New Year's Eve 2012 ~ Romper Room Style!

Sarah and Mark invited us down to Richmond for a New Year's eve overnight celebration with the kids. They have the perfect house for a big party, with plenty of room for everyone to stay over, and we were so excited to catch up with everyone since it had been since October in California for Chelle's wedding since we last got together.

We arrived around 2pm and got settled in for a weekend of FUN! The afternoon was spent enjoying drinks and plenty of appetizers, playtime in the basement, catching up with Alevia's parents and feeding the little ones. After the kid's dinner, they all played for awhile until it was time for the real party to start! :)

It was finally bedtime! A parent's favorite time of day. :) We each set off to put the kids to bed, but not before Mr. Colwell took a few group shots for us.

 The kids went down easily, each practically with their own bedroom. Romper room had tuckered them out, apparently. We whipped up some of Rochelle's Holiday Gin Fizzes and toasted the New Year as Mark put the finishing touches on the incredible dinner.

Pre-dinner photo op:

We ate smoked turkey, roasted brussel sprouts, mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce until we were stuffed. It was delish! It didn't even feel like 10pm. We cleaned up and put together the breakfast casseroles for the next morning, before settling on the couch to play some charades and watch the cheesy New Year's specials on tv. 

We all made it to midnight before calling it a night. Such a fun day and evening with life-long friends. Couldn't ask for a better way to start the New Year.

Vivi's Birthday Playdate

We had our friends over to help us celebrate Vivian's 2nd Birthday today! Ashley, Ricky and William, Mindy, Lucas and Cole, and Molly, Nate and Drew all came over to play. The lucky birthday girl was surrounded by BOYS! :)

We made snowman ornaments, decorated gingerbread Santa sleighs and had reindeer fluffernutter sandwiches with cherry noses for lunch. The kids had a ball running around playing together and the strawberry cake came out of the oven just in time to frost and sing Happy Birthday! Vivian is so blessed to have such wonderful, loving friends.

The cootie show

Kayla and Ryan came over to play today and the kids got out Owen's Cootie game. They built their own Cooties and then did a puppet show for us. It was very cute. Love their imaginations.

Swings!

Great Country Farms with our friends

We met up with Mindy, Lucas and Cole and Ashley, Ricky and William at GCF this afternoon to have some outdoor playtime since the weather was so nice. The kids had a ball and we explored areas of the farm we hadn't seen all summer since we would usually just go and do our picking and paying for our box. Already looking forward to next year's CSA. :)

A special Tea Party

Aunt Hillary and Grandma came over today to do a special tea party for Owen & Vivian. They made adorable little tea sandwiches, fruit tea, and a bunch of cute little desserts. The kids had a ball! Grandma had found a pretty tea pot patterned fabric which my mom and I sewed into a little tablecloth especially for the occasion.

Vivian had just woken up from her nap (hence the messy hair and rosey cheeks) and Owen was away all morning (until 2pm actually) at camp so he came in to find the surprise that they had put together while he wasn't home. They gobbled up turkey & cheese sandwiches, tiny tuna melts with cheese and tomatos on top, and cucumber salad sandwiches. So fun!!

The look on the kids' faces when Aunt Hillary & Grandma brought out the dessert tower was priceless! They were so excited. Thank you so much to Aunt Hillary and Grandma for such a special playdate (and for babysitting so that I could get some work done upstairs!)! You're the best!

Fun times with the Carrozzas

Steph, Scott, Sarah Catherine and Benjamin came over today for lunch and playtime. It was so fun to catch up and watch the kids interact and play together. Our favorite part was probably right before they left when Sarah Catherine and Owen were playing "doctor". Sarah Catherine would drive the car with Owen sitting behind her as if he were the passenger. She would drop him off and he would run behind the couch. Then he would get back in the car and they'd go to the dentist. It was too cute! This age is so adorable with all the pretend play and the creativity of their little minds.

I insisted we take a "couch" picture too. I love having these pictures to look back on and see how the kids have grown. Especially since Owen & Sarah Catherine have been buds since birth. :)

Mr. Knicknack with Neil from preschool

Owen started talking about his buddy Neil during the second half of his preschool year at Little Sprouts. Except, he couldn't exactly pronounce his name right, so it sounded like "Meal". I asked his teacher one day in February if there was a kid named "Meal" in his class, and she said no, but there was a "Neil" and she was certain that's who Owen was referring to.

