Beach

I think I posted some pictures from the night Karen and I took the kids down to 1st beach in Newport. We were trying to get there in time to ride the carousel and do the bumper boats but we missed both my just minutes, so we got some dinner and then let the girls run around on the beach. Riley loves the water, but Annie was a little freaked out about it at first...and Sophie....well, you can see for yourself. She is pretty much fearless in the water and one of us was constantly chasing her in and out....they all got so wet and sandy and Annie and Sophie ended up stripped and sprayed down at the hose.

Playing in the pool...

While we were in RI Riley and Annie, and then later Sophie, had a lot of fun playing in the plastic pool that Grandma and Grandpa bought for them....as you can clearly see :)

Santa's Village

We stayed overnight at a motel near Santa's Village and headed out after a breakfast at Dunkin Donuts- YUM- to Santa's Village. It was way up high in the mountains and really a pretty drive there.

Annie's very favorite part of Santa's Village- the real reindeer. They were sooo cool....the had huge fuzzy antlers and you could feed the carrots and cookies, which Annie very much enjoyed!

Riley and Annie did this one all by themselves- wasn't sure if Annie would go for it, but as you can see, they had a good time!

View from the top of the Ferris Wheel- very pretty!

Grandma and Annie on the sleigh ride- we waited a really, really long time to get on this one, but it went all around the park, which was nice to see where everything was

Annie loved the carousels!

Riley and the pengiuns...which we found out later are actually trash cans!!!

StoryLand

When I had originally decided to take a vacation in August to New Englad, the plan was to find a beach house somewhere and spend the whole week on the beach! When that did not work out for us, Grandma and Grandpa thought a trip to New Hampshire to visit StoryLand and Santas Village would be fun! Riley and I checked out the websites and she was quite excited.

So, on Tuesday of our week the 5 of us loaded into the car and drove up to StoryLand- we got there around 3ish and spent a few hours there. For some reason, I didn't take a lot of pictures there- not sure why- but it was fun and both girls had fun. Annie was a tad grumpy when we first got there- probably the reason for the lack of pictures since I was trying to make her happy- but then we took a ride on the Choo-choo and she was better after that!

It was quite warm that day, but not very crowded which was great. Riley rode everything we let her and she had a ball....here are just a few pics I took....

Riley and Cinderella- Riley, Annie and I took a pumpkin coach ride to the top of the hill where her castle was, but when we got there, she wasn't there! On our way out, we were lucky enough to run into her headed back up the hill!

Riley in the pumpkin

Annie loved the animals- think this was Baa Baa Black Sheep....she and I looked at the animals for a long time while Riley and Grandma rode the tea cups

The girls!

One of the first nights we were there was just gorgeous and Karen, Sophie and Maya were over so Karen and I decided to take the girls down to the water for a walk. We saw a very pretty sunset and walked for a while, until Maya decided she was done and wanted to go home to bed!

Karen was stopped a few times by people admiring the little baby!

Riley and Annie had a good time looking at the boats in the bay

Maya and Sophie in their super BOB!


Riley could not get enough of holding Maya- she wanted to do it everytime we were together....

Beach babes!

Going to try to get some pictures up here from our latest trip to Rhode Island but it is going to take me a long time to get to them all...blogger is taking a really, really long time lately to upload pics, so I will probably break them up into multiple posts.

We went to the beach a few times during the visit. Annie kept asking to go, but then she wasn't all together thrilled once we got there. I think the waves still scare her a little, but she was better than the last trip, so that is good.

The first full day we were in Westerly we went to the beach with Nannie and Poppie, and then we spent a full morning at the beach in Newport with Auntie Karen, Uncle Carl, Grandma and Grandpa and Sophie and Maya. There were two guys making a really cool sand castle that time but I didn't get a pic of it :(

Here are a few beach pics.....

Riley and Maya, who slept the whole time and woke just as we were leaving....she is certainly a beach baby in training.

The girls and I at Second Beach

Sunbathing beauty!

Now entering 1st grade....

Riley started school last week....1st grade, wow! It is hard to believe she is in 1st grade, although this year has been better than last year already! I was a mess last year- kindergarten is such a huge step- but maybe because we are already used to the routine, and the fact that she was at the school all summer, too, in Summer Edition...this time it went pretty easy!

Todd registered her for school when we were on vacation, and was able to meet her teacher and see her classroom, but Riley and I did not. So, on the first day of school, Todd, Annie and I parked and walked her in...along with about 1/2 a million other kids and families! Her teacher this year is Ms. Allison- she is young, single, pretty and seems very nice. Her classroom is 115- the very last one on the end of the 1st grade hallway, and only 2 doors down from last year's teacher, Mrs. Graham, who is teaching 1st grade this year.

