Parties and Pencils

We've had a busy couple of weeks. Our friends/neighbors, the Iannuccis, just moved to Ireland for 6 months, so we ambushed their house the night before they left to steal their food and interrupt any last minute tasks that they had to complete before their departure. We are truly helpful, loving friends. We wanted a shot of all of the kids together and, as usual, a less than stellar picture was all that we could get. Sadly, this is the best one that we have ever taken of the 4 of them.

Riley and Erin hammin' it up.

The girls went to their friend Maven's birthday party a few weeks ago. This picture of Sanna eating one of the delicious cake lollipops was the best picture of the batch. It is hard to get photo gold when no one will sit still or act interested in our desire to capture cuteness.

This is not the most flattering picture of little Nanni, but she was just so proud of writing all of her Valentine's Day cards that I had to share it. Both girls filled out a Valentine's Day card for each of their classmates, carefully writing each friend's name, and signing their own. They are learning to write all of their letters at school and couldn't have been prouder to accomplish this special Valentine's Day task:)

Riley standing in front of her cards:)

Sanna's famous signature (of course she picked Toy Story cards).

Riley's John Hancock (equally shocking that she picked Barbie cards:)

They will have a Valentine's Day party at school on Tuesday that the parents are invited to, so you KNOW that Ryan and I would NEVER miss that. We have our eyes on parents of the year 2013 since we already had a huge parenting fail in 2012. I know, I know, it's only February, but don't judge us people.

Super Indy

This post has nothing to do with the girls, just the Super Bowl. Everyone in Indy was very impressed with what a great job the city did hosting the Super Bowl, and I think that the rest of the country agreed. It was quite a sight to see, and we enjoyed going down to Super Bowl Village to be in the middle of it all. It was definitely a once in a lifetime experience!

The Smiths came down for media day flaunting all of their Patriot's gear.

Media Day resulted in about 500 pictures of Tom:)

Ryan was fair and took one quick pic of Eli.

The stadium in all its glory.

The new JW Marriott, where the NY Giants stayed.

The circle at night.

A night view of the JW Marriott. It was quite an impressive sight all lit up!

WHAT?!?

What?!? What's wrong? Oh, you want some more of this? Apparently the two people that actually read this blog are disappointed with the lack of posts lately. Sooooo, ask and you shall receive:)

We really haven't been all that busy lately, but the hustle and bustle of daily life tends to wear us out around here. The girls have done some cool things since we got back from Florida, but we haven't done a very good job in the photo documentation department. They went to see the Disney Princesses on Ice, which they LOVED every second of, while Ryan and I would have rather been getting root canals. We took out a second mortgage on the house to fund the 2 beers (TOTALLY essential, I promise) and two plastic princesses that we bought at the show, but I must say that it was worth it just to watch them react with such excitement.

The only other noteworthy event was the girls promotion ceremony for their karate class that they take at school. After a few months of classes they finally received their yellow belts. Parents were invited to this ceremony, but it was on a Monday at their normal class time in the middle of the day, so I figured that not many people would be able to make it, no big deal. WRONG. According to Riley I was THE ONLY ONE who didn't watch. Talk about guilt. Just one more parenting fail I guess. Naturally I assured them that I would leave work to watch their next promotion ceremony. Won't make that mistake twice. The other kids must have stay-at-home, non-working, parents who send their kids to daycare five days a week anyways. They must be able to clear their casual lunching/shopping/spa treatment schedules at the drop of a hat. Lesson learned, my bad.

So since we have no photo documentation of recent events, you will have to settle for a few more pictures from Florida. We sure are missing the warm weather right about now!

Nanni LOVED playing in the ocean.

Riley was finally over her fear of sand this year, but still approached all activities with extreme caution. She had fun looking cute and searching for "perfect" shells. Oh boy, this one's gonna be a handful:)

They built a "swimming pool" down by the water.

Awww, occasionally they look like they love each other (in between the screaming, yelling, screeching and swatting)

I can't believe how old they look now. No babies here. I fear that they will start acting like teenagers soon.

We celebrated Great Aunt Patti's 25th birthday while we were in Florida. She sure does age gracefully:) Now the girls ask at least three times a day if it is THEIR birthday yet.

We had to ride the carousel at Sea World 500 times. Okay twice, but waiting in line made it feel like 500 times:)

We even took the flamingo paddle boats out for a spin.

We saw three different shows at Sea World: dolphins/birds, seals/walruses/otters, and orcas. Here's a shot of the Shamu show.

