Why We Love Daddy

He sings us sweet songs...

He gives us fun rides...

He makes us sick beds...

And awesome places to hide...

Love you Daddy!!!

(someone got a new hair-do)

ELEFUN!!!!

I've really wanted to start having a family night. I know the benefits are countless, but we never seem to get ourselves together to do it. Tonight we had a spontaneous game night, thanks to Lily's prompting. Actually it was just one game, Elefun!


For those who've never had the pleasure of playing Elefun, it's quite easy. There is an elephant who's nose extends toward the ceiling as a fan blows air up. Inside the elephant you put little 'butterflies' which travel up the trunk with the air and shoot out of the top. The goal is to catch as many butterflies before they hit the ground. Normally everyone has a net and everyone goes at it, but because we could only find one net, each person went by themselves.


Lily has had this game for awhile and it's always been a bit of a challenge for her. But today she was doing great. I think her top score was 4, GO LILY!! Bella was probably the smartest of us all -or just a big cheater head. She tried twice to catch them in the air but realized they just fall to the floor and it's much easier to pick them up and put them in her net. Clearly she got the most.

We all had fun taking turns and trying to beat our old scores. Until Tom's competitive side showed up. Tom's turn came and he got 8, compared to Lily's 4 he was doing awesome. Then my turn came. I was going along catching most of them, when I noticed Tom had 4 butterflies tucked under his legs...he claims it was an accident. My turn ended and I went to count how many I got and Tom says, "Wait there's one more" so I reach out my net to catch it and he hits the bottom up knocking all my butterflies to the ground. Wow! I mean I remember him being merciless at a youth group four squares game, but Elefun?! All I could think to do in responds was to put the net on his head and call him a sore loser, which got repeated by our little parrots several more times that night. I never did get another turn. Of course Tom's next turn he got 13 and claim champion! I will insist on a rematch...maybe once the kids are sleeping.


Here are a few pictures...



I know we actually got a good family shot!!
This may be our Christmas card :)





Lily found a few other uses for the trunk...Princess Hat.



...Arm Band.



Bella having ELEFUN!!!

Visiting Grandma and Pap

Another vacation came and went. I think our neighbors are tired of seeing an unmowed lawn. Tom went to NWMC a few weeks ago and as a way to break up the 10 days, I decided to visit his parents in PA for the last half. I dreaded the drive, 6 hours by myself with two kids-driving and entertaining at the same time. God blessed me greatly because it wasn't too bad. Thanks in large part to our new DVD player and a nice rest stop. There certainly were moments of crying, but overall it was good. We got to spend 3 full days with Grandma and Pap. Unfortunately 2 of those days it rained and I think the girls got alittle RV fever. But a beautiful Friday came and we packed in the activities. We went to an amusement park and the girls loved it. Lily rode her first roller coaster. She apparently is like me: a love/hate relationship with the roller coaster. She was very brave and actually wanted to ride it two times. Bella had a good time on all the rides as well. Yes I let her go on them, nervously allowing it. We went swimming in a heated pool and mommy and Grandma loved it. We tried to go swimming Thursday night, but a thunderstorm came threw and so Lily and Bella swam in the puddles-unfortunately there aren't any pictures. The girls had their first campfire, with marshmallows of course. We had a good time, but are glad to be home with DADDY!!



Here are a few photos...

I wonder if Lily thinks she's really driving?




This one was a big hit, she rode it 2 or 3 times.


They only ate about 3 bites.


Snuggling on the deck watching the rain.


A visit to the park before it started raining again.


Grandma and girls


Just one more pleeeease!


Pap and the girls feeding the deer.

Thanks Grandma and Pap!!

Our Trip to Virginia

In the summer of vacations, this past weekend we went to see Tom's brother and family in Suffolk, Virginia. I'll admit at the start that we were alittle naive about this whole trip. Mapquest said it would take less than 8 hours to get there, and Mapquest is never wrong (yes sarcasm). I never looked at a map to actually see the route we were expecting to drive. Thus not seeing we'd be driving along the shore, passing thru DC and well driving through 6 states. We aren't long trip novices, we go to PA regularly (8 hours) and try to go to Maine once a year (7 hours). But we were under prepared for our journey to VA. I'll spare you the woas of our journey down, except to say it took 12 long hours and we got the honor of traveling through Harrington: The Hub of Delaware.

