Everday, October 2011

Today was an ordinary day but there were just some moments I want to remember.

Paul is away for work so we are flying solo and actually having a blast!

Today on the way home from school we were sitting in the car and Noah kept saying Hula Hula which he said is a line from Barney.  Everything I would ask him he would answer Hula Hula.  We were all laughing and Maeve chimed in with her new line "No, Jose" which is her understanding of "No way, Jose"!!!!  So, Noah is saying Hula Hula and Maeve is saying No, Jose over and over and I saw a giant cloud coming down from the sky (it actually ended up being Limerick power plant in the distance) and I said, Hey it's a tornado!!!  Maeve yells "A TOMATO!!!" and Noah says Hula Hula to which I say No, Jose.  We kept going between these three and laughing hysterically.  Noah also threw in Maeve's other favorite right now "libirdy" which is Maeve's version of library. 

When we got home we ran around outside until dinner.  After dinner the kids played like crazy, as if they were long lost best friends, for a full hour.  I just sat and smiled at their silly games and shenanigans.  When it was finally bedtime we ran upstairs and I got their toothbrushes ready for them.  I walked out of the bathroom and they shut the door and locked me out!!!  They were having fun brushing teeth with out me!  I just smiled and enjoyed the moment.

I put the kids to sleep and Maeve wasn't quite ready.  I went in to calm her and she asked me to pick her up.  As I held her she said "Mommy, I mad with you." I was stunned by her ability to say what she was thinking! I asked her if she wanted another song and she said yes and then she said "All better, night night, I love you!"

After they asked for a million extra forks and cups of water at dinner, Noah asked me if it was hard work being a mommy.  I said that it was and I just wanted to sit through my meal, but that it was also wonderful. 

I love my little monsters!!

Washington DC 2011

In April we signed up for a complimentary weekend at the National Harbor Resort in Washington DC from September 9-12. We were so exhausted from the move that we really weren't super excited about sleeping in another bed but it was a great weekend overall. We drove down Friday morning and saw that our hotel was beautiful and right on the Potomac River. We got settled and took a stroll around the harbor. It was so beautiful!!! We had a free meal at McCormick and Schmick's and then we all had Ben and Jerry's at the harbor.

 

On Saturday morning we headed into the city and were at the Air and Space Museum when it opened.  Noah had a cursory interest in the planes and sailed through the museum.  He had a small peak of interest in Mars and going to another planet, but for the most part he was not super enthusiastic about much!  We did try some Astronaut Ice Cream which both of the kids loved!  After the Air and Space we headed to the Natural History Museum which was a completely different story.  Noah sprinted from room to room naming the animals and which era they came from.  He wanted to see every angle of every creature and he was thrilled to be there.  We had a lovely lunch on the National Mall and drove to see if we could spy the new Martin Luther King memorial.  We quickly double parked and took turns to go see it.  It was very beautiful and inspirational!  After that we headed home for naps.  

 

We spent a great afternoon at the amazing pool at the hotel and then we took the ferry to Alexandria for the evening.  We walked the beautiful old streets and had a lovely dinner outside.  Noah was thrilled to keep tally of the dogs and babies that passed by as we ate.  After dinner we had more ice cream, got great balloons from a street vendor and took the boat back home.

Sunday we decided to take it easy and walked around the harbor.  The neighboring building was a large convention center that had indoor fountains so we did some shopping and watched the amazing fountain shows.  

All weekend our hotel window looked out onto a giant pirate ship that had a zip line and climbing structures attached to it.  Noah was begging to go so we looked into it.  He wasn't old enough for all of it but he did climb to the top of a 25 ft. light house on a rock wall and got to do some rope climbing.  Paul did the zip line and had a blast.  In the meantime Maeve and I hit the pool again.  Of course, on the elevator back to the room she stripped and refused to get dressed again.

On Monday morning we packed our bags and then headed to the DC Zoo for the day.  We had a wonderful time looking at the animals.  We are always amazed at how different each zoo is and which animals act differently.  The gorillas were amazing at DC and performed all kinds of funny family pranks on each other.  The lions were amazing... lots of cubs chased each other and played tag!  

After a long long day we finally headed back home!

Hurricane Irene

In August of 2011 the east coast was visited by the infamous Hurricane Irene. My grandparents house is directly across the street from the Schuylkill River and so we were quite concerned. My grandparents lost their home in 73 with Hurricane Agnes and had major damage in 2006 with Hurricane Isabella. We readied the kids for the storm and told them we would be doing inside activities. But, the night of the storm we stayed awake keeping vigil because of the threats of tornadoes and the rising river water. Then at 4AM the power went off abruptly and woke the kids so we were up for a while then. Needless to say we were exhausted the next day so we sent the kids out with their umbrella hats from the beach. They loved it!!

Home Sweet Home, temporarily speaking

So, even though we consider ourselves nomads at the time, we have set up quite a nice little home. My grandparents have been very generous with their home. The kids have nice bedrooms upstairs and we have claimed their basement and made it into a studio apartment. We sleep on the futon/sofa and the kids have a play area. It is very good for us... we have everything we need and then some. It is a good reminder to me how little we need to get by and how much "extra" I live with normally. Note, there are not rugs anymore because the flooding caused the floor to be wet so we had to throw them out. We're pretty confidant that our digs are bigger than some NYC apartments!

Living room, bedroom and office:

All of our clothes and toiletries

Dining Room

Maeve's first day of Tots

Our church has a once a week program called Tots for 2 year olds. I was hesitant to put Maeve in because we are in so much turmoil and I thought adding something new would be hard. But, the class has 8 students and 6 of them have been her nursery buddies since birth, so I thought it would be like a playdate for her. Plus it's free for me as a staff person. Her first day was September 8th. Isn't she cute?!