My little sister and her family were here for a week visit. We had so much fun while they were here and we are sad they are now gone. Blake and his cousin Jared play so well together. They woke up every morning asking where the other one was. Then played all day long together. This morning Blake woke up asking where Jared was. When I told him that he went bye bye, he gave a sad face and walked away slowly down the hall. I wish they didn't live so far away!

Here are some of the adventures we had together:

Us at Zwhalen's - the best ice cream around!!!

In the city for cheesesteaks

Blake and Jared got matching backpacks

Blake loved holding Madelyn!!!

Us at the DC Zoo

Mike and Blake at the air and space museum

Me in front of the Red Baron

Planes, trains and automobiles

If it involves any of those 3 things, count Blake in!
Every spring Mike gets a new remote control air plane to fly. He just received his new one in the mail and took no time to put it together. This is so he could take it out that evening before the sun went down. He and Blake have a blast flying it together and I like coming along for the ride (I am not a very good pilot).






I am better at the swings. Personally, I think Blake likes my activity more. Mike would probably argue that.

An outing with some friends

Now that it is spring, we can enjoy the "lushness" of the East Coast. So, some of my neighbours and I took our kids in to the city to see the Cherry Blossom Festival - although now that I think about it, I didn't noticed the festival part of it at all. I think we may have missed it. We had fun either way. The kids loved running around, playing in the water and well just being kids.


The fish must of had the right bate because they kept reeling in kids.

Here is Blake pretending he is an airplane.

This is right after he crashed the airplane.

Moving up in the world

Well Blake finally did it. He broke up with his favorite car. This was not by choice on his part, but Mom was the one that decided it was about time. Don't worry - no tears were shed and no feeling were hurt too badly. In fact the consequence of the break up turned out to be worth it all. Blake got a new bike!!! He was hesitant at first but quickly warmed up. As you can see from the pictures below it was about time for him to move on.
(these pictures were taken about a week apart)





Now here is the real roadster







Here is a picture of the shoes he wore when he would drive his car. Notice the holes in the toe area. His legs were just too long and his feet would drag as he would push himself. They too will retire.

Blake was just doing what he know best - playing with his cars. The room fell silent and I went in to check on him and this is what I found.

Easter fun

Blake hunting for eggs
He even found the ones that were hidden for the big kids! Thanks to Dad.
Looking forward to the chocolate.

Spring break

We were able to enjoy the company of my parents for sping break this year. We did a lot and had a lot of fun doing it all! We went into the city to enjoy some authentic Philly cheesesteaks and we visited some of the sights around here. We also took yet another trip into New York and had an adventure there. They have been gone since last Sunday and we still miss them! At least once a day, since they have left, Blake asks for them. He sure loves his grandparents!


here is my dad enjoying his first Philly cheesesteak.
Mike and Blake eating there cheesesteaks.
Blake at Valley Forge.
Me and Rocky Balboa.
Robbie and a fish fountain.

Hair today, gone tomorrow

Just thought I would post some pictures of Mike when he had some hair. Most of these were taken about 4 years ago. Just look at those cute curls!

Bringing in the New Year

We decided to start the New year off in New York City. The night was full of events from riding a crowded bus to attempting to watch the ball drop at midnight. We even got on T.V somewhere in the middle of all that. The streets were full of people! Sometimes they call traffic jams parking lots - well this was just the same but with people instead of cars. We were able to move about a foot every min. Robbie was the only person we lost. He was found again right before midnight.

After this was all said and done... I will never go back there for New Years again! It was a fun experience but maybe just to hear about it rather than experience it. At least the weather was nice.

Potty Training 101

Here we go....
Blake has decided he would like to go "pee pee in the potty". So I bought him this little toilet. Here he is trying it out for the 1st time. Nothing much happened except for a little trickle, but he enjoyed the experience of sitting on it like a big boy.




A little privacy please!!

Trip to New York

For Thanksgiving holiday, we took a day and went out to New York. What a fun city! These pictures were on our ferry ride to see the Statue of Liberty.


Here is New York City right behind us.

There you can see her beind us, getting closer!

Blake didn't make it the whole way through.

Family Pictures

We had our neighbour take some family pictures for us before winter started. She did a great job! You can tell because we look better in our pictures than we do in real life. Well of course Blake is just as cute in person!