3 Bear Acres

New city to live in = new adventures!  We finally made it up to 3 Bear Acres today, and it did not disappoint!  This place is awesome!!!  Well worth the 40 minute drive there.  

Daddy left on a business trip this morning, which means Mommi is in charge!  Ok, well, let's not kid ourselves... Mommi is always in charge, but more so when Daddy is gone.  The weather was perfect, mid 80's, slight breeze, very comfy in the shade.  Zayit and Ziva got to bounce on a giant inflatable pillow, paint on walls, cook in a mud kitchen, climb treehouses, slide down a toboggan slide, swing on tires, zip line through trees and relax on a paddle boat.  We had a blast!

Our Arrival - Ziva was a little hesitant to get close to the white bear

The Ultimate Bounce House!  Zayit was in HEAVEN!!!!  We got there early so he had the entire pillow to himself!

Graffiti Wall

Mud Kitchen - bathtub supply of fresh mud for cooking

Making cupcakes - you can see Zayit in the background with the old school microwave.  Opening and closing the door, over and over.

Time to put the cupcakes in the fridge!

Standing swing

Time for a nap!

The 'relaxing' paddle boat ride - more of a workout for Mommi!

One last stop at the mud kitchen before departure

All done!

At the end of the day, Grammi and Mommi were exhausted, but the Littles sure did have fun!  We will definitely be going back here!  Maybe even bring Daddy along.  

2 and a Half!!!

My little baby girl is 2 AND A HALF!!!  I can hardly believe it?!?!?  So big already.  Of course, any cause for celebration will most definitely be recognized in our house.  Ziva thoroughly enjoyed her cake and is now very proud to tell you she is "2 and a half" with all 5 fingers on her hand.

1/2 a cake for a 1/2 birthday...

Big brother teaching her how to blow out her candles...

My turn!

"I'm 2 and a half!"...

Pow! Bam! Whamo! Superman!!!

Zayit has been begging to paint his room.  He has been very specific in his request: he wants a "Pow! Bam! Whamo! Superman" room.  I've been trying to ignore his requests thinking he would just forget.  Its always amazing to me how a 4 year old can remember things... when he wants to.  Being in a rental makes it a bit difficult to feel at home.  All our walls are blah.  We don't have any decorations up and most anything that makes our home feel like a home is in a box our garage.  He has asked so many times, that finally I caved.  I called our landlord and got permission to paint his room.

It took a couple of weekends, but he is THRILLED with the end result...

And now Ziva wants hers done...

Rainy Days and H.O.T. Days

We have been experiencing some VERY hot days here!  On the days it's not miserably hot, it rains.  Most of the time, the rain comes in quick storms and is gone as quickly as it came.  We try and get outside as much as possible to run our wiggles away, but sometimes, you just have to be creative with indoor play.  

Fort time with our neighbor friend... dumped out all our insects, dinosaurs, zoo animals, jungle animals and used our imaginations...

The thunder storms have been so frequent and loud that both kids are now a bit frightened, yet intrigued, when they happen.  

Life is full of all sorts of new experiences... looking forward to many many more!  

A Year Later....

It's been just about a year since I've blogged.  I miss it.  I think about it almost daily but have trouble finding the time to sit down and write.  It's time now.  I'm going to try again.  Zayit and Ziva have grown up so much in the last year.  We've done so much in the last year.  Where to start?!??

In January, we moved.  Not just a little move... more like the 1000+ mile move.  We moved to the South.  Yup... that's right y'all.  We live in North Carolina.  WOW!  Life is different, but at the same time, very similar.  We miss our family and friends back home in Connecticut but we are having a blast making new ones here!

Last night we had an amazingly awesome thunder storm come through at dinner time.  We were lucky - our power didn't go out.  Some of our friends weren't so lucky.  But we turned the disappointment of no power and icky humidity indoors into an unexpected play time in rain puddles with our friends who were 'in the dark.'

So, this is my start.  I will be back.  I will blog more.

First Painting Experience

I haven't posted in a long time... 3 months in fact.  I've been busy enjoying my time with Zayit and Ziva.  I thought I should probably get back to writing about my Littles since I really don't keep any other sort of recording of events for them.  We have had such a wonderful summer filled with all sorts of activities: farm visits, the zoo, painting, water play, playing with oatmeal, berry picking, finding interest in bugs/insects... the list goes on.

A couple months ago, I thought it was time to introduce Ziva to painting.  I've been afraid to let her paint because she puts EVERYTHING in her mouth!  Anything we do has to be safe for her, which makes things a bit challenging at times.  I had to get creative with this one because I don't know of any edible paint out there (we did finger painting a while back, but I wanted something she could use a brush with this time).  Condensed milk to the rescue!  I used some food coloring to color the condensed milk and an ice cube tray as our palette.  We took our goodies and headed outside... this was NOT going to happen in my house!

Zayit and Ziva had a blast with their paint.  Zayit thought it was cool that he could lick his fingers if they got dirty.  Ziva's attention span was roughly 5 minutes - which was impressive for her.  When she was done, she was done.  She picked up her tray of paint and headed in the other direction, sticky mess and all!

Teacher Appreciation Day

Happy Teacher Appreciation Day to everyone who teaches!  Zayit was so proud to present his teachers with their little gifts this morning.  He had the biggest smile as he carried his loot.  We had practiced saying "happy teacher appreciation day," and he had the "appreciation" part down, but it was hard for him.  When he walked up to them, he burst out "Miss Sheila and Miss Becky, I have presents for you!"  Soooooooo adorable!

What's in the jar?  A Starbucks gift card, chocolate truffles, a lip balm from The Honest Company (love those!) and a little note of thanks.  

It's Teacher Appreciation Week this week... make sure to thank those in your lives who teach all our Littles.  They have a very important job.