favorite anna-isms of the moment

Anna is speaking more and more every day. It's amazing to us, considering less than a year ago we thought she would be pretty speech delayed because of her numerous ear-infections...at that time, the ENT told us it had been like she was trying to listen to everyone while swimming underwater - not an easy task! So these are our favorite Anna-isms at this very moment:

ow-side (outside)

kl-ide (slide)

rot-wahl (rock wall)

high!

up!

shwin (swing)

peas (please)

ank you (thank you)

ott daw (hot dog)

pea buhr (peanut butter)

cacker (cracker)

meent (mint - tic tacs, usually!)

cheese

joo (juice)

melck (milk)

baby

shtrohler (stroller)

book

Pooh

me m-ows (mickey Mouse)

ride (usually said repeatedly)

soo-eee (Soothie)

blankie

teddy

shwim (swim)

pool

nigh-nigh (night night)

When she sees a banana, she says, "me" - because we call her Anna Banana! :)

And our favorite.....

Gee-tus (Jesus) :)

child dutch-y paradise

Wednesdays are always a long day for our family...Chris always has worship practice until a late time of the night and if you are a stay at home parent, you know that the time between afternoon quiet time and bed time is like walking through 5 foot mud with an elephant on your back. If you don't plan to do something (actively plan), that time can be slow. So, Marion helped me plan!

We headed to the local dutch-y paradise for chilluns...Dutch Wonderland. Both our families have season passes, so it works out delightfully to just head down there after quiet time and spend the evening there. It's a great hotspot for kids 0-7. If they are older than that, it's a little lackluster, but still enjoyable....let me explain. Hudson is 4, and big enough to go on all the rides. Yes, all the rides. And he can go on most of them without an adult with him - so that tells you the 'thrill' factor.
Anna particulary likes the train ride (nice and calm) and the little ride that swings you around the end of an oval in a car. I can't think of what this is called, but here's picture, albeit a bit blurry from the action (just pretend I did that on purpose for artistic effect).

Hudson on the other hand loves the roller coaster, the flume water ride and anything that goes fast. We've yet to venture into the water park portion of the park, but I'm told it's great. Maybe next time.

Lucky for Anna, Sam and James are along the lines of her thrill-ventures right now....and they like slushees like she does. What a friendship made in heaven!

a mama's best friend

This mama has a new best friend. Yes, maybe not Beth as a person's best friend, but as a mama, oh my, this fits the bill. My kids are outdoor kids. A lot of people I know say their kids love the outside, too, but really, my kids love being outside. For instance, when it rains, Hudson says, "Mama, why does it rain in PA so much?!?!?!" My, I wish I knew - well, besides the fact is that the liquid sustenance makes this place beautifully lush, and green, and fills our well with deliciously clean and clear water.
My prince and princess love to be uncontained - four walls of a house can not squelch their love of the grass in their toes and the wind in their faces (except when Curious George is on...). Recently, my wonderful man and two friends constructed a new playset for the kids to play on. We've been missing the one from our backyard in AZ, and for Hudson's birthday, Grandmom treated H and A to this beauty. It doesn't look like much, but keep going. It's, oh, so worth it. Special thanks to Daryl, Kim and Chris ~ and their gorgeous wives for managing the children so it could be accomplished.

WE LOVE THIS THING - IT ENTERTAINS FOR HOURS!

see kai run ROCKS!

I just gotta share how much See Kai Run Shoes rock. For those of you who don't know, these are the best shoes ever (thanks Trace) for little feet. Really. They are recommended by pediatricians, moms, podiatrists, etc. That, and they are way cute to boot. Many thanks to a bunch of re-users from Tracy and Em, Anna and I are in love with these shoes.

Now to why I currently am in love with the company even more. Anna had a cute pair of sandals that recently the leather strap tore. I fixed it with super glue, cause heck, they are too cute to just toss. I emailed the company and they immediately wanted to know what my top three choices of replacements would be. They sent me a brand new pair of shoes (with no cost to me) to replace them! Now that is what real customer service is. And, here they are

Gotta share the good when it comes along! :)

my wonderful husband

This past weekend my wonderful, amazing, thoughtful, romantic, and secret-keeping husband (well, not hardly ever, but this was worth it!) took me on a getaway to the city of independence. We left Thursday night and spent the night in South Jersey with the Smiths. On Friday morning, Chris finally let me know where we were going. We departed mid-morning and arrived about 45 minutes later at our hotel - our home away from well, the mission house. . . the Hilton above Reading Terminal. If you don't know Philly, Reading Terminal is a delicious culinary smorgasboard of all that is good and holy about food in the state of PA.

After a quick lunch, we headed out to the historical sites of the beloved city of brotherly love. The Independence Museum opened after we became West Coasters, so we had never been. It was a great experience. They have two great shows inside the exhibit and we really enjoyed them. This is Chris signing the "Declaration".

I had to give Ben a little kiss. He probably wouldn't have minded. He was quite the ladies man (really.)

These liberty singers entertained outside Liberty Hall.

We had a great dinner on an outdoor patio.

So, when you are on a trip by yourselves, it's hard to get a picture of both of us together. So this is us, having fun. Well, and you can also see why it's hard to get a picture, my hubby enjoys making a fool of himself.

After our fun photo session, we hit the town again and made our way to the "Naked Chocolate Cafe". The desserts were incredible, delectable, delicious. Chris is marveling here out the outstanding latte.

After we strolled the streets, we hit the hay for our big day celebrating Flag Day in Betsy Ross' hometown. On Saturday our highlights were seeing the Money in Motion exhibit near the US Mint. We also toured Betsy Ross' home and walked the street fair. What a wonderful time to be together, celebrating one another - it was relaxing and an incredible time to reconnect. Did I say my husband is incredible?

kids bowl free

Looking for someplace cool to take your kids over the summer and occupy some time? Look no farther - well, you can, but this is a pretty cool deal. www.kidsbowlfree.com

Kids are invited to play 2 games, every day, all summer, FREE! You just have to sign up at the link above and pay shoe rental. How cool is that? It is good all around the country, just click on your state to see what bowling alleys are participating in your area...if they aren't, call them and ask them why they aren't, and maybe they'll hop on "alley" soon...Enjoy!