Girl Trip to Cleveland

One of the mental posts I made to the blog a few weeks back (but never got around to actually posting) was a poll:

I'm packing up the girls and driving by myself from Philly to Cleveland to visit my parents for a week. It's a 7 hour drive without a potty-training 2.5 year old or sorta-but-not-quite able to entertain myself 1 year old. Am I:
a. Brave
b. Crazy

We had been planning our "girl trip" for a long time and despite voting that I was b) crazy, I was excited. Thankfully, the girls were great travelers (both ways!) and we had a blast.
The girls loved hanging out with Grammy and Papa.

Fun outings like feeding the ducks in Chagrin and a rainy-trip to the zoo (thank God for the huge indoor rainforest building).

Getting to see lots of family we love.

(My) Papa


Aunt Jo


Aunt Mary


Joan


Aunt Jo, Grandma Marge and Grammy Rose


Uncle Pat

Abby-dog. Kelly was a big fan.

(Sorry Aunt Teri, Uncle John, Uncle Lou, Mike & Hanna... don't have any good shots of you!)

And celebrating Kelly's first birthday.

With improvised party hats since I forgot them and someone insisted on hats...

And little lambies this time!

The time flew by and we can't wait to see everyone again

Go Phillies!

We took the plunge and became season ticket holders this year. (Chris promised me that we'd sell the popular games at a profit, a bunch of other games to break even, and that I wouldn't have to coordinate anything. I was sold.)

We've been to a few games so far. Hard to say what part Shannon likes best... wearing her Phillies gear, hanging out at the seats, playing at all the fun spots through the park, looking for the Phanatic or ball park food.

Kelly has been to one game and is clear about her favorite part:

Go Phils!

UPDATE: Shannon's big into pretending these days. Here is she is being the beer man. Yep. It took awhile to figure out what she was talking about because she first told me "I put wine on my head" but after several very curious minutes we figured out what was going through that crazy brain of hers!

Happy Easter

My backlog of posts begins with Easter. Here we go...

Master decorators

The Bunny Trail

Both girls hunted for their baskets and eggs. They were quite pleased with their Easter loot.

'

They looked pretty cute all dressed up in their Easter finest.

This one cracks me up. (For the record, Shannon was 8 months in that picture when she fit into this dress.)

We finished off the day with dinner at the McGee's and lots of cousin time. It was a happy Easter indeed.

Kelly's 1st Birthday

Look who is one!

So far we've celebrated with Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Kathy. Our lamb cake had a choice of two flavors: sweet or really sweet.

Shannon is obsessed with birthdays and LOVED that Kelly needed a helper to open her presents, blow out her candles and test out the new toys.

Kelly, on the other hand, simply LOVED cake.

Looking forward to continuing the celebration next week in Cleveland.

Poconos Vacation

We were thinking we'd be able to make it out to Colorado this year for a ski vacation. Those plans feel through and we were left itching to ski. So we decided to check out some local skiing in the Poconos.

Chris found us a deal at the Great Wolf Lodge... and it became the perfect early spring trip: a chance to say goodbye to winter with one last hurrah in the snow and start thinking about summer as we put on bathing suits and played at the huge indoor waterpark.

Outside, Chris and Shannon went snowtubing while Kelly and Mommy bounced around in empty tubes at the bottom.

Remember these people? After a 4 year hiatus, we were back on skis. And it sure felt good!

Where were the girls while we were on the slopes? Grandma and Grandpa joined us for part of the trip. Thanks again for watching them while we had fun!

Did somebody mention a waterpark?

Oh man, this place was fun. Both girls enjoyed splashing around in the little pools and fountains. Shannon was big enough to go on some of the water slides. Daddy taught her how to scream the whole way down. I hope she stays this adventurous and fun at amusement parks because watching her have so much fun made the trip.

Other highlights at the hotel were the ridiculous amounts of food they served up...

...and the nightly pajama story time. Shannon announced to every one she met in the l-o-n-g hallway and elevator down to the lobby that "I wearing my jammies and my Elmo slippers" and made sure to get a front row seat to listen to the book. (That's Wiley the Wolf on the left, BTW.)

On our way home, we stopped at the Crayola Factory. We learned about how crayons were made (anybody else remember that segment on Sesame Street?) which mesmerized Kelly,

colored and "project-ed" it up all over the place,

and saw the

And then we went home, were exhausted and felt like we needed a vacation. :) Luckily, we planned a restful weekend to just relax so it truly was the break we needed. And now we're ready for the next one!

Kelly: Eleven Months

I'm in total denial that Kelly is about to turn one. But try as I may to halt time (that's what this belated post is, BTW) the big day is coming. So here's what Kelly is like in her final days of "being x months old."

Kelly LOVES food. She was slower to warm up to eating than Shannon was but man, she chows with passion now. As you can see, blueberries and bananas are big favorites. Other foods you'll find on Kelly's tray these days... yogurt, chicken, cucumbers, tomatoes, peaches (LOTS of peaches), rice, peas, pretzel rods, beans, and oranges. She is pretty much eating table food all of the time now and I've been giving her whole milk here and there. She's good at her sippy cup, better at stealing Shannon's.

Kelly loves water. "Two girls in a tub" is a favorite game these days. She's also been in the pool at the YMCA once (twice?) and loved it, but she's had a bunch of ear infections this winter, we've kept her out to be safe.

The girl has no fear. She loves being upside down and this is a favorite game with Daddy right now. She is a climber and I'm pretty sure she's heard, "No, Kelly. Get down" enough to know what it means.

She definitely can walk and can go 10-15 steps at a time. But she knows she's fastest by crawling or "knee walking." It's bizarre to come into a room and find her standing in the center of it.

She babbles a ton and we're pretty sure that she says (and means) mama, dada, naana (for Shannon) and boo (when playing peekaboo). We're signing with her and she's starting to use milk and all done.

And that grin is second only to the giggle. Love you, Kelly!