How cute is my neighbor?

Around lunch today I got a call from our friend (and next door neighbor) wondering if Annie could go over to have a tea party at their house for lunch. Yes please! The pictures are priceless!

Love living by such great friends!

http://danlisa.blogspot.com/2011/09/tea-party.html

Elizabeth and Sam Visit

Elizabeth and Sam came to visit!!! It was so much fun to have them here! We miss them so much already.

I started telling Annie they were coming a little too early (as in days early). One morning before they got here, she told me that she wouldn't get dressed until they arrived. Shoot. Luckily she caved and did wear clothes for the next few days.

They got here late Sunday night. Lucky for us, the next day was Labor Day, so Brad got to spend the whole day with us. We went up to Niagara Falls. A couple of months ago (in anticipation of this visit) we got the kids cards that let them go across the Canadian border. Don't be fooled, these cards are not passports! These cards only work when you walk, drive, or ride on a boat into another country. Somehow the border control people in England would know just what to do with the kids' cards if we arrived on the QEII, but not have a clue what to do with them if we flew in on Delta. But I digress . . .

So we walked across the border to the Canadian side of the falls. People told us it was better, but I sort of thought to myself, "Yeah right. It's the same falls." I was wrong. It really is better in Canada. Elizabeth and I were convinced it actually felt like a foreign country. Brad and Sam were not so sure. I think it was the manicured gardens that gave me that foreign feel. I was really hoping to parle a little francais, but the closest I got to this was interpreting a landmark sign for everyone. It was a good thing I was there to interpret because it would have been really hard for everyone to walk around to the other side and read it in English. We also had a sub-par bear claw on the Canadian side. Watch out for that trap if you go, they look and smell way better than they taste.

Unfortunately, Niagara Falls was the only place where I took any pictures, so unless Elizabeth sends some of their photos my way, this is it for pictures.

The next day (my BIRTHDAY) was great! I spent the whole day feeling so grateful for all the wonderful people in my life! We started out with blueberry pancakes and then headed to Palmyra. Sam had never been to the sites before, so it was fun to show him around. For the most part we had great missionaries to show us around. The major exception was at the printing press. The kids had both had it by this point and the missionary would not end the tour. Sam (politely) said several times, "We need to get going", and she'd say, "No, just look at this." We stopped the Pittsford Wegman's for bread and cheese. Delicious! All the way home in the car, Annie kept saying, "Mommy, I'm terrified." It was cracking Elizabeth and Sam up. She said it all the more because they laughed. Then after Brad got home and the kids were down, we all went out for pho. (Thanks to Katie and Eric for monitoring/babysitting!) Pho is a Vietnamese soup that Brad and Sam LOVE! Elizabeth and I think it's pretty good too. Mostly, it was just fun to be out on a double date sans enfants. We came home and had some Heath cake. It was a great birthday. So far, I'm loving being 28!

On Wednesday we had a Rochester day. I introduced Elizabeth and Sam to the Museum of Play. They were such good sports to put up with Annie's whims at the museum. Eliza and I had tons of fun doing the tongue twisters. We had some garlicy lasagna that night (sorry Elizabeth) and rushed off to an Eastman concert. It turned out that the concert was pushed back to later, so we headed to the cemetery. We love the cemetery; luckily Elizabeth and Sam love it now too. It's so beautiful. We got a little bit of cake from Phillip's and then we went back to Eastman for the concert. (Thanks to the McGowans and the Smiths for the help with our kids during all this!) It was honestly the best violin music I've ever heard. I love living by Eastman! We ended the night playing a whole lot of TransAmerica. Elizabeth was a-mazing! She never lost. Not once. Crazy.

We loved having Elizabeth and Sam and hope they are coming back soon! Or better yet, that we're heading to Irvine soon!

mud pies

Annie LOVES to get in the mud with her friend James (and others, but these two seem to get the dirtiest). Often when I'd see them heading for the mud, I'd try to distract them or at least limit the places the mud came in contact with their bodies. Very rarely was I successful. But as it turns out, mud washes out pretty well. :)

Big time bummer

I think James is skipping my favorite stage. :( Life doesn't get better than when your kid can sit, but not crawl, and I'm afraid James will never do that. He still only sits for a minute or two at a time, but he's already getting up on all fours and rocking back and forth. Sad.

In other news, we had his 6 month appointment today and he is "perfect". (I think it's a mark of a good pediatrician to tell me that about my children.) He's in the 75th percentiles for height and weight, so he's still big, but not quite as giant as before. Brad swears he can see James' face slimming down.

My sister, Elizabeth, and her husband, Sam, just came for a quick visit and are now gone. We are missing them so much already! I'll post pictures of that trip soon!