Happy 2nd Birthday Sydney (3.5 years and 2 years)

Nana came up to visit Sydney on her birthday weekend.  She arrived on Saturday afternoon.  Austin was really excited that she was coming up.  Sydney didn't completely understand but she was excited nevertheless.  It was great that she was able to come up and spend quality time with the kids.

On Sunday we all went to Wild Water Kingdom.  Nana couldn't believe Sydney and the water.  Sydney is convinced she can swim and will not allow anyone to help her.  She loves the water and wants to do everything herself.  In some places her head is barely above the water but she still manages somehow.  We had a great morning at the water park.  We are so happy we got passes this year.

On Sunday after nap we celebrated Sydney's birthday.  Meemaw and Papa came over too.  We had meatloaf for dinner.  We enjoyed our dinner together.  After dinner Sydney (and Austin) opened presents.  Austin really wanted to open all the presents but he did good allowing Sydney to try first.  Sydney got a Minnie Mouse outfit and socks from Nana.  Meemaw and Papa got her Dora dishes, dress, and a helicopter.  They got Austin a helicopter too.  Auntie Pam and Uncle Dennis got her a zoo flip book.  Auntie Melissa, Uncle Jonathan, and Camden got her dresses and PJ's dresses.  We got her a baby stroller and puzzles.  She loves puzzles.  She puts them together every night.

After presents we had a Dairy Queen ice cream cake.  Usually Lauren makes the kid's cake but this weekend didn't work out for her.  So I figured I would try an ice cream cake.  We haven't had one of them in a very long time.  Austin and Sydney loved the cake.  I wanted to get her an Elmo cake but they didn't have it.  They had Dora and Sydney loves Dora too so it worked out fine.  I thought the Dora cake was cute.  

On Monday, we went to the Akron Zoo.  We have passes to Cleveland however I do enjoy the Akron zoo.  It was very nice.  Austin and Sydney had a great time with Nana.  It was a beautiful day.  They had a few playgrounds to play on too.  It was a great day.

Tuesday was Sydney's second birthday.  It is crazy that she was born 2 years ago.  Time is going by way too fast.  Every day I am so grateful for Austin and Sydney.  They make our lives complete.  Brian and I could not imagine our lives without them.  It's complete craziness most days but it's totally worth it.  We are so happy they were born.

I took Sydney to her 2 year check up doctor's appointment.  It was so nice Nana was here because Austin stayed home with her.  It's so easy to just take 1 child to the doctor's office.  Sydney weighs 25 pounds (35 percentile for weight) now and her length is 34.25 (75% percentile for length) inches.  The doctor says she is doing well.  Physically she has always been ahead just trying to keep up with Austin.  She now talks all the time.  We can understand her pretty well.  She forms 4-5 word sentences and lets us know what she wants.  It's never quite in our house unless they are sleeping.

Nana and Austin watched a tree getting cut down a street over while we were at the doctor's office.  They watched for about 2 hours.  Austin absolutely loved it.  He sat on a big rock and would slide down it.  He told everyone about it later that day.  It's cool that Nana did that for him.  I would not have just because I wouldn't be able to stay there that long with Sydney.  Plus I feel weird standing in strangers yards but Nana didn't mind at all.  They had a great time together.

That evening we had dinner then I had to go to my mommy club meeting.  There are a lot of field trips I wanted to sign up.  Brian, Nana, and the kids played at the playground near by while I was at the meeting.  Afterwards we went to McDonalds for 49 cent ice cream cones.  Austin and Sydney were very excited about that.  Sydney had a wonderful birthday.

Nana put Sydney to bed a few nights.  It was amazing because she would have her asleep within 15 minutes without any crying.  It was awesome.  She takes over 30 minutes every night for Brian and I.  She loves puzzles and books so she wants to do that instead of sleeping.  But she listened so well for Nana and went right to sleep.

