Monday, July 2, 2012

Happy 4th Birthday Lydia (aka Rapunzel)

Ok, so this has been the hang up in my blogging lately. I have very few pics from Lydia's birthday party at the beach because my camera died in the middle of it. So, I will post this and maybe come back later and post the pics I can get from mom! Lydia wanted a Rapunzel birthday this year, so before leaving for the beach I was sure to pack up her Rapunzel dress, as well as some other princess dresses and picked up some "Tangled" decor. Harbin was worried that she couldn't have all her friends at her party (one of those bummers about a summer bday while on vacation) but as you can see from the pics, we had lots of kids around and it was a GREAT party. She wanted to wear a Rapunzel braid wig, so I had found a little tutorial online and attempted to make one out of yarn. I think it came out well, but my plans to make one for each of the girl quickly went out the window when I realized how difficult it was to braid all of that yarn without it getting "Tangled" (pun intended). Christina and I did, however, work diligently to make the coolest Rapunzel cake ever. Ok, well the coolest-I-am-not-a-cake-decorator cake ever. We used ice cream cones, melted candies and cupcakes to form the cake and then we just PRAYED that it wouldn't fall down before she blew out her candles. Lydia has grown a lot from 3 to 4. She is definitely exhibiting her personality and seems much harder to "read" than my other kids. She is SUPER smart, like amazingly brilliant and her ability to pick up on school tasks is amazing. Like, when we're adding she doesn't really think it out...she just kind of knows the answer. She also has a great sense of humor and has kept us laughing a lot these days. She is very serious so sometimes her humor is tough to get because it's so advanced for her age. In fact, she is the reason I started to keep up with all the funny quotes the kids say. Lydia also has a way of kind of being the "boss" in some areas. She's not really bossy, just very concerned, like the time I was driving and she told me to watch out for Deers and Choo-Choo Trains. She also likes to remind me not to speed when there's cops around and to only drive as fast as the speed limit will let me. We made multiple ER visits with Lydia this year, but mostly because we have learned that she is allergic to ALL NSAIDS. That means that she can't take Ibuprofen, Advil, Mortin, Tylenol, Aspirin or pretty much any fever reducer. Her poor little face just swells up like a balloon. We now have an Epi-Pen and have visited the allergist, but unfortunately there is nothing to do about the allergy. So, hopefully she will grow out of it and one day will tolerate at least one of the pain/fever reducers! This year she has defintiely mastered swimming and can jump off the diving board, go down the slide and swim like the big kids. She enjoys princesses, especially Rapunzel, and loves playing dress up. She is a great big sister to Ella and is always helping her and teaching her. She still has an incredible bond with Catherine and even though their personalities are very different, I know they will remain best friends. Happy Birthday, my Lydi-Lou! Love Mom and Dad
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Sunday, July 1, 2012

