Five Months

Just for comparison, here's her 3 month picture...

And for fun, here's one of her new favorite things...

 

A cold piece of oragnic celery feels so good on the gums! :)

Family Time

We've been spending some quality family-time together lately. It's been great!

A couple weekends ago we went apple picking. We got Pink Lady and Golden Delicious apples. They are so juicy and crispy! You can not get apples like that at the grocery store. I made a ton of apple sauce and some dried apple slices. Tomorrow I am making some apple dumplings. Yum!

We spent last week at the beach with my parents, brother and sister-in-law. The first couple of days were chilly, windy and rainy. But after that, the weather was PERFECT! I love the beach in October! We spent a lot of time on the beach but also went to the aquarium and got to go out in Papa's boat. Lea loved to "drive" the boat. ;) She had a blast playing with her Aunt Sarah and Uncle Dave, too!

Emma didn't sleep so well away from home. I'm not convinced that it was because we were somewhere new, though. I think she was having some stomach/gas/reflux issues. Lea slept great. She always does away from home.

Here are some highlights from the trip...

Swimming with Papa

Watching the rain

Snuggling with Gaga

Looking for sand fleas...

we found a ton!

 

The guys; ready to catch some crabs and clams!

Exploring Bogue Inlet



Driving Papa's boat!

 

My pretty girls

Lea

Emma

This is the best I could get of them together on the beach.

And these two pics are the best we could get of the family.

Aunt Sarah and Uncle Dave

The whole family!

I had to get a shot of cute, sandy toes.

 I took a TON of pictures on the beach. It is not easy to get a nice shot of two, young children together! So, just for fun, here's a nice blooper for you. I believe Lea was putting sand on Emma's head. Poor Emma!

 

What's for dinner?

I dread the late afternoon rush... after the kids naps, just before my husband gets home, when toys are everywhere, laundry needs to be folded (and put away!), the dishwasher needs to be emptied and everything needs to be done all at once. Out of all that, though, the thing I hate most is trying to think of what we will have for dinner...a mere hour before it is time to eat. Inevitably, once I finally decide on something, there is always an ingredient or two missing and only about 30 minutes to whip something together.

I've always wanted to be a "meal planner". You know... the kind of mom who actually spends some time planning out what the family will have for dinner each night of the week ahead.

I've tried. I really have. But for some reason, I just can't keep it up. Perhaps it's just motivation that I am lacking?

I made this nifty meal-planning-template today in hopes that it will motivate me to stick to it this time!

 

 

It was really, really easy to make. I created the "design" (if that's what you want to call it) in Word. Printed it out and stuck it in a $3 picture frame from Walmart. Ta-da! ;)

 



Great Gramma

Emma finally got to meet her Great Gramma today!

Navitat

This past weekend we took the family to the mountains. It's been a looong time since we went to the mountains. I forgot how beautiful it was! Not to mention how good the air feels and smells.

We stayed at a really nice, little ski resort... in an awesome cabin. We had a huge game room with a pool table and a hot tub on the deck overlooking the gorgeous mountains.

Our view!

Lea and her Aunt Sarah enjoying the pool.

Gaga and her grand-daughters.

Hanging out in the game room.
(Lea found the perfect little seat for her...the huge arm rest!)

The point of the trip was to go to Navitat Canopy Adventures... a zip line tour through the mountains.

 

What a FUN time! I was pretty nervous on our way there. It took about three zip lines before I chilled out... but even then, stepping off a wooden platform that is over 50 feet above the ground to go souring through the mountains above the trees... well, that's just not something you do every day.

 

Here are some pictures from our adventure... (I am apologizing in advance for the blurry pics. These were taken with our cheap snap-n-shoot... the one we let Lea use. So, the lens has quite a few tiny fingerprints all over it!)

 

Papa and Kevin checking out the map.

The route.

We rode in these trucks up the mountain to our starting point.

Kevin getting ready to zip!

We got rained poured on the first 40 min or so, but we still had a blast!

One of our tour guides talking. Notice all the black straps gathered in the center...
there wasn't a single moment that each of us wasn't tethered to a main line.

Walking across one of the two suspension bridges.
THIS was the scariest part for me!

Me coming down a zip line!

My sister-in-law, Sarah, zipping!

Looking down as Papa repels down from one of the platforms.
We were pretty high up in the trees!

Kevin repelling down.