Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Vacation!

I'm counting down the days until we're on vacation.  I'm officially done working about noon on Thursday (two days from now, yay!) but Steven isn't off until late Saturday night.  We have some fun plans, and I can't wait to get started.  I know it will all go by much too fast, especially the part in Delaware where I get to see my fabulous new niece!  We skyped Sara over the weekend and got to "see" Carlee, but it's not the same as when I get to smush those cheeks in person.  I hope to have tons of pictures, since we'll be staying with them, and already made plans to go to a gorgeous garden for a light show the night before we leave. 

Monday, July 23, 2012

Yellow Yellow

Norah passed her yellow belt test!  She's super proud of herself, and her instructors are impressed with her ability to learn and remember.  She got her yellow belt at 6:45, and by the end of class at 7:15 she already had her first tape stripe.  She's amazing, and we are so proud of her.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Hot Hot Hot

It's been so hot this year, I think we've had the AC more on than off.  I don't mind summer, and I try not to complain about the heat because I do more than my share of complaining about the cold and winter.  The girls have a hard time playing outside for more than a few minutes when it's this hot and sticky, so they spend a lot of time inside playing.

Saturday we weren't able to go visit our friends in NJ, so instead I took them to Forest Park, and they played at the playground and got to go in the splash park.  Sunday they had a birthday pool party, and then we had a cook out at one of Steven's work friends house with a bunch of the families and their kids.  Monday we crashed Maria's pool, and both of the girls can "swim" with their floaties on.  Tuesday Meme took Amanda and I out for a birthday lunch with the girls, and then they had a sleepover at her house after tae kwon do. 

Norah is ready to test at tae kwon do, she's all set to get a yellow belt, and Hannah's moving right along, learning all her orange belt requirements in typical fashion for her.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Beach!

So our day didn't exactly go as planned, but the girls had a great time anyways.  We managed to leave the house around 8am, and got to the beach around 10.  It was cloudy, but so far, just cloudy.  I can do cloudy at the beach, less worry about too much heat and sun.  Not too long after we set up, it started to rain.  Basically a heavy sprinkle, but enough that I covered the camera and the phones to be on the safe side.  The girls went in the water, Hannah all the way in, courtesy of a rogue wave.  They had a blast, ate a picnic lunch, and played in the sand.  The rain kept coming back, though.  So we made the executive decision to head to Grampy's house early.   They had almost as much fun there as they did at the beach.  They're already asking when we're going back.  I may need to suck it up and take them one Sunday when it's just me.

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Happy Fourth!

So far it's a happy holiday here.  Last night we hit the fireworks one town over, and the girls loved them.  I drove over around 7:30 to get a parking spot, and Steven was fortunate enough to get the last spot in that lot when he got there to meet us around 9.  Norah was totally enamoured of the fireworks, grinning like a little ham and telling us how pretty they all are.  We didn't see any fireworks last year because we were in New Hampshire, celebrating Sara and Zach's wedding.  Two years ago we sat in the same place, with Sara and Zach, and weirdly enough, Norah totally remembered.  When we got to the grassy field we always sit in, she said "I was here with Zach and Sara".  Awwwww

Today I have to work, and the girls were up MUCH too early, despite being up until nearly 11pm.  So I'll drop them off at Meme's house for a little bit, and hopefully then come home to relax.  Early bedtime for everyone I'm thinking.  Saturday we are talking about going to the beach for the day.  We haven't been since Hannah was 2 and I was pregnant with Norah.  I feel a bit guilty about that, but it is majorly inconvenient to hit the ocean for the day with a small baby.  Last year we went to Rockport, but that's not really the beach.  So I'm going to go to the dollar store for some new sand toys, and maybe new bubbles.  I'm sure Norah's first experience with going to the actual beach will be priceless!

Monday, July 2, 2012

Holiday Week

It always feels wrong when a major holiday falls on Wednesday.  Like it's permission for people to party on two consecutive weekends for no apparent reason.  It also messes with the idea of people having a long weekend.  Who in the world wants to have a day off in the middle of the week.  That's teasing.  Of course, I already have Wednesdays off, so this doesn't affect me in any normal kind of way.  Steven also doesn't normally get any holidays off, so the girls haven't seen him at all. 

July is a busy month for us this year.  This coming weekend there is a birthday party we should go to, next weekend we're going to NJ to visit our fabulous friends, my birthday comes after that, and then a cookout party with my mom that weekend, and a picnic at a park locally for a end of softball season party.  July is going to go by so fast, it will be August before we know it, which is fine by me, then I get to go meet my new niece Carlee!