New Jersey trip 2010!! (PART ONE)

Well everyone, I'm a bit behind on the blog posts, so keep your eyes out this week, I'm going to try and do a few to catch up.

Last weekend the fam and I packed up the car and headed on our first road trip since Cole was born. As you know, he was a terrible car rider and in the last couple of months has finally gotten over his screaming-hysterically in the carseat bit and so we were off! Woohoo!

First stop was our annual beach trip with the McGee family. This time we hit Wildwood New Jersey. See our trips from 2008 and 2009 to see how much the kiddos have grown!

We decided to leave around bedtime on Friday night in hopes that both children would pass out blissfully at 7:30 leaving us with 4 hours of peace and quiet. Riiiiiight. Cole cried for a good bit until we stopped in a dark bank parking lot and I fed him until he passed out around 8:30. One down...one to go! Addie rallied and didn't fall asleep until 10pm! She was looking for fireworks because we had told her that on July 4th there are fireworks at night after she goes to bed. Apparently she thought it would happen every night. Woops. We pulled in around 11:30 and by 1am both kids were finally asleep. Cole was up for the day at 5:45. Seriously? And that, my friends, sums up a "vacation" with children :)

First on the to-do list...relaxing...



Oh wait...4 adults and 4 kids to keep track of...no time for relaxing! ;)

The last time Addie and Shannon saw each other, there were some tears when it came to sharing. This time there weren't really any toys about, so guess what? They got along famously!! They played all kinds of games including half-naked racing through the condo...ready set...go!

I think Shannon won this one :)

The girls had fun playing in a fort made from blankets and couches.

Um, remember when Kelly was a baby? She's all grown up now!

Chris came up with this awesome game of "magic carpet ride"


Steve wanted in on the fun.

After all the indoor fun, we hit the beach! Addie wasted no time getting her hands in the sand.
I love how the girls each found a spot


Coley fell asleep on the walk from the car to the beach, so I became trip photographer!



Addie, timid as ever, still wasn't a fan of the surf.

The McGee girls loved the water!


Kelly was a BIG fan of the tidepools...it's like a baby pool at the beach,warm and shallow. Perfect!

Though she wanted to swim a bit too much and she forgot she doesn't know how to swim :)


Coley finally woke up and was like "whoa....where AM I?"

But he quickly remembered that he's pretty happy wherever he is.

I tried to get an Addie/Cole picture with not much luck. The reason I posted this one is because if you click on the pic to make it larger, I think it shows how alike they look!
Jodi taught Addie and Shannon how to take a "friends" picture with arms slung around each other. Cute!

In the meanwhile, Steve was committed to flying a kite.
Woohoo!

It got really high!

Cole tried to watch it but too much sun...so he started focusing on more important tasks at hand....

...eating sand.


Yeah...he loved the stuff :)

I tried putting his feet in the ocean and he was indifferent. Didn't love it, didn't hate it.


Family picture!

After the beach, we headed to the boardwalk for dinner.

Much to Addie's chagrin, we didn't have much cash on us, nor did we have much time there due to my very poor sense of direction, so she couldn't ride any rides. The girls are sitting on this merry-go-round without it going merrily around...poor deprived children :)

Not pictured: Both my kids crying in the bathtub from being overtired. The adults finally getting the kids all to bed by 9pm and listening to music from the live band at the nearby restaurant. Ah...relaxing.

The next day was just as sunny and beautiful! We hung out in the condo in the morning. Love this mommy-daughters loving :)

This is the view from the balcony--gorgeous!

The girls played choo-choo train
And feasted on french toast and strawberries for breakfast

Jodi got the girls adorable matching shirts. This photo shoot was awesome :)


We hit the beach one more time before we had to go...I didn't get as many pictures this time. Here's a cute one of Kelly feasting on more strawberries. That girl loves her fruit :)

And Cole hanging out in the shade of the tent.



All in all a quick but wonderful time with the McGee family as always. Next stop....visiting Yaya and Poppy. Stay Tuned for Part Two!

Coley is 5 months!

Jumpin' Jive, look who's 5...months, that is :) Cole continues to be a smiley, sweet kiddo with a slight stubborn streak.

He followed along with Addie's not-so-great sleeping (hey, they're my kids and I'm not the best sleeper, so why am I surprised?) so we Ferberized him like Addie, and it's gotten a LOT better.

