July 2011

We spent July 4th down at the shore.

Looking festive.

Patriotic

At the beach before dark to get a spot for fireworks. They loved them and had a really great day.

Someone is sleepy.

A few days later we hit the shore again. This time they had their first go at mini-golf. It was interesting to say the least. Cousin Hunter "teaching" them.

Ice cream afterwards on such a hot day was necessary.

It was one of those melted before you can even get it in your mouth kind of days.

Playground afterwards.

Then we went to our town fair. They had no rides this year, so it wasn't as exciting as in years past. They still got to ride a pony though.





We spent a lot of time at our development pool. They loved it. I saw them progress from being timid of the water to just jumping right in doing cannonballs by summer's end. They were still wearing a swim float this year. I hope to get them lessons next year and maybe ditch the swimmies. We'll see. This was the first year I was brave enough to take them to the pool myself too.

August Recap

August continued with swimming, going to My Gym, and doing whatever it takes to keep two 3 year olds happy and entertained--that might also be read as Mommy forgets what we did.

I do know that we went to our town fair. We have gone three years now and every year we do something more each year. They did pony rides for the first time last year. This year we rode some of the rides. Of course we lament about how much more it costs us to go each year too!

Loving the cotton candy!!



Later in the month we headed for vacation. We went to Long Beach Island, NJ. We stayed at the same house we stayed at last year. It's right on the beach and so convenient to access the beach with kids and all the junk that comes along. If you have to go back to the house for something it really is no big deal. We all had a great time, despite some rainy days thrown into the mix. They especially liked playing with their cousins.

Full moon rising over the ocean.

Kaylie loved the sand. The ocean--not so much. We did get her to try it one of the days and I think she actually liked it but was still frightened at the same time if that makes sense.

Kaylie--"The Little Mermaid"

We had a few days of bad weather. So we had to make a road trip to a children's museum to pass the time. Although it was in a strange location, it kept them entertained and happy.

This picture might as well be a fake because we never got to go for our surrey ride. The bike had a flat tire and no other ones to rent!!! I was so disappointed. They didn't seem to mind that we didn't do it, but they were confused as to why they had to get off. They were all set to go. Maybe next year.

A sunrise--yep saw a lot of those with these early risers.

View from the deck

Snacks with Nana on the beach.

Ryan loved the sand too but did not want anything to do with the ocean. Again, ONE day we were able to get him to dip his foot in, but he wasn't having any more of that. I guess I have a pair of landlubbers.

Our beach stakeout while we headed up for lunch.

Family pics on the beach. Bob has "the real ones" on his camera. The running joke is we'll get to see them next year.

Not our sandcastle, but it made a great addition to the pics!

A night at Fantasy Island Amusement park. They had a great time. Ryan even said, "That was fun!" after we left. He never does that.

A trip to Old Barney--Barnegat Lighthouse before we left to go home.

The Big Catch Up Post Part 2

I've been really bad with taking pictures. I take one or two here or there but really haven't taken any GOOD pictures. I noticed that half my pictures have them not looking at the camera.

The kids have gotten quite good at using the iPhone and iPad. I think Kaylie self-taught herself. They love using the kid friendly apps.

Here they are at a place called Kidz Village in Kenilworth, NJ. A play place that had a theme set up for each room. They enjoyed the diner and food store the best--like I said in my previous post, pretend play has been kicked up a notch and I love to listen to what they are pretending. They really enjoyed it for the first hour or so and then a camp/daycare invaded and we had to leave. It got too chaotic. Again, not many pics taken.

Painting al fresco.

We went to our county fair and saw and fed some animals. They loved feeding the animals. Then we ate and we went on their first ferris wheel (Kaylie chose the ride) ride. Poor Kaylie is not 36 inches tall (I don't think Ryan is either--he's almost there) and that was a requirement for riding all the rides. Thankfully the guy let her go on because that is ALL she wanted to do. I mean come on it's a ferris wheel not a roller coaster--and we were with her.

Baby calf born in April. So cute...

Kaylie meeting her 'Prince'--that's the name of the horse if you can't see it on the hat. Yeah a horse with a hat right?? The things that make you scratch your head.

What else is going on:

I hired a mother's helper for two mornings a week allowing me to take them to some of these places and well just to give me a break too. I usually run errands, food shop, and have even gotten a few pedicures. Wahoo!

Kaylie has a poop issue--she holds it for 3-4 days! It gets so bad that she ends up just laying around on the couch. Of course the prod to go to the bathroom gets a resounding NO! She holds it until she literally can't hold it any longer. Now in the beginning of training, she was scared to even sit on the potty and then we progressed to me putting her on the seat without a fight when I saw her 'cues' --never once saying to me that she had to poop. Now she has been laying on the couch on day 3 or 4 of no pooping with a huge stomach. She has told me recently that she has to poop but she sits and then nothing. Then within the hour she poops her pants--sometimes I can get her rushed to the toilet but the last two times have been in the underwear. I mean I can't watch her face every second of the day. So on one hand I feel she made another progression by now saying she has to poop but why the heck won't she just go??? I have been giving her Benefiber too and that has helped with softer stools but the frequency is concerning--although to be honest she always was an every other day pooper. I just hope she gets over this fear of pooping. I'm thinking of asking for a laxative for her until she gets over this control issue. Once she goes, she bounces immediately back to herself. Thankfully no poop problems for Ryan.

My Gym: I'm really glad I signed up for this class. They have improved so much with listening skills--including following directions. It really has been good to get them ready for preschool and having a teacher to listen to, although Kaylie has taken to doing a lot of not listening there which drives me insane. Kaylie has taken 2 and half months to say her name and answer the question of the day however. I just about passed out when they asked her name and favorite color and she answered both about a week ago. She has even been taking part in the circle time warm up and doing the instructed activities. Ryan jumps right in and does most of the stuff but when he says his name/answer to question it's like a whisper to the group.

FIRST MOVIE: A week or so ago we took them to see Toy Story 3. This was their first time at the movie theater. They did really well. They were surprised at how dark it got in there and asked a million questions during the movie which would have been fine but they were loud about it. Oh well what are you gonna do? They are learning. To my surprise, no one needed the bathroom the whole time. They just sat (K on my lap) and watched.

I have to say that age three is challenging. I think, well I know, I might have said that for age two too but three is ROUGH! More and more tantrums and now I get a lot of "Go away Mommy," and just in general bossing me around which I don't stand for. Oh and the eating issues???? I think my kids exist on crackers. Their food repertoire has diminished to nada and they never want to sit at the table for any extended amount of time to eat. All I can think of is how did we get to this point? Someone please tell me they will eat a variety of food again. All of this makes for a frustrated mommy who dreads mealtimes. On the other hand, they are so cute trying to make sense of their world and the conversations are priceless.