Conversation with Luna and Rachel

While cuddling in the morning with the girls this is the conversation we had.

Mommy:  Guess what we are going to do today?
Rachel just looks blankly at me.
Luna:  I don't know, what?
Mommy:  We are going to church, it is Sunday.
Rachel:  NO, I don't want to go to church.
Mommy:  You just want to stay home all day?
Rachel:  Yes, all day.  I don't want to go no where.
Mommy:  You are such a home body, just like Mommy.  Perfectly content spending your entire day at home.  Such a little home body.
Luna pipes in:  I am a little "go" body.  I just want to "go."
Mommy laughingly:  Yes, you are definitely a "go" body.  No doubt about that.

Flower Pots

This weekend we finally had the chance to plants some flowers in our pots.  The girls and I headed out to the nursery and they each got to pick out three plants.  They were surprisingly quick in picking them out.  Then we took them  home and planted them.  Here is one of the finished pots, nice and colorful!  We are enjoying having a yard to do these kind of things.  Can't do this in an apartment in Manhattan :)  I even planted a lavender bush for me, just because I love the smell.

Whistler

We had a wonderful time up in Whistler, Canada.  We spent the week with my Mom and my sister and her family.  It was so much fun.  Whistler is just beautiful in the summer and nice and cool :)  

My sister is a planner at heart and so each day we had different activities for us to do.  One day we went to an indoor swimming pool that had a great area for small children.  I did not take any photo unfortunately but the kids loved it.  I think Rachel spent more time under water than above it.  Luna and Cooper were two peas in pod and spent most of their time together.  Even Woodrow had fun splashing in the shallow water.  

One of the days we went the Family Adventure Zone over at Blackcomb.  There are a bunch of different rides for the kids to go on. Luna and Cooper had a blast.  Rachel was a little small for most of the rides so she just watched along with Grandma.  Our two highlights were the Alpine Luge, I loved this and so did Luna. 

Then there was the bungee trampoline.  Luna thought this was great and was not scared one bit.  When she first started out, I was nervous for her, she was so high up there but she did great.  Luna is such a dare devil, nothing really scares her, it is amazing.  

Of course while we were up there we had to enjoy some ice cream in the village. My kids are just starting to pick ice cream based on flavor and not color.  It use to be all color.  But this time around they pick bubble gum.  

Rachel acquired a "pet" while we were there.  Here she is with her "pet" deer.  She adored this pet and talked about her alot.  She would even ask if she could go "hang out" with her pet.  It was hysterical, on the last day she went to go visit her pet to say goodbye and the deer was gone :( We have no idea what happened to it.  My Mom said it had been there for years.

We also did the Peak to Peak gondola.  The views were breath taking from the top and the kids loved playing around in the snow.  We enjoyed a lovely lunch at the top with spectacular views.  

Our week was busy full of lots of activities and quality time with our extended family. So glad we could go on this family vacation, just wish Daddy could have enjoyed it with us. :(

 

Seattle Ferris Wheel

We have been busy busy since being back in Seattle.  The girls continue to wake up around 5:30am and are not going to bed until late.  We had another big day planned, so I decided to have them nap in hopes that everyone is a little happier.  

Once the naps were over, the girls and I met up with our cousins for a fun day in Seattle.  We met them at their house and then took the water taxi over to downtown Seattle.  Then we went on the new Seattle Ferris Wheel.  The ride itself took about 20 minutes and gave us some amazing views of downtown and the water.  It was stunning.  Here is a picture of my sister and her boys on the ride.

 

 After the ride, we walked along the water front and had dinner at Anthony's.  Then we headed over to the Olympic Sculpture Park for an outdoor concert.  It was a fun fun afternoon but again a late late night for the girls.  We all just love having our extended family around. Tomorrow will be a well needed quiet day at the house.

Flying

After our week in the Hamptons we packed up and flew back to Washington for the rest of the summer.  Just in time to miss out on another NYC heat wave!  We don't return to NYC until September!

