Family Baseball Time

Family Baseball Time

Monday, December 5, 2011

Grand Illumination

On our way home from Richmond, we stopped in Williamsburg for the Grand Illumination. The Grand Illumination is held in Colonial Williamsburg. It starts at 5:00pm and the houses and businesses "Illuminate" by turning on candles in their windows. There are different areas for Fireworks and places where there are people singing and playing instruments. We met up with Kevin's family and walked around for a little bit before the fireworks started. I wasn't quite sure how the babies would react to the fireworks. When we went this summer Caitlyn loved them and Brittany and Ashton cried the whole time. This time the roles were reversed! Brittany loved them, Ashton wasn't to sure, but couldn't keep his eyes off of them and Caitlyn cried, until she got into her daddy's arms. After the fireworks were over, we walked around a little more then headed home after a long, fun filled weekend.





As soon as we got home, the babies went straight to their playroom and played with their toys. Once it was time for bed, Ashton decided to go hide in the toy box!!

Weekend in Richmond

This past weekend, we were in Richmond with our friends Jerry, April and their family. At the Children's Museum in Richmond, they have the Legendary Santa that we go see (www.legendarysanta.org). Last year was our first year going up to see Santa. We also go up to see the Richmond Christmas Parade.

We got to Richmond Friday night. We went to Dave and Buster's for dinner and then just went back to the hotel to let the babies play before bed. Saturday morning we went to see the Christmas Parade. The parade lasted about 2 hours. Ashton slept pretty much the entire time. After the parade was over, we went to the mall to do a little shopping. The babies started to get a little fussy from being on the go all day, so we headed back to the hotel.

At the Parade with our friends

Ashton & Caitlyn playing in the hotel room

Kenly, Ashton & Caitlyn playing
Sunday morning after breakfast, we headed to the Children's Museum to see the Real Santa Claus. We had a feeling that Brittany wouldn't want anything to do with him because she isn't fond of anyone she doesn't know. Ashton would just want Mommy or Daddy and Caitlyn wouldn't matter either way. I ended up holding Brittany and we sat Ashton and Caitlyn on Santa's lap.

Caitlyn and Brittany did great... Ashton just wanted to get down! But overall, they had a good experience. After the picture with Santa, we let them play in the little houses at the museum.




Thanksgiving

We had a busy Thanksgiving!! Since my parents and Kevin's parents live so close to us, we celebrate Thanksgiving with both families. Our day started off going to Kevin's parents for lunch. We had Turkey, Ham, Green Beans, Mashed Potatoes, homemade Rolls, butter beans, cranberry sauce and a variety of desserts. We sat the babies in their booster seats and they ate their first Thanksgiving meal with us. Last year at Thanksgiving, they were only 4 months old so they only had formula.

After lunch, we headed over to my parents house for dinner. My sister's fiance works at a restaurant so he had to work Thanksgiving morning. Once he got off work, we had our Thanksgiving dinner. We had the babies in their booster seats and ate dinner with us. We had Turkey, Ham, Mashed Potatoes, Green Bean Casserole, Sweet Potato casserole, homemade cranberries, pumpkin pie and apple pie. After dinner, we watched some Football and relaxed.

A lot of Black Friday specials were starting at 10:00pm or 12:00 midnight. We really didn't see anything that we really wanted to get at the stores, but we decided that we would venture out and see how the crowds were like. My parents weren't going, so they watched the babies (well, the babies were down for the night, but they kept an eye on them). Kevin, Allison and I headed out to Wal-Mart first. The store was crazy, but no one was in line to check out. All of the electronic stuff didn't go on sale until midnight so there were a ton of people standing in different lines for that stuff. We did end up buying some diapers (because we were running low at my parents house) and some DVDs (they were having a good sale on them). After we left Wal-Mart, we headed to Target. Target opened at midnight and the line to get in was CRAZY! Once the doors opened up, they would like 20 people in, then close them again for about 5 minutes. We didn't go into Target, we stayed in the car and watching the people! We went to a few more stores before heading back to my parents house.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with our families. It was an extra special one because the babies were able to eat lunch and dinner with us!

Monday, November 21, 2011

Camping Trip

We went camping at Bethpage Camp Resort in Urbanna, VA two weekend in a row. Every year, the first weekend in November, they have an Oyster Festival in downtown Urbanna. We have been going to this event for the past 5 years and this was the babies second year.

Friday night they have a Fireman's Parade that starts around 7pm. We don't attend that parade because it is too loud for the babies. Since the festival started around 2pm that Friday, we did head into downtown early to check some things out and get back to the campsite before the parade started. After we got back and ate dinner, we let the babies play with their toys in the camper until bedtime.





Saturday morning after we got ourselves and the babies ready, we walked back into town. They had a parade that started around 2:30pm. There were different bands from High Schools in the area, the Shriner's have a few different floats and other different floats. The babies enjoyed seeing the different floats that went past them. They would clap their hands and kick their feet.







Sunday it was time to pack up and go home. That was the last camping trip of the season. We aren't done with our travels for the year yet, but as far as camping, we are done.

