September highlights: Idlewild, back to school, birthday festivities, Elizabeth's first pigtails, fall fest
Get link
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps
-
1) Idlewild. the weekend before school started, Nick had an extremely rare free Saturday (most of the time he's playing for weddings, funerals, or a combination of the above). we seized the opportunity to go to our favourite amusement park for the younger set. this time, Elizabeth was all about the rides, and I certainly enjoyed being able to go on the coasters again after our last few visits when I was pregnant! Victoria did great the whole day. and I was absolutely thrilled to break in the new Bob stroller: it's a dream to push and has so many handy compartments and pockets, not to mention the oversize canopies that helped keep the babies shaded all day long!
best ride in town
Nick demonstrating to Greta how a fanny pack SHOULD be worn. she did not agree.
Elizabeth LOVED the teacups and rode two or three times! the first time I didn't spin the cup much at all in case it scared her, but it quickly became clear that she was all in!
Daddy had to take a turn. our late 30s vestibular systems are not what they used to be.
big sister & little sister, be still my heart
ready to hit up the water park
2) Back to school. the school year officially kicked off with a special Sunday mass. after participating in a week-long chant camp in August, Greta was able to join the Schola choir (for 4th-8th graders) and their music was such a beautiful gift. one of the main reasons we love our school so much is the incredible music program here. the caliber of the music, and the reverence of the liturgy, is superior to some of our local parishes, let alone other elementary school masses! the first video is