Outerbanks Excursion

We headed up to the beach house for vacation and this time we went on a little excursion to the Outer Banks with mom, Christina and Matthew. We started out by meeting up with Cousin Lisa and Leslie at "The Lost Colony" on Roanoke Island. We watched a little video about The Lost Colony, then the kids grabbed some Junior Ranger packets and we started out on the hiking trail towards the ampitheater.
The performances only happen at night, but we got our own version of the reenactment. Harbin, Catherine, Lydia, Ella, Matthew and Christina were HILARIOUS running around like the Indians and the Englishmen!!!
After Roanoke we drove up to Kitty Hawk to visit the Wrights Brothers Museum. Poor Ella conched out in our stroller that didn't seem to support her head very well. She looked so uncomfortable but she just slept through it.
The kids filled out some of their second Ranger Program packets during the museum lecture and were able to turn those in and earn their 2nd Junior Ranger badges of the day. We toured the grounds for a bit and then said goodbye to Cousin Lisa and Leslie as they headed back home.
All of us loaded back up into the car and drove south to Jockey Ridge Sand Dunes. This was probably the kids favorite part of the day. It's just like a HUGE sandbox with lots of hills! Matthew and Christina ran ahead with the little kids while mom and I took our time making it up the hills- you know mom with her back problems and me with my recent leg vein surgery- we were quite a pair!!
As they came back into our view we were able to catch pictures of them literally rolling down the sand dunes. They were covered in sand head-to-toe and I am not sure how they tolerated it!!!
Ella definitely was the funniest- when we were getting ready to head back she wanted me to carry her. I told her "no" (yes I do that sometimes) and she just threw herself onto her hands and knees and buried her face in the sand. She was mad! After arguing with her for a bit, I started to walk away. I kept telling her to come on and I would carry her once we were at the bottom of the hill, but she just kept pouting. She was using her hand and flinging sand backwards and mom and I kept waiting until she just dug a hole nad fell right in!!! We got pretty far away from her (don't worry she was always in sight) before I had to give in and go drag her hiney down the hill. Don't worry I stuck to my guns and never picked her up, but I am not sure "I won" in the light of that situation :)On the way out of sand dunes, there were two small little "ponds" and they had all of these tadpoles and teeny tiny frogs. The kids set out to save the frogs from the heat and take all the ones who had jumped far away from the ponds back to the ponds. I think they saved a few and had fun doing it, but I am pretty sure they were far from saving ALL of them.
After Jockey Ridge Dunes it was getting late and dark and we were getting hungry. We still had a 30 minute ferry ride over to the island where our hotel was, so we ate dinner, but decided not to tour Cape Hatteras. Dinner was great and the kids were really excited about the Ferry ride over to Hatteras. This was the first time they had ever been in a car on a boat (kind of sounds like Dr. Seuss book). We had fun talking to mom and the kids in their car while we were sitting in ours. Once on board we were able to get off and walk around. It was windy and a little chilly and we were thankful it was only a 30 minute ride.
When we got to the hotel, Ella was yet again throwing a fit (she didn't want to climb into the bed) and she litearlly FELL ASLEEP STANDING UP. She was so tired, I was able to get pics of her just leaning on the chair and snoring!!! I moved her into the bed with me after I caught that hilarious moment on film!
The next morning, we had until 1:00 before our schedule 2.5 hour ferry ride back towards the beachhouse. Mom brought breakfast back to us in the hotel and we got dressed and checked out. Okracroake Island is a cute little island with lots of little souveneir and ice cream shops. We visited the lighthouse- mostly we took pics there since we couldn't go inside, and then we headed to get some ice cream (for lunch, of course).
Matthew and Christina got the BIGGEST banana splits and the other kids all tried to eat their cones before they melted. Lydia finished hers but had a clever idea to "share" with Ella and she gave them both straws to drink the melted ice cream out of the bottom of the cup.
The kids had time to run around outside the Visitor Center and were able to climb the trees and then head inside to finish up one more Junior Ranger packet. The girls and Harbin worked very hard on their packets and learned a lot and were too cute swearing in to be Junior Rangers. Lydia was the funniest...the Ranger said "just say I will after each phrase". He would say the first phrase and she would just repeat what he said. She never seemed to catch on to what he was asking her to do, but it was just adorable.
Another adorable Lydia things...her new "PICTURE POSE". She made this up on her own!
The ferry ride back was sunny and fun, but it was a little long. The kids had a good time feeding the birds off the back of the boat, although Catherine kept getting frusterated because none of the birds were catching her food. She wasn't quite able to throw the bread as high and they wouldn't swoop as low for food when they were getting so much up higher. Finally I think at least one bird caught her food. Ella was exhasuted and took a little nap right on the bench on the interior part of the boat. We arrived at Cedar Island and drove the reminaing hour back to the beach house. The kids slept the whole way! I think they had a blast and maybe even learned a little bit along the way!
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Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Summer Fun

From lounging at the pool to lounging in the sunroom, we've had some pretty fun memories for the little time we've been home this summer. Our AC was acting up so we spend a few nights in the sunroom which has it's on window unit AC. Lydia decided it was her night to sleep with me and I wasn't really sure how we'd both fit on the couch but I figured I would let her fall asleep and then move her. Well, I guess she figure out a way and I found her sleeping on the top of the couch, kind of like we'd be in bunk beds. That only lasted about half the night until her feet came crashing down on me and I gently moved her to the floor. Later that week while the AC guy was fixing the unit, we were all outside playing and I looked over and Lydia was working on her car. As you can see, remembering daddy is NOT an issue around our house, but by the time I got my camera, all you could see was an abandoned car up on blocks and not the little girl who was working on it! I hope everyone is enjoying their summer! It's been a hot one, but we've been staying cool and having fun...just waiting for Daddy to come home soon!
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