Sunday, May 19, 2013

Mother's day weekend

We were super lucky to have some of our good friends from Charlotte come visit us for a weekend.  They found an amazing deal on a round trip flight from Ohio.  They were able to get their family of 5 here for under $200.  Simply amazing!

Dylan and Rachel remember each other and played fabulously together.  It was crazy taking these kids around Princeton.  They were so excited to be together and they had tons of energy.

Kate and Natalie
One night we were able to get a couple brave babysitters to tackle 6 kids and we did a date night in the city.  It was so fun to reconnect with Melissa.  I wish we could live near each other again. 
We walked over the Brooklyn Bridge at just the right time.  There was such a beautiful sunset.  And check out the World Trade Tower.  They just put the spire on top the previous day (did you know that Melissa?) and it now stands as the tallest building in the United States...3rd in the world.  After the Brooklyn Bridge we made our way to Serendipity to enjoy frozen hot chocolate...loooooove it!
 We had a little sentimental deja vu :)
This was us 7 years ago when Jake was doing his summer internship and I was pregnant with Rachel
While they went to the city as a family Jake took Tommy to the Father and Son's camp out with our church and we had our annual Girl's Night In with pizza, a movie, popcorn, and lots of candy.   
 I had a FABULOUS Mother's Day this year.  My family treated me so well.  The kids were all such great helpers with preparing the meals.

 My "M" pancake
 I felt like royalty with this breakfast.  Jake really outdid himself.  Pancakes with lots of fruit, homemade syrup and homemade whipped cream.  Impressive right?  It was amazing!
 I couldn't be more grateful for these adorable kids!
 Husking corn
 Peeling potatoes
 Making limeade...aren't they the best!
 Shish ka bobs with corn on the cob and sweet potato casserole...I was in heaven.  It all tasted so good.  I love this guy! 
 And here's just a couple random shots.  Last night we planned to go camping.  There was 0% chance of rain all week and even that day, but it was raining anyway.  (Gotta love East Coast weather predictions!)  So we did indoor camping, which the kids seemed to like just as much.
 And today Rachel made this beautiful fruit bouquet.  What a beautiful girl!


Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Tom Bomb's Birthday

 This boy was looking forward to his birthday for months.  He loved saying he was 4 and 3/4 or 4 and 11/12!  He loved counting down the days.
We had quite a crazy day.  We kicked it off with monkey bread for breakfast.  Jake and the kids called it monkey brains.  Then off to tee-ball.
He really wanted a "motorcycle" birthday this year but I was really drawing a blank on this one.  I did more of a Lego theme birthday instead and got him a motorcycle racing toy and brought cupcakes into his preschool with a motorcycle on top.  That was about all I could come up with.  Thankfully he was pretty cool about it.
 When we told the kids that morning we were going to Legoland we did not get the enthusiastic response we were expecting, but then again they didn't know what to expect of it either.  It just opened in New York last month.  I think it's smaller scale than the others, but it was perfect. 
A little model factory showing us how Legos are made.
 A little ride shooting skeletons and trolls.  Tommy loved it!
 NYC in Legos...pretty impressive

 They had a fun big jungle gym that the kids had an absolute blast on.  Kate was a good sport about not being tall enough to join them!
 Build your own race car and test it out

 And a 4D movie!  It's so cute watching kids try and grab the things coming out of the screen.  In the end Legoland ended up being a huge hit.
 Tommy requested Shake Shack for dinner, which we happily obliged to.  And we met up with some of our friends from the city while we were there.
 Of course Tommy would have skipped dinner if we let him, he was so anxious to get home and open his presents.  A couple of the things that were on his list were M&Ms, a piggy bank, and chapter books (he wants to read in bed at night just like Rachie)
 I got him this snorkel gear and I love hearing, "What?! Just what I always wanted!!"
 Lego cake!  One box of cake mix, marshmallows and a lot of food coloring :)  My friend found the Lego candles.  He was a little bummed about not having friends over for a party but I think he still had a good day.
 This boy thought he was going to Kindergarten the following Monday morning, but he's still pretty excited about learning to read and Rachel is happy to help.
About a week later Jake and I took him on a special date night to do "whatever he wanted."  He quickly chose "Chucker Cheese."  Of course he also said, "Can I rob a bank?"  To which I replied, "No Tommy, it's a wrong thing to do, and you would go to jail, and I would miss you."  And then he says, "well then you rob the bank too and that way we'll be in jail together."  Crazy boy!

Some other crazy things about my 5 year old:

·      He is obsessed with falling down, whether it be catching butterflies, fighting with Katelyn or catching a ball, he finds every excuse...he's really quite dramatic
·      He loves to be home and to watch movies 
·      He requests green "smoomies" (smoothies) for lunch every day
·      He has a funny “baby language” he uses when he talks to Kate.  Some of his nicknames for her are Kaynino, Kaypig, and Kaylil.
·      He doesn't have an imaginary friend, but an imaginary “team” he refers to often…I think they live in Australia
·      He loves motorcycles, cars, trucks, rockets...racing them and crashing them
·      He is super good at sharing and will almost always offer you his last bite
·      He loves counting.  The other day he was doing simple additions out loud, like 1+1=2, 2+2=4, 3+3=6 and then he says, "I'm totally ready for 2nd grade!"
Another fun quote he said the other day after he caught a couple of butterflies, "I'm completely awesome!  I think they're going to make a statue out of me." 

I'm always amazed at how much joy this little guy brings into my life.  He is just so cute and so fun!

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