East Coast Review

We've been home for a few weeks and I'm just getting around to posting about our August trip to CT to see the Horton and Achmoody clans. I still find it odd that my mid-western family has been transplanted out east. It is good though -new places to explore and good excuses for travel.

On to the vacation...while I don't enjoy packing, I do feel like I've got it down to a science now. I took great pride in managing to fit everything that we needed for our family of 4 in one suitcase, plus a couple of carry-ons. Since I did not know exactly what to expect, I brought lots of new toys for the time we'd spend in the air. The most popular items were: glow in the dark mini plastic dinosaurs, blue painter's tape (it is less sticky than the other stuff and if you don't know what to do with it, give it to a 19 month old and they will show you), a matchbox airplane and tractor, a plastic ladybug, a slinky, and obscene amounts of snack food, individually wrapped for added novelty!

Ella noshing on her bagel before take off.

Hiking in Putnam Memorial State Park to burn some post flight energy. They did not make it all that far before getting distracted with sticks and pebbles.

Ella before visiting Nini and Papa's church.

Dad and Matt worked on for a couple of days at their respective offices leaving Mom and I with the kids. Here is Noah checking out the parking signs in Bethel.

Looking mischievous in the bath.

Blueberry picking --this could be Ella's new favorite hobby.

Post blueberry picking. Does it not remind you of American Gothic? Noah is holding his beloved new Go, Diego, Go ball that he found on clearance at Target. He's never seen the show but he was obsessed with that thing. Too bad we lost it.

Throwing caution (read naps) to the wind, we took the kids to Misquamicut Beach in Rhode Island for a day. This was their first ocean experience and it was bliss to watch their delight.

Papa dug a massive pool with Noah and it was quite popular with a number of the other kids on the beach.

Then Matt showed them that they could carry water to their sand castles --also very captivating.

We finished the day at a new favorite spot, Bill's Seafood. Seriously yummy fresh seafood that is served at record speed (very important with toddlers, right?). I still think about the olive and jalapeno calamari...

The following day we ventured out to Holbrook Farms which is owned by friends of Mom and Dad. We were given the grand tour --we should have taken a video because both of them were obsessed with the chickens/clucking.

The vacation ended with a brief but great visit from the Achmoodys.
Thankfully, mom and dad's place is spacious --4 kids and 6 adults and 2 noisy dogs make for quite a crew. I love these boys. Graham is super easy going and Ben is one of those kids that you just want to hug all the time, even when he is being a stinker. (As an aside, he made me laugh so hard with his saying like, 'It is as easy as pie.') And Micah, he's awesome. So interested in other people and extraordinarily considerate for a kid going into kindergarten.

Graham, 10 months

Benjamin, 3

Micah, 5

My sis Leslie

Ben, Micah and Jason

For the grand finale of our vacation, Matt and I spend a night at this little spot in New York's Hudson River Valley. Long overdue, it was my first night away from the kids. So relaxing.

Here we are dining, slowly and without care of food being chucked on the floor, at the Culinary Institute of America's Cafe. Later that day we dawdled around some other river towns and then capped the day with dinner at a tiny sushi house.

Too long

It has been way too long since I've posted anything. Way too long. I can't quite remember what all we've been doing in the last month, but I know that we've been occupied, most recently with a trip out east. I'm posting this so that I remind myself to actually get some pictures up and take account of what we've been up to.

And Aunt Lynne, this one is for you --recognize the little thing in her hands? Apparently LED flashlight keychains are quite popular with the 19 month old set.

Breakfast

The reality of life right now

Since my kids are mediocre eaters (at best), I've been trying some new ways of getting food in them. At first, I put assorted foods on a plate and then set the plate in the midst of the play zone. The plate was dumped on the floor within about 3 seconds. Then I read that toddlers like little compartments so I put a bunch of little chunks of food in an ice cube tray. They were interested in the compartments, and then they proceeded to dump the trays on the floor. Since then I've purchased 'Snack Traps' that have little lids which supposedly keep food in the container but allow for a little hand to reach in and get bits out. Clearly, Noah does not care for the concept. About half of the time that I give him a snack trap of Cheerios, he shakes all the Cheerios out, sits among then and eats them off the floor.

Or, he just goes around stepping on them to hear and feel the crunching sound.

I've kind of given up on the battle for now.

So, consider yourself warned. If you come to my house, you are likely to find Cheerios (and various other toddler snacks) under foot.

