Dinner at the club

After the park, Grandma and Poppy treated us to dinner at the Country Club. GiGi came too! It was special for me since it was where we had our wedding reception 8 years ago yesterday. It's changed a lot since they remodeled it, but it was still neat to be in the same spot I was eight years ago. Ben was in California for work, or else he would have been there too.

Poppy had fun teaching Owen how to putt and Vivian enjoyed some peas before our meals came out. It was a relaxing evening and the kiddos slept very well that night thanks to a fun-filled busy day.

Hersheypark 2011

Grandma and Poppy had some Hersheypark tickets to use, so we were glad to tag along with them. :)

Owen started off a little nervous about the kiddie rides, but after Poppy took him on the first one - the little train - he was excited about trying some more. He then went on the fire truck (twice), the helicopter, the log flume (with Mommy and Grandma), the bees, the pirate ship, and the carousel. He even got a hug from the Reese's Cup guy! By the end he was so tired and couldn't walk anymore, so I put Vivi in the baby Bjorn since she had already napped in the stroller, and Owen got a ride back to the car.




It was a very fun day and we were all hoping to get a little nap when we got home. But of course that did not happen.
It was so worth it though. :)

Happy Anniversary to my Honey

My dad took me on the most important walk of my life at ten after 2pm on that rainy Saturday morning eight years ago today. I was so incredibly nervous that I would trip walking down the aisle. He handed me over to my soon-to-be husband and we made our way up to the alter.

Monsignor Beirster, the priest who married us, gave his homily and I will forever remember what he said that day.

Share.

Care.

and Be Fair.

I'll be the first to admit that I don't always remember those words on a daily basis. But I do always think of them when I remember our wedding day. They are things we work on in order to keep our marriage strong. And I thank Msgr Beirster for giving us that advice on our special day.

After the ceremony, we headed over to the Hershey Country Club for our reception. Ben chose this song for our bridal party to enter to and for us to be introduced for the first time as husband and wife:



Our reception was amazing. Very hot, but amazing. Tim, one of Ben's best friends from high school, was our Best Man and gave an awesome speech. It was a great way to kick off the party. We had dinner, and then it was time to hit the dance floor!

My dad and I had our father/daughter dance. I chose the song, he planned a surprise. Images from my childhood were displayed on a big screen behind us while we danced. It was so incredible. We laughed, we cried. And then he handed me over to Ben and said, "She's all yours." with a hug.



Ben and I shared our first dance as a married couple. It was so funny because we never took dance lessons, just winged it. Such a great song and it really fits us.



We cut the cake and promised to take care of each other in our old age. Ben is certainly living up to his end of the bargain. He cooks, takes care of me when I'm sick, does the dishes (usually), and always can make me smile. (We gotta work on sharing the remote control though.) :)



I love you honey and want to wish you a very Happy Anniversary! Thank you for the last 8 years and the five before that when we were dating...best 13 years of my life. But, they just keep getting better.

Can't wait to see what our future holds.

xoxoxoxo

Girls' weekend

It was supposed to be a four day beach weekend in Ocean City. Thanks to Hurricane Irene, it turned into a retro Hershey weekend and we all still had a blast. Lost some sleep, but made some fun memories.

I love these girls.

We hope to do it again next year. Maybe we'll let the husbands and kids tag along. Maybe.

Earthquake in Virginia!?!?!?

Owen's account of the earthquake:

Frying Pan Farm

The weather was amazing today, so we packed a picnic and drove over to Frying Pan Farm in Herndon. We hadn't been there in awhile, and the merry-go-round was finished so we were hoping to ride.
We walked around and got to check out all the animals. But by the time we made it over to the carousel, the next ride wasn't going to start for another 20 minutes, and we needed to get home to feed Vivian. So we'll save the ride for next time. :)

I can't believe this little man is turning 3 in less than a month!!!

And this pretty girl is going to be ONE in less than four months.

Time is going by way. too. fast.
Slow down time.

After-dinner pictures

Feeling guilty about not picking up my camera lately, so after a nice dinner on the deck in this gorgeous low-humidity weather, I plopped the kids down in the backyard for a few pics. Owen only sat still for one.

Happy 3rd Birthday Sarah Catherine!

I can't believe three years have passed since Steph and I started to get together with the kids for playdates. We have each added another little one to the mix so the kiddos outnumber the mommies now at our get-togethers.


Sarah Catherine had a super fun Dora-themed Little Gym birthday party and we had a blast celebrating with her. Vivi enjoyed crawling around and pulling up on the bars. She even started crawling up the steps - I am not ready for this!

Happy Birthday Sarah Catherine! We look forward to many more playdates over the years as you kids grow up together. :)

Daddy's little helper

Ben was loading the dishwasher tonight, and look who crawled over to help...

Look who's pulling up to standing

I was vacuuming the kitchen this morning while Owen was at camp, and Vivi was safely contained in the family room behind the lovely baby gate. Next thing I know, she had crawled over to the gate and was standing up looking into the kitchen to see what I was doing. I grabbed my camera to take some pictures for the blog, and also had time to take a few shots on my phone to text to Ben.

I'm constantly amazed at how much sooner she's doing these things compared to baby #1.