Success!

Today was the first real hot day we've had all summer. There's no better way to spend a day like this than at the beach! Dianna and I knew we could do it. The husbands weren't so sure. I have to say it went PERFECTLY!! No one drowned, ran off or has 3rd degree burns! I'd say that's a success!

The boys realized they could throw rocks and sand into the water very quickly. Luckily (for me anyway) the lifeguard was down at the waterfront. I told the boys that if they continued the lifeguard would yell at them and tell them they had to leave the beach for not following the rules. A little white lie never hurt right? This worked for Cam, not so much Elijah! Cam was really nervous that "the man" was going to come and yell at him! The whole time we were there Cam kept mentioning that "the man" was going to tell him to leave if he didn't listen or "here comes the man, I'm listening Mommy!" I told him as long as he listened and didn't throw rocks/sand he would be ok. I hope the next time we go the lifeguard is there again! It made it so much easier!
Arianna had a blast. She got herself covered in dirt and wasn't a huge fan of the cold water. Oh she's also a fan of eating dirt like her older brother was too!
We were there for most of the day so here's hoping they all sleep well tonight!

Sidewalk Chalk Fun!

After naps we went outside and played with chalk, Cam's new favorite past time. He has a new found love of hopscotch too! To wear his little butt down I decided to make a little trail for him to follow. He had to hop, run, do a funny dance, sing a song, and twirl around at different stops along the way. He LOVED it! Hopefully he'll sleep well tonite! Arianna had fun watching him!




We've been trying to work on writing his name but he was more interested in learning how to make a smiley face!

Has anyone tried to make their own chalk? Ever since I found this recipe I've wanted to try it. Here it is, let me know if you do it!

Homemade Sidewalk Chalk

What you need:
Toilet paper or paper towel tubes
Scissors
Duct Tape
Wax Paper
3/4 cup warm water
Small bucket or disposable container
1 1/2 cups Plaster of Paris
2-3 tablespoons tempera paint (it cannot be washable paint, the chalk will crumble!!)

What You Do:
1. If you are using paper towel tubes, cut each tube in half. Cover one end of each tube with duct tape. Cut as many pieces of wax paper as you have tubes. Each piece should be as long as the tube and about 4 inches wide. Roll up each piece of wax paper and slip it into the tube.

2. Pour the water into the bucket. Sprinkle the Plaster of Paris over the water and stir the mixture thoroughly with a spoon. Mix in the Tempura Paint (If you would like pastel colors, you can mix brighter colors of Tempura powder with some white.)

3. Place each tube tape side down, on a level surface. Pour the wet plaster mixture into the tubes. Lightly tap the sides of each tube to release air bubbles, then set the plaster-filled tube aside to harden for a few days. Once they are dry, peel off the tubes and wax paper. Your chalk is ready for action!

In other news... figured out how to get pics of Cam looking at the camera! I tell him there's a bug on my camera, which now only works part of the time. I usually end up with a weird face too.
Or I just shoot without looking through the viewfinder and hope for the best then edit.BTW, who's this little man? Where's my baby??
Now this one...
is going to get into lots of trouble with those eyes!

Story Land

The family vacation this year was much, much better than last year. We didn't have to cut our vacation short because Cam wouldn't sleep or for any other reason! Cam was a bit off the wall but I guess that is to be expected when he isn't in his usual surroundings, especially for a kid who is such a creature of habit!

The weather driving up to North Conway, NH was horrible. It rained the whole day, I know what a surprise. It didn't stop us though we were determined to go in the pool after it took us 4 1/2 hours to get up there! The indoor pool was wicked crowded and the thought of getting in it with all those kids grossed me out...so we went to the outdoor pool. Luckily it was heated! Cam and Arianna both had a blast!

The next day we went to Story Land. Cam didn't go on too many rides but his favorites were the train and also the antique cars. Both of which he had to go on twice. Luckily the lines weren't too long because or little man is not a fan of waiting in line...


Arianna patiently waiting for Cam



More pics of Story Land







There was this little stage that had vegetables and fruit singing and moving. Arianna LOVED it! I put her on the bench so she could watch it. She was mesmerized by it and couldn't stop dancing!





After a few hours Cam was getting tired so we headed back to the hotel. Cam fell asleep in the car and wouldn't nap when we got back to the room so I brought him to the pool. Daddy needed a break! It was nice spending some time with just Cam. A little while later Steve came down with Arianna. He said "I think I put her bathing suit on wrong. I couldn't figure it out!" The woman sitting on the lounge chair next to us said "oh that is an adorable outfit" as I was taking off her cover up to see if he really did put it on backwards. He did. I said to the woman (who had a daughter) "do you like her bathing suit that her Daddy put on her? He's new at this and wasn't sure if he put it on right." The woman laughed and said, "that is clearly on the wrong way!" Yep, since Arianna's little boobs were sticking out each side of the straps I'd say so! Poor Steve, he tried! We fixed her bathing suit and into the pool we went!