As I was packing for our trip I realized that this was the 7th time the girls and I have flown across the country together.  I use to get VERY anxious the night before we would leave, worrying about how the girls would do on the flight and all the logistics.  But I must say we have a pretty good routine down.  Luna even knows our little restaurant that we eat breakfast at in the airport each time.  She could get us there all on her own :)

The girls do really well on the flight for the most part but they never sleep :(  We wake up very early, 5am, to catch our flight and I always hope they may nap on the plane but they don't.  Instead on the 5 hour flight they color, read books and watch shows.

Now we are in Washington and adjusting to the time change.  Flying west is the hardest for us.  The girls wake up early so they are very sleep deprived during the day, which makes for some rough days.  It takes them about a week to really adjust and get on the right schedule.  Going east is much easier and it does not take as long to adjust to the time change.

We have been here in a Washington a few days and have been busy busy busy.  But this is why Luna came, to see her cousin Cooper.  She told me she was going to marry him :)

ER Visit

Today Rachel and I got to spend 5 hours in the Southampton ER.  Rachel had been busy swimming in the pool all morning.  By the time she was ready to get out she was freezing cold.  So I wrapped her all cuddly up in a towel and cuddled her for a while.  After a bit I put her down and walked away.  Rachel stood up and lost her balance.  Unfortunately since I wrapped her so tightly in the towel she could not put her arms down to catch herself and ended up hitting her head on the corner of one of the lounge chairs.  She took a deep (but small) gash out of her temple/forehead.  

As soon as I looked at the gash I could see how deep it was and knew it would need stitches.  So off to the ER we went.  The plastic surgeon ended up putting in three layers of stitches because the gash went all the way to the bone :(  It was deep!  Rachel was a trooper during the stitches.  After the doctor was done, the nurse put a bandaid on Rachel and her baby.  

Then we headed home.  Once home, Luna and Cooper gave Rachel the get well pictures they made her :) It was precious.  Then it was bed time, we were all exhausted it was a long day but so thankful every one is well and in one piece :)

Summer Fun

 We are in the Hamptons for the week.  Yesterday we had a beautiful dinner down on the beach.  The lifeguards go off duty at 5pm and then the kids would climb up the stand and then jump off into the sand.  I loved watching them conquer their fears of jumping off.  By the end all three kids were climbing and jumping off on their own.  Love the summertime!

How We are Beating the Heat

It has been hot hot hot here in the city.  We are anxiously awaiting our trip back to the cooler weather in Washington.  But in the mean time we have been trying to stay cool.  Which has consisted of trying to stay inside as much as possible but if we go outside water is critical.  Here is a photo of Luna enjoying the water at one of the spray parks in our neighborhood.

We have spent a lot of time at home, in the apartment.  At times we can get a little stir crazy and bored.  So the rules have been relaxed and things that don't normally happen happen.  Here is one gigantic fort in the very middle, actually in the main travel path of the apartment.  It drove Mom crazy but the girls thought it was pretty cool.

Another way we have past the time is making art.  Here is Rachel covered in paint.  Not sure how she got paint all over her face but at least she had fun :)

American Museum of Natural History

Today we visited the American Museum of Natural History.  The museum itself is huge so we only saw a small portion of it, you could spend hours in there.  We took the subway up and the stop you get off on is inside the museum itself, which makes it very easy to get to.  

We saw two exhibits, the North American Mammals and the Dinosaurs.  As you can see from the photos Rachel was not having it.   From the moment we told her we were leaving the apartment to go to the museum she was saying she did not want to go :(  Poor kid, she really loves to be at home more than anything.

The North American Mammals exhibit was amazing but Rachel was scared of all the animals.  I can not tell you how many times she asked "They are not real, right?"  or "They are nice, right?" The dinosaurs were a little better because they were just bones but she still wanted to know which ones were the nice ones.  Luna enjoyed the museum a little bit more.  Every time she got to an animal she would ask what they ate.  Her favorites were the bears and the triceratops.   

After a couple hours at the museum we got a quick bite to eat and then headed home.  Once home Rachel took a two hour nap and woke up much happier :)

PS. Thank You Grandma for the beautiful Tiana dresses, the girls LOVE them!

United Nations

Today Brian and I went on a tour of the United Nations.  We dropped the girls off at day camp and headed uptown.  The United Nations takes up 18 acres on Manhattan and is considered international territory, belonging to the 193 member countries that make up the United Nations. 

