Luca Turns 2!

On Wednesday we celebrated cousin Luca’s 2^nd birthday at Aunt Kelly’s house.  It was a swimming party and all the 11 grandchildren swam.  It was probably the best day we have had to date swimming over there—in terms of all the kids being super into it, brave, no meltdowns, etc.   Even the 3 littlest (Tommy, Evelyn, Fiona) all really enjoyed the water.  And as far as the “big” kids go—we now have 8 kids jumping in!  Cal and Luca now both jump in the side of the pool and the other 6 are all now diving board jumpers!  The weather was 95+ degrees so we swam almost to 9:00 PM, pretty late for a work night!  Maggie jumped off the diving board 20-30 times I would imagine.  Only thing left to conquer for Maggie is the slide—she climbed up sat down and came back down the steps….and then said, “No, thank you.  Maybe next time.”

 The pictures aren’t the clearest—I think it had something to do with the humidity.

The 3 youngest boys hanging out

 

Cousin Train (Grace, Ella, Leyton, Maggie, Lauren)

Whale speedo for Tommy :)

Lauren and Maggie

Grace and Tommy

Tommy playing ball

Tommy and Luca

Luca was really sweet with Tommy and kept getting toys for him

Maggie flying off the side

Maggie and Lucy attempting to jump at the same time...Maggie counts faster than Lucy.

 

Me and Tommy

The first time she went off the diving board she jumped to Aunt Kelly in the water, after that she was hooked.  Long after everyone else quit jumping, Maggie was down there jumping by herself over and over again.

Tommy and Aunt Kelly

Cannonball!

1/2 the gang after swimming

Luca's bobcat cake

The eight bigger cousins

Happy birthday Luca!

The ice cream cake was a hit.  I think everyone but Maggie ate all of theirs.  Mommy and Tommy made sure Maggie's didn't go to waste.

Pooh Train!

Oh who doesn’t love the Pooh Train?!  Winnie the Pooh, that is.  I think it was Aunt Kelly that gave this to Maggie for either her 1^st birthday or Christmas.  Anyhow, it plays really loud music but was an instant favorite of Maggie’s.  For almost a year I bet it was played with daily.  We finally banished it to the basement when she was like 2.5 years old.  Well, now that Tommy is starting to pull himself up on everything and tries to take a few steps holding on to things, I decided it was time to bring it back upstairs.  Tommy loves it!  The only problem is sister fell in love with it all over again too.  Every night since it has been up we have had to remind them to share and take turns riding it up and down the hallway.  When Maggie rides it Tommy crawls after her.  When either mommies or Maggie push Tommy around the house on it, he is all smiles.  When I tell him his turn is over and take him off it, he crawls right back over it to it and tries to get back on it by himself—this using ends with him tipping it over on himself and crying…

Feeling so big



Sooo fast

I love this thing!

Look one hand!

Aunt Jane Turns 70!

Aunt Jane turned 70 this past weekend and we had a giant surprise party for her in Florida.  Usually someone blows the surprise but I truly think she was surprised.  Grandma, Maggie, Tommy, Susie and I walked into to her store on Thursday afternoon while she was working.  I think she about fell over.  Later Thursday night we went out for a pre-birthday celebration dinner.  On Friday we had another get together at Jane’s house and then on Saturday it was the actual surprise party with even more surprise visitors and guests.  It was nice to get to see some of the cousins on that side of the family.  Maggie really warmed up to all the kids right away and they all played very well together.  Tommy was a bit of a beast at times.  I think between his ears, teething again, and just overall lack of naps he just wasn’t quite right.  He was still handsome as ever just a little moody here and there.  It was a great trip and I think Jane felt very loved.  Maggie adores her aunt Jane and is so sweet with her—after all Maggie Jane is named after her… :)

There was a magician/balloon man at the restaurant Thursday night.  He was really good.  Maggie saw other kids getting balloons and wanted one—what she didn’t see was that he did magic too.  So when he came over to our table she eagerly waited for her balloon but he started out doing some tricks and she was awestruck.  He made several balls appear out of her ears and grandma’s ears too.  Maggie’s expressions were priceless.  Days later she was still talking about the balls coming out of her ears.  She picked a pink balloon flower and was the happiest girl ever. 

