Big Time Tired

Took the kids to see their favorite band, Big Time Rush, last night. They had a great time, but we were out way too late last night. Had to promise Ben Pokemon cards just to get him out of bed this morning, and I skipped my 9am conference call so that Rebecca could sleep in. I am still slightly deaf from all the screaming of pre-pubescent girls.

Here is a pic of the kids before the show:

Happy to see big bro :)

First Day of 3rd Grade!

Big Eyes :)

Afternoon Art Project

Rebecca got this castle almost a year ago (for her last birthday). Yep, it's taken me that long to get around to putting it together for her. Putting together cardboard castles REALLY taxes my spatial abilities, folks. Probably occupied me longer than the finished product will occupy her :P But I succumbed to the mommy-guilt and the pathetic-ness (not a word?) of her repeated requests.... "You know that thing I got for my birthday that you never let me play with? Can we do that now, finally?"

A Kid for Each Swing!

Isn't it a relief I only have three swings?

Tubby Time

Shortly after I took this pic she started screaming her head off and wouldn't stop until she was jammied and had a bottle in her mouth.

Meet the Teacher

I picked up Ben early today and took him to Open House at his school, where we picked up his school supplies (ordered them from the school this year, MUCH easier than running around town trying to find everything), picked up a change of address form I need to fill out, and went to his classroom to meet his teacher, Ms. Kepley. I am happy to report that after 2 years in a "mobile classroom" Ben is finally back in the building ;) Ben knows a  lot of the kids in his class already, including one neighbor of ours. Unfortunately every Ben in the third grade seems to have been put together in one class - there are 3! So Ben shall continue to be known as "Ben K". (The other kids actually call him this - "Hi Ben K!") Ben spent much of our time at school slinking around ducking into doorways and walking with his head down in a dramatic attempt not to be seen by various girls. All of whom saw him anyway. Third grade, here we come!

Clara's Week at Camp

It looks like Clara had a great week at camp while we were away!

My Road Trippers

The kids did remarkably well on the road during this vacation. There was a lot of driving involved - Charlotte to Philadelphia, Philadelphia to Hershey and back, Philadelphia to New Jersey, New Jersey to Charlotte. We did the trip home (New Jersey to Charlotte) in one 13-hour trip (including stops) and all things considered, it went remarkably well. Ben had one meltdown around dinner time when he got really hungry, but otherwise he spread out on the back seat with the iPad, iPod, and DS and literally did not make a sound for hours on end (it was kind of frightening really). Rebecca was a bit more fidgety and impatient, but spent hours coloring (though she kept dropping her markers and we kept having to wriggle around in our seats to fish for them). We also kept them occupied by stopping every couple of hours and purchasing things like Slurpees, coloring books, and Angry Birds graham crackers. Pretty much whatever it took to buy some peace and quiet! Definitely was worth it.

 Caroline only had one meltdown that couldn't be solved with a bottle, and that was around her bedtime when she was just plain tired, and eventually fell asleep. The spilling of popcorn and trail mix all over the car occurred an hour from Charlotte and shall be blamed entirely on Joel for deciding he had to stop an hour from home and buy popcorn and trail mix ;)

Vacation Picture-Taking: Failed

So my grade for Vacation Picture Taking 101 is a solid F, after having failed Lesson 1: Taking Your Camera Out of the Suitcase.

Fortunately some other people stepped up, most notably my sister-in-law Miki, who took some great pictures of Ben and Rebecca frolicking at the beach on Thursday.

So here they are in consolidated form--

And a noble effort at capturing all 7 cousins in one spot!

Thanks Miki!

How we Almost Killed the Cat

Ulysses had an unfortunate mishap while we were away last week - I had let the cleaning service know that we were away and that he needed to stay inside, and did not think they needed any further instructions, you know, like "don't close every door in the house thereby locking the cat in my bedroom for two days." To make a long story short, the cat is fine, the cleaning service is apologetic, and paying to have our carpet professionally cleaned. Ulysses seems to have forgiven me (now trying to share my laptop).

Further blogging about the just-finished vacation to come, after I get a bit more caught up with work and things around here!

What the car looks like after a 13 hour road trip

Hair Wrap

Cousins

Because you can Never Have too Many Pictures with Giant Candy Bars

At Hershey Park

Mom and baby skipped this one. But it looks like they are having fun!

Philadelphia Zoo

Who Knew Mowing the Lawn Could be so Much Fun?

First Pedicure

Caroline meets uncle Alex

Hotel Breakfast Buffet Round 2

Rainbow through Dirty Windshield

Somewhere in Virginia.

Getting Ready to Hit the Road

Sorry for the digital silence this week. I have been busy with work and trying to get ready for vacation (unfortunately a working vacation as my laptop is going to have to accompany me). We are getting ready to embark on the 10 hour road trip to Philadelphia to visit family. In preparation for this trip I have purchased $200 worth of electronic equipment including a new DVD player for the car, 3 movies, and every kind of car charger known to man (DS, iPad/iPhone/iPod, DVD) in the hopes that the drive will be as painless as possible. Wish us luck with that ;)

Will update from the road... and now, to finish packing.

I hate toys with tiny pieces.

Ben is doing Lego camp this week. Did I mention I hate Legos?

Golf Lesson

Ben and his friend Matthew attended a golf lesson at the Dana Rader Golf school on Saturday. While Joel and Ben were at the golf lesson, I was covering a crisis at work and as a reward (bribe) for watching Alvin and the Chipmunks for 2 hours, Rebecca got to pick out THREE dresses from Target.

Papa's home from Israel!

Helmet Graduate!

Congratulations Caroline! Her head, while still not totally symmetrical, is much improved. Her helmet is just about too small, and the therapist didn't think another helmet would provide much bang for the buck (lots of bucks), so is of the inclination that we should stop messing with her pretty little head ;)