The guided tour took us to the General Assembly Hall which is where all 193 member countries meet.  The tour talked a lot about the 10 principle goals of the UN and the different ways they are trying to meet these goals.   I could not help but think that God must love the principals behind the UN, they are all things he loves and values. 

After the tour we headed out to a leisurely lunch.  Then it was time to pick the girls up.   It was a lovely day just the two of us.  Tomorrow we are off to the American Museum of Natural History as a family, should be fun.

Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July!  We had a low key day here in NYC.  We returned from vacation just the day before so we had a lot of unpacking and laundry to do.  It was not too of an exciting day for us. It is hot here, hot hot hot.  Even with the AC running the whole time our apartment never drops below 78 degrees, which is too warm for me but Brian and the girls do not seem to mind.  They three of them ventured out to the park for a while, crazy! 

We spent a few hours doing Luna's hair, she wanted red, white and blue beads for the 4th so we put a few in.  My hope it that this style lasts us until we get back to Washington.  They style turned out great and will be perfect for more swimming and beach time next week.  We also made our traditional flag cake.  The girls had a lot of fun helping make it and eating it!

The girls were in bed by 7:30pm so they missed the fireworks.  But Brian and I enjoyed them from our apartment windows.  This year Macy's had 4 barges on the Hudson River that were all synchronized to music.  It was a spectacular show, just beautiful!

Jersey Shore

We just returned from a 4 day trip down to the New Jersey Shore.  We wanted to have a little family vacation not too far from the city.  We ended up in Ocean City, New Jersey.  It was the ideal weekend trip for the four of us.  

All we did was spend time at the beach and pool.  The girls had so much fun and Brian and I even got to relax a little.  Our girls are at an age where vacations are once again fun for us and not just extra work in different location :)  None of us were ready to return to the city.

Our hotel had a little tiny pool, just perfect for kiddos still learning to swim.  Our girls made friends with some other girls the first day we arrived.  Every time we went to the pool all they wanted to do was "play with our friends."  Both girls love the water and are becoming better swimmers every day.  

With their life vests on they are pretty independent in the pool.  Both Brian and I were surprised at how comfortable they were in the water and how well they got around.   Luna the little dare devil she is, took off her life vest and jumped into the pool and swam down to the deep end all by herself.  It was awesome and scary all at the same time.  Next week we head out to the Hamptons and the house we are staying at has a pool.  I can't wait to see how much they improve in that one week.  I am guessing they will practically be living in the pool while we are there.

We spent each morning at the beach, before it got too too hot.  The girls loved playing in the sand, building sand castles.  Luna also loved jumping the waves with Mommy's or Daddy's help.  Until this trip neither kiddo had been interested in the ocean but Luna is starting to see the perks of all the waves.  Rachel would asks for us to take her out into the waves but as soon as we got out there she wanted to go back in.  Then once we got back to the shore, she would want to go back out :)  She liked the idea of the waves but the reality was still a little scary to her.

The girls also played in the sand quite a bit.  They made new friends each day at the beach and worked together to dig some pretty big holes.  Rachel found a little crab that she LOVED.  She carried the crab all around and showed to to a number of people relaxing on the beach.  Then she asked me if she could bring it home and take care of it :)  

 

Our last day there we spent some time walking along the boardwalk.  There was an arcade every 100 yards or so.  The girls got to go on a few rides and Mom and Dad got to cool off in air conditioning.  :)  It was hot out in that sun!

 

 We headed home after lunch. It was about a three hour drive back to the city.  Once we were parked out side of our apartment building Rachel started to cry.  When I asked her what was wrong she said "I don't want to go to this house I want to go back to our other house."  I agree Rachel, I want to go back to New Jersey as well :)

 While we were eating dinner that night Brian asked Luna what her favorite part of the trip was.  Luna replied "swimming in the ocean and going to the bathroom."  Puzzled, Brian asked "going to the bathroom?"   Luna said "yes, in the ocean."  Daddy had taught Luna that it was ok to go potty in the ocean on this trip and clearly it made an impression. :)  We all had a blast!