Monthly Archives: May 2018

Baltimore

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Saturday morning we went to Baltimore to spend much of the weekend in Baltimore. Saturday the weather was still rainy and wet much of the day so we spent five hours in The Children’s Museum. The girls had a great time exploring, watching the magician/physics show, playing soccer, participating in a stage show, making a clay craft, and playing in the massive play/slide area. Saturday evening we had about an hour to relax in the condo before our dinner reservations. We said hello to Mike and Susan since they were also in Baltimore for the night. The girls had a great time with Susan! We walked to dinner in Federal Hill, a short ten minute walk, and made a vow to walk there instead of drive in the future. Dinner at Sobe was good and the girls were really well behaved.Followed by a little fro yo….

Sunday morning we walked to Federal Hill again and had a delicious breakfast at Blue Moon Cafe. It was so good and one of the few restaurants we would go back a second time! I wanted a cup of coffee for the walk back so we stopped in a donut shop across the street and while I am not the biggest donut fan, these donuts looked AMAZING! I let the girls get one and told them it would be their lunch! Sometimes it is fun to live on the edge a little and eat treats for a meal!

We walked along the harbor path to the inner harbor, which was great. It was about a half hour walk to the aquarium. The aquarium itself is just so so in my opinion. The dolphin shoe is the highlight and sadly the show we saw was beyond disappointing.  Avery used her monocular to improve her viewing experience! We enjoyed the walk back “home” to the condo and stopped at a coffee shop, Federal Hill playground, and the gift shop of the Art Museum on the way home. We had a great time and can’t wait for our next trip back.

Harper VPC Spring Concert

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Harper’s VPC Spring Concert was today. It’s hard to believe that after four consecutive years of our girls participating in this end of the year event, this will be our last one. I teared up a few times. VPC has been a wonderful home for us. The teachers and administration have really been great and my girls especially will miss them. Harper’s last week of pre-school is also the realization that I no longer have a toddler…I haven’t had one in some time truth be told. I’m going to hold on to each day that Harper is still four because four sounds so much younger than five!

Harper did great. She also received her first Bible, following in the footsteps of her older sisters. My mom, Jana, Justin and I were all there and I think the ratio of four adults to one kid was something she could get used to. Happy Pre-school graduation my sweet Harper!

Mother’s Day 2018

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I woke to breakfast in bed.

Followed by presents from the girls and Justin including a homemade card or poem from each girl.

Followed by an afternoon at Stone Tower Winery….where we ran into the Hansens and had a great time. The girls had a great time playing with one another and capturing the afternoon.

Followed by a quick stop at Grandma Adele’s.

And then a delicious dinner at home.

I even had six hours to myself between Saturday and Sunday and treated myself to a mani, pedi, a solo shopping visit to Whole Foods, and a morning in the house by myself to do lunch/dinner prep for the next day and get a solid hour long workout in.

And the girls were really well behaved and friendly with one another….which was probably the biggest highlight of Mother’s Day. I’m so fortunate these girls made me a mama.  And while some days they can drive me crazy, I simply love and adore them.

Date Night with Harper

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(Guest Blog from Justin)

Avery and Emerson had their first camping trip with the Daisies planned for weeks and Stefanie drew the short straw to chaperone.   As soon as Harper found out that she and daddy would be by ourselves that night she starting planning our ‘Date Night.’   Like most things with our family – it all revolved around food.  She wanted (demanded) that I make her favorite macaroni and cheese – Kraft Mac & Cheese and that we have a donut for breakfast.
I decided to spice it up a little bit and actually take her to 7-11 to get her first slurpee, and I found myself giving her a tour of the place like it was an Open House.  It reminded me of all the times I had gone in to 7-11 with my own mom and dad as a kid (we did it all the time). We had a to do a few errands after that, but she proudly drank her slurpee everywhere we went.   When I showed her the spoon at the end of the straw – you would have thought I had dropped a unicorn in her lap, she was super shocked and excited.
The only time we eat in front of the TV is for the Super Bowl, but I made an exception to eat our Kraft Mac & Cheese in there while watching Despicable Me 3!!
Ms. Harper was getting so tired, we moved the show upstairs so we were closer to bed.  She had asked to sleep with me as much as I hate doing it – I let her.  Letting her sleep in my bed meant that for most of the night,  I would be basically on top of my night stand as she takes up the whole bed.
After breakfast she helped me make granola before riding her bike up and down the street in her pajamas.  I can confidently say that even with all the anticipation – I think she had a great time!!

Daisy Camping

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Avery and Emerson had their first campout.  It was with their Daisy Troop 50020 and they had a great time with their friends. Fortunately for all of us, we eased into things….we slept in a lodge (granted it was on the floor and in over 80 degree heat) but that enabled us to not have to sleep on wood floorboards and use the indoor bathrooms in the middle of the night. The bathrooms were kind of gross and that would be my first thought if I entered a similar one in a restaurant, but considering I thought the campsite only had the outdoor bathroom that we previously used in the past, the indoor bathroom was beautiful.  Perspective is a funny thing sometimes.

The girls enjoyed exploring the grounds, doing their “kapers”, eating grilled hot dogs for dinner, playing games, doing activities, singing songs by the campfire, and eating smores.  Most of all, they enjoyed being with their friends and the sense of self the event gave them. Avery told me a few times that she made a new friend.  Her specific words were that she was “embarrassed to a new friend.”  I said you mean introduced, to which she replied “yes”.  This morning I overheard Emerson tell her friends that she needed a mop to clean the bathroom floors with such eagerness, that I couldn’t help but to smile.

When we got home, Avery and Emerson insisted on cleaning the house.  Harper followed and the three of them were cleaning everything from the kitchen floors to the bathroom floors with Huggies wipes.  Justin asked what exactly happened to them while camping!

Here are a few pictures from the evening and morning after.

Oh yeah, and Emerson lost her third tooth the morning after camping out.

Meanwhile, Harper and Daddy had their own date night, which Harper had been seriously looking forward to for a week!  It deserves it’s own blog and I’m trying to get Justin to do another guest blog!