Angry Birds Star Wars... the new summer must-have

The sleep wars continue around here. Everyone tells me that one day I won't be able to get them out of the bed during the teenage years. I don't have to worry about that, though, because I will be 80 years old by then. I am aging at twice the normal rate from LACK OF SLEEP. I think I am getting paid back for all the times I told people my babies were "such good sleepers". Note to self... keep mouth shut. It is highly unusual for every single person in our house to sleep all the way through the night. Highly. Even Fran has decided to join in the fun. She now needs to be "retucked" if she wakes up during the night. She says she sees shadows in the hall. Oh.my.word. So, now we have returned to all out, not trying to disguise it, bribery with Rush. If he stays in his room for five nights in a row, he gets a pack of Angry Bird Star Wars little things. They come with two in a pack, and he loves them. So much so that he is not coming out of his room.

We never said anything about staying the in bed, though. I probably should have added that to the bargain. Sleep in your bed.

Summer Fun... well, mostly fun

We are off to a great start with our Summer 2013! We have several fun things planned. We started off the summer with a weekend at the lake. We had lots of fun, but some plumbing issues at the lake house sent us back home sooner than we planned. It wasn't before a beautiful sunset boat ride and a fun day of playing in the water. We also got to spend time with our sweet Kate. They are all at a fun age to play together really well. It is hard to notice the 18 month age difference at this point. They love being together!


Frannie packed her own things for the trip to the lake. This was the day before we left. Think she was looking forward to it?





Frannie participated in the cheer camp that is hosted by our local high school. She really enjoyed it! My favorite thing she learned at camp? A cheer that says, "... and we can beat those turkeys any 'ol time." Except she says, "... and we can eat those turkeys any 'ol time." When I told her it was probably beat rather than eat, she was quite adamant that she was correct. I guess cheerleaders really like to eat turkey. ;-)


We also went a reception for some sweet friends that got married last weekend.

Rush also tried soccer camp this summer. It didn't go well. There were tears and some sobbing. To make a long story short, it was pretty much a disaster, but he looked really cute in his gear, didn't he? He said he might try it again when he is five. Stay tuned...


Even though soccer camp didn't go as planned, we did get to hang out with my best friend, Michelle. She comes into town each summer and stays with us for a couple of days while her boys are participating in the university's football camp. We even got to enjoy lunch with Zack and Carter before they left to go back home. The kids were completely SPOILED the whole time she was here.




We've also been to the new Dunkin' Donuts.. twice. And that just kind of makes everything better.



And yes, Frannie definitely got a new short hairstyle! We all LOVE it!! I think it looks so cute on her! We may keep it that way for a while. :-)

Saying Good-bye to Sue Sue

We have had a great time easing into our new summer routine. We have already been having lots of fun! Before we could say hello to summer, though, we had to say good-bye to a really important part of our lives for the last four years. The kiddos finished up their last year with Sue Sue, the home daycare provider we have loved for the last four years. She has been wonderful to our family, and we will miss her so much! Yes, I cried, but who is surprised?
These are a few pictures from their first day at Sue Sue's and a few of the morning before we left to go to Sue Sue's for the first time. I LOVE the one of Frannie crying and Rush just chilling beside her. Pretty much the way they still are today. Although she doesn't cry all the time, she's definitely a "show all your emotions" kind of gal, and Rush is still laid back for the most part.


Last day at Sue Sue's...

Air Show and Mother's Day... and a little Gymnasticser

We had lots of fun last weekend! On Saturday, we went to the local air show and we had a ball! The kids liked seeing the planes and they also had Touch-a-Truck... always a hit. And to top it all off.. they had Chick-fil-a for sale, so we had that for lunch. I can feel us beginning to move into a fun phase because we are no longer "tied to naptime". We stayed as long as we wanted, and
although there are still naps around here, we don't head into the land of no return if they miss one. :-)
Don't you love these two excited faces? This is when we pulled into the gas station and said for them to look out the window. Maybe they would see some planes. Fran said, "This is IT? We come here all the time!" Ha! They were not amused.

For Mother's Day, we headed to the lake. We got to ride (and drive) Papa's new boat for the first time. We had lots of fun with our family!