The hotel also had a great little playground that Cam enjoyed after dinner that night.




It was a great vacation we're hoping next year will be even better when Cam is older. I'm just so glad Arianna is as easy going as she is! Oh and as we were packing up to go home Steve found Cam in the bathroom "cleaning" the toilet with his (Steve's) toothbrush! There's never a dull moment in this family!

Remembering

My Nana is my favorite person in the world. I have so many wonderful memories of her growing up. My earliest memory is going "down the hill" to my grandparents house and helping Nana make the beds. I'm not sure how many people were living there at this point but I remember the house having lots of beds! It didn't matter though because Nana made it fun. We'd dance while we did it. Nana's favorite was the Hustle. Our music of choice? Was this.

I have no idea what happened to that record. I looked and looked over the years and it's gone. That record rocked.

We have a very large family on my Mom's side and Nana was always the center of it. She is the one who brought every one together. Now that she is gone we don't see too many of our other cousins that much but we all know if any of us ever needed anything all we'd have to do is pick up the phone. Nana would be very happy about that and she would expect nothing less!


I am so glad that Cam was able to meet his "Great-Nana" before she died. I wish she could have met Arianna but I know that I've kept her memory alive by naming Arianna after her. I did want Arianna's first name to be Lillian but we didn't for a few reasons. One of them is that my Nana *hated* her name. I can just see the look on her face if we went ahead and named her Lillian. She would not have been happy!

A few weeks ago my Mom gave me this little sundress that my Nana had bought for me when I was about Arianna's age. Nana had brought it back from her trip to Hawaii. Unfortunately Mom couldn't find a picture of me in the dress. Arianna won't have that problem when she passes it down to her daughter! The dress fits her perfectly right now. Arianna is also very much a girlie girl! As soon as she has a dress on she lights up and is all smiles. She holds the bottom of the dress and she poses! It's so damn cute and I LOVE IT!!







Click here to see all the pictures from our little "photo shoot!"

Today would have been Nana's 93rd birthday but not a day goes by that I don't think of her!

Follow Up With Dr. Ferber

Yesterday we went back to see Dr. Ferber. He had the tough love approach with us! We need to be a lot firmer with Cam when he wakes at night because if we don't it's just going to keep happening. I do agree with him and it didn't come as a total shock.

Dr. Ferber does not think this is all related to us taking away his binky which I was happy about. I did ask about getting rid of Arianna's. He said that during the day I should find something else to soothe her if she's fussy and not just automatically stick it in her mouth. Once she's used to that we should keep her up 30min. after the time she usually falls asleep at night so that she's really tired and put her to bed without the binky. He said at 10 1/2mths she's so young that she will fall right to sleep without much hassle. Dr. Ferber said that after 2 nights of doing that she should be fine. Since she really doesn't have the binky that much we are going to work on not just sticking it in her mouth when she fusses.

Today was Cam's second week of soccer and I guess you could say he did a little bit better? We talked with him all week about how even though he now has a new Coach he still has to listen to the Coach. He agreed with us and told us he knew he had to listen to the Coach. Yeah, it sounded great until he got there! It took him half the class to warm up to the other coaches. Tonight when Steve got home he asked Cam why he didn't want to play soccer and Cam replied, "I was waiting for my Coach." My little creature of habit!

It's finally summer here! When we came home from soccer both kids were hot and sweaty (it was literally 100 degrees in the sports complex)so we went into the pool! They had a blast!

Arianna's First Trip To The Beach!

Not so sure about the sand...

But there's nothing like baby toes in the sand!

Her first experience with the FREEZING cold Atlantic Ocean.
Maybe this isn't so bad!



"But I still don't think I like this sand..."


Cam had no problem with the 50 degree water.




We had a great day! I can't believe it's the middle of July and it's the first time we've been to the beach. I'm a total beach person so this kills me. Will it ever hit 90 this summer?? I realized today that I'm not sure if I'm ready to tackle the beach with the 2 kids by myself yet. It took Steve and I 30 minutes from the time we left the beach, got to the car, got both kids out of their bathing suits and into dry clothes! I can just imagine how long it would take if it was just me! I also realized that the sun tent I bought when Cam was about a year old is next to useless. It's time to give it up and buy an umbrella. I'm tired of wrestling with it every time the wind blows!