Riley seems very happy so far, although she comes home from school most days exhausted and is tired getting up the next morning....she has lots more work and homework and even had her very first spelling test, in which she scored 100, of course! She and Todd practice her spelling words every.single.night....he has become the homework Nazi!! ANd thank goodness, because Mama has a lot of other things to do every night and homework seems to always slip between the cracks.

Anyway...I will keep you updated on her progress, but so far, so good!

She reads!

Annie was sick today so I stayed home with her and we had a nice day together. She was feeling much better after a three hour nap, which started at 11am when she fell asleep on the floor in the middle of Blue's Clues, 2 hours before she usually naps. I got lucky because I picked her up and put her in her crib and she went back to sleep!

Anyway, the whole point of this is not to tell you she was sick (not really sure what her deal was- she got sick in the middle of the night on Saturday night at Grams and Gramps house while Todd and I were celebrating our anniversary, very, very late!! Poor thing...and poor Grams and Gramps), but in spending the whole day together without Riley as a distraction, I realized how much she can do and how advanced she is at this age, much more so than Riley was.

She can totally manage the DVD and VCR by herself. I watched her open the drawer, pick out a movie, open the case, pull it out, turn on the DVD player, open the player, put the DVD in and press play....wild! Sometimes she needs a little help with a step or two, but she can pretty much handle it on her own!

And she is reading books!!!! Now, not really reading, but there are a few books that she has "memorized" already and will sit in her bunny chair and turn the pages and say the lines from the book! This one blows me away because, 1. she can atriculate the words so well, and 2. she REMEMBERS them....seriously, at this point in her development, Riley was just starting to use words together, and Annie is READING (sort of!).....

My conclusion....both of my children are absolute geniuses and will receive full ride scholarships to the colleges of their choice and have wonderful, fulfilling, prosperous lives and take care of Todd and I in our old age....right????? No pressure ladies :)

PS- I am totally joking...sort of.

Annie is TWO

Yesterday, my baby turned two. It is hard to believe it has been two years....two years since I carried her inside me, trying to get out for weeks and weeks and then when it came right down to it and it was time for her to exit, she stuck in her heels and wanted to stay. Two years since we experienced the trauma that was her birth and nearly lost her. I think about her birth often still....and truly can not imagine my life without this face...it is impossible.
She is my crazy, willful, loving, brilliant wild child. She is the opposite of Riley in many ways, yet she wants to do everything her big sister does. She worships her...and Riley was made to be her big sister. Even when they fight, they make up quickly still with hugs and kisses (and no, I am not naive to think it will always be that way, but for now, it is and it is sweet).

She is so very smart and loves to learn (and in this way, just like her sister!). She talks in complete sentences and most of the time we can understand what she is saying! She can count to 16 and is starting to learn her alphabet. She loves animals, Mickey Mouse and Dora and Elmo, and loves, loves, loves to read books.

She has turned into a pretty good sleeper- she takes a long nap most days when at home, although doesn't care much for napping at school. She goes to bed well, around 7:30 and on the weekends will sleep until 8 or later! She is stubborn and knows exactly what she wants. Her favorite word is NO! She hates to have her shoes on and always wants to take them off, yet loves to play dress up with Riley's shoes!
She is not really the best eater- surprising since she is such a giant. She generally eats one good meal a day and the other meals she just picks at. She likes spaghetti and grilled cheese and Mickey nuggets and fruit- especially bananas. She runs instead of walks and she does not like to sit still in one place. She loves the beach and choo-choo trains and swinging and getting dirty.

She will always be my baby....

Goodbye again!

So, I haven't had a chance to catch myself up yet on this blog- still have pics from our trip to RI a few weeks ago, and now we are off on another trip up there! This one is a planned vacation- planned and booked before we had to venture up for the funeral- but it feels like I have been on vacation all summer :) We have all sorts of things planned for this trip- a visit with Nannie and Poppie, a trip to StoryLand and Santa's Village in NH with Grandma and Grandpa, catching up with some old, old friends who I haven't seen in 17 years and lots and lots of time with Sophie and Maya (and Karen and Carl!!!).....I can't wait to get my hands on that baby...I might not give her back :) It is kind of sad because I didn't really get to enjoy Sophie as a baby since I had my own little nursling, but this time is different....hope I can convince Annie of that....she thinks she is still a "babbe"!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, I post this to say "adios" (we are watching Dora!) and I will be back in a week and a half to catch up....oh, yeah, and somewhere in there Annie turns TWO YEARS OLD....and Riley starts FIRST GRADE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh, my!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!