This past Monday, Frannie started her new gymnastics class. She has been REALLLLY looking forward to it. "Gymnastics" was literally the first word out of her mouth on Monday morning. She calls herself a "gymnastics-er"... like a teacher is one who teaches... a gymnasticser is one who does gymnastics. She LOVED it! I think she may like it better than her ballet class, but we will see how things go as the weeks go by. Whatever she wants to do is fine with me.

My gymnasticser

Toomer's Corner, Etc.

Phil was a jet set traveler during April. He travels some for work, but he has never had two major trips in one month. I went with him to Boston, of course, and then he had another trip a week later to Chicago. While he was in Chicago, I took the kids to enjoy a bittersweet time at Toomer's Corner. A long standing tradition for Auburn was coming to an end, so we went to be a part of the celebration. We didn't go on the actual Saturday of the celebration because I am not sure I could have manned the kids on my own. We went the next day, and the crowd was still pretty big, but nothing like the actual day. My two had never rolled Toomer's so this as their first and last rolling.

Aerial view of the crowd on Saturday




We also went to a sweet friend's birthday party. The twins love their Bailey and had so much fun at her party at Shakey's. It was their first time in a "game room" and they loved it!


Note to self: Tell Rush's teacher next year that he will be a willing participant in any learning game or activity as long as she incorporates Star Wars characters. This is from our game of Chutes and Ladders.. with Luke and Yoda as the players. :-)

Speaking of teachers and learning, Phil and I found out right before we left to go to Boston that the kids had been accepted into the preschool that we want them to attend next year. It feels weird to say the were "accepted" into a school because we just aren't the kind of people that worry about being accepted into preschools. Ha! But, they did have to a little interview. They just wanted to be sure they would be a good fit for the program. I am excited about it because I think it will be a good introduction to school for them. It will be a nice transition from their home daycare environment to big school. They will do preschool for half a day and then go to their after school program for the afternoon until I can get there to pick them up after work. This is our last month at Sue Sue's and I am trying to prepare myself for the end of this era. It won't be easy for the kids (or me) because we have so loved our time with Sue Sue. She has kept them since they were 11 months old. :-(

At the end of April, our county had its big Relay for Life event for the American Cancer Society. My friend Kristen and I are the co-captains for our school's team. It was beautiful this year around the courthouse square. The fountain was purple for the event! :-) We always have so much fun with our faculty because we don't have much time to sit around and chat. (We walk, too!) It was a great night!



Finally, the kids got to hold Gram's new puppy, Lucy, last night. They LOVED it! She is the cutest little yorkie. So sweet! She was loving on the kids and giving them kisses.


P.S. I am ready for summer. That is all.

Boston

This post sure has taken on a different meaning now. Last weekend when I was preparing to post my pictures from our trip, I had no idea how different that city would be by this weekend. Exactly one week prior to the bombing at the end of the marathon, our really fun and entertaining tour bus driver, "Crackerjack", pointed out the finish line for the marathon for everyone riding on our bus. He talked about the day with such excitement. It is still a bit hard to believe all that has happened since then. And I'm not even from Boston. I can't imagine what they are feeling there. Oddly enough, though, all of the tragic events that happened that day have made me love my trip and the city of Boston even more. It is a wonderful place that I think EVERYONE should visit. I am already planning the trip in my head when we take Rush and SF back one day. It is the perfect trip for the year they start their American History study... right now that is 5th grade. So a few years away.. but a girl can still plan. :-)

Something different that I did on this trip was to take a journal with me. Like the kind that you write in with a pen. A travel journal. Every night when we returned to our hotel, I wrote down every detail I could remember. Even the little things. I always love to think about trips I have taken in the past, but a lot of times, I don't remember as many details as I wish that I could. Phil and I went to Europe for our honeymoon. I remember a lot from the trip, but honestly, I now have a lot of pictures of castles that I don't know the names of anymore. I plan to take my green journal with me on every trip from now on. Even when no one else in the world is using pens and paper anymore because electronics have taken over the world, I am going to be the grandma who STILL USES PENS!!! AND PAPER!!! My grandkids will laugh at me and I won't care because one day they will read my travel journal and wish they had one!!! And maybe they will write one. Can you tell I have had two cups of the strong "size" out of the Keurig this morning? Thoughts are racing!!

