Day at the Beach

I love living in the DC area, but one thing that always gets me is our distance to the ocean. Sure, we have the Potomac nearby, but it's not the same as living in the Boston area where you could get to the beach in 30 minutes or less.

Around here, the good beaches take 2.5-3 hours to get to without traffic. It's a long way to go, but sometimes you just have a need to see the ocean and sit in the sand. Both Eric and I were feeling that urge a lot lately, so last week, while our daycare provider was on vacation, we packed up the babies and the van and made the drive to Delaware.

The day started early when we left the house at 6am, stopping just for McDonald's breakfast and gas. The babies did great in the car except the last half hour when they both started to meltdown and we had to take a quick diaper change/fresh air break.

We arrived at beach at Cape Henlopen State Park around 9:30am, where we drove our BOB in the sand and quickly set up our new beach tent.

Here's our new beach tent. it worked great, and I highly recommend it.

(Yes, I know what you're thinking. Back in the old days, we all just sat out in the sun, no sunscreen or tent necessary. These days however, it seems everyone has some sort of tent or huge umbrella at the beach.)

After getting situated, we let Piper and Fletch discover the tent, the toys we brought, and the sand.

This, of course meant putting sand directly into their mouths. As you can see, Fletch learned a good life lesson that sand tastes like--sand.

After letting the babies crawl around for a bit, we headed down to the water. Neither Piper or Fletch knew what to make of the waves, but they seemed to enjoy it, especially because the water wasn't the ice bath I played in as a kid at the Cape or Wingasheek. We splashed around for a while, and then went back to the tent for more sandy fun.

We did this dance of waves-sand-waves for about 2 hours until the babies decided they had enough. Eric and I think foolishly attempted to make the babies nap in the tent since they hadn't napped the entire morning. But, that was a big fat FAIL.

(Don't even get me started on the fact that the babies didn't nap during the 3-hour drive to the beach, seeing as they typically have no problem falling asleep on a short car ride from our house, and how in some weird baby math a 45-second nap in the car equals a 2-hour nap at home. This results in me having to sit in the back seat occassionally with the babies singing, making faces, etc. to keep them awake while squeezed in between two car seats using the tiny middle seat death belt--I meant seat belt--to try to keep them awake. Yeah, don't get me started.)

Ok, back to the story. So, after the fruitless attempts at getting the babies to nap failed, we realized we had to pack up the babies and leave because Fletch was in serious meltdown mode and disturbing all the other kids on the beach eating their tuna fish sandwiches and playing in their own child sun protection devices (aka tents).

We stayed on the beach a total of 2.5 hours. Now, some of you might think that this is ridiculous. However, what you don't know is that Fletch probably was just showing the Funderburg in him. When I was a kid, my dad and I would wake up early, go to the beach, I'd last there about 2 hours, and then we'd be home in time for lunch. So, I wasn't surprised we were there such a short time.

Anyway, we changed and packed up the babies, and got in the car. As soon as the engine turned on, the babies were out. This meant that Eric and I were "forced" to eat a drive-thru lunch at Burger King. OkI love BK, but this is the second time I've gone to a BK in MD where they were out of shakes. And, to pour salt in my wounds, they also forgot half the toppings on my burger, which I didn't realize until we were back out on Route 50. MD BK--You're dead to me.

Thankfully, the babies slept in the car through all this trauma, and we arrived home by 3pm. Even though it was a short day, Eric and I were exhausted. But, we figure it is good practice for next year. Maybe by then, we'll break tradition and try to stay on the beach longer than we drive in the car.

Then and Now

Then: Red Sox-Yankees weekend in 2010

Now: Red Sox-Yankees weekend in 2011

Then: Target, August 2010

Now: Target, August 2011

How fast a year goes!?!

Merry-Go-Round

We're lucky enough to live in Fairfax County, which has lots of terrific parks, some of which include merry-go-rounds. Today, we loaded up Piper and Fletch in the car, drove to one of the parks, had a picnic, and then they got to ride.

As you can see, we were all a little sweaty, as it's been almost unbearably hot lately. After the ride, we walked around the park a bit, before seeking refuge back in the cool car.

We had a great time, although I think it might be a bit better in the fall when we're not dripping with sweat. Hopefully, we'll get a little reprieve from the heat when we hit the beach this week.

11 Months

The babies turned 11 months yesterday. That means that in one short month, we'll no longer have babies, and instead we'll have toddlers! How can that be!?!

Here are some photos that we took this morning. We tried to get them sitting in one spot, but they are much too wiggly. On top of that, they are both drool factories and have little colds, so they are covered in gross wetness. But, they're still pretty darned cute.

It's impossible to get a picture of them both sitting up, looking at the camera, smiling, and without their hands in their mouths (teething). This is the first attempt.

And the second attempt. That couch is pretty comfy.

