Prep and Pool

Today we took a quick road trip down to see Auntie Meggie and Ellie. I wanted to get some things at Trader Joe's, and REALLY wish we had one closer. Instead of shopping and leaving, we stayed for lunch, went to see their new house, and went to their pool. What a great time!!

I spent way more money than I expected...but Trader Joe's is the best place, so it's not surprising.

Auntie Meggie and Uncle Josh's house is great. It is in a wonderful neighborhood, with an even better community pool.

Emma and Ellie had a terrific time playing around in the fountains within the confines of the toddler area.



They loved running through the sprinklers.



Although we didn't catch it on camera...there is a water slide there, and I may have taken a ride down.:)

Jackson enjoyed the sounds of the running water, and he slept the entire time we were there!! He ate alot today, and I was surprised that he did not wake up to eat at the pool or on the way home.

We can not wait to take more trips down to visit and spend time in their new house!! Emma and Ellie are more like sisters then cousins, so they miss each other terribly when they are not together.

On a side note, Mimi has been with us for the past 3 days. We have LOVED it!! She is so much fun to have around. She also takes GREAT care of us. She spoils me by doing the laundry, cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the kids so I can do things around the house. I wish she was down here more often.

Time Spent at Mimi and Pop's

Auntie Meggie decided to go to Mimi and Pop's house for an extended vacation, and we decided to join them. We could not go for as long, because it was Tommy and my anniversary, but we went from Wednesday till Friday.

On Wednesday, we no sooner got there, then we packed the kids up and headed to World's End State Park. It was a spur of the moment trip, that was tons of fun. We stopped at the Forksville Store and got their world famous hoagies. From there we made our way to the park to enjoy a
picnic.





We then took the kids down to the water and let them wade through the less dangerous parts. Mimi is wonderful when it comes to letting the kids be kids and experience things. Pop on the other hand gets paranoid about EVERYTHING!!! I guess Mimi and Pop have different ways of showing their love for their grandkids.





After wadding, we took the girls down to the swimming hole. I had to feed Jacks, as he was sleeping most of the time, and Em went out to the water with Ellie, Auntie, Mimi, and Pop. After I fed Jacks, I joined the gang down at the water, while Mimi held Jacks and tried putting him back to sleep for me. The water was cold...but Em and El enjoyed it.



We headed home after the wonderful impromptu picnic, and rested for a few minutes before taking the kids swimming at the Country Club with the Maeulen's. We always say that Em is not afraid of anything...she is definitely not afraid of water!! She loves to swim. I don't know how many times she went under water, but she has no fear.

On Thursday, we woke up and got the kids ready to go to Knoebel's. Someone gaves us free tickets, and the girls loved it!!!




They rode all the rides at least 2 times. El even put her hands in the air to enjoy them a bit more. There was only 1 ride I rode with Em...the rest she was on her own, or rode with her big (cousin) sister.




Pop walked Jackson around most of the park while he slept. Everyone says what a good little baby he is, and I would have to agree.


The day was finished off with another trip to the pool with the Maeulen's, and all kids were pooped by the end of the two days. Jackson slept wonderfully at night, while his sister skipped naps and was an early riser. For a two year old not going on much sleep...she did great!!

As usual, we had a blast at Mimi and Pop's house!

Father's Day

Sunday was spent with both families. We spent the morning enjoying brunch with Grammi, Paw-Paw, Nanny, Pappy, and all the Aunts and Uncles. After brunch, we went home, while Tommy went to the Reading Phillies game with the men in his family.

In the meantime, my family came up to spend the day with us. Mimi, Pop, Auntie Meggie, Uncle Josh, Ellie, Uncle Toddy, Great Nanny, Great Poppy, and Uncle Josh's parents spent the entire day at the house playing and enjoying a bb-que.



Ellie and Em enjoyed playing in the water...or should I say that Ellie was squirting Em with the hose, while Emma was running full steam into the water.



While we were lounging around outside, the girls started looking for clovers with Mimi.


Pop got into the competition, and took it a bit more seriously then the rest of us.


While searching for clovers, Pop decided to turn into a coyote and pretend to "attack" the girls. Priceless!




The final portion of the day was spent celebrating Auntie's and my birthday. Mimi was so kind and thoughtful to bring a cake down for us. The girl's LOVED helping to blow out the candles.


It was a wonderful Father's Day, and I am so thankful for my wonderful father, Paw-Paw, and Tommy, who is a tremendous father to Emma and Jackson!







Bigger picture of Paw-Paw to come...not sure why this one is so little.

Parade and Festival

Today we went to Grammi and Paw-Paw's house for the Fireman's Parade. It was a great time.


Emma loved spending time with all her friends from Grammi's house...


...and Jackson loved being put to sleep by Miss Susie.


We thought Em would take her nap from 3-5, but she didn't, and we didn't make her. Instead, she wanted to play in her new playroom and go to our church's festival with Jeff, Jenna, and Emma.

Emma had a great time playing in the moon bounce and picking out ducks.

Our friends then came over to play in the new playroom, and Em went to bed at her normal time. We are lucky to have great friends and family, and we are even more happy to have Mimi, Pop, Uncle Toddy, Auntie Meggie, and Ellie come and visit tomorrow.

Summer full of pool days

The past few days have been spent at the pool. We awake in the morning, eat, play, and get ready for the pool.

The water has been cold, but that doesn't stop Emma. She wants to go in the big pool, walking down the stairs, saying, "Emma Do." She is in that phase where she wants to do everything by herself. I tell her that she is going to go under, and she is ok with that, until it's time to take the big step. Then she decides that she wants my help. Emma also loves jumping into the water. She stands on the edge and take the plunge. She LOVES swimming!

Yesterday, was Jackson's day to get pictures. As I was playing with Em at the baby pool, Auntie Maggie was snapping some pictures. It's tough to know what you are going to get with Jackson while at the pool. Sometimes he is happy, others he is sleeping, and the other days, he wants to be held.



As you can tell, this day he was happy.


Today, we spent the afternoon at the pool too. Emma spent some time with her friends playing with bubbles. She loves bubbles, and her friends too!

Busy Day

Tommy has started basketball open gyms, and was more than happy to volunteer to take Emma with him. I told her this, and the night before, she was excited to go. She was crying because she wanted to go to "bas-ket-ball" and I was not taking her. Tommy took her in the morning and she had a great time. I forgot to send the camera, so no pictures were taken...but Tommy did say she was running around, bringing basketballs to him, and at one point in time she did get scared while all the boys were running around bouncing the balls. When I called from the grocery store to see if she needed to come home, she was blowing the whistle...it's not hard to picture.

After basketball, I took her to see the movie Marmaduke. It was a really cute movie. She lasted the hour out of hour and a half, and then began to walk up and down the isle. This was fine because we were two out of 10 people there, but she started screaming when I would take her from the isle, and that was not fair to the people around us.

The day ended with Jackson sitting like a big boy in his bumbo. Not even three months and he looks like such a big boy.



Here is a picture of Em at almost 6 months sitting in the same seat.



Not only can he sit like a big boy, but he can hold his head up very well too.


Every where we go, people not only comment on how cute he is, but how alert he is.


Of course, Emma loves her brother just as much as we do...


and she loves her "blue" juicy cup too (for some reason she calls it her blue cup...we're not too sure why)!!