So now for my Boston pictures:


This was the view from our Boston hotel room. Yes, the window stayed open all the time. It was BEAUTIFUL!! We also stayed in Cambridge for two nights. It is a beautiful place as well, but we didn't have this view at that hotel.


Me on steps of a random building on Harvard's campus...

This is Phil sitting on the steps of a random building on Harvard's campus. He was totally against this picture by the way, but he finally played along. I thought it was funny, but we definitely looked like goofy tourists. Who cares? I'm sure Phil's recently purchased Harvard toboggan had nothing to do with our touristy look. Did I mention it was FREEZING cold in April in Boston? Apparently, this is normal.


Phil's favorite part (I liked it, too.)was touring Fenway Park.


I traveled around one day on my own while Phil had to work. I visited a burial ground (what they call them in Boston instead of cemetery or graveyard). It had the famous graves of Paul Revere, John Hancock, Samuel Adams, those killed in the Boston Massacre, and Mother Goose.


This is the oldest hotel in the United States and the place where JFK proposed to Jackie.
I love this stuff!


This is the Paul Revere House, the cobblestone street leading up to it, and the steeple of the Old North Church (One if by land.. two if by sea...). You weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but I did go inside. I thought it was interesting that Paul Revere didn't live in this house until it was 90 years old. So it was already a "historical" house before his family moved in. Lots of other families lived there before and after his family. He was just an everyday guy who ended up being really famous just for being loyal, patriotic, and brave.

I spent some of my day walking through the Boston Commons and Boston Public Gardens. They are beautiful common spaces that they enjoy since they don't have yards, etc. to use for outdoor fun. It was fun to pretend to be part of the the real Bostonians for a little while. There were a bunch of people with cameras around their necks like me, though. I also visited the Boston Tea Party replica ships. It would be GREAT for kids. I wished that I hadn't really spent an hour doing that because it was all replica stuff, but the kids on our tour got "throw tea" into the harbour, and the "actors" were funny and authentic with their accents, etc. I had lunch on my own at the Quincy Market. I got a lobster roll and some clam chowder. It was delcious! Even though I paid $20 for my lunch and ate it at a common table with a bunch of people I didn't know. Definitely different... but fun. I really liked riding the bus around because the tour guides were all great. They had so many interesting facts to share about random parts of the city.



Early on the morning that I toured on my own, I met two girls from Louisiana that were at Phil's conference. They were waiting for the tour bus in front of our hotel, too. They were from Louisiana, and their southern accents were a bit of a relief to be honest. I think I was asked where I was from about 15 times a day. Never in a rude way... just pretty sure they could tell I wasn't a native. One waitress at Legal Seafoods asked in my favorite way..."So, are you guys visiting from somewhere..... long pause...far away?" Yes. How can you tell? Anyway, I met my new friends from Louisiana again on the last leg of my tour that day. So we all went into Cheers and had a beer together. I enjoyed talking with them and was glad not to be the sad girl drinking a beer alone in a bar. Although for the record, I would have done that, too. :-)And, no, they didn't make fun of me for taking a picture of my beer glass with my cell phone. They took one of their glasses, too, of course. Even though I wish Phil had been with me that day, I had fun!

Phil and I ended my last night in the North End. It had been highly recommended for its Italian restaurants. We ate at this place:

It was a for real Italian resaurant. You could tell it was family-owned, and it was delcious. I had homemade pasta and marinara with meatballs. The portions were HUGE, and I ate about 1/4 of mine and felt like I wouldn't be able to walk. I still managed to make it to Mike's Pastries, though. We got canoli (not sure if that is singular or plural). But we got two of them. Phil doesn't really like cream-filled sweets, but he managed to help me eat these when we got back to the hotel. :-) They were delicious! I finished them for breakfast this morning. At that point, after all that I had eaten, canoli for breakfast was the least of my calorie worries. It was all well worth it!

I was sad to leave. I flew back home by myself because Phil had to stay an extra day. I have flown lots of times but never by myself. I survived, though!

Boston is one of my favorite cities I have ever visited. It may be my favorite. I love NYC, but it even gives NYC a run for its money. It is beautiful and big while still being quaint and historic. It has a European feel to me...probably because the buildings are so old. I will definitely look forward to going back again.