Happy 2nd Birthday

2nd Birthday Party

We had the girl's second birthday party today.  We choose to do it on Saturday because we have a family reunion tomorrow on their actual birthday.  This year we tried to focus on something fun for them so we choose to hold their party at Gymboree Play and Music.  Last year their party was on one of the hottest days of the year so we figured it would be too hot to do something outdoors.  We were very right, it was 98 and very humid today. 

Gymboree Play and Music has a large indoor facility and all kinds of gymnastics type equipment but geared toward toddlers.  They have a leader who actually does about a 45 minute program with the kids.  It was a blast, everyone had fun especially the birthday girls.

Emma

Olivia

Savannah

They especially liked the bubbles and parachute.  

Last time we came Savannah would not go under the parachute, but today she did great.  (She is in pink in the picture below).

After all the fun we had pizza, cake, cupcakes and fruit.  Our theme was polka dots, and we did 3 different colors to represent our 3 birthday girls.

We sang to each girl separately and let them blow out their candles. 

Emma did great, it took one blow and it was out. 

Olivia took a few tries but got hers out pretty fast, notice Emma trying to help her.

Savannah tried but was blowing a little too gently to get it out so Emma leaned over to help.  Which seemed to be fine with Savannah.

It was a fun day, I think all the kids and adults enjoyed the party.  The girls are all worn out so hopefully they will sleep well despite all the sugar they had.

Back Home



Emma

Yesterday we didn't make it to Davis Farmland because we needed two cars and the alternator had to be replaced.  So instead we went to a playground that Scott remembered from his childhood.  The girls had a great time running around. 

Olivia

Savannah

We finished off the day with dinner at Mem's she made a casserole and we all visited for several hours.  Unfortunately I got an unexpected call from my mom saying my dad was in the hospital and had been in a car accident.  He was ok and they finally released him late last night.  He is sore, but didn't break any bones. 

Today we woke up, packed and headed to the airport.  The airport had a cute place for the girls to play.  It was very close to our gate so we hung out there until it was time to board. 

This flight turned out to be a bit harder than the first one.  No one slept a wink and they were into everything.  Lynn had Savannah again and they did well, I didn't hear anything from them the whole flight.  I started off with Emma but about an hour into the flight Olivia was getting difficult for Scott to manage so we traded.  Emma & Olivia were pressing all the buttons and opening and closing the window shades.  We had toys and books, but that only captivated them for a minute at a time.  Our flight was a little longer due to storms in the area so we were very glad when we finally landed.

So we made it home safe and sound.  I think the trip overall went as well as it could have.  There were no major problems and I know the girls had a wonderful time.

Another Day of Fun

Today we had made plans to go to Davis Farmland, but we were so tired from all of the activities we decided to postpone that until tomorrow and to spend the day at home. Lynn and Dick have a pond out front so in the morning we let the girls go fishing with some fishing pools and magnetic fish they had bought. The girls had fun playing with the fish, but even I wasn't good at catching them. Emma and Lynn seemed to have the most success. Savannah finally started just picking them up out of the pond.  

After 'fishing' we walked over to Dunns Park to the playground. The girls had a nice time, but it was a bit of a walk over there. Here are some cute photos.



Savannah was watching the big kids swim in the lake.  She is always observing what the 'big' kids are doing. 





After naps we headed over to see Shell, Hunter, and Kylie. The girls were super excited to see Hunter and Kylie and gave big hugs. They played outside for a while and Scott and I got to see all of the changes Shell and Rich had made to their house. They had made some big changes including a garage with a finished room above, we had seen it in progress but never finished. We also saw Hunter and Kylie's new rooms, I especially liked the ladybug theme in Kylie's room. We were suppose to head over too see Chris and his family, but he called to say his motorcycle had a flat on the way home from work and he was stuck. Scott and Dick headed out to go pick him up, but luckily someone else had helped him before they got too far and so our plans were only slightly delayed.















We arrived at Chris's house just a few minutes before Chris made it home with his bike, apparently the fix a flat had only worked for so long and so Crystal's mom went to pick him up. We all had pizza while the girls played with Dominic's toys and then we all went out so the girls and Dominic could play on his new swing set. I think they all had fun, but it was late and time for bed for all the kids so we told Iris our last goodbyes and headed out.