Thanksgiving is this week and we will be spending time at Kevin's parents house and my parents house. We might do some Black Friday shopping, but not with the babies! 

Our last trip of the year will be up to Richmond for the weekend to see a Parade and visit Santa Claus.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Halloween

This Halloween, we decided to take the babies Trick or Treating with our friends Jerry & April and their kids. Of course the babies can't eat any candy yet, but mommy and daddy can! It was great weather! We didn't go up to every house, but we went to enough! This year, I think the babies liked to dress up! Well, at least they weren't crying like last year!

Ashton - Monkey

Brittany - Kitty

Caitlyn - Ladybug

Ohio Vacation

In October, we took a week vacation to Ohio for my cousin's wedding. The wedding was on Saturday so we had plenty of time to do some site seeing and visit some places and visit with family. My parents rented a cottage in Port Clinton so we were able to stay with them. My friend Danielle came with us to babysit the babies during the wedding. Our family from Georgia came to visit us at the cottage on Friday. My cousin Stephanie and Kyle had a baby last year and this was the first time that we all got to meet her!

The cottage was a 3 bedroom with a living room and kitchen. There was a big open area so we set up the play yard for the babies to play in all week. When our family from Georgia came to visit, the babies got to play with Alexa in the play yard. Since the babies have been around and played with other babies before, I knew they would play great with her.
Lexi and Caitlyn sharing a toy



After the family left, we took a trip to Cleveland. Our main reason for going there was to go to the Winking Lizard Tavern. The Winking Lizard has awesome wings! My dad orders the sauce for the wings so we can make them at home! After we ate lunch, we walked around Downtown Cleveland. We visited the Cleveland Indians stadium and the Cleveland Browns stadium!

The babies at the table ready for lunch at the Winking Lizard



Us in front of Progressive Field

Danielle with Caitlyn and Brittany at the Browns stadium
On Monday, we went to Put-In Bay. Put-In Bay is an island on Lake Erie. We took the Miller Ferry from Catawba Island. This was the first time that I have rode on a ferry! When we got over to the island, we found out that everything was closed for the season. We did however find a restaurant that was still open so we were able to eat! We walked around the downtown area and then walked back to the ferry. The island had one school, Kindergarten thru 12th grade.  They had a lot of different restaurants and bars. We visited a Winery, but unfortunately, they were not giving tours for the rest of the season.






We had to head home on Tuesday. We had a great vacation visiting family and site seeing!

Friday, September 16, 2011

Play time!!

Since we got so many toys for the babies first birthday, we needed a space to put them all. We took the dining room and made it into the play room for the babies. We bought a numbers and letters rug for their room. They love their play room. Often times we would go in there & they will be playing inside their toy box.
My sister & Tommy got them a little ball pit for their birthday. We finally moved the high chairs out of the play room so there was room to put it up. They definitely have a good time playing in it!! They like to get in and throw all of the balls out of it.
I don't think there is a single toy that they love the most. They play with everything. Sometimes the empty out the toy box just to get everything out. We do have a stand up and play station that they usually play with all the time. Ashton just likes to open and close the play laptop thing that is on it.

There will be times when they all 3 are playing in the play room and we hear giggling. Last night, they were playing with a book and making each other laugh. I love when they make each other laugh like that! We would peek around the corner and watch them play. Sometimes they play great with each other, other times they will take toys away from each other. But we have to let them work it out themselves.

The first year

It's been a little over a year since the babies were born. What an exciting year it has been. They are all pretty much the same from when they were born. Brittany is still the biggest and Caitlyn is still the smallest (in weight).

When Caitlyn was born, she weighed in at 2lbs 7.5oz. She now weighs 17lbs 15oz. She loves to be independent. Brittany and Ashton will fight over something and she will just sit back and watch. Caitlyn loves to eat pretty much everything. I haven't found anything that she doesn't like yet. She is standing on her own, but hasn't taken a step yet to try to walk. We do work with her every night by walking her to her crib. She loves to read books (she takes the book and flips the pages).

Caitlyn on her 1st birthday











Caitlyn when she was born













Ashton weighed 3lbs 7oz when he was born. He now weighs 19lbs 5 oz. Ashton loves to fight with Brittany. They will fight over anything!! Toys and attention are the big things that they fight over. Ashton has been standing on his own for a little while now. He has taken a step or two, but that's it. We work with him every night and walk him to his crib. He loves to eat!! I don't think he has a favorite food yet, if we put food in front of him, he eats it!

Ashton on his 1st birthday
 












Ashton when he was born













Brittany is the baby! She weighed 3lbs 12oz when she was born. She now weighs 19lbs 15oz. Brittany loves to fight with her brother. She is also a big daddy's girl. If daddy is holding someone else, she gets very upset! Brittany loves to eat!! We luckily haven't found anything they haven't liked yet. When I put her down for her nap, she will sometimes have a little temper tantrum. Not like screaming and crying, but throwing all of her stuffed animals either on the floor or in Caitlyn's crib.

Brittany on her 1st birthday!
 



Brittany when she was born




Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Month 13: Firsts...

The babies are 13 months old now!! It feels like we just had their 1st Birthday Party!! They are growing up so fast!

