Ms. Rocket Launcher

Kadence figured out how to work the stomp rocket and after lots of practice, she's now a pro! She kept herself busy doing this and it was so much fun watching her have such a good time.

Kadence with Julia

These 2 bonded over memorial weekend. Kadence just adores Julia and I'm so amazed how well Julia plays with Kadence since she is 6 years older than her! I caught them sharing some precious moments - I hope they'll stay friends for life!

Memorial Weekend 2011

Fun time with friends! This weekend marks the 5th year we've co-owned the beach house! We count our blessings every year...

These girls are T-R-O-U-B-L-E

This is the kind of party we like to see in the 'tub - not the one
we fear we'll see in about 10-15 years!

Me & my baby girl

Fun at the park

Hangin' out

Aden has always been a very cautious child - he thinks first before he does everything. Although I always thought that being a boy, he would take after his dad, he definitely ended up with my genes and is more careful and not very daring at all. So it always amazes me whenever he tries out things that I knew used to intimidate him. And although I get a little bit anxious sometimes, I hide it from him and I make an extra effort to encourage him to be daring. This is one of those days, when all of a sudden, he decided he will try hanging upside down from monkey bars which he's never tried before. I was so proud of him and it was another reminder that he is growing up way too fast and that he's spreading his wings. 

 

Happy Birthday to Dad

We had a weekend full of birthday celebration for Darin. Started off on Friday night with party at Jenn & Craig's. Then Saturday night, we had Darin's siblings over for a more intimate gathering at our house. What a fun night it was. Christened our new firepit that Darin built and enjoyed the wonderful evening. Sunday was the first nice day we had in a long time, and we enjoyed it in our backyard, kids playing, horseshoes for adults and I gardened all day. We topped it off with an impromptu dinner with the Lefferts & Seteras who came over to enjoy the backyard with us. It was a very busy weekend but a very fun one. We appreciated everyone joining us in celebrating Darin's birthday.

 

Enjoying the firepit

Kids goofing off during dinner

The adults table

Beach for Easter weekend

It's became one of our yearly traditions now to spend Easter weekend at the beach. The best part of that is that we are usually surrounded by dear friends. We had an awesome time - the weather was perfect, which always helps! Lots of play time at the beach, hiking the dune, tide pools, and late night with friends.

Aden loving the fact that we were able to get up to our "fish bowl":

Alicia enjoying the view - the best part about hiking the dune:

Sydney & Kadence:



Singers

This is what happens a lot in the car - the best entertainment I can possibly ask for. My favorite thing about this video is Gizmo. Can you tell that he could care less about all that singing?!

Easter 2011

Easter was a big hit at our house this year - the kids had a lot of fun dyeing eggs and decorating easter cookies. The egg dyeing was a little bit of a patience test for me - a few broken eggs, dye everywhere and the MESS! At one point, I just gave myself a reality check and told myself that I'm trying to create memories for the kids, and even though things don't go as how I planned or wished, I don't want the kids to remember it as mom being so uptight and stressed out. I want it to be happy memories. Plus Aden, with all his wisdom, told me while dyeing eggs that "you know you're having fun when your hands are messy". Gotta love that boy!

Decorating cookies with dad - I made him join in on the stress fun:

 

This smile says it all:

 

We love that monkey...

I thought Aden was the biggest George fanatic until his sister came along...

Another use for the ear phones

These kids find a lot of use for the ear phones - not only handy for the concerts but also for that loud vaccum!

No training wheels!

I took these videos back in March when Aden decided that he wants to ride his bike with no training wheels. He practiced with his smaller bike.Darin decided it's easier if he straps on his roller blades instead of running right next to Aden. That worked so well, it took Aden literally a couple of afternoons, and he built up enough confidence to say goodbye to his training wheels. He is now a bike-riding machine and he takes every opportunity he gets to ride his bike, even if it means he rides up and down our sidewalk, while we're working on the yard.

He is now riding his big boy bike and he can ride as fast as I can on my bike. We are so happy that he loves bike riding as much as we do and it's definitely something we will be doing often!





Playing Catch-up

It's been a long time since I've posted something...I can't believe my last post was last February! We have been extremely busy with the kids' classes, library trips and I've been working a lot of hours since January. Every free moment I've had has been taken up by work.  There's also been a few exciting stuff that's happened: we bought a new car (finally!!), Aden started riding his bike with NO training wheels, and Darin had hernia surgery. Other than that, it's been pretty quiet here, except for the frequent trips to the beach!

Kadence is 2

How can it be 2 years already? I am having a hard time accepting how fast time has flown by and that my baby is not a baby anymore. This little girl has been such a great joy to us and truly made our family complete. She is the sweetest girl, but at the same time she is as tough as nails. She is loud, and I mean L-O-U-D. She adores her brother but also has the need to compete with him and do everything that he does. She is very polite - since she started talking, she knows when to say her please and thank you without having to really ask her to say it. I knew from birth that she will always try to get way when she foiled my plan and decided she needed to be born 2 days before my scheduled c-section. And since then, she has given new meaning to the word PATIENCE for me. She can be very trying at times, but she can also prove to me in an instant that she is the best little girl I can ever ask for. She lives up to her name - this girl can dance and sing like no other! Sometimes it brings tears to my eyes when I hear her sing all the songs she sings and there are countless times when D & I just laugh each night when we hear her sing herself to sleep. We all love her to pieces and I am looking forward to all the excitement she will bring to our lives. 

Party for the Miss

We celebrated Kadence's birthday the weekend before her actual birthday. Although it was a hectic time for us since we just got home from Mexico 4 days before the party, we still really wanted to see our friends and have the kids help us celebrate K turning 2. We've been asking K what she want for her birthday and each time, she says "CAKE!". I think that is all she remembers from Aden's birthday. So, I obliged and made her a cake. I think the look on her face says it all! Thank you to all who came and helped us celebrate our baby's birthday!

She loves this matching outfit - thanks Jenn!

Trading fashion tips...

They really do like each other...and they're trouble