On Wednesday, we celebrated Sydney's birthday with Kaitlyn, Keith and Lisa.  They came over and we had ice cream cake and played outside.  They got Sydney an easel.  Sydney loves it.  They will probably use it a lot this winter.  Austin, Sydney, and Kaitlyn love playing together.  They fight over toys but they enjoy playing together.  It was fun to have them over.  We usually go to their house in the summer.

When Sydney went back to school, I made her Elmo cookies for her class.  Austin also wanted cookies for his friends so I made him Cookie Monster cookies.  I am not that artistic but I tried and I think for me they turned out well.

Virginia Beach (3.55 years and 23.75 months)

Last weekend we went to Virginia Beach.  We drove down on Thursday.  We left around 7 am. For some reason it took us 12 hours to get there.  We stopped for lunch and dinner for an hour each though.  We did take our time getting there.  The kids did really well in the car.  They watched their Kindles.  Their favorite car games were stickers, toy house, toy computers, and happy meal toys they would get.  We also had letter flash cards that they enjoyed doing too.  Austin really liked that.

When we finally arrived in Virginia Beach,we unpacked then went out to enjoy Beach Street.  Beach Street is probably our favorite thing about Virginia Beach.  We saw a street performer that juggled fire.  The show was 45 minutes and the kids stayed and watched the entire show.  Austin really enjoyed it!

On Friday morning we went on a pirate ship ride.  We drove down to the parking lot and then had to take a bus to the boat. Austin was so excited to ride the bus.  He has always loved buses.  Before the boat ride, Austin said his favorite part.  We arrived to the pier and we got on with about 8 other families.  So it was not too crowded.  We walked around the ship and then we took off to the ocean.  We saw dolphins right away.  We were close to them.  I really enjoyed that.

On the boat, they started to train the kids on how to be pirates.  Austin and Sydney were not too in to that.  They tried to participate some.  They did get a drawing on their arms.  They also got to squirt water into the ocean.  Then one of the pirates shot off the cannon.  It was loud but they liked it.  The end was the best part, the kids got to squirt black beard who was trying to take over the ship with water.  Austin loved it.  After the kids won that challenge they got to get a map and pick a piece of treasure from the treasure chest.  Austin was first in line.  He was so excited about that.  His face was priceless!

After nap, we went to the beach. They kids played in sand and ocean.  They love sand.  It's hard to believe that Austin didn't like sand the first year of his life.  Now he loves it.  Sydney and Austin can play in sand for a long time.  They were not too sure of the ocean at first. But the warmed up to it quickly.  Playing in the waves was fun for everyone.

That evening we went to beach street again.  Sydney made friends with a statue.  They really liked each other.  We enjoyed some entertainment.  That night we went to Sweet Frogs for ice cream.  The kids loved it.  Austin calls the place "Frogs".  It works out nicely because we each get a little bit of ice cream.  The price is reasonable and we are all happy.

On Saturday morning we rented a bike and rode on the bike trail for 2 hours.  It was fun.  It's harder to pedal than I thought.  It was good exercise.  The kids enjoyed riding in the front of the bike.  We stopped and played on the playground.  And later stopped for a fruit snack and juice break.  Brian and I enjoyed renting the bikes and were glad we did.

After bike riding we went swimming in the pool.  Austin and Sydney love swimming in hotel pools now.  They love wearing their life jackets and swimming by themselves.  They are good swimmers for their ages.  They will put their heads in the water.  Jump in all by themselves.  Sydney still forgets to keep her mouth closed all the time though.  Austin keeps his eyes open under water.  They really enjoyed the pool.

That evening we went to a restaurant for dinner.  We waited a long time for the food.  Luckily the food was good.  We sat outside on the oceanfront which was nice so the kids could watch the bikes and boats.  Then we enjoyed beach street again.  We had our ice cream and while eating our ice cream we heard fireworks.  We ran and watched them.  It was another awesome night.