Pretty girl.  She loved singing Happy Birthday to Aunt Jane at the restaurant.

Friday night at Jane's house Robin was nice of enough to braid Maggie's hair.  Maggie was feeling very pretty.  Robin was dying to show off her braiding skills so it was a win-win... :)

Maggie, Audrey, and Harper watching Shrek with the big kids

Ryan, Maggie, Audrey, and William

The two best friends.. :)

Maggie helping Aunt Jane with her cards

Jane let Maggie and Audrey assist with the gift opening

Maggie was very much into it

Tommy playing ball

He is pretty good at catching it when I roll it to him

Pleased as pie

Maggie trying to steal a kiss from Tommy

Siblings

For some reason every picture ends with some version of them both falling backwards

Robin playing ball with Maggie and Audrey

Maggie and Audrey had never met before but got along really well.  Audrey is 4 and Maggie is 3 so there were a few disputes but overall they did great!  Maggie was always looking for Audrey if they weren't together.

Maggie kept hearing random Florida wildlife noises at night.  Robin told her it was grasshoppers--pretty sure it was frogs and cicadas.  Both nights Maggie wanted help searching for "grasshoppers".  Saturday night Sonny and Jason searched everywhere for any living thing for Maggie.  Lucky for me--we eventually found a lizard.  I am terrified of them after the pool incident but Maggie touched it and Jason did more than that....

  



Maggie petting the lizard

Jason and his new accessory

Notice the lizard earring.  Apparently this is a trick that all the boys in Florida do

Great picture of Tommy with Connor and Riley

Florida Trip 2013

We took a quick trip to Florida this past week/weekend (Thursday-Sunday).  The main reason for our visit was for Aunt Jane’s surprise  70^th  birthday party.  While we were there we had a little down time to visit Busch Gardens and our good friends Adam and Lisa, but other than that there were birthday related festivities everyday so that will be a separate post.  Both kids did wonderful on all 4 plane rides, we had connections both ways.  Tommy slept 97% of the time on all the flights.  Maggie was about 50-50—coloring and sleeping.  Oh and let me tell you Florida is hot and sticky in summer…oh and there are a million little lizards!  In fact, I got attacked by one while swimming in the hotel pool—pretty sure my screams made it sound as if something much worse were happening… :)

 

Pictures aren't the best, we didn't bring the big camera with us.  Between the big stroller, 2 suitcases, 2 backpacks, and two car seats we had plenty to lug around so we left the camera behind.



 

First flight 6:00 AM

It was Tommy's first time ever flying

Our little Buddha

 

Maggie hard at work.  She colored a lot.  We never once got out the LeapPad or Ipad.

Feeding ducks and fish at Busch Gardens

She looks so much bigger than she did when we were here last year

This is how Tommy spent the majority of his time at Busch Gardens.  In his defense, there is not a ton for a little guy to do.  He was so sweaty.  He sweats a ton in Wisconsin, just imagine that big boy in Florida... :)

Maggie hit all the rides for her age group

 

While at Busch Gardens we were able to catch a Sesame Street show.  Grandma and Maggie were both very much into it... :)

After the show there was a meet and greet with all the characters

Maggie hugged them all and was not shy at all.  Here she almost disappears in the giant Cookie Monster hug

 

Our friends, Adam and Lisa, were kind enough to invite us over for some swimming and a cookout.  It was nice to finally see their house and let them spend time with the kids

 

Tommy and Lisa

 

Maggie taking notes from Bubble Master Adam

Maggie loved swimming at Adam and Lisa's

Maggie's big accomplishment this trip:  Jumping in the pool all by herself.  She says "I do big jumps and go under the water but I always come right back up" :)

 

This is one of my lizard friends on the curb

Thanks to Aunt Becky for letting us borrow the double stroller!  The kids love riding next to each other. 



Flight home: more coloring

Trying to get a picture of the two of them on the plane

This was the last flight and Tommy had enough as well as the rest of us.