Bags

Wedding Day

Being part of any wedding is an honor, but being part of a family wedding feels like a passage, like the beginning of a new chapter in the life of the family. Liz and Stephan's wedding was sweetly elegant, and it fit them perfectly.

Quick little story: The plan was that Noah, the ring bearer, along with Ella and Annika, the flower girls, would be pulled by down the aisle in a wagon. Esther and Karin spent hours transforming a red Radio Flyer into a white, satin covered chariot. The kids were to sit in it, look cute and throw flower petals. After a good month of wagon practice sessions at Nana's house, the kids seemed ready to do their job. Of course, things did not go according to plan. Two of the three wanted nothing to do the wagon. Es and I stood at the front of the church giving one another knowing glances as we heard our children protesting loudly. Quick thinking solution? With kids in arms, Matt and Tom (Annika's dad) assumed the flower girl duty, walked down the aisle, and threw petals. It was priceless.


Pre-wedding primping...I love that Liz wore the hair piece that my sister, Esther and I wore for our weddings.

Dressed in wedding best.

Standing on her Dad's feet.

My sweet parents, ready to blow bubbles for the bride and groom.

Noah showing Papa that he is 'so big.'

Noah showing off his tummy to the dinner table...

...and showing his tummy to the bride and groom.

This one had some serious energy. Ella was pretty sure that it was 'her day.'

Kicking back, sans kids, at the reception.

Potoshnick cousins

Preview

Yesterday the family took a collective sigh of relief. On Saturday, Matt's little sister, Liz, made a beautiful bride and took on a new name. More pictures to come.

Rende-vous at Kangaroo Lake

We are just back from our second family reunion in Door County Wisconsin with Matt's mom's family and it was certainly time well spent. The weather held beautifully and I've decided that our little spot at Kangaroo Lake Resort is one of my all time favorites. Maybe it is because spring is still new and being outside still seems novel, but I just have great feelings about the place. It is peaceful, understated and all-together lovely.

La famille. We were 25 in number this year between the sisters, their parents, their families, the boyfriends, and the fiancee.


One of the things that I especially liked about the weekend was all the down time. We sat. We ate. We threw rocks into the lake. We played corn hole. We sat by the bon fire. We caught up with each other. Below are a few snippets from the weekend.

Uncle Jack and Uncle Michael brought their lacrosse sticks. Ella dutifully mowed the lawn with hers.

After watching his dad catch the ball with it, Noah actually tried to get the ball in the pocket.

The dudes looking all tough. Sort of.

E&N wandered over to Aunt Kris' kayaks. In keeping with their personalities, Ella immediately jumped in the kayak for an adventure and Noah checked it out for safety.

Noah, ready to paddle, but needing a push to get in the lake.

Ella, ready to help her brother out and push him in the lake.

Ella constantly wandered over to the swings. That girl loves a good swing.

Aunt Esther brought bubbles.

The water was still a bit chilly but neither seemed to notice much.

Then I got stuck in the lake with the kids.

Just kidding. We were roped to the dock.

Sunday evening Grandpa Potoshnick treated us to dinner at Fred and Fuzzy's in Sister Bay. I love this place --it is a bunch of porch tables and umbrellas set up on the beach. The best part was that the kids could wander on the beach before and after the meal. Seriously kid-friendly dining.

And of course, we finished off the night with ice cream at Wilson's.

Until next year...

MIA

I fully admit that I've been a slacker with the blog lately and I realize that 'I'm busy' is a lame excuse. The fact is that I don't really have a great excuse. I can, however, fill you in on what we've been up to.

With the onset of spring, one of our daily activities has been driving in our cars. It was amazing to see the gender differences as they approached the cars the first time. Ella checked it out, put some stuff in the trunk and then lost interest quickly. She'd put her feet out as we drove and then stand up. In general, she was a disaster of a driver.

Noah was all business. He immediately sat down, put his hands at 10 and 2, and was ready to drive.


Nini (my mom) came to visit and as usual, the kids adored having her around.

Dad was able to join us as well.

Noah continues to find small places to sit. We were packing the car for our trip to Chattanooga and I found Noah on the back porch like this.

Ella has made it known that, at times, she prefers to eat some meals while sitting in a big girl chair. We're working on that one.

And Noah continues to 'work' in the dirt. Ella continues to talk on her 'phone' all day long. the following items have been her phone in the last 24 hours: her shoe, a Clif bar, a TV remote, both cell phones, and a rock. I did not have a picture of it, but you get the idea. She's a talker.

And finally, we all headed south for Liz's graduation from Covenant. Congratulations Liz!