horton Hears a Who elephant hats and sticks with the puff.

I had Liam's 2 yr old well visit, been doing them separately.  The doctor wants him to have a hearing test, I have been concerned about his speech for a while now, the dr mentioned tubes which has me a bit freaked out.  We have an appt with the ENT next week.

        Had to throw a picture of our Friday Lent meal this past week!

                   Who knew this guy would be so dangerous in the hands of a 2 year old!

                He went to infinity and beyond!!!

This weekend we went to Detroit for my sister's birthday to a place called Java Jungle.  A big indoor playground for the kids, after being there for a bit Braeden says he doesn't feel good, he is burning up.  Gave him most of Liam and Brenna's Tylenol (geez that big kid dose is almost the whole sample bottle) and got them some lunch before starting the long ride home.  The kids did have fun there, would be nice to head back when everyone is well....and through the week, the place was a bit overrun with parties.

Two days later Braeden still has a fever and is sick, I KNEW I shouldn't have made the comment last week that he never gets sick!!!   Okay....back to bleaching the house down and washing bedding....AGAIN!    

Liam and Brenna’s b-day

The kiddos are still sick, actually Liam has broken out in a rash that my mom is convinced chicken pox. 

The morning they woke and we took them to the basement that we have been remodeling, the majority of the play area is done...FINALLY!  It has been going on since September.  We are still working on the other "end".

For their b-day we canceled our plans to go to the Children’s Museum, I didn't want them to spread their ickies to everyone else.  We ended up meeting my parents up at Red Robin, they share a birthday with my dad, so they all got the singing, etc.  Liam loved it, he was clapping his hands, Brenna didn't care and Braeden hid under the table to make sure nobody thought it was his birthday.

The following day my parents and my sister and nephew Lochlan came over for cake and ice cream.

Loving a "new" old toy...Braeden got it when he was 2.

A big cheesy smile after he scaled the superyard and snuck and ate cake without anyone noticing.

  Gotta love Elmo!

Brenna loving the Rose Petal Cottage

Playing a combination of "knock knock" and "peekaboo"

Brenna wasn't happy that she couldn't grab the candles and see the destruction of Liam's cake before we found him digging in it.

Braeden showing Liam how the clubhouse worked.

Brenna playing with the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

Happy 2nd Birthday Liam and Brenna!!!

Not in love with these pics, but hey…two year olds are busy little people!

Way Back Wednesday

We have been working on our basement and everything came out of the basement and I was digging through, I found a scrapbook from several years ago.

I grew up traveling, camping for the most part.  The first time we stayed in a hotel was in Las Vegas when I was a teenager.  The only reason we got to was my sister got sick at the Grand Canyon and camping wasn’t going to work very well.  I remember how excited we were.  Anyway, the love of traveling has grown and I can’t wait to show the kids the world…although I will have to think about the camping part.

After high school I dropped out of college the week before it started and decided to go to travel school instead.  I went and became a travel agent, a job I loved…it supported my habit.  I worked there up until Braeden was born…actually used it to pay for college to become a teacher.  After becoming a teacher, I still kept the travel agent job as outside sales….until they started getting pickier about who could get discounts and how many hours you had to work, etc.

Anyway…here are some pics of our travels before kiddos!

Alaska cruise at Glacier Bay

White water rafting in Juneau

Gondola in Venice

Skiing or should I say FALLING in the Alps….btw, skiing is scary when the information on which lift goes where is in another language…you don’t know where its going to take you!

Wish I had a better camera back then!

The koala looks scared of me!

New Zealand….where sheep outnumber people 10-1.

Bungee in New Zealand….okay I was too chicken, but Ed did it, I watched….very scary!

Great Barrier Reef….so pretty, I would love to go back there someday.  I even got my courage up to snorkel…I almost drown as a child, so that was a big one for me.

 Ed scuba diving at Great Barrier Reef

Oh we have this one hanging and EVERYONE tells Ed they LOVE the mustache, lol!!!!  Oh yeah…this is in Maui!

This is one of the few black sand beaches on Maui, we found it on the crazy drive to Hana, which made me VERY carsick….loops curves, bridges, and we got mangoed by some local kids, no dents, thank goodness, but scared the crap out of us.

Toga Party, Sandals Dunn’s River, Jamaica, out wonderful honeymoon!

Dunn’’s River

  Aruba…our last hurrah before kids, I got pg with Braeden a few weeks later.      

Naughty and Naughtier

I know several of you have seen this.  My little monkeys cracked me up this week, I haven’t had a giggle like this in awhile, heck its been a few days and I am still cracking up when I see it.

I was in the kitchen when I heard “hewlp” and I go to see Liam stuck because he is climbing where he shouldn’t have been…..and then Brenna pulls his pants down and traps him. 

Wait until she learns to give wedgies!