Friday, October 10, 2014

Fun at the Fair



Evan, Eliana, and I went to the Octoberfest Fair at Evan's school. We met up with Evan's friends from school, Sammy & Sophia. They had such a great time together going on all the rides, playing games, going down the big slide. What a great night!

Saturday, September 27, 2014

What happened this summer Part II (North Wildwood)


July:
We had the best time ever in North Wildwood! We spent the weekend at the Athens II and the kids absolutely loved it. Give the kids a hotel room with a pool and FORGET the beach! I love the picture above though. I got up early to watch the sunrise from our hotel while the kids were still sleeping. But they got up pretty early themselves and wanted to go on the beach right away, just after the beaches had been combed.


Sunrise at North Wildwood, NJ. June 2014.



We had perfect weather.


Eliana and I just watching our feet sink into the sand.


My little body boarders. Fearless! They didn't want to leave the water.


The Wildwood Boardwalk kind of felt like a ripoff. Ugh, I hate to say anything negative in such a positive post, but it really did feel like a shakedown. The kids had fun but I don't think we'll be returning for quite some time. We'll definitely gravitate to the more family friendly spots like Avalon and Ocean City. Be prepared to go through $100 in less than an hour. The kids will win prizes worth less than a dollar. Just not a good vibe overall and I tend to go with my instincts. Forget about bringing the kids here at night. 

North Wildwood was definitely better in terms of cleanliness, beach access, and just overall fun.


Eliana does not like giant fake dinosaurs. Evan, however, does. Eliana made me cover her eyes until just before the moment this photo was taken. This is at a miniature golf place in North Wildwood. We had a great game there, but Eliana wanted to skip the hole with the giant T-Rex. I had to carry her through and cover her eyes until we got to the next hole. 


Eliana tested her bravery in the pool at the Athens II hotel in North Wildwood. The water was up to her chin. At first she was scared, but then she overcame those fears and refused to leave the pool! 


The kids LOVE being in the ocean. Swimming lessons are definitely in order for the winter. They love riding them waves though! We had a great time in North Wildwood and can't wait to return!

Thursday, September 25, 2014

What happened this summer? Well, a lot really! Part I

No posts since June 1st? Yes, I know, it's been a while. Without getting into the reasons why, here's what's been happening since the summer began:

June: 

Evan graduated Kindergarten and is now a full blown 1st grader.

Evan getting his diploma from his Kindergarten teacher. Miss Windle.


Eliana performed in "Swan Lake." Eliana practiced every Saturday at her ballet class for her second ballet performance. Cutest. thing. ever. (Photo by Mommy)



We lost Elvis. The last photo of Elvis. His health declined rapidly and his poor body gave out. Words can't even describe how much we will miss him. I still think of him every day.
(Photo by Mommy)


Summer visits to Daddy's house were amazing. We had a pool. It wasn't the biggest or greatest pool, but it was a pool. We rode bikes, went to the local parks, played Evan's Wii U, and watched "Frozen" 27 times. I think I've seen at least 100 Spongebob episodes this past summer thanks to Amazon Prime. 

Eliana on the swings at Llanerch Hills. "Push me Daddy!"


We planted a garden. With corn, green beans, peppers, gourds, little pumpkins, huge sunflowers, morning glories, moon flowers, and love lies bleeding! (Most from seed with help from Evan and Eliana.) I picked up quite a few of the seeds on Evan's class trip to Longwood Gardens. 


Eliana helped spread the seeds for our wildflower garden. 


Our neighbor even let us plant corn in the unused space behind their garage.


Some of our sunflowers grew to over 12 feet tall! All planted from seed by Evan and Eliana.



One of our Mammoth Sunflowers. This one was HUGE! Right out in front of the house.


Our "Love Lies Bleeding" from seeds from Longwood Gardens did really well.


Eliana grew up A LOT. Just today I was having her try on clothes at The Gap. She's 4, size 5T should be big enough. No, I have to get her size 6-7! She's giving Evan a run for his money!



Sunday, June 1, 2014

Saturday, May 31, 2014

Happenings.

I haven't written or posted very much this year with everything that's been going on in my personal life.  I wanted to share a few of the everyday things that the kids and I do when they are over. I love having them here, and I've had them most weekends since March. The winter was difficult and brutal. My car's engine died and I was left without transportation during the worst months of the winter. I'd really like to forget the first few months of this year to be honest. Like forget them completely. Well, maybe not everything. Like I said, the kids and I have a lot of fun when they're at Daddy's.

Back in March Evan and I built his Lego Alien Spaceship. He hardly needs my help anymore and as he will tell you; "only when I get stuck." He is excellent at following the directions page by page and very proud of his creations.

Evan helping me make Blueberry Jello. March 23rd.

Eliana and I playing "school" in our "classroom" playroom. This was her writing my name for the first time.




Sunday, May 25, 2014

Soon to be a Kindergarten Graduate.

Hard to believe, but this little man is about to graduate Kindergarten! Evan's last day of school is coming up and he will be graduating on June 6th. Can't wait!

Saturday, May 10, 2014

Teacher's Pet

Love this picture of Eliana in their 'classroom.' I have about 2 1/2 hours usually between picking up Evan from school and picking up Eliana. Sometimes me and Eliana grab lunch or sometimes we just go back to my place and spend some quality time just me and her. There's also some video from this day where Eliana is pretending to be the teacher that I'll post another time.


Friday, May 9, 2014

New Tattoo

Hey not bad for 50 cents huh? I bet he was the coolest kid in his Kindergarten class the next day!

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Evan's Class Trip to Longwood Gardens

 I joined Evan and his classmates on his trip to Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA.


The kids learned all about the life cycle of plants and trees, including this tree, who's leaves are red in the spring and green in the fall.

 All the kids wrapped up a Lima Bean, wrapped it in cotton, had it sprayed with water and put in a little ziploc bag as a souvenir. In a few days the bean should sprout and Evan and I will plant it in the yard.

 L-R Evan, Jackson, Liam, and Connor. They ran around like maniacs in the Topiary Garden.

 Their Kindergarten teacher Miss Windle gets them to stand still for a second to snap a photo.

Me and Connor's dad were in charge of this group. They stop to pose for a cool photo.

This one was all Jackson's idea.

One of the awesome treehouses at Longwood.

Up in the treehouse.

No rabbit ears guys! They can't help themselves.

Now it's time for a bumpy bus ride back to school! What a great day they had. Evan said he wants to go back again with all his school friends.

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Baseball Season

Evan got his first ever hit from a moving pitch in a game today. Daddy was very proud.
The kids started off hitting from the tee again this year but we recently started introducing coach
pitching, and later in the month, we'll be using the pitching machine. Evan did a great job hitting the ball and getting to first base. Coaching is fun, but I really just enjoy watching him play. Sometimes I forget I'm watching a 5 year old. He'll be playing defense in the infield with his hands on his knees in the ready position with his eyes on the batter and it looks like he's been playing for years! Way to go Evan! 

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

100th Day

Evan had his 100th Day of School party yesterday. So Eliana and I went over to join Evan and his classmates for a little party. Each student had to bring in 100 of something. Evan brought in 100 Matchbox/Hot Wheels cars. The basket he brought them in was HEAVY. One of his friends brought in 100 marshmallows in a ziploc bag ate nearly the entire bag durin the party. Here's a picture of Evan and his classmates yesterday.

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Eliana's 4th Birthday Party!

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Eliana's 4th Birthday Party, a set on Flickr.
Eliana is 4 years old! We had a great birthday party for her, lots of her friends and cousins came and had such a great time. Hard to believe our baby is growing up.