On the way home Scott said that something was wrong with the car and he thought the alternator was dying. He said he thought we could make it home, he was almost right. We made it about 1/8 mile from his house when it died completely. We were left in the dark street with no lights at all. I turned on my cell phone light to try to alert traffic, luckily no one came for the first few minutes and Scott and I were able to push it up to the house, but then before we could turn it in the driveway a car was approaching and obviously didn't see us. I ran out trying to stop the car and jumping in the air like a crazy person. It worked and the lady stopped, but only after making me nervous. She turned on her blinkers and helped Scott push the car in the driveway while I steered. I was extremely glad to be out of the road. Wow and that was suppose to be our relaxing day.

We made the paper

Yesterday at the parade a photographer for the Fitchburg paper took a picture of the girls and asked for their names.  Today they were in the paper and they had a nice big picture.  I can't believe the girls made the paper up here in Massachusetts.  We think they are awfully cute and apparently we aren't the only ones.  Here are the pictures and the article:

Fourth of July

Today was filled with lots of fun festivities.  We started the morning off by attending the parade in Fitchburg.  It was a long parade and lasted almost 2 hours, we saw more firetrucks here than I've ever seen together in any other parade.  The girls didn't like all of the firetrucks because they were loud, we tried covering their ears and at first they resisted, but after about 20 trucks they too were trying to cover their ears.  We had a big crowd at the parade: Lynn, Dick, Chris, Crystal, Dominic, Iris, Aunt Rita, Uncle Ray, Cindy, Judy, Jack, and Carol. 

At the beginning of the parade they handed out flags and Olivia loved collecting the flags. 

When Emma saw this big giant bird coming down the street she immediately ran off to hug the bird. It was so cute, she was so happy to hug the bird.

The girls and Dominic had fun gathering the candy.  A photographer even came by and took their picture.

After the parade we headed over to Aunt Rita's for a cook-out.  They had some wonderful food and were so thoughtful and had bought little goldfish and crackers for the girls.  The girls had a wonderful time.  Emma and Olivia had caught a quick 20 minute nap in the car so they were all ready for some fun.  Carol taught Emma how to spray people with Aunt Rita's water bottle.  Emma had such fun walking around spraying everyone.  It was so hot out so they decided to let the girls cool off in a couple of tubs of water, it was funny to watch them play.  Then we moved to the backyard where Uncle Ray got out hose and let them run through it.  They wouldn't do it by themselves at first so Cindy, Scott and I were pretty wet from running through it, I have to say it felt good on such a hot day.  Even drying off became a game when Scott started flying Olivia through the air in her towel.  Of course then Emma and Savannah wanted a 'ride' too.  It was an exhausting day, but lots of fun.  I think it really helped to have so many adults, we had 10 adults to 3 kids, now that is a good ratio!

Dedication

Since the girls were born we have wanted to get them dedicated at Scott's home church.  We had hoped to make it last year when they were one, but we didn't so we asked that we do it this year.  Pastor Risto did a great job and Olivia even let him hold her for a few minutes.  It was a very nice ceremony and sermon.  Here are a few pictures.

After church Mem and Aunt Rita and Uncle Ray joined us for lunch.  The girls had a hard time going down for a nap which made it a rough afternoon for everyone.  We have been so busy, Scott and I were really hoping for a night or two out, but since our days are so filled we didn't think we would get another chance to go to dinner.  So after feeding the girls dinner we decided to take the opportunity to go to the Old Mill, we arrived at around 8pm and had the whole room to ourselves, it was nice to relax and eat in peace for a change.

'Meet the Girls' Party

We started off this morning with a photo shoot with Scott's brother Chris who is a professional photographer.  We had asked him to take some pictures of the girls and our family while we were up there for their 2nd birthday.  I think they turned out great, and Chris was very patient with all of us.  Thanks Chris!

That afternoon the big event was a party that Lynn and Dick were throwing so everyone could come meet the girls.  The girls of course decided to take an extra long nap that day so we had to wake them up to take them to their party.  When we got there they were very clingy, I held 2 babies and Scott held 1 for the entire first hour.  There was a great turn out and we got to see a lot of Scott's family that we don't normally get to see.  It was a potluck dinner and the food was great, or at least what I was able to eat between the bites I was feeding to the 2 girls on my lap.  Emma took up with Scott's cousin Cindy pretty fast and that was a welcome break for us.  By the end of the evening the girls had warmed up and Olivia even handed out the favors Lynn made.  It was so cute she would give them a favor, but then hold her hand out like she wanted them to give it back.  Two gentlemen actually did give it back which made her happy, but I showed her she still had lots and convinced her to give it back to them.