Monday, October 17, 2011

Happy Birthday Frankie

Last Saturday was my godson Frankie's first birthday party!  I can't believe he is already a year old!!!
The birthday boy and his Daddy! 
Frankie had a great time at his party!
Oliver found this truck and was happy as a clam to play with this the whole time!  I am thinking that I need to get one of these trucks because Oliver absolutely LOVED it!!
Claire and Giada were front and center to sing happy birthday to their buddy Frankie!

Happy birthday Frankie!!!!

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

One More Day At The Beach!

Yesterday we spent one last day at the beach.  The weather was a little cool but it was still beautiful out.  Yesterday was one of those days that I will always remember.  We had the most relaxing time just playing in the sand for a few hours.  It was perfection.
The lake was like glass.  It was so calm and quiet.
 The kids had a blast looking for rocks in the water.  It is amazing what a difference a few months make.  Oliver was super into playing in the sand and finding rocks to drop in the water.  He was very busy the whole time we were there.
Oliver couldn't get enough of the rocks.  He loved picking them up, examining them, and then letting them PLOP into the water.  When the rocks would hit the water he would crack up!
I love this picture. It looks like Oliver is hiking up his pants while explaining the rock situation to Mark.
Claire had fun learning how to skip rocks.  She did pretty well too!  She was so proud when she got the rocks to skip a few times.
Oliver enjoyed hanging out with Grandma.  She was a trooper and sat with him so patiently for like an hour and a half while he picked up almost every rock and dropped it into the water over and over and over again. Her poor fanny was covered in sand and cold water.  What WON'T Grandma do for her grandbabies?!?!
Me and my favorite little girl in the whole wide world.
We had fun just being silly together.
And smoochin'.
Daddy set up this game and we all took turns throwing rocks at it to knock it down.  Surprisingly enough we all knocked it down!  Even Claire!!  It was super fun.
 
Claire did her own hair today, doesn't it look beautiful?!  I just love her and her hot mama style.
Oliver loved the beach today.  He loved playing in the sand and exploring EVERYTHING around him.

Yesterday was one of those days that I will never forget.  Ya know that old saying, "You never know when you are making a memory."?  Well, yesterday I knew....I knew that our time at the beach was going to be a memory.....and a great one at that. 

Monday, October 10, 2011

Nana's Birthday!

Today we celebrated Nana's birthday.  Nana and Papa took us to Hidden Valley Animal Adventures.  Last year they took Claire but Oliver was too little so we stayed home with him.  This year we all went and it was AWESOME!
This place was gorgeous!!  It is 63 acres and the animals live there and roam the land.  The owner set up some trolleys to take people around the land and feed the animals. 
 As soon as we got there, Oliver was amazed by this huge bear!
They had a really great hay maze for the kids.  
Claire loved showing Oliver how to get through the maze.
It was really sweet to see them walk through the maze together.
 We had a nice lunch while we waited for the trolley.
Claire had fun playing antler ring toss while we finished our food.
 This whole place was just gorgeous!
 While we waited in line there was this truck.  Thank God this truck was there because Oliver fell in love with it!!
He just loved looking at it....
touching it....
and then telling us all about it!
Then when he was done with the truck, he had a seat and drank some juice while we waited. 
Finally, our trolley came and we were ready to see some animals!
I couldn't believe it, these animals really came RIGHT up to the trolley!!
I really thought that Oliver would get bored after a while, but he LOVED it!!!
These gigantic animals were so friendly and sweet!
Oliver thought they were just awesome!  He didn't even get scared!  He kept waving and yelling "HI" at every new animal we saw!
Claire loved feeding the animals.  She went last year so she was an old pro and told us everything that we had to do.
The ride was an hour long and I really thought that he was going to get bored and antsy.  But he was so busy watching the animals and yelling to them that he didn't get bored once.
After his final "HI"....
he started to look like this....
then like this....
then like this...
this....
and finally this.
While Oliver was sleeping the trolley ride ended and we headed to the petting zoo.  Claire loved this part.  We just walked around with the animals hanging out and feed them.
This goat was hilarious!  Claire kept calling him Wilbur and he followed us everywhere!
Claire really loved the animals.  She was so kind to them and gentle.
Look who's back...it's Wilbur!
On the way home we stopped for gourds, apples, and cornstalks.  It was a tight squeeze home, but we made it!
Then it was time for Nana's birthday dinner and cake.  Yes, I made the cake.  I am not sure what happened but I did my best.  It may look a mess, but it was delicious!!!
The kids loved singing happy birthday!!
I swear they are not laughing at my cake.
Oliver loved wishing Nana a happy birthday!


It was a great day!!  Happy birthday Nana!!  We love you!!!