Carcassonne in the House!

Pretty much our fav board game - Carcassone. A game we played every weekend with the Newells in UT and every other day with the Johnsons in PA. We finally got it yesterday - yeah! Thanks to the Flinders!

Back to D.C

We had our friends Matt and Brittney and their 2 kids (Nautica and Luke) come and visit us from Florida. They helped us start our summer holidays off right with a little trip to D.C and some good times right here in PA. Here are some pics of our adventures together. :) We had a lot of fun!!!

At the Zoo

The 2 Nicaraguans

Nautica, Luke and Blake. Such cute kids!

Blake and Luke

Slumber Party!!!

The Thomas Family with Abe

Milk'n it for all it's worth or until daddy's done

While on a little vacation in D.C with some friends, Blake scrapes his knee. Now this was the FIRST time he has drawn blood. So this whole experience was something new to Blake. Well, you would have thought it was the end of the world! After it happened he gave me very stricked orders. He wanted me to carry him like a baby cradled in my arms into the hotel room, when we got there he needed me to lay him down on the bed, get him a towel to lay accross him and then feed him his dinner without him having to sit up or even move at all. He adventually fell asleep like this on the bed.



The next morning as we were getting ready to go out for the day Blake would not walk. He had his leg bent as if he had broken it - limping. He cried to ONLY sit in the stroller around town (which was fine with me) and would not walk. Well Mike was not having it - he would not cater to his "needs" I, on the other hand, thought it was pretty funny and just let him sit in the stroller while the other kids got to run around (I felt that was punishment enough) and eventually by the end of the day, Blake was up and out of the stroller running around with the others.

Now that was the first time Blake drew blood; but he has had many bumps, bruises and bLooD bLiSTers. Here is a picture with all three in one hit.
This was a really bad one actually. I am a bit embarrased in showning the world this picture of Blake (It exposes my great skills as a mother).



There's nothing a little ice cream can't fix.

Ocean City

We enjoyed the day at the beach yesterday. The weather has been so hot and humid which makes it so hard to do anything outside without water around. Blake had a blast swimming in the ocean and jumping the waves. He will make a great surfer one day!!!

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.