Jellystone

This year we took our first family vacation.  We packed up the kids and headed to Jellystone for a few days of camping and fun.

We had a great time grilling up our food and eating outside.

Claire and Oliver a great time playing together the whole trip. 

Jellystone was so fun!  They had soo much to do there!  Not only was there a spray park with water slides but there was also a beach and a pool.  And on top of that, there was all kinds of events for the kids to do.

In the evenings they had a "Hey, Hey, Hey Ride".  It was super cute.  The trailer rode around the park and sang camp songs, it was great.  Claire was so excited to see that Boo Boo was going to join us on our ride (even though she was a little let down that Yogi wasn't going).

 This was her face when I let her know that Yogi wasn't coming.

Oliver had a quick drink while we waited in line for the "Hey Ride".

Then Oliver practiced his walking.

And then finally it was time to go!  And no Oliver is not crying in this picture.  He is laughing because he LOVED Boo Boo.

He would laugh really loud and reach out for him.....

And then get shy and flirty.  It was hilarious!!!

We all had a blast on the ride!!!

One of Claire's favorite things to do was to go to the big pool to swim and have some snacks.

Oliver discovered juice boxes on our vacation.  He gets a little messy but he loves them!!

Seriously he loves them.

Oliver also discovered whole pieces of watermelon.  As you can see, he really enjoyed it.  Have I mentioned that Oliver moans the entire time that he eats?  It is hilarious!

Mmmmmm......mmmmmmmmm....mmmmm!!

Mmmmmm.....mmmmmmm....mmmmmm!!

Claire loved this trip and was so excited the whole time we were there.  She did not stop talking from the minute she woke up until the minute she went to sleep.

 One of the nights there was a Caribbean band.  It was so fun to listen to the music and dance.

My family.

Claire went up to do the limbo while Oliver and I cheered her on.

My man givin' me some smooches.

Claire loved doing the limbo.  She had a few tricks up her sleeve.

Work smart not hard.

After the limbo we walked up to get some ice cream.

Which Oliver enjoyed.

And so did Claire.

Then Claire burnt off some of that sugar by running around on the playground.

Then Daddy caved and bought Claire a Cindy Bear Doll to remember this great trip.

My boys.

On our walk back from getting ice cream Claire saw the "Hey, Hey, Hey Ride" and was NOT happy when she saw that Yogi was on this ride.  She really wanted to see him!  She just kept saying "But we only got Boo Boo"  and I couldn't have that!!

So I pushed my baby up front in that line.

And she got to meet Yogi!  I didn't get a shot of it but, he gave her a big hug and she was thrilled!

Mark even snuck Oliver over too!

On our last night, we let Claire stay up late and join us at the campfire.

 

Claire loved roasting marshmallows and watching the fire.

And of course, she just loved being with her Daddy!!

 Hands down...best family trip EVER!  We can't wait to go back next year!!!!

Tubbie Paints

For Claire's birthday Uncle Greg (who will sooo get his when he has children) bought her bathtub paints.  Uncle Greg buys the best gifts for Claire and Oliver.  Notice I said FOR CLAIRE AND OLIVER!  Not so much for Mom and Dad.  Some of his previous gifts have been the bathtub paints, Singamajigs, and the best yet A DRUM SET!  Like I said before, he will soooo get his when he has children (sorry Aunt Sue:)).  Anyway, Claire has been dying to use the paints.  So the other night I busted them out (of course on a night that Daddy was working).  As you can see, Oliver couldn't wait to touch it.

Then eat it.

So I finally set them up on the side of the tub.  If you look closely you can see that the paint is dripping down on to my floor.

This worked for a while.  That is until Oliver noticed the shaving cream.

I quickly removed the shaving cream and then Oliver noticed a new tub of paint. And no, no one is bleeding in the tub.  That is just the red paint. 

Yep, he almost got it.  It was at this point that I noticed the blue paint around his mouth and realized that maybe this should be a toy for Claire and Claire only. He was not happy with this decision but hey, what are ya gonna do.  So I started to clean everything up.  It was at this point that I realized the bathtub paint was in fact soap.  Sounds like a good idea right?  Yeah, it was...that is until I TRIED TO CLEAN IT UP AND THERE WAS SOAP SUDS EVERYWHERE!!

I finally got it all cleaned up (you can only imagine how long that took).  Then I refilled the bathtub for a regular bath.  The bathtub paint/soap made EVERYTHING slippery.  Poor Oliver usually walks along the edges of the tub but today he just kept sliding down.  It was hilarious!  Claire and I were laughing so hard we could barely help him!  So my overall rating on the bathtub paint......super messy, terrible to clean up, may blind your children and cause diarrhea, but SUPER FUN AND WORTH EVERY SECOND OF THE MADNESS!!!! 

PS I secretly love Uncle Greg and Aunt Sue's gifts.  We always have a blast playing with them.  

But shhhhhh don't tell him that :)

Fourth Of July

Every year for the fourth of July Mark and I go to our local parade and fireworks display.  This year our friends joined us and we had a blast!!

