I'm such a dork

I forgot to post the pictures for the previous post. Sigh. Here goes.

Long time No Post

I want to apologize for not posting for awhile. Our computer crashed at the beginning of September and it took us awhile to figure out what was wrong. Then we just decided to get a new one. Then we were busy, busy, busy. We got a chance to go to Waynesboro and visit (or invade) on Uncle Dan and Aunt Betty. Aunt Sally (from South Dakota) was in with her dog Annie and Ken and their daughter Nancy came in with their dogs Molly and Ciro (sp.?). So it was quite a full house. Luckily for everyone we stayed at a local hotel. (Plus the kids loved the indoor swimming pool.)
Last weekend started off by getting all new windows put in! Yay! No more needing to use the pliers to open the windows if you closed them too much and thankfully most of the stink bugs are outside rather than inside. Then on Saturday Landon had a large cheering section at soccer where Pop, Uncle Dan, Aunt Carina, Griffin and Cassidy were able to come. Gram was at the Dickinson football game, to support Uncle Darwin, since they were playing Moravian. (Dickinson won at the last second and is undefeated in their conference Go Devils!) After that we game home took quick baths and the kids got dropped off for an overnight at Pop's house. Kurt and I got to go to the Night Lites ball at Lehigh Valley Hospital. It was quite an event. Black tie and incredible food and music. It is always fun to get dressed up.
The next morning started off early due to a previously scheduled trip to the zoo with Michelle and Brandon. We couldn't have asked for better weather. We had a great time and the kids made a new friend. The lioness is named Zenda and was down in one of the viewing areas when we went through Big Cat Falls. I honestly think Landon would stay there all day long. Lauren was happiest because she got to "feed the goat." I will remember the joy, wonder, and amazement in her voice when she said "I did it!" (She had been trying all summer and usually dropped the food before it made it's way to the goat's mouth so this was an accomplishment for her.) We have really been enjoying our membership to the zoo and hope to squeeze in one more visit in a few weeks with Beth and Evan, weather permitting.
Needless to say, I'm once again exhausted. Life is definitely good. Hope all is well with everybody.

Hugs
Mary

6 Busy Days

What we've done in 6 days

• Celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary




• The kids and I went to the 155 edition of The Great Allentown Fair




• Kurt and I escaped to Philadelphia (overnight Thanks Mom and Dad M for watching the kids :)) to see the King Tut exhibit at the Franklin Institute




• We also got to go shopping at the King of Prussia Mall and have three meals that didn't involve maccaroni and cheese or chicken nuggetts




• We went to Chuck E Cheese (as a Family) when we got home. (A real treat)




• Went shopping at the Shops at the Prommendae and went to dinner at Landon's favorite restaurant "Red Robin"




• Went to Giggleberry Fair. A place that has a 3 story 6 level indoor obstacle course; the ability to vaccum up "giggleberries", the abillity to "shoot" giggleberries at people, ride a carousel unlimited times, and a place called discovery land where the kids could learn stuff when they didn't know they where learning.




• Oh and in 6 days I took 180 pictures.




• Here are a few favorites




• Landon and I did make it to the top of the obstacle course (that's the picture of the two of us together). Kurt was too chicken to try. I will probably hurt tomorrow in places I don't remember I have but I sure as heck had fun.




• I'm taking some advil and going to bed.

Hugs

Mary

Bounce U - 8/24/07

I'm really writing a bunch tonight. The house is quiet and I have some time before the craziness of the week starts. On Friday the kids and I along with one of Landon's friends went to "Bounce U". Bounce U is the place filled with inflatable structures that you can play and bounce on. The kids (and adults too) can run around like crazy people, get exercise and have fun. Well a couple of times a week they have preschool playdates. They finally opened one in Allentown and we got a chance to go. Landon was happy that they had some new structures compared to the one in Bethlehem and him and his friend Aidan had a blast. Lauren is really starting to love bouncing on things. She is a little small to climb on things with out help, but loves the slides if someone goes up with her. Her favorite response at the bottom of the slide is "Again". Enjoy the pictures! (That's Landon on the left.)

