St. Patties Day

We spent this St. Patrick's Day first putting in 6 pavers in our backyard up against the house (a great 5 hour workout) and then we went down to fells point to see some of the action and enjoy a beer on the patio at one of our favorite hangouts.

Stella loved the leprechaun hat and Lucy is doing an Irish jig!

Summer in March

Its just about 80 degrees outside right now... and wonderfully sunny to boot! It's still officially winter right?
I spent some quality time finally cleaning up the garden. Surprisingly, the girls stayed relatively stationary and content under the umbrella transferring dirt from one pot to another; now when I tried to corral them inside for lunch that was a different story:)

At least I know its a reptile...

We take out all the pairs of wooden animals from the wooden Ark and then we put all the wooden animals back in the Ark; we take all the animals out... and then place all the animals back in etc. etc. etc.

This is a great description of many of our afternoons here in the Eden House.

We go through the animals names and talk about their colors, the noises they make, and how many feet they have. We talk about whether they are reptiles or mammals, whether they hop or slither, and if they have a mane or tusks. Then we get to the alligator; oh wait... the crocodile; I mean, the alligator; just kidding, the crocodile. WHICH ONE IS IT??? And why do I not know the difference?

I do now! Here's what I learned thanks to the San Diego Zoo website (top picture is the alligator):

• Both alligators and crocodiles are considered crocodilians or "crocs"; so right away I don't feel so bad that I have been lumping the two reptiles together in my mind.
• Snouts: Alligators have wider U-shaped snouts; crocodiles have longer V-shaped snouts
• Teeth: Alligators' teeth are covered up when their mouth is closed; crocodiles have one tooth that sticks out on each side (most of the pictures I found however, showed more teeth than just one)
• Home sweet (or salty) home: Alligators tend to live in freshwater; crocodiles tend to live in salt water habitats.

So in looking back at my wooden crocodilian, my best guess is a Crocodile (I think). Well, at least now I should be able to tell the reptiles apart... the real versions anyway!

Mid-week Road Trip

So Dave and I had grand plans of semi-surprising his parents at the Dulles airport while they were on their layover between Minneapolis and India. We hit the road a little after 6PM, grabbed some Subway, and embarked on our 90 minute journey.

About half way there, Dave called to let them know we were coming so they could start making their way to where we were allowed to be. We thought we were golden (being that they had a lengthy layover). Unfortunately it wasn't that easy. We did take them by surprise, and its a bit of work gathering all one's belongings, taking the train to the main terminal, and then having to go through security all over again to get back. We tried negotiating... just a bit. Then, we quickly realized that we should have called them before we left; if anything to find out that we shouldn't venture out. But nonetheless, we were already almost there... so we still had an airport adventure!!

We parked in short-term parking (extremely close to the main terminal)- rolled the girls in- asked someone if it was possible to get a gate pass- by her response, it seemed possible, so we waited in line at the Indian airline for a good 30 minutes only to have no success- bummer! BUT.... we had a huge playground right before us, so the girls ran around for another 30 minutes or so, climbing on chairs, opening automatic doors, and attempting to climb onto the baggage claim just a few times:)

And like any good road trip, there is always an unexpected event. So while we were sad we couldn't see Grandma and Grandpa, we still had an adventure that mixed up our routine a bit-- and some good quality family time in the car to boot (yes, there was singing)!

Baby Dry diapers... again

Last May I posted this; last week I ordered a pack of 222 Baby Dry diapers so that the girls could wear them overnight to minimize leakage. I opened them last night so each girl was wearing one. This morning guess what happened? I guess I should search my own literature in the future. In the meantime, I am working on returning them to diapers.com; if that's not possible, I imagine we will go through them quickly, especially since they don't hold much!

We want to do what you do!

We are right in the middle of the phase where the girls are constantly wearing our shoes and hats along with sitting in big chairs... slow down little ones!

Lucy wearing Mom's boots and apron

They didn't look excited yet, but when I put something for them to mix in their bowls--- the messy fun began! 

Lucy started this fashion with my hat... and was soon trying it on Stella too... 

I think Stell thought it was too old-fashioned for her taste:)

We couldn't keep the ladies off these 'grown-up' chairs, so we eventually just moved them away from the table
(to prevent table exploring of course)

And we don't want to forget to add this....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD/ OPA, hope you enjoyed the rest of your day!!

Day Trip to Philly

We always talk about how nice it is to live so close to so many other large cities- and that we should take advantage of it while we are here! We traveled up the eastern seaboard quite a bit during the first 18 months after we moved here, but then it tapered off a bit.

So we decided to take a day trip to Philly last weekend. Its less than 2 hours away, and we didn't have to deal with the hassle of staying over night- which entails packing too much stuff, finding someone to watch the dog, and not getting much sleep anyway, since it takes the girls at least one night to acclimate to different surroundings. We had only 2 things on the itinerary: the "Please Touch Museum" for the kids, and then a local brewery for us!

First we traded the old car seats for new big kids ones that face forward- and even have cup holders! The girls were happy to be able to see us and the road... but truth be told, I think Dave and I were more excited about the whole change-of-seat thing in the end.

Stella and Lucy preparing for their first trip in their new seats!

We hit virtually no traffic and arrived at the "Please Touch Museum" less then 2 hours later. We spent almost 3 hours there. The museum is geared to 6 month- 6 years so in every section the girls had something to do.

There was a transit section where you could play on a train or bus and you could even be a race-car mechanic by changing tires (that were magnetized and oriented towards little ones) on mini cars. We visited the space section where you could climb in a space ship and run a whole bunch of machines that made things float. We played in the fake grocery store pushing the cart around and picking up plastic veggies while bumping into probably a few too many kids. We saw our childrens' budding science skills while at the "hospital" with their ability to take temperatures, check heart beats, and even run a MRI machine! We played in a little village that had houses and a garden where we picked potatoes. We went through Alice in Wonderland's maze and sat with the Mad Hatter for a tea party. We continued the adventure with a trip to the rain forest where we played with native instruments and then with tug boats in a 'river'. We ended the visit with sticking our heads into fun displays and then going down a log slide a good 20 times!

Lucy and Stella on the mini monorail 

The space tunnel

Race car station 

Lucy gives Mom a checkup at the 'hospital'

toddlers hanging out in the faux ER

Stella picks potatoes from the garden

Stella having fun in Alice in Wonderland's hallway of doors

Lucy and Dad bid farewell to a fun day!

Afterwards we met up with our friends Tiff and Ryan who just happened to be in Philly that weekend. We went to the Manayunk Brewery and had a couple brews and ate dinner. After 3 hours hanging out with them, we finally had to hit the road back to Baltimore.
It was a good day!