April Flowers

We started off the month of April with a party for Beatrice's second birthday. This is not an April fools prank, Bea is actually turning two (on April 5th). Were did the last two years go? We had a "sweets" themed party. Basically all of the decor was sorbet inspired, including Bea's outfit. We had a few friends and relatives over to celebrate the occasion and spent the entire party outside.

It was a pretty unstructured affair. Just lots of running, playing, laughing and eating. I spent the first half of the party in the kitchen making lunch so I didn't get many great shots of the kiddos playing. I am hoping a few other party goers will send me their pictures. When they do I will post them.

Elliot and his second cousin Joey. More about the box Elliot is holding in an upcoming post. 

Bea testing out her new scooter, her gift from Mommy and Daddy. 

Elliot is such a helpful guy. 

Hanging out in the yard after the party and naps. 

Elliot and I planted lots of tulip bulbs in the fall. 

A little friend gave Bea the watering can. She was a very serious  gardener. 

Frank gave Bea some new paints. She is also a very serious artist. 

Snowshoe, WV

Last weekend we met up with the Packs (Aunt Lindsay, Uncle John, and cousin Natalie) in Snowshoe, West Virginia. We rented a condo and had a great time skiing, swimming, and playing.

We arrive on Friday night to cold and windy weather. Conditions had deteriorated by Saturday morning. It was freezing, REALLY wind, and snowing. We decided to pass on skiing (all but Elliot who did a 1/2 day of ski school) and hang out inside. The highlight of Saturday was the trip to the indoor pool.

Sunday was beautiful and perfect for skiing. Everyone but Lindsay (still not 100% ready to ski after her bout with GBS) and the girls. Thanks Aunt Lindsay for watching the little ones!

Elliot geared up and ready to brave the elements. 

Looking good Buddy! He got to ride the chair lift this year - pretty exciting!

What we did while Elliot was at ski school. The girls LOVED this slide- we went down at
least 20 times! The girls went down by themselves a couple of times
and even held hands on the way down. 

Natalie

Book time!

Uncle John's turn

Bath time. When they weren't fighting over Natalie's baby doll stroller,
they got along really well. 

Lunch spot on the slopes. Not a cloud in the sky. 

Exploring the village. The kids thought this
over sized chair was pretty cool

The drive home was long and ended with Beatrice freaking out and vomiting 5 miles from our house. Next year she'll want to watch DVDs and that should make the drive MUCH easier.

Be Our Valentine

Also in January...

Can you tell tonight it catch up night? In addition to Mimsey's visit last month we also had our first measurable snow fall of the year  ~ 1 inch, maybe 2 in some spots. It was pretty icy and not much fun to play in, but Elliot made the most of it. Beatrice was not interested in it and went back inside to play with Daddy.  Lara was excited to finally see some snow and joined Elliot and me for some snowy fun in the backyard.

Getting geared up.

Gnome snow house. 

Mimsey Pays a Visit

Its been a month since Mimsey came to stay with us for a week, but Elliot is still talking about it. Lara (our wonderful aupair) went to NY for a week for her vacation and to take a film making class. Since I just started a new job I have little to no vacation time and couldn't take the week off to watch the kids. Mimsey helped us all out by coming up for an entire week. She did a great job taking care of Elliot and Beatrice. They also did a good job of being on their best behavior for Mimsey. She kept them very busy with visits to the playground, zoo, and mall (Lego store and American Girl Doll store).

She is planning to come back some time this spring, this time Mommy and daddy will be the ones taking a vacation!

snacks at the zoo

free range peacock? 

yes, its a double stroller for dolls.

Swim Lessons

We have been meaning to sign up Elliot for swim lessons for a while. We have actually tried several times, but they fill up really fast. We finally got a spot and Elliot started swim lessons on Sunday. He is in a class with other 4 year old beginner swimmers, and will attend class for 6 weeks. Parents aren't allowed to watch pool side so most of these pictures were taken from the glass enclosed observation area (sorry for the haze). Elliot really enjoyed the class and can't wait to go back.