He found his consonants and babbles a lot now--ba ba ba ba, da da da, and na na na are a few of his most frequent soliloquies.

He's also, thankfully, MUCH better in the car. He doesn't follow the more common baby path of actually falling asleep in the car, but he also isn't screaming his head off during each ride over 4 and a half minutes.

His most common nicknames:
Coley, Cole-man, Cole-bear, Coley Boles, Roly Poly Coley, Bubba. His Daddy calls him "Coleiferous Rex" or just "Rex" for short. His sister calls him "Cole-gy" and "Chubby Little Cheeks"

Cole also started getting frustrated at watching us eat and drink. This smiley face would melt away and lunges for a piece of food in my hand with frustrated yelps followed.

So we figured it was time for his first food! We gave him avocado this morning.

He acted like he had been doing it all his life.

Oh Daddy, why have you denied me for so long???

Mm.....

Here is the link to Addie's first meal in case you want to take a trip down memory lane.


Unfortunately, Cole also loves watching TV with Addie. We were SO careful at not letting Addie watch TV until she was a year or so old...oh well...second child, different rules.

They also absolutely love to hug and cuddle each other.

Amongst all of this, Addie continues to crack us up.

To the Fair!

I was trying to find the blog post from when we went to the fair when Addie was a baby, but I apparently didn't blog about it. Why not? Hmm....I do remember, we DID go to the Arlington County Fair, I knew we did. It was small and Addie was hot and tired...oh here are the two pics we did take...not so interesting, I guess that's why they weren't quite featured amongst the other more exciting happenings in Addie's life at that time.

Arlington County Fair, 2008. Addie was just about 9 months old.



Not so excited, huh? Well, two summers later and Addie was SO excited when we told her we were going to the fair. And then even MORE excited when we told her what happens at a fair! Woohoo!


The Montgomery County Agricultural Fair 2010. Addie is 2 years and 9 months old, Cole is 5 months and one week old (yes yes, I'm late with his 5 month update...be patient with me).

First Addie and I rode this ride called the "wiggle worm"--yes, it was quite wiggly.

Then Addie rode a "REAL LIVE PONY" (as she will tell you). She was very serious through most of the ride, but very brave since she was wearing her "brave hat" (which is a separate hat from the Phillies hat she's wearing. It is imaginary and has nothing to do with the Atlanta Braves, and everything to do with Addie's own brand of courage!) and immediately asked for another ride after it was over.

We then headed to the 4-H part of the fair. We saw all kinds of animals. These pigs were ENORMOUS.

Addie tends to get flushed in the heat. I swear, we did put sunblock on her face and she has no sunburn :)

Cole was hot and tired, he had the same dazed look as Addie did two years ago in the same Ergo baby carrier.


Regarding the cows

Addie called this baby goat a "puppy goat"

Then Addie got to pet a "REAL LIVE BUNNY!"

After washing our hands very very well, we headed to find some food for an early dinner.

Addie chose a hot dog and we chose gyros.

Cole chose to pass out JUST as I wanted to sit down and eat...

...oops, I dropped some lettuce on his arm

After "dinner" (Addie--somewhat wisely--only ate half of her hot dog) Addie and Steve did one more ride--these were "hot air balloons" that flew into the air

Then Addie got to play a game where she chose two rubber duckies and won a prize

Then Addie had her very first funnel cake! Yum! (note her duckie prize of a very high-quality plastic...non-functioning...binoculars). Addie was more interested in the lemonade than the funnel cake...more for us!

Cole finally woke up and decided he wanted to drive the car home.

Backup camera shmackup camera, I reverse the old fashioned way, beep beep, coming through!


We got home close to bedtime, and Addie was hungry, so despite being offered junky fair fare she gobbled up a living room picnic of cucumbers, hummus, apples, and cheese. Yes, I'm bragging about my good eater!

We had a blast! Hooray for summer fun!!

I love love love this photo

Coley's first swim!

Another warm weekend meant some backyard pool time. This was Cole's first swim!

Sportin' some swim duds

Glowing with sunblock

Splash Splash!

Drying off

Steve got a new yoga mat and the instructions said to clean it first. Addie had a BLAST helping with that particular event.


I can't believe it's already August! Where did the summer go???