I just wanted to say Happy Anniversary to Kurt. On August 29th, we will have been married for 9 years already! It hardly seems possible. So those of you who celebrated with us please take a moment on Wednesday and smile! To celebrate, my parents have agreed to watch the kids and we are going away to Philly overnight Thursday into Friday to see the King Tut exhbit at the Franklin Institute. We are looking forward to having a nice meal in a restaurant and enjoying some quiet time.

Hugs to all!

Mary

Dinner with Cookie Monster, Part 2

Just wanted to put another picture with Lauren and I in it. (I'm still figuring out this blogging thing :) ) Someday I will get her looking at the camera. I'm really happy with this picture since Landon was the photographer.!

Hugs

Mary

Dinner with Cookie Monster

Yup, the tradition contiued. We had dinner with Cookie Monster. The local Pizza Hut has "kids night" on Tuesday nights and occasionally characters appear. Well, Landon has gotten really good at noticing when the big white sign appears and recognizing who is coming to Pizza Hut on Tuesday night. Last week it was Cookie Monster and since he is a fan of both kids, it was a no-brainer that that's where we would head for dinner on Tuesday. I am really lucky that we can go before the masses appear and it gets REALLY crowded. We usually can get in, get out, and get our pictures and usually before Daddy gets home, too. Over the past year, we've seen Bob the Builder, Bear in the BIg Blue House, Clifford, Diego, Boots and Shrek. (There are probably others that I'm forgetting at the moment.) It is a nice time and it's been fun seeing Lauren warm up to the characters as she's grown older. She won't go and give them hugs, (yet) but she will high five them and talk to them. WHen we saw Cookie Monster in the parking lot her first question was, was "Where's Elmo?" To which I quickly had to reply "On Sesame Street." (I'm getting quite good at translating for the character's. My favorite character was Bear in the Big Blue House because he could actually talk!).

Catching Up

Just a quick note - and a picture of Lauren with her new do from last week. This was her stylist Charissa who was great with her.

Well we surrived the marathon of events. The birthday celebration at Sweet Memories tea room. The work picnic at Musikfest - which we ended up spending the ENTIRE day there from 11:30 am until about 6:00 pm. Great music and great food and A LOT of walking. (Musikfest is an annual 10 day festival in Bethlehem with hundreds of musical acts and tons of food and artisans. Lots of fun if anyone wants to join us next year :))Plus the family gathering the next day to celebrate my mom's, brother's and Lauren's birthday's. Whew. All of the cousins had a blast playing together. Landon at 4 1/2 is the leader of the pack. Lauren, at almost 2 is the mother figure and Griffin and Cassidy and slightly over 9 months were just happy to be in a new environment with new toys and their cousins and to have free reign of the house. Life didn't get any better than that. The celebration was great because my grandparents at 86 and 84 years old were able to join us. The older I get, the more I appreciate times like this. Someday, I hope my kids will too. Lauren got some neat presents. Favorites were a Barnes and Noble gift card, Curious George books and the Dora Back Pack (that Landon picked out for her.)

This weekend my dad is hosting a reunion of his catholic elementary school classmates and Landon was invited back from last year. (He was supposed to go for just a few hours last year, ended up staying the entire night and won over EVERYONE in the class so they invited him for this year. We (Kurt and I) invited ourselves cause my dad throws a good party.) Our child has a busier social life than we do. Then on Sunday is Lauren's actual birthday. I can't believe that my baby is turning two already. Time is really flying. We are celebrating by going to the Philadelphia Zoo. They are having a "Member Morning Stroll" which means the zoo is opening early because they are letting the triplet tiger cubs out into their exhbit for the first time. Landon is dying to see the cubs and we thought going to the zoo would be a good way to celebrate Lauren's birthday since she loves the animals too. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures and post a few when we get back. Hope everything is going well for everyone.

Hugs

Mary