I can see why Fletch just wanted to get his relax on.

And, finally a close-up.

Here they are sitting in rocking chair I had when I was a baby. My mom painted it and got it back into shape for them.

I think Fletch was thinking, "Wow, I'd rather be playing

Rock Band 2 than sitting in this chair."

As for milestones, they are pulling up and cruising a bit, but not yet walking. But, they learn new, fun stuff everyday. They love nothing more than when we're on the floor playing with them and coming over and giving us big, slobbery kisses. They also love when we read to them. If they're off playing with toys and I start reading a book, they crawl over to me, try to get in my lap, and listen to the story. It's so sweet.

As for sleeping, I'm happy to report that they are sleeping well these days. I've been hesitant to write about this for fear of breaking our good streak, but they've been sleeping through the night, from 6:45pm-5am, since the end of April. Occasionally, if they're working on a new milestone, they'll wake up a bit, but otherwise, we're in a good place right now with sleep (knock on wood). They also are taking two good naps each day, from 9:30am-11:30am and 2:30pm-4pm.

My goal for 11 months was to get them off purees and onto all table foods. I think we met that goal, and we're now just giving purees as toppings on things. It was a bit tough at first because Fletch really loved his mushy foods, but now they both love eating real food. Favorites include pancakes, bagel thins, hummus, meatballs, chicken nuggets, tortellini, watermelon, peaches, squash, nectarines. We're trying new stuff everyday. Our next goal is to get them off formula and bottles and onto milk and sippy cups by 12 months. We'll see how that goes.

Happy 11-Month Birthday, Piper and Fletch!

Short and Sweet

This weekend, Mom and Danny made a quick, but perfect visit. They arrived on Saturday, after Eric and I got home from running, and stayed until mid-day Sunday. We had fun playing on Saturday afternoon, and then after the babies went to bed, Eric and I headed out for dinner. I think the last time we went out at night was back in November. Yikes!

On Sunday morning, Mom, Danny, the babies, and I went to Silver Diner for breakfast. Piper and Fletch did so well, and they couldn't get enough of the pancakes. It was the perfect way to spend a morning.

(This is a horrible picture of me, but you can see how cute the babies look in their high chairs at the restaurant.)

Mom and Danny will back for their birthday in a few weeks, and we can't wait.

In the meantime, I've been thinking of a few other posts for the blog. I hope to capture "A Day in the Life" with the babies next. Here's a sneak peak of what a typical day includes. These pictures were taken at Eric's mom's house.

Fun in the Pack n Play before naps!

Music lessons with Eric's mom!

I hope to post the rest later this week.

First Zoo Trip

We made our first trip to the zoo with the babies this weekend. We ventured out to the Leesburg Animal Park, which is about an hour from our house. It's more of a petting zoo than a regular zoo, but it definitely has more animals than the National Zoo. Every time we go there, the animals are always inside "out to lunch" or "on a Starbucks run" or whatever is it that animals do that means they aren't on display.

Anyway, this zoo had lots of animals to pet and feed. Here I am feeding a fallow deer. Fletch was not impressed.

This was the antelope that had the longest tongue and neck I'd ever seen on an animal that wasn't a giraffe. He gave Eric and I a good lick and nearly ate Fletch's toes.

This was the alpaca. They were pretty darned cute.

And here are the adorable baby goats. The fact that I fed these goats means I'm officially an adults, as I overcame the trauma I endured here when I was bitten by a baby goat at age four or five while trying to feed it.

And here's Eric braving the baby goats.

We had a great time. We're so excited to start doing more "kid stuff" with Piper and Fletch now that they are getting a little older. Our next adventure will probably be the beach. Stay tuned...

New Pastime

Sorry it's been so long since I've updated. We've been really busy between work, running, crawling, playing, etc. But, we've also been having fun. As evidence of this, here are photos of Piper and Fletch's new favorite pasttime--crawling around the kitchen playing with tupperware.

Who knew something so inexpensive could get such a big smile from Fletch!?!

This is their favorite cabinet. They try to open all the others, but this is the only one that either isn't locked or that they don't yet have the dexterity to open. It contains all their tupperware. I no longer need to fight to find matching bowls and lids because these items now spend most of their time all over our kitchen floor.

Please excuse the fact that Piper's diaper is falling off.

She's figured out how to pull them off if she doesn't have shorts on. Sigh.

In addition to the daily tupperware party, Piper has a new love of the bathroom. She tries to escape in there every chance she gets. This is her after she scrambled in there as soon as I opened the door.

Both babies are full speed crawling now. Piper has learned how to pull up on most things, but Fletch still hasn't discovered that trick yet, although I'm sure it will be any day. They are at such a fun age. They do something new and funny every time we turn around. Eric and I are so blessed to have such wonderful kiddos.