Beach it up...

In preparation for our 3 weeks on the beach, we've been trying to get there as much as humanly possible. As you can see, the boys really detest being at the beach...

First Haircut

It was time...I tried to keep his cute little curls going strong, but the hair stylist (yeah, that's right, he's 15 months old and has a "stylist") told me he would end up with a mullet. Business in front, party in the back! I was fine with the mullet (ha ha) as Riley requested and was granted his summer "mohawk"...what's wrong with two kids with "ironic" haircuts? ha ha





Griffin proved to be just as awesome as Riley is in the haircut chair (really, a little truck)and seemed to appreciate his new 'do.

Post-haircut mohawk party (and nose picking silliness)

Sneaky Weasels

Story Outcome: Sometimes our parenting skills are downright weasel-y.

Story Preface: Riley is usually extremely awesome at changing plans (ie- we're out having fun somewhere, say, the park,and Griffin craps through his diaper- we need to make a quick getaway, Riley is on board without much fuss). Now, we almost always "sweeten" the deal by giving him something special in return for being so flexible- say, we'll play Play Doh that night when Griffin goes to bed, or give him the opportunity to get his Betty Crocker* on by making brownies with me-see, sometimes it's win-win for the whole family, ha ha!)

Story of the Day: We had a good outing at the beach with Poppy and even a little post-beach visit so there was no napping to be had for Riley. He is starting to outgrow the afternoon nap *shudder* but he's almost always pretty good, for the most part, even without the nap. We had an early dinner and realized that we probably needed to fill some of the post-dinner time as Riley has taken advantage of the Daylight Savings Summer hours and likes to hit the pillow around 8:30 these days. We figured a quick trip down to the park after dinner would suffice to burn some of the post-dinner energy. We normally keep these types of plans on the down low but in an effort to bribe Riley to eat a few more green beans, we spilled the can of worms on the park trip. Then, Griffin started mushing bread and apples into his head and we quickly realized that bathtime would have to eclipse the park departure. Riley was not enthused and by not enthused, I mean he started to get real punchy (literally) and we could tell that going to the park was going to be a nightmare. Ugh. We tried everything to divert the park idea to something as equally pleasurable...
"Let's play Toy Story in Griffin's room. Mommy can be Jessie, Yee Haw! and Daddy can Be Zorg"
"Daddy and you can go get scratchies and get a special ice cream from the store"
"We can go pick up Doodle's medicine at Walgreen's"...okay, that was a long shot, but sometimes one cannot perceive what an almost-4 year old might think is fun.

Needless to say, it didn't work as Riley had his eyes on the prize and nothing was going to change his sun-drenched, sea-salted, no-nap, mind. Here comes the weasely part- I said I think I might hear rain and Jim went outside to investigate (he really went outside and turned on the house and splashed water (think typhoon) on the windows). Poor little guy dropped like a ton of bricks in my arms (so sad, yet I was stifling my urge to giggle) because he knew that we wouldn't be able to go down to the park as planned. We couldn't believe it worked, and although we feel like deviant parents, we will be eating warm brownies once I finish this post and basking in the fact that we headed off a potential stop at Melt Down City on the way to or from the park.
P.s.- as I type Riley is laying on Jim's lap and I don't even think he's going to make it up past 7:30.
*Trader Joe's brownie mix is the new Betty Crocker in this house, so decadent and they only make 1/2 a pan, so they don't stick around too long.

Tubes...

So, the little guy is following in his older bro's footsteps by getting his very own set of ear tubes yesterday! Griffin made it through the surgery/anesthesia/recovery much like his brother too..super quick and without much fuss (although the "coming out" of anesthesia was rough for him, he was pretty much fine by 9am)! Hopefully, now that his ears are unclogged, Griffin's speech development will move forward (*hope*). *Riley is "dying" to have Griffin call him by name and Jim and I wouldn't mind hearing his husky little voice say something besides Mama and Dada! Here's a few pics of Griffin pre-surgery (he's a little loopy in some of them due to the Versed)

Happy Father's Day

You Rule! Xoxox, Riley, Griffin and Alison

More Florida Pics..

4 more days of school....WOOOO HOOOO! Here's some pics from our visit with Grandma in Palm Beach!

Easter egg dying, hunting,and loot hoarding:







Lake Worth Beach (my old childhood stomping grounds):


Palm Beach Zoo:






Random Pics:

Florida..

It's been awhile..with all the craziness of Spring(yay!) and also just the nuttiness of life with two kidlings, we have forsaken our family blog. Hopefully, as the summer approaches and we have a little more time on our hands, Jim and I will get back to being more avid posters.
The day after Griffin's birthday party, we headed down to Florida for a visit with my mom and also a side-trip to Disney. All in the all, despite an hour on the runway and a rather squirmy Griffin, the trip down was pretty good but the ride home was awesome. The plane ride back to the North was so early that the boys wore their pj's and pretty much snoozed through the whole flight. A big shout out of thanks to Poppy who drove us back and forth from Philly airport during our travels! One of the coolest things happened on our way home- we got to see one of the last Space Shuttle launches out of our plane window- sooo cool (I think Jim almost soiled himself with geekish excitement!)
Disney was better than we had hoped- we stayed in a Disney hotel so we got to get into the park an hour early (before the riff-raff, heh heh) and it works for our early bird tendencies as we would hit the park by 7am, and by the time it would get a little crowded, meaning the lines were getting longer, Griffin was napping and Jim and I would just take turns going on rides with Riley. We'd be back to the hotel before the crowds and the Florida sun got too intense and we'd have lunch, a swim and naps before heading off to another park in the early evening for more rides and dinner. We cracked the seal on Disney a bit earlier then we had planned so now when we mention Grandma's house in Florida, Riley associates it with Mickey Mouse, ha ha. Eh, I guess there's worse things to be thought synonymously with, right?
On to the pics...
Family shot at Animal Kingdom

Griffin really liked this menu

Riley and the bat he won all by himself that he has slept with ever since

Griffin loved the Epcot playground

Griffin and his fez in Morocco (we ate Moroccan food for dinner and LOVED it!)

Magic Kingdom!

Stroller cuteness at the Magic Kingdom


Pluto!

Riley and Nemo

Griffin and Stitch

Riley and the sword and the stone

Riley, Senor Donald Duck and the belly

Me and the boys in Epcot

Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse

The wait to meet Minnie and Mickey is over...

Riley and the Splash Park (as you can tell, he didn't like it very much)



Next up...pictures of our visit to Grandma's neck of the woods