Nick, Jessica, and Giada joined us for a nice dinner and then we walked up to the parade.  

The girls had a blast and loved all the candy from the parade!

We got a pretty good spot this year too.

Oliver loved the parade.  That is until the firetrucks came.  I don't think the sound bothered him as much as the scare of the initial sound.

The girls didn't really love the firetrucks either.

 After the parade Nick got us a great spot for the fireworks.  Where we all proceeded to eat our weight in kettle corn!!

Oliver loved hanging out and playing with the glow sticks.

The girls loved the fireworks.

Oliver was a little nervous at first but once he got used to the sound he loved them!

 Then we packed up some tired kids and walked home.  Giada loved this part because had to walk through some woods at night!  Next time we decided that Uncle Nick is gonna bring us a fancy flashlight and it will be even more fun!!!

Claire's Fourth Birthday Party

This year Claire wanted a "friend birthday party" so we decided to have two parties. A family party at home to celebrate her special day and a friend party later in the month.  

Every year I let Claire choose her own cake.  This year she wanted an Elmo cake with a Dorothy on it and this is what we found.  I also let her choose what she wanted written on it.  When I asked her I was thinking more along the lines of "Happy Birthday Claire" or "Happy 4th Birthday Claire".  Instead she responded "Happy Birthday Claire. I love you Oliver".  I tried to explain to her that this is HER cake and Oliver already had his birthday so this day could be all about her.  But Claire was set on the fact that HER birthday cake was going to say "I love you Oliver" and if that was what my baby wanted then that was what she going to get!

I really wanted the pool to be set up so that the kids could swim in it but we couldn't find the air pump.  So Andrew came to the rescue (using Aunt Diane's idea) and filled the pool by using the hair dryer.

Claire enjoyed lounging by the pool with Great Grandma.

Grandma got Oliver ready to swim!

The kids had a blast splashing away.

Oliver loved being in the water too!

THE BIRTHDAY GIRL!!

The kids had a blast with Uncle Greg.  He blew bubbles for the kids and they went to chase them. 

But before they could catch the bubbles they had to make a fish face.  So here is Claire and Owen waiting for those bubbles with their fish faces.

They were soooo ready!

They worked so hard to get those bubbles!

Close up on that fish face.

Oliver had fun hanging with his godmother.

Claire blowing out her fourth birthday cake candles.  I still cannot believe that my baby is FOUR!

Claire and Oliver.  

Even though it was Claire's birthday she made sure that this day involved Oliver as much as possible.

Oliver loved eating the  ice cream and cake. But the ice cream was a little too cold for him to eat with his hands and he couldn't really work the spoon so....

he ditched them both and just used his mouth.

The fam.

Claire just loves her baby brother!

After a great dinner and cake and ice cream it was time for PRESENTS!!

 Then we had our own little Partridge Family.  Claire was a little nervous to sing in front of everyone at first but after she went to her room and practiced, she was ready to go!

A few days after Claire's family party, she had her party at school.  She was very excited to celebrate at school because "on your birthday Miss Arlene lets you sit in the teacher chair."

And of course Claire picked on her bffs Olivia to help her pass out the birthday treats.

So now we just have one party left!  Claire's friend party!!  That post will be coming up soon!!!

Catch Up

 I know, I know!!  I said I was going to blog everyday.  But, we have been so busy!!  It has really been difficult to find the time to blog.  But, I have been taking a ton of pictures so I am going to catch up on the major things that we have done.  I wanted to edit a few of them but the longer I wait, the more behind that I get. So the next few posts are going to be the first few things that we did.

Here are a few pictures I snapped of the kids while they were sleeping the night before our official first day of summer vacation.  I love to go in and peek at my kids sleeping at night.  They look so peaceful and relaxed.

Oliver was smiling in his sleep.  

I swear he knows that tomorrow is the first day of summer vacation!!

Rest up now Mama! 

This summer is going to be GREAT!!!

Swingin'

High: For the past two days we have been hanging out in the backyard :)
Low: I haven't gotten too much done around the house because I have been out in the backyard with the kids :( 

Oliver got a new swing for his birthday and we finally hung it up.  Now the kids both have a swing to play on in the back yard.  Yesterday we tested it out and the kids had a blast.

They didn't even mind when we stopped pushing them.  They just kind of hung around.

Oliver loves his swing.  He hangs onto the rope the whole time (with white knuckles) but he laughs and loves it just the same.

So this morning there was no question about what we were going to do after breakfast.  I will say this though, getting OUT of the house even just go in the backyard takes some time.  By the time both kids were fed, cleaned up, sunscreened, and dressed I was sure it had to be naptime already!  But it wasn't and we got to spend a lot of time outside.  Claire has quite the set up these days and now Oliver just wants to either be in his swing or just open and close the door on the house.  It is perfect.

I love this kid!

Claire loves to push her brother on his swing too.  And of course Pete is never too far behind. I have a feeling we will be spending a lot of time in the yard this summer, and I can't wait!!