Lil' E says....

I have been saying this phrase for quite a few years now and it even has it's own segment in a movie I love starring none other than Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant.....but never in a million years did I think I would say it often enough that Esther would pick up on it.
We were playing with playdoh today & as she tried to use a rolling pin to roll out the playdoh, it got squeezed out too quick & landed on the floor, where Esther used the term "whoppie daisy". I'm pretty sure she meant "whopsie daisy", but either way, it was one of the cutest things she has said to date.

We survived!!!

Well we finally took the kids camping for the first time (with my parents & their tent trailer) over Father's Day weekend. We weren't sure they were ready, and honestly, I am still not sure, but it was 3 days we will never forget. After the disaster of the first night (Gideon has never slept with me & not sleeping in his crib or portacrib was a new & odd thing for him & it didn't go over well, so I got maybe an hour sleep), we decided we HAD to stay one more night...we were NOT going to be defeated. And the second night went GREAT (we were able to fit the portacrib in the tent trailer. It was crowded, but worked). The kids, of course, got dirty beyond belief but they had a blast!!! And I love being outside, away from it all with no cell phones, no tv, no internet and just enjoying God's creation. Something that I might want kids to experience and appreciate. Looking forward to many, many, MANY more trips. Hey, we now know we can do it.
Our home sweet home for 3 days.


What's with boys & fire?

Smores!!!!

Shooting the breeze with Appa.

Reading stories by the fire. This particular book was given to Steve by the kids for Father's Day.

Walking around the campground. I loved how it was so natural & not just a flat piece of land. You really felt away from it all. So nice & quiet.

Strawberry Creek.



Some of the noisey residents.

My guys.

Me & my girl.

Opps.

"Fishing".

Making popcorn,

and making a mess.

When you stay at a campground with showers that cost 25 cents for 2 minutes of water, you have to improvise.


A typical morning around "the camp".

On the way into the women's restroom, there was a bird's nest on the top of the door. There was a sign making people aware of it, but you couldn't NOT notice it. Those little bird's would chirp & chirp. So, Esther (the little animal lover she is) had to be picked up to look at the birds on the way in the bathroom & the way out....definitely a workout.

A close up of the nest. It held 3 baby blue jays.

The kids found a caterpillar at the campground & he was the highlight of the day.


We went to Hurkey Creek for a few hours before lunch & the kids really enjoyed playing in the creek...FREEZING water though.

We wore them out. (the drive on the way home.)

Wordless Wednesday

Finally!!!!

Gideon finally said "momma". He only said it once, but HE SAID IT!! My heart ached for this day. Day after day of hearing "da da", Doc, dog, cat, book, light, look, me, E, cup...needless to say, it was killing me.
So today, Esther wasn't around, and I think Gideon just needed some silence. :)

Wordless Wednesday

Hairs of the Dog

So we have been talking about it for a few summers now, but we finally did it this year. Shaved Liberty. It was a HUGE process. Steve spend many hours shaving down her long hair and then the under coat. It was more work than we thought. But hopefully our "first kid" will be a lot cooler this year.

My sweet girl was SO good. What a trooper.

And we weren't even done yet.

The final product.

San Diego

So we had our annual little getaway to San Diego. Always fun to get out of town and do some "free stuff".

If you are down in San Diego (near the Shelter Island area) you have to check out the Corvette Diner. So fun. Crazy get ups, great music and the waiters and waitresses sing and dance. The kids had a blast.....oh, and YUMMY food.



I LOVE having passes to the SD Zoo and the Wild Animal Park. We can go anytime we want. So when we were down in SD, we just went for a few hours before naptime. We hadn't checked out the new Polar Bear Plunge...and it didn't disappoint.




We just happened upon the giraffes at feeding time and WHAT a treat. They were SO close. The kids were in awe. It was definately worth our little trip.




Our "free" day at Sea World.
Always hit the Sesame Street Play Area first....the kids couldn't get enough.



The penguins were handdowns the favorite.

The kids with the big guy.