Well people, that's all I've got for now. We will try to start posting more so that Riley doesn't call us out on being the only parents on Earth who don't blog about every moment of their kids' lives:)

Getting Our Vacation On

The first three days of vacation have been filled with presents, family, and Crabby Bills. We are fortunate to have grandparents that allow us the freedom to watch soccer games at our favorite Florida bar. Today's game brought disappointment to Laurin, whose team lost 2-1 at in the final minute after some unfortunate officiating. My team has a big game tomorrow, so we will see what happens. Before the soccer, we went to the park to burn some energy. There is one random pic from yesterday where the girls spent hours running up and down the beach.

Florida!

We have arrived back int Florida. This time with a much less stressful flight. That probably had something to to with the iphones, ipads, leappads, and food in abundant supply. The girls were a hit on the plane, showing off their Woody and Pooh dolls. We went almost immediately to the beach after arriving at the Condo. Sanna took right to the sand, rolling around and sending her skin into a rashy disaster. Her sister is no longer afraid to touch her bare feet to the sand, which helps when trying to enjoy the beach. Our only attempt at a sister photo involved a lot of licking and hijinx. More to come....

Thanksgiving 2011

Oh man. 3 3-year olds and 3 dogs equals a crazy party. The only thing that could have made it crazier was a pumpkin roll.

Going Parking

On a beautiful Fall day, we headed to the park with the whole gang, including grandma, Dawson, and Owen. Owen was keen to show off his regained mobility. There were all kinds of dogs and children at the park, so everyone had friends to play with. The girls dont seem to want to give up the baby swings. I assume it is mostly to do with the speed and height they can safely achieve. Later, the girls and their friend Avery gave Owen a fake bath with dirt and leaves. Somehow, he ended up smelling better.

Childrens Museum

The girls love the Childrens Museum. Me, not so much. Mostly because I hate crowds. We arrived soon after opening on Friday, and there were about 100 school buses lined up outside. Im not sure how hanging out in the Barbie exhibit and laughing at your middle school male classmates/teachers dress up as princesses is a learning experience, but Im not an educator. Also, apparently every mother with a toddler/stroller showed up. The highlight for me was sitting inside the replica train car that has videos in the windows that make it look like you are moving. Laurin and I played it up a bit and Riley got confused/scared. All of her logical mind assured her we werent moving, but she couldnt be certain. Sorry for the gaps between posts.

Spooktacular 2

Quick update. We once again went to the Spooktacular at the theatre down the street. There was a bounce house (which once again blew the breaker and deflated as Sanna was inside, sending her into a meltdown and forcing me to go in after her), bobbing for apples, face painting (both girls chose to have butterflies on their faces), and hot apple cider. Hopefully the costumes we got will hold up for another two weeks. Apparenly quality isnt a major concern of those manufacturing such products.

Apples=Fun

Hello again.

This recent long weekend gave us a chance to catch up after a few active weekends of fun. In the spirit of Labor Day, we took to the Anderson Orchard to pick our own apples. This place was somewhat unique in that you drove your car around the 100 acres looking for apples. We soon figured out that the looking was the hardest part, besides the terrain. Our two minivans (our car is not actually a minivan, rather something much cooler/manly, but for the sake of the story we will label it as such) bounced over the various ridges/inclines with kids hanging out the windows/tailgates (buckling/unbuckling them from their carseats was inefficient as we made many stops. Also, we were going 5 mph). We were the trail car, and our leaders seemed to have an affinity for stopping near the barest of trees. That led to us only accumulating 2/3 a peck (according to the quick math done by the checkout team as we left) of apples in 90 minutes with two bags. That cost us $5. Now that is value for entertainment. It was a stark contrast to Rib Fest, which we attended the day before. In 90 minutes there, we spent $60 on who knows what. Apparently the ribs there are some exotic variety of deliciousness Im not aware of, because they cost more than in any restaurant. Tasted like burnt pig to me, which was great as usual.

Anyway, back to apples. The girls had an especially good time because their best friend (according to Sanna later in the day) was there. That was Emre. Today, when they go to school, they will have a new best friend. Then again tomorrow.

We may have to make another apple picking trip this year, as early September coupled with the weather this year, led to a scarcity of choice apples. As I told Laurin numerous times, I really love apples.

After apple picking, we played in the hay and were showered with gifts (belated birthday presents from the Lielands, who have been too busy training for the Tour de France to hang out). Good times.