Thank You!

The Mermaid Sand Sculpture made by Rob, Erol, and Danielle ... such troopers!



We would like to send a special thank you to Danielle and Erol for having us at their beautiful house last week. The beach was fantastic. The girls loved it, and even napped 2 times ON THE BEACH! We found a really beautiful cove that had low tide for hours and we could literally walk to one of the islands ... if we had enough gusto in us! It was easy and wonderful.

It was also so nice to have some real leisure time together, just doing typical day kind of things ... making yummy food and packing up for the beach. We learned so much too just by watching Danielle, she's so conscientious of the environment and has really found good ways to "lessen the carbon footprint". I absolutely realized I was doing alot more wasting than I had considered. So bravo to my friend for all of her great effort to be more mindful and less wasteful.

I hope we didn't scare them too much from having a family, especially since they got to see just how trying it can be to have 2 little ones running around with you... how when you want to head out for the beach it doesn't take 10 minutes, but about 40 minutes because of sunscreen applications, shoe decisions, combing the snarls out of beachy hair, packing up the van, then of course a diaper change just as you are about to put the littlest one into the car seat ... and then bam "I'm hungry, I want a cup of milk" Yup, it's a juggling act ... and somedays it's a great relief to have the built in DVD player to allow the adults a moment of quiet time too! he he he! I think they enjoyed it and the whiny afternoons will be a distant memory because much of the day we were all smiling and enjoying the time as a bigger family! :)

Danielle and I, of course, got out for a night of Thelma & Louise antics ... we kept it fairly tame but we always have a good story to share :) I will try to post a picture to shed light on that adventure.

Good times

Sometimes you just need pictures.

This weekend we had a blast with just a simple visit with great friends. The girls loved Marblehead, Emma said "Mommy can I just stay with Auntie D and Erol" ... Mommy said "I am sorry honey, you live with us".

Below is a video of Julia enjoying the Atlantic Ocean with Daddy, Emma and Uncle Erol!

Good for the Soul ...

This weekend was one of those "good for the soul" kind of weekends. Not only did we get our Christmas tree but I also got to spend an ENTIRE day with my best friend on Saturday. A big thanks to Rob for taking care of the girls all day ... and with out any complaints! The girls loved having their Daddy home with them all day.
So Saturday I left for Clinton Crossing Outlets at 9 a.m. and meet up with Michelle at 10:15. We got to peruse and shop leisurely with out any time constraints such as, "I can stay for 1.5 hours because I have to get back to feed the baby" or "I can shop for 2 hours while the girls nap". Nope I was granted a girls day away. It was awesome and very very much appreciated. Michelle and I took full advantage of this rare opportunity and did what any Irish gals would do ... we ducked into a Pub around 2 p.m. for lunch and a beer (Guinness for me and Heineken for her). It was lovely! We got to gab for hours about life and all of the changes we have gone through, some wonderful and some unexpectedly frustrating, but through it all we have been able to lean on our friends! It is a beautiful thing when you only see each other a handful of times each year but the moment you walk up to one another it's like you were never gone. We also got some amazing steals at Banana and JCrew and Michelle snagged a great dress at Off Saks. All in all it was a very successful shopping outing and even more, it was just the catch up day we needed. Big hug, friend.
And Sunday brought a snowy morning which made finding our Christmas tree even more fun!
I, being the city girl that I am, bet Rob that since it was snowy that people would opt out of finding a tree that day. Well Rob was right, snow=nostalgia and therefore lots of families cutting down trees. But it was perfect ... everyone knows I love a crowd! We took the tractor ride out to the trees and Rob cut down our perfect 3rd Christmas tree (Julia's 1st!). What a pretty tree!

We also got to enjoy a first ... christmas cookie decorating with toddlers and other pre-school aged children. It was so refreshing and sweet. Sara and Matt hosted and had all the fixings for fantastic sugar and gingerbread cookie masterpieces. I think Emma met the quota of eating 8 cookies! That little girl loves her sweets ... hmmm wonder where she gets that from? :) Thank you guys for the fun night, I love all of the holiday tidings.