Happy Birthday Grammy!

My parents came to visit from Kansas for a few days. It was so wonderful to have them here! We were lucky enough to have my mom here on her birthday, so we had a little fiesta. We had enchiladas, fajitas, all the fixin's and homemade salsa. Then, for entertainment, Brittany made a pinata. We took it outside and the kids had a ball.

Everyone took a whack (even Grammy and Nate...though there are no pictures to proove it)...

But it was ultimately Alex who broke it open!

The kids swarmed the candy and collected it...as if it wasn't the same candy that has been sitting in our house since Halloween. I guess seeing it fall out of a pinata makes it exciting again.

After the pinata we came back inside for cake and ice-cream. Happy Birthday, Grammy! We are so glad we got to spend it with you!

Philadelphia

Andy had a conference to speak at in Philadelphia, so the kids and I decided to join him and make a little family vacation out of it. We stayed in a hotel across the street from Sesame Place, and the kids could hardly contain their excitement just waiting to go there. We spent one day in Philadelphia seeing the sights. We waited in line to see the Liberty Bell, so that we could literally stand in front of it for two seconds. It was our own fault though, we had to leave to take a tour of the city on the Ducks...and the Mack family always believes in cutting it close! The Duck tour of the city was fun, but Nate was a little scared as we approached the Delaware River at full speed. I think he believed Daddy when he said the Duck would go under water (but only for a second). Once we survived the initial plunge, Nate was okay. :)

My favorite part of the city was having a Philly Cheesesteak for lunch! Yum!

Sesame Place was the highlight of our trip. We stayed all day and had a great time. It is both a water park and amusement park, so that explains our funky attire. All the kids' favorite ride was the roller coaster...and the water slides...or the teacups...wait, maybe the pool...

We got to have dinner with the Sesame Street Characters, and that was awesome. The characters came to the tables to visit, which the kids loved. Alex even shared some of his cookie with Cookie Monster (and I was quite shocked when Cookie Monster actually took it).

This is probably obvious, but we forgot our camera for most of our adventures except Sesame Place. So, here are a few more pictures of that day... :)

Better now than never...

We think this speaks for itself... and the due date is the 30th of December.

God bless us all & may we all be blessed by life, liberty and our pursuits for happiness.

Kelley's Visit

Kelley (my sister) and her family came to spend some time with us. Her husband, Frank, had a class in Washington DC for a week, so Kelley and the girls stayed with us for some much needed sister/cousin bonding time. It was great having them here. Zoe is three now, and she enjoyed being the center of attention. Brittany, Alex and Nate loved having her in the house, and Zoe could always get them laughing. Her version of "Old McDonald had a Farm" was a real crowd pleaser. (It went something like "Old McDonald had some pants, oy hee, oy hee, oy hee.") Jenna is almost two now and is as cute as they come. It was funny to see Brittany picking her up and carrying her around like a little Mom. All the cousins really enjoyed each other. What a blessing!

Kelley and I took a day to ourselves towards the end of the week to go to the City. Andy and Frank stayed home with the kids, and Kelley and I snuck away for the entire day. We took the train into the City, then walked everywhere from there. We were lucky to have a beautiful day. The weather was perfect. We grabbed some pizza for lunch, then we went to see "Grease" on Broadway. Except for the 13 year old girl who sat next to us (who kept looking at us like we had two heads), it was an awesome date. :) After the show we walked to Central Park, then we grabbed some dinner and headed home. It felt like such a luxury to spend the day with just her and I.

Brittany's First Communion

Brittany had her First Communion on May 4th. Doesn't she look beautiful? :)
Here she is at Trophy Point for the photo op.

Grammy came to visit so she could be a part of this special weekend. It was wonderful to have her here! It woudn't have been as special without her.

Brittany was so excited to get dressed up, she even woke up early so I could curl her hair. She felt like a Princess. Much to Andy's surprise I let her wear her dress ALL day. At the end of the day she had a little bit of chocolate ice-cream, dirt and a grass stain on her dress. Maybe Andy was right after all...

Race Day!

The West Point Elementary School had a Spring Race Day to get the kids excited about exercise. It was funny to see the difference between the way Alex and Brittany ran the race. Alex was focused...blinders on...eye on the prize...he ran his heart out (and won his heat...yay!). Brittany started out focused, but then she heard someone yell her name...so she immediately looked around for someone she knew...smiled...waved and giggled. It was a true testament to their levels of competitiveness.

Father Daughter Hoedown

One of my favorite memories growing up was going to the Father/Daughter Hoedown with my dad. So, needless to say, I was super excited when Brittany got to go to her first Brownie Hoedown with Daddy. If I had been better prepared Brittany would have had cowboy boots and a cowboy hat...but since most of you know me (and I am a bit lazy) I was just happy that we managed to find a bandana. ;) Dad and Britt had a great time, and Brittany even informed me that Daddy is a pretty good dancer.