The Wedding: Day One

We traveled to the wilds of Central Jersey for Sister Margaret's wedding a couple of weeks ago.  It was a whirlwind trip without the kids.  We arrived on Friday morning just in time to catch a ride with the family over to New Egypt.  Friday night was the rehearsal and associated dinner.

Margaret is pretty in pink.


A nice shot of the parents of the bride.


It was freezing at the rehearsal!  I was the only one in a parka.


The Rev was kind of kooky.  He made the whole thing fun with a lot of laughs.


Rich can barely keep a straight face.


Best man Garrett (Rich's brother) and his girlfriend Kira.  Did I mention it was cold?


The happy couple...

Ada Turns Two

My baby turned two last month, and revelled in the sweet delight of having all the attention. We threw a nice little garden party on the new patio and invited her friends from school. Jude planned it (we were trying to help him avoid any birthday envy) and it worked out pretty well. 

There was drawing, face painting, name painting, gardening, bubbles, and a short parade. The parade was the only hitch in the plan as the birthday girl didn't like the noisemakers.

Cookies over cake, and Queen Birthday was in Two-year-old heaven.

Later that week we celebrated Ada's REAL birthday with cupcakes an Nini's house, and a second party that rivalled the first. Again the center of attention, and this time there were PRESENTS. 

What can I say about my sweet little girl to mark the passing of two years?

Let me tell you a little bit about Ada and her loves.

Ada loves to draw, and paint, and draw again.
She loves to wear tails in her hair and clips.
Ada loves puzzles.
She loves to stand at the sink and play in the running water.
Ada loves her music, and sings along with all the kid songs.
She loves to dance.
Ada loves to follow Jude and play his games.
She loves to laugh, and loves a joke.
Ada loves her friends.
Ada has some silly little gestures, and she does them unconciously when she's excited, but also for a laugh.
Ada loves to do the laundry with Mom.
Ada loves to go "Ite-side" with Dad and rake up sticks.
Ada loves to wear her "glubs".
Ada loves purple and pink, but she also loves to name all the colors.
Ada loves to swim ("all by self") in her red floaty suit.
Ada loves running and races.
Ada loves to make eyes at Daddy. 

Happy Birthday, my Ada! We love you! 

Wild Thing

I'm re-posting this today in honor of Maurice Sendak.  Sitting on that couch, in front of that window, with that little boy - it seems like an eternity has passed since then.

Cousin Love

I've been meaning to post these photos from our week in Florida.  Cousin Hilary and Inga drove down to Naples to spend some time with us, and the kids had a great time playing together.  Ada and Inga were like two peas in a pod, trying on each other's shoes, swimming together, and sharing snacks.


I love this photo of the two girls on the raft in the pool.


Jude and Inga bonded over their love of iPhone games.  Jude taught Marie and Inga how to play Cookie Maker.


The Dollar Store water shooters were also popular.  Inga borrowed Jude's blue floaty suit since Jude didn't need it anymore.


We got a few shots with all three kids.  One in the pool...


... and one on the lounge chairs.


Here's Ada enjoying some ice cream poolside at the club.


And Jude lounging with Mama, pointing out an airplane in the sky.

Little Fish

We just got home from an action-packed week in Florida.  The main activity was swimming.  Jude basically learned to swim on his own in one day.  He went from playing on the steps, to using a "poodle-noodle" for flotation, to, well, you have to see it to appreciate it...



Ada also made great strides.  She learned to swim unassisted while wearing her floaty suit, and also had a lot of fun swimming "wifout wearing anyfing", just like her brother.



Cousin Inga drove down from Asheville to play with us.  This game is awesome!

Easter Weekend

Now that the kids have recovered from The March Plague, we were able to celebrate Easter with a few egg hunts and social gatherings.


We started off the weekend with the neighborhood egg hunt.  The kids filled their baskets and then found a suitably dangerous place to hang out until it was time to leave.  At least they enjoyed the hammock together.


The Easter Bunny showed some restraint at this egg hunt.  Most of the eggs had stickers, or goldfish crackers, or other art supplies.  The coolest thing was a pen that had a dozen different colors.


Ada never passes up a chance to eat fishes.


The weather was beautiful, and the garden is blooming.  We had friends over for dinner and all of the kids took turns watering the vegetables with spray bottles.


By the end of Easter weekend, Jude had 43 pieces of candy in his basket.  We were able to talk him into putting most of it away for later, but he remembers the Switch Witch from Halloween and is very reluctant to let the candy out of sight.  Somehow there was less the next morning when he woke up, though.


Jude took this blurry picture that captures what the Easter Bunny left in the baskets at our house.  The kids loved their puzzles and water toys.  We can't wait to use them on vacation next week!

My Judey

Over the weekend, Jude and I were sitting in the PetSmart parking lot while Ada was making her leisurely way into her car seat.  I heard muttering from the back seat.

J: Red P, Red E, Red T
J: Blue S, Blue M, Blue ART
...
J: Look, there are two T's!
...
Me: Do you know what the red letters spell?
J: Puh-Eh-Ttt ... PET!
Me: I didn't know you could READ!
J: Yeah, I learned it from the Electric Company.

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Here's my interview with Jude:


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I told Jude I was going to take a picture for our blog, and this is the expression I got: