Archive for August, 2013

Happy birthday Almost Uncle Scott

Posted in Celebrations on August 31st, 2013 by jen – 1 Comment

This afternoon we can drop the "Almost" from his title, but we didn't miss the opportunity to celebrate Scott's big 30th birthday last weekend.

Happy birthday Almost Uncle Scott

Aunt EA surprised Scott with this awesome TARDIS cake from Oh, What a Cake!.

Dr. Who cake

They wanted Scott to see the cake in its perfection, so Aunt EA held the candles instead of letting them break the surface of the beautiful cake.

Candles

Happy old man

New year, new school

Posted in Molly, School on August 30th, 2013 by jen – 1 Comment

Molly enjoyed meeting her 1st grade teacher and seeing the classroom last Friday. Mrs. Seldon is new to the school this year, so she was especially welcoming to Molly as a new student to the school too.

Meeting Mrs. Seldon

Monday was the first day of school. Molly's ready to go to her first day of first grade. New year, new school - can't wait.

First day of first grade

Molly is now a walker, as we live right by the school. She was excited, so she ended up walking in front of us - backwards.

Walking to school

A bunch of the neighborhood kids met up on the walk to school to take a neighborhood picture. There are so many kids in our neighborhood. Amazingly, 4 of these girls are even in the same class - Molly, the girls on either side of her, and the girl on the end with the polka-dot skirt. They all live within a few houses of one another.

Neighborhood kids

Family photo shoot

Posted in Leah, Molly on August 29th, 2013 by jen – 1 Comment

Chad set up a little photo studio in our house for some family pictures. The primary purpose was to have some pictures to print for use at preschool by Leah, but I thought I'd share a bunch here with all of you.

Family photo shoot

Pictures are fun

The girls took turns telling jokes to make everyone smile (or laugh with a wide open mouth in the case of Leah).

Jokes

Our little family.

Our little family

Of course, there were requests for taking a silly one.

A silly one

Or two.

Another silly one

Just one moreā€¦

Just one more

We also needed some shots of Leah by herself.

Leah

What a cutie!

What a cutie

Wow

Leah is the master of big faces, but it's unusual for her to just smile gently.

Gentle smile

This is more the norm - a big and bold smile.

That's my Leah

Our 1-day vacation

Posted in Family outings, Leah, Molly on August 28th, 2013 by jen – 1 Comment

I've been asked several times recently, "What did you do this summer?" We moved. Period. End of story.

However, we did take advantage of the beautiful summer we've been having and took a day trip to our favorite nearby theme park, Dutch Wonderland. We began our adventures above the park on the Sky Ride.

Dutch Wonderland

We then hopped on the Joust Family Coaster. Despite doing OK on it last year and looking excited to do it this year, Leah did not enjoy the ride.

Joust Family Coaster

Molly, on the other hand, loved the little coaster.

Woo!

Both girls enjoyed the Leapin' Frogs.

Leapin Frogs

The Panda Party was fun too.

Panda Party

They got to ride a pony as well. Molly took the larger one.

Pony ride

Leah took the smaller pony, which was just the right size for her.

Little pony

The Fun Slide is one of the girls favorite things to do.

Fun Slide

They didn't miss the Merry-Go-Round either. And yes, that's me on it with them (this picture sponsored by Dramamine).

Merry-Go-Round

Ride on, Leah

We ate lunch at Merlin's Restaurant. After lunch, Merlin did a magic trick for Molly that amazed her.

Magic

Leah was sure that she would not be outsmarted by the trick, but to her surprise the ball in her hand magically became two.

Tricked again

Leah wasn't big enough to ride the Flying Trapeze yet, but Molly and Chad had fun on it.

Flying Trapeze

Unlike the little girl next to her, Molly was excited to ride the Frog Hopper. After the ride, Molly looked a little less excited and a little more nauseous.

Frog Hopper

The girls may not look it, but they're actually aspiring monster truck drivers.

Off-road Rally

We took in a high-diving show of the frog prince. It included some impressive diving from the frogs and the princess.

Frog Prince

Molly had fun on the Wonder Whip, though perhaps less so than she had last year with her buddy.

Wonder Whip

We went for a drive on the Sunoco Turnpike. Leah and I took one car and Molly and Chad took the next.

Sunoco Turnpike

A nice, relaxing drive.

Under the bridge

To end our day, we took a ride on the monorail.

Monorail ride

Summertime adventures

Posted in Leah, Molly, Playdates on August 27th, 2013 by jen – 1 Comment

I took the girls down to Brookside Gardens and Wheaton Regional Park. There are no butterfly pictures because Molly and Leah kept exclaiming, "These butterflies are freaking me out!" But at the park, Molly and Allison loved climbing to the top of this jungle gym.

Wheaton Regional Park

Before heading home, the girls took a spin on the merry-go-round (thanks to Amanda!). The park also has a train, and picnic grounds. It was a fun day with friends.

Round and round

Another summer adventure - picking blueberries at Larriland Farm with playgroup friends. Everybody's ready to get started!

To the farm

Leah wasted no time finding the perfect blueberries.

Getting to work

It's always more fun to hang out in the middle of the blueberry bushes with friends.

In the bushes

This is the way you must eat freshly picked blueberries.

Crazy kid

After the blueberries, we moved on to picking purple and red raspberries. Leah took her job very seriously, inspecting her raspberries for the perfect color.

Inspecting the raspberry