We talked about Neil and how they loved playing together. Neil only went to the Mom's Morning Out program that Owen did on Wednesdays, but they would always play together on that day each week. His teacher said they had a "love/hate" relationship because they would play so well together, but sometimes could fight like puppies. I found it interesting that Owen gravitated towards a friend who is a whole year younger, but it's so cute that they talk about each other after school {Neil's mommy said that he talked about Owen just as Owen talked about Neil}.

So when we were at Mr. Knicknack last week, we were so excited when we bumped into Neil and his mommy and new baby brother Nathan! His mom and I decided to try to meet up there again this week and the weather was perfect today so we got to hang out and see the kids play together. We're going to try for another playdate next week too. Vivi even had fun trying to do what they were doing {pulling flowers out of the decorative pots ~ oops!}.

We've been working on his pronunciation of his buddy's name, and these days he says it the right way about 75% of the time. Luckily, it doesn't seem to bother Neil one bit. :)

Dinner at Kel & Matt's

Kel and Matt invited us over for dinner tonight since they had a 3-pound pork loin from the farmer's market that they needed help eating. We jumped at the chance to hang out and enjoy each other's company and their fine culinary skills.

Ryan enjoyed two ears of corn while Kelly finished putting together the meal, and Kayla took a break from firing her water shooter to let me take her picture. Such cuties.

You had to watch out on the patio, or else this guy squirted you:

Even Vivi took a break from being miserable because of her teeth to enjoy the water festivities. 

Although she prefers her birthday suit these days to a swimsuit. Here she is with her hand in the chip bowl while going sans suit that I had brought. {Really, I did. She ran away from me kicking and flailing her arms when I tried to putting it on her. So I just let her be a baby, in the summer. Matt said I should put some clothes on her because his home isn't a nudist colony. I guess Vivi thought it should be.}

Owen took the water gun battle quite seriously. Here, he's trying to figure out where Kayla is, so he can plan his next water launch:

A huge thank you to Kel & Matt for hosting another fantastic spur-of-the-moment dinner party {our favorite kind}.

The Playseum in Bethesda

This morning we took the kids to the Playseum in Bethesda for something new and different. It's a children's new and used bookstore which has been converted into a bunch of different rooms for the kids to explore and play in. There was an "Eastern Shore" room with a sand box and crabs on the wall, connected via tunnel to a fire engine room that had fire jackets and hats and a mini fire truck, and a beauty salon where girls can get their nails done or make lip balm, and also a pet shop and grocery store to go shopping.

Owen and Vivian had a ball, but unfortunately I wasn't able to get many pictures because I forgot to charge my camera before we left the house. I did get this one cute shot of Grandma & Vivi before we went in though:

After the museum, we ate lunch at a Cosi in downtown Bethesda and then walked around to check out the shops. We were drawn into a toy store and Grandma picked out a board game for the kids and two tracing travel games which we'll take on our beach trip in August.

Then it was over to Rockville to visit with a good friend of ours and his two grandsons. It was so fun to see the kids interact, especially Vivi trying to hold her own with the three boys throwing the football and tennis balls around. Dave's younger son JP who is three weeks younger than Vivi, went over and gave her a kiss on the cheek at one point ~ completely un-prompted. It was so cute! Such a fun afternoon and the kids took great naps on the way home to top it off.

Sandbox playdate with Nate

Hershey friends Lakehouse playdate

TJ's parents own a lakehouse on Lake Caroline, about an hour and 1/2 from us and they invited us all there for a little Hershey friends playdate today. The guys played golf with TJ's dad, and us girls stayed back at the house to supervise the little ones roaming about exploring all the new toys, puzzles and books.

Alevia ordered pizza for everyone and we munched on snacks all afternoon. The kids had so much fun playing and us moms enjoyed catching up amid the chaos. We took a short walk down to the bridge to see if the kiddos would take a quick nap in the stroller. Although Timmy's eyes were very heavy, he somehow stayed awake.

When the guys got back, they had a quick bite to eat and then the kiddos got their life jackets on to ride the boat! They had a nice little ride around the lake while we moms got a break to enjoy a glass of wine (juice for Sarah). :) They luckily got back (with the help of a tow from another boat since they had run out of gas) right before the downpour of rain hit. We waited until it lightened up a bit before we headed home. 

