The Old Country

I have brought the girls to "the old country" as my Baba used to say about the Ukraine.  It is Lillian's first trip to Canada and we are excited to be here!

We came up ahead of Michael who will be joining us on Friday after we've had a chance to spend some extra quality time with our Ontario family.  I will have my hands pretty full until he gets here, but I think it will be a fun week.

Audrey proved herself once again to be a wonderful traveler.  She was cheerful and cooperative.  Lillian slept much of the time, and also seemed to enjoy the ride as Audrey told me many times that she was actually awake and I just couldn't tell because she wasn't making any noise.  The trip was much shorter than the drive from Kentucky - probably 8 hours if I had been on my own, more like 10 hours with all the stops we had to make.

We did a little more exploring in our neighborhood and visited a nearby playground last Thursday.

This was Lillian's first time in a swing... I think she still needs to grow into it a little :)  I was scared to let go!

 And here is Audrey helping Avo in his garden.  He has a tiny backyard that he has taken full advantage of and has quite the vegetable garden.  Audrey really enjoyed helping and asked repeatedly if they could do it again.  Audrey really loves her Avo and has a lot of fun with him. 

I will have limited access to the internet while we are up here, but will try to take lots of photos.  Happy Victoria Day!

Thank you to my daughters...

For all of the memories this Mother's Day weekend. I would particularly like to thank Audrey for vomiting on my feet and wetting MY bed after sneaking in in the middle of the night. And of course I would like to thank Lillian for making me worry all week about constipation & then having the biggest diaper blow-out I've ever seen & getting it all over me this evening. 

Thankfully I'm not too squeamish!  We really have had a nice weekend though.  We've really had a great week overall.

Nana arrived last Saturday and was with us until Thursday. And Uncle Dave came for a few days as well.  We had a very nice visit.

Audrey had school two days this week and seemed quite happy about it.  She seems like she has a good time and gets along well with the other children.

Lillian is still growing rapidly - I wouldn't be surprised if she was 15 pounds.  She turned 3 months old this week.  Time is really flying by.  We did a little photo shoot for her birthday, and here are a couple of the photos:

This weekend Audrey had ballet/tap again.  When we were getting ready she told me that she "really, really loves" her ballet/tap class. The class is one of the highlights of my week, the kids are incredibly cute and just hysterical to watch. They are 3 to 5 year-olds, and Audrey is the youngest.  

After Audrey's class, Michael took her to get her first kite!  Then we went for a nice walk in the neighborhood, went to the playground & tried out the kite, then for ice cream on the walk home!

We had a nice rest at home and then we went for a hike on a trail I've really been wanting to check out. It's less than 10 minutes by car from our house, and it was really beautiful.  We enjoyed it so much that today we went for another hike on a different branch of the trail.  We also brought our little GPS and found some geocaches- Audrey enjoyed finding the treasures.

Checking out the waterfall and the only covered bridge in a major city in the U.S.:

 

Audrey's first geocache find:

Lillian just hanging out...she doesn't look too pleased here, but she does enjoy being out int he woods.

The nicest rest stop I've seen on a hike!  The Valley Green Inn, right beside the Wissahickon River.  And another opportunity for ice cream :)

Audrey's imagination is really in full swing now.  She likes to pretend to be different characters, and likes to include us, but she can play well on her own & carry on lengthy conversations with herself.  On our walk today she was being Goldilocks, and every bridge we went over had a grumpy old troll beneath it.  She's a good little hiker too, although she did have a little break riding on Michael's shoulders.

Happy mother's day to all the mothers, but especially to Baba & Nana! We love you!

And I am truly thankful for the girls that made me a mother- messiness, insanity and all.  The love and joy they give to me are immeasurable.

Sunday Fun-Day!

We had a very nice day today with Audrey & Lillian's Nana!  

Lillian and I slept in, which was great, while Audrey had fun seeing Nana :) Then we headed to the Philadelphia Art Museum.  The first Sunday of each month is free (by donation) and we were excited to take advantage of it.  Audrey particularly enjoyed the activity in the education center where she got to paint a "magic carpet."  

Next we headed out for lunch at a Chinese buffet...no pictures, but I think Audrey is in the middle of a growth spurt, because she really ate!  Breastfeeding was my excuse for overeating :)

When we got home Audrey and I worked on a special project that I had planned on the days of the week.  She really got into it and we had fun.  I was really impressed with how well she colored in the letters and how many of them she knows.  She is really making more and more progress towards reading!  I also think she will enjoy having the days up so that she can see what fun is coming up every week.

Big changes!

Lots of stuff going on! We are busy as usual.  Audrey had a major haircut this week and started preschool!  She is just going for 1/2 a day on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but she is really excited.  It's also nice for me to have a little quiet time with Lillian.  Audrey's Nana just arrived for a few days, so we will be having even more fun :)

These photos are from the Science & Book Festival in Center City.  It was a beautiful day! This 3-D street art was pretty cool!

At the Azalea Garden by the Art Museum.

Enjoying her long hair by decorating it as much as possible :)

Audrey and Lillian having fun!

The "before" shot, with Uncle Dave:

And after!  Much less tangles!

At the zoo!

Audrey was super-excited to have an ice-cream cone!

Lillian & Uncle Dave:

Watching the giraffe:

First day of school!!  She was so happy and completely fine when we left:

And after her first day of school, I tried to take her out for cheesecake, but had to eat by myself :)  I did get some laughs and people called me "Super Mom" because I was carrying Audrey and Lillian into the restaurant.

And here are a few photos of the girls playing in Lillian's crib: 

 And my silly girl :)