On Sunday, we spent the entire day at the beach.  Brian set up our beach tent first thing in the morning.  We played in sand.  Brian got some key chains at the store and buried them in the sand for the kids to find.  Austin had fun with that.  We played in the ocean a lot.  Sydney wanted to swim by herself.  She didn't like that we had to hold on to her.  She really thoughts she could swim alone.  She has no fear.  Brian would hold her by her bathing suit and let her swim around.  She loved it until she realized Brian was still holding her.  I couldn't hold her much because she was too out of control for me.  We would be in waist deep water for Brian and I and she would want down to touch.  It was crazy!

We would walk the beach and find seashells for Meemaw.  Meemaw told Austin to get her some seashells so of course he did.  Walking the beach is so relaxing.  I really enjoyed that.

We also rented a bike and biked the entire beach path along the ocean.  It was very good exercise for Brian and I.  Austin and Sydney had fun sitting in the front.  It was really fun to do!  Once we got to the end of the path, the kids played on the playground before we rode our bikes back to our hotel.

Austin is very funny. The things he says now are so funny.  During the trip, I was inside the room with Sydney changing her and Austin and Brian were outside the room in the hallway.  Sydney starting crying because she didn't want dressed. Austin looked at Brian and said, "I didn't do anything to her".  Then later on in the trip he told us, "Sometime I have a few issues and then I go back to being good".

We had an awesome time in Virginia Beach.  There is so much entertainment for the kids and adults.  It's great family time for all of us.  It truly is one of my favorite vacation spots for us.

Auntie Melissa and Camden Visit (3.5 years and 23.5 months)

Melissa came in on Wednesday night.  My schedule this week was supposed to be Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday but I switched and worked Monday instead of Friday.  On Thursday night Melissa and Camden came over and we went to Chick Fil A for dinner.  They were having a celebration with all kids of games and prizes.  We had dinner. Then kids played on the playground, and then we played games outside.  Austin enjoyed spinning the wheel for prizes.  We won a lot of free food from Chick Fil A.

On Friday, Melissa, Camden, Austin, Sydney, and I went to the Cleveland Zoo.  We have been there a lot lately but this was Camden's first trip so it was great.  The kids even got to feed the giraffes.  The kids really like the zoo.  We had McDonald's for lunch.  We went home and the kids slept in the car.  However once we got back home Camden decided he didn't want to take a nap.  It was crazy.  He's the youngest and didn't even nap.

On Saturday we went to Memphis Kiddie Park.  It is a little amusement park for young kids.  They have about 10 rides there.  From one of the local mommy clubs we had a discounted price and the kids could ride all they wanted for 2 hours.  Austin, Sydney, and Camden loved it!  Camden did so well.  He would ride by himself like a big boy. We had a great day there.

That evening we had dinner at our house with our aunts and cousin Lauren from Cleveland.  It was great seeing them.  We don't get to see them often. Lauren is having a baby next month so it's great talking with her and remembering back to when that was us.

On Sunday, we went to Wild Water Kingdom.  The kids love it there.  I am so happy we got passes.  Camden was a little young for it.  He did enjoy the water and all and all it worked out fine.  Austin and Sydney love water too.  I am so grateful for that.  I love swimming in a pool.  It's a great summer activity for us.

On Monday, we went to a picnic for the local mommy club.  It was raining so we didn't stay too long.  Then we went to McDonald's for ice cream.  The kids of course loved it.

We had such a fun week with Melissa and Camden.  Camden is such a cute little boy.  He enjoyed playing with his cousins.  It made me wish they lived closer.  Everyone had such a good time together.  Hopefully we will see them again soon.  It's sad not being able to see Camden grow up.  Kids grow so fast and next time I see him he'll be so different.  Luckily we do get to see them a few times a year.

Austin found a frog in our backyard.  He really liked him a lot.  He was so gentle trying to catch him and put him down to play.  He was sad when we had to go inside for the night.  Luckily he found him several times so he could continue to play with him.