Last week we experienced our first Earthquake. Kevin was actually in Seattle and I was at home with the babies. I was sitting on the couch looking out the front door and all of a sudden, everything started to violently shake. At first I had no idea what was going on. It lasted about 15 seconds or so. The babies were sleeping in their cribs and didn't wake up when it happened. I was watching TV and about 5 minutes after it happened, the news came on and let everyone know that we just had a 5.9 magnitude earthquake. Everyone made a big deal about it because living on the East Coast, we don't experience them as often as people on the West Coast. Actually, that the was first one of that magnitude in over 100 years! I was a little scared after the earthquake happened. I've heard of aftershocks happening, but I didn't know what to expect and I was alone for a couple more days. Luckily all of the aftershocks that did occur, we did not feel any of them.

Friday night, Ashton decided to take his first step!! We are working with all of them and trying to get them to walk. Ashton will stand on his own a lot, but he gets too excited to take a step and falls down. Kevin and I were playing with them on the living room floor and Ashton stood up and took a little step!! He took 2 steps that night!! It was a proud moment for us! Also makes us realize that they will be walking in no time!

Saturday morning was here and it started to get windy and rainy. Hurricane Irene was upon us. About 11am the power went off. Since we camp a lot, we bought a generator a few years ago. When the power went off, Kevin went outside and started it up so we could have the refrigerator running so we wouldn't lose all of the food and milk that we just bought. Since the babies room was a corner room in the front of the house, I shut the door to their room so they would not go in their. We have a few trees surrounding that area of the house and with the wind blowing and gusting pretty strong, I did not want a tree to fall on that side of the house. Saturday night, we still didn't have power. We set up the playpens in their playroom for them to sleep in their. That was the safest room of the house if anything were to happen. It took them a little while to go to sleep, but eventually they did.

We woke up Sunday morning and it was beautiful outside. It was still a little windy, but the rain was gone and the sun was out. Luckily we didn't have any damage to anything. We had a few limbs in the front yard, but that was it. Irene came and went and only knocked out our power. As the day went on, it started to get hotter and hotter in the house. The babies started to get cranky because it was hot and I started to get a headache from the heat. We decided to get out of the house for a little bit, so we went to Kevin's sister's house and Babies R Us. We ended up eating dinner with his sister and brother-in-law. When we got home, it still was hot and uncomfortable. Since we got back from Hatteras a few weeks ago, we kept the trailer at the house. Because it was so hot in the house Sunday, we ended up hooking the generator up to the trailer and turning on the AC in there and that's where we ended up sleeping Sunday night.

Monday morning, still no power! I started to get a little worried on when the power was going to come back on because Kevin was leaving to go to Texas for two days on Tuesday. It was pretty scary and dark in the house at night and I did not want to be alone in the dark when he was gone. He was going to cancel his trip so I didn't have to stay alone and deal with the generator stuff. During lunch, the power came back on!! Yippee!!! I called Kevin at work and told him the power came back on so he didn't have to cancel his trip to Texas.

Having no power for 3 days wasn't any fun! It seemed like the babies knew something different was going on. They were cranky more than usual!

They have their 12 month check up in 2 weeks so we will get to see their weights!! Hopefully next month we will have some walkers!!!

Monday, August 22, 2011

Hatteras Vacation

We spent the weekend camping at Camp Hatteras on Hatteras Island with our friends April & Jerry and with Karen & Paul. It was the first time camping down there for the babies and myself. We checked in Thursday and while checking in, we noticed some people across from us on top of their campers with cameras. We asked what they were taking pictures of and noticed that in the distance over the Sound there were 2 water spouts. I have never seen a water spout or tornado in person. We actually watched a water spout form. It was pretty neat to witness, but at the same time, it was pretty scary because they were so close. Luckily they just formed, stayed for about 5 minutes and went away. They didn't come close to us at all! Thursday night we did get a really bad storm. After about an hour of constant thunder and lightning, I started to get worried about seeing those water spouts earlier that day. I was afraid that one might form again and come on land, but luckily that didn't happen!

This was the 3rd water spout that formed.

Friday after eating breakfast, we got ready and headed down to the beach. This was the first time the babies have been to a beach. They liked to play in the sand and eat the sand. When we took them down to the water, they didn't like it very much. Kevin took Ashton all the way in the water and Brittany and Caitlyn stayed up at the shore with Allison and I. Once they got comfortable with the waves, they started to enjoy the water a little more. Unfortunately we went down to the beach during their lunch and nap time so they slept pretty much the entire time we were there.








Since the babies decided to take a nap, Aunt Karen and Uncle Paul kept an eye on them while Kevin and I went out and played in the water!



Saturday we decided to go to the indoor pool since we got plenty of sun Friday. We put all of the babies in their floats and they floated around the pool. Our friends Chris and Deanna came down to hang out with everyone on Saturday and brought their nephew with them so he went swimming with the babies in the pool also.






Sunday we had to pack up and go home. We had a fun weekend and hopefully will go back next year! The babies were exhausted after this fun filled weekend. They pretty much slept the whole way home!