It was such a fun day and we thank the Colombell's for hosting and Sarah, Mark, Timothy, Erica and Blake for meeting up. Before we know it, we'll be adding an eighth baby to the mix when Sarah and
Mark have their second next month!

Playdate with Nate and Drew

While Owen was in preschool this morning, Vivi and I drove over to Aunt Molly's house to visit with Nate and Drew. Vivi and Nate had fun reading books and playing with Nate's cool musical block toy. Drew just chilled out on the baby mat and looked cute.

Playdate with Sarah Catherine & Benjamin!

It feels like forever since we all were able to get together, when in reality it was only about a month ago. The little kids grow so much in a month, it's crazy. Vivi and Benjamin shared a little kiss before they had to head home. Owen & Sarah Catherine were shy when we pulled out the cameras, but we caught one with them both enjoying a snack. It was a fun playdate catching up with our good friends!

Frying Pan Farm with Andrea & the kids

Today Andrea had some free time to burn since Tim is giving his presentation, so we met up at Frying Pan Farm to show them one of our favorite places to go on a nice day.


There were tons of baby animals out with their mamas! Three litters of baby piggies were born in March - they were so cute! But very stinky.


We had a picnic in the shade (Andrea took a great picture of us all on self-timer) and the kids played in the grass and dirt. Such simple fun, I loved it. So glad I had an extra day to spend with our friends. {love}

Playdate with Colin and Zach!

Colin and Heather came over with tiny baby Zach who is just 7 weeks old. We were so excited to play together and meet baby Zach. The boys got a little rambunctious, but hey, they're boys. So we switched on a little "Fireman Sam" while us mommies ate lunch and chatted.

Kelly's birthday playdate

Kel's birthday is tomorrow and since she's spending the day at the spa {lucky!!}, we all decided to get together today to celebrate. (or should I say, Kel decided.) :)

We played inside while everyone munched on lunch, and then headed out to the playground behind our house for some sunshine. When we got back to the house, it was time for cake!






Happy 40th Kel! We love you!

Playground playdate

We met up with Mindy & Ashley {and Lucas, Cole, Ricky & William} at a nearby playground for a picnic and playtime. It was such a beautiful day and all the kids loved running around before, during and after lunch. :) Lucas even met a few new girlfriends and they let him and Owen throw their nurf football around for a few minutes.

Before we called it a day to get home for naps, we took some pictures of the six kids in a row. These guys are getting to be really great buddies and it's so fun to see them interact. {In the one picture you can tell that Lucas is explaining something very important to Owen, who is listening intently.} :)


And of course no picnic would be complete without your big brother sprinkling grass in your hair.

Cookie decorating playdate for Vivi

One of Owen's friends from preschool has a wonderful mommy who is super organized and she loves planning playdates. She found out that Panera would host a cookie decorating playdate and scheduled it for today. But since Owen attends the Mom's morning out at his preschool on Wednesdays, just Vivi and I were able to go. I thought it would be a fun thing for her since she's usually always at playdates with Owen. This was one of her own. With his friends from preschool (and their siblings) who do not attend the MMO. He wasn't jealous. :)


They gave each child a shortbread cookie, bag of icing, and small cup of mini M&M's. Vivi actually got into it and put some M&M's on all by herself!

Richmond playdate

Sarah and Mark hosted an awesome playdate today in Richmond. We intended to get on the road by 8am, but struggled to get out the door on time and ended up an hour late because of that (and an unplanned, yet not surprising, potty {peepee accident} pit stop at a Micky D's on the way.

Everyone greeted us at the door as soon as we arrived. We were so excited to catch up with the Colombells clan and to congratulate Sarah and Mark in person on the pregnancy announcement of Baby Bradby #2 arriving in June!

We took a tour of Sarah and Mark's new house {it is GORGEOUS by the way!} and the kids took turns driving around Timothy's Lightning McQueen racecar and Thomas trike.

There was breakfast pizza, fruit and cream cheese dip, homemade sticky monkey bread, Bloody Mary's and coffee ~ it was the perfect brunch menu. I brought along some zucchini bread that I made last night and we ate, drank, and caught up amid the chaos of two 1-yr olds, two almost 2-yr olds, a 3 yr-old and a 4-yr old. :) It was happy commotion and we loved it. The kids played really well together and we all had fun visiting for a few hours before we called it a day so the kiddos could nap.

Looking forward to our next one already. Hopefully before the new baby makes his/her grand entrance!