We had a really nice visit. Xandria and Taylor are really great kids and everyone got along well. I can't wait to get all the Ayres together, the chaos will be so entertaining. We spent the first day hanging around, swimming in the pirate pool, playing Duck Duck 123 and such. We didn't want to go outside too much because it's so darn hot out there. Tom commented accurately when he said 'who knew Virginia was next to Africa?" The next day we headed to the aquarium, the girls had a great time there. Lily still talks about the rocket ship (aka...submarine) and the smiling sting ray. It was a short trip, especially considering the drive, but very relaxing.

Notes for our next trip to Virginia...

1. Drive at night

2. Get an EZPass

3. Avoid I-95

4. Remember the DVD player

5. Only question the Garmin when it comes to traffic

6. JUST FLY!

Now for a few pictures....

Thanks Uncle Guy and Aunt Cherry!!!

Is 3 a crowd?

Once a week I get the privilege of watching my nephew for a few hours in the morning. I've decided to just make that our 'field trip day.' Last week we went strawberry picking with some friends from church. The kids had a great time, especially getting samples along the way. That's mainly why I didn't get any pictures. Between Bella picking the small, green, unripe ones and Lily wanting to eat every red one in sight...I didn't have time to whip out the camera. But Timmy was great, he really got into finding the yummy, red ones under the leaves. He tried to help by carrying the bucket, but eventually it got too heavy. For a kid who is usually pretty shy, he jumped right in playing with everyone and had a great time.



So I didn't fear when today came, the plan...Playtime Village & McDonald's for lunch. (I know horrible food, but I was expecting to have to bribe them to leave the village). So off we went, smushed into Nana's car again. We got there and the three of them ran off to find toys. Even though Bella is 19 months, she handles herself well on the climbing toys and seems to get the idea of being careful and sharing -although she doesn't always want to. I actually got to relax a bit while the kids played. Bella found a baby doll (of course) and took her around playing on various toys, down the slide, on the car-car. Lily found the dress up room and was in heaven. She got a kick out of dressing up as blue's clues (she doesn't like to watch that show-so I'm not sure what the appeal was). Timmy found the big basketball hoop. He tried so hard to get the ball in the net. Miss, miss, miss, then whoosh! one finally went in. He threw his hands up in the air in victory and screamed "YES!" Lily was right next to him and did a cheer leading dance for him "Way to go Timmy, yooooouuuuu did it!" add a kick at the end. (I'm not sure where that came from.) The day was going great...yes you hear an "and then" coming up.



It was time to leave, we all agreed we were hungry so exiting the building was not an issue. Then I found out that Timmy likes to walk with his eyes closed "because he's tired". How did I find this out? As we walked threw the parking lot, BANG! pause WHAAAAA! No he didn't get hit by a car, he walked into a Suburban. Oh Timmy! He got a small cut in his mouth, but other than that he was fine...but don't tell Timmy that. It created a downward spiral of crying and whining. Bella started crying because, well that's what Bella does. Lily cried because she couldn't be the first to get into the car. I hoped our McDonald's trip would distract them, but it wasn't until we were in line deciding on drinks when Bella said she wanted "Chocolate Juice". Well Lily and Timmy thought that was the funniest thing on earth. Kids were happy again, chanting "Chocolate Juice, Chocolate Juice, Chocolate Juice." My smooth morning was back in swing. Kids were fed and ready for naps.



Back to my question, is three a crowd? When someone is sick, hurt or tired...yes it definitely is. But the 10 minutes of crying was well worth the fun times we had. Now the question my mom and mother-in-law are wondering, do we want a third? No...well, maybe someday:) Do they get less expensive?

School's Out

Friday was Lily's last day of school :( Although, she doesn't seem to understand what that means because she keeps talking about her friends she'll see next weekend. Mrs. McCarthy and Mrs. O had a little party and the kids got 'goodie' bags with a cool new cup that Lily only wants to use and photo albums of the year. All the hard work she put into them for each kid in the class; she's an amazing teacher. I'm going to miss my 6 hours 'off' a week, but now there's more time to go to the beach! Whoo Hoo!

Above are "Ian's babies" I've mentioned before. Lily and Bella spent a long time playing with them at the party, reading them stories and bringing them toys. Bella brought over all the baby dolls from the class and laid them down with the girls. They are so cute...all of them.

Summer Fun

We've been having alot of fun at the beach these past few weeks. Today we are in the middle of a heat wave so I invested in a kiddie pool so we could hop inside when needed (pictures to come).

Lily and Bella love the beach as much as I did as a kid. Bella could play in the sand for hours. We went to the Catskills with some friends this weekend (post to come) and they both got quite brave in the water-I got a little nervous. Looks like there is a 'fish' gene in my family.

Here are some of the photos...

Looking for Horseshoe Crabs...oh there's one!

Making Castles and Holes