April 28, 2013

Earth Fair

Earth Fair. Mommy runs it, Mommy works at it, basically Mommy lives, eats and breathes Earth Fair for awhile... so it makes sense to visit her at the 11th annual Earth Fair! Our girls have also come to love Earth Fair and look forward to it every year. We couldn't have lucked out with better weather at Earth Fair. On Thursday it was raining sideways and snowing and on Sunday it was cold, gray and rainy, BUT on Friday and Saturday it was sunny and 70! And we had record attendance this year - 7,000 people!
Got soybeans?
 Addie is being eaten by Kayla the Fish! Oh no!
Of course Khloe had to do the fish "all by herself", even though she wasn't tall enough, but here's her attempt anyways.
(Some of) The girls of Earth Fair
Our free Earth Fair shuttle
Our friends!

April 23, 2013

Family photos


We tried for some spontaneous candid family photos on the beach while we were in OBX. Our friends brought their "fancy" camera that they barely know how to use and Matt was kind enough to be our "professional" photographer. It was kind of windy that evening, and our little family of four was tired and distracted, but Matt shot over 500 photos in less than 20 minutes. I narrowed it down to my top 24.  I'm having waaaay too much fun editing the photos and I'm sure I'll be up waaaaay too late for many nights playing around with them. I'll be sharing more in the coming days. Here's one for starters.


April 22, 2013

OBX

We had a wonderful time back at our same vacation home in the Outer Banks with the MSU roommate girls and their families. We had a few pool and beach days and a trip to the North Carolina aquarium on the rainy day. It was just the right amount of time to get away, relax, hang out with friends, and get our fill of fresh seafood cooked by the men each night. One special thing about this vacation was letting Kayla and Khloe share a room. Each morning after Khloe woke up Kayla would crawl in her pack-n-play with her which gave us at least an extra 20 minutes of sleep. They were so cute to watch and listen to on the monitor. Lucky for Khloe, she got to celebrate her 2nd birthday on the beach! The second annual roommate reunion was a success, and next year we look forward to adding Patti and Brad's new little one!
The crew - plus a little one in Patti's tummy
Same little girls - all just one year older
 Boarding the plane - these little girls are great fliers! Fortunately Khloe is still a "lap rider" so she flew for free!
Although flying with the girls is easy, our trip home on Sunday was a travel nightmare - four airports, three planes, twelve hours - none of it planned. The girls did great, they hung in there the whole time without a complaint, without a single meltdown or tantrum. That's really quite amazing. Aaron and I on the other hand? Can't say the same about us. The girls did better than us - even when we had to run 20 minutes straight from one end of the Charlotte airport to the other. Even when we missed our flight. Even when the airline lost our luggage. We eventually made it home - six hours past our scheduled arrival time. Boy, we were all glad to be home!
Ahhhhh. Sun and surf. Finally.
Minutes after arriving at the house the kids were in their swimsuits and we were on our way to the beach.
 When you visit the Outer Banks in the "off season" as we do, you have the beach to yourself.
There is some strong undertow at the beach! The water is too cold for swimming in April but we have fun jumping the waves and collecting sea shells.
 The boys never stop goofing around. Every joke involves something about a MVP or LVP. Always.
 We had some amazing meals - both dining in and dining out. Mussels, oysters, ceviche, scallops, salmon, crab, shrimp, tuna - I think we tried it all.
 We dined out at two different restaurants - both of which have been featured on Diners, Drive-in's and Dives with Guy Fieri. He leaves this airbrush stamp and signature on the wall at every place he visits.
 First restaurant - The Brine and Bottle. If you love pickled anything, than you'll love this place. I passed on the pickled beets (there's nothing worse), pickled beans and pickled carrots.
Our second DDD restaurant - Tortugas Lie. This will forever be remembered as the place Aaron entered a shrimp coma.
 The aquarium was a very fun destination! It was Kayla's first experience at an aquarium.
It was a fun family vacation! We're so thankful we got to have this experience as a family!

Khloe turns two!

 How should you start your birthday morning? With a fresh, warm sprinkle-covered donut of course.
 In the evening of April 19 we celebrated Khloe and Patti's birthdays each with a cake. Happy birthday ladies!
 Wow Khloe, that piece is as big as you.
What a fun birthday celebration! Thanks to our friends for helping make Khloe's day special and memorable.

April 18, 2013

Terrific Two's

They are terrific because you're terrific! Nothing terrible here!
On eve of your 2nd birthday you are fearless, funny, fiesty and AWESOME!

Part of me can't wait to see what you are going to be like at four, but then I mentally slap myself for even thinking that! What am I thinking? I don't want to you to grow up! This is such a super fun age.
Your vocabulary has just exploded in the last week. Its fun to have an actual "conversation" with you. Just the other day you told me that you went "outside" with "Dadda" to see a "frog" in the "pond" and that you wanted to "hold it" but were "scared" and it was "stinky" and "yucky". You're so funny! (Contrary to what Daddy teaches you, I'll teach you that frogs are not scary and yucky and that you can hold them!)
There's that beautiful red, or as I sometimes call it "amber", hair! It is as unique and beautiful and crazy as you are! Momma and Dadda say "Happy 2nd Birthday sweetie pie"!

April 16, 2013

Little star

Coach Mel is so proud of you Khloe! She says you're ready for the next level, problem is you have to be three years old for that and you're not yet two. You fly over the balance beam, you do your backwards and forward rolls, handstands, everything and anything Coach Mel says. Nothing intimidates you! I am impressed with your abilities too Khloe!
 Strrrrrreeeeetch!
 Tuck position, look up
 Practicing handstands
Doing the balance beam all by yourself
Good job, you got a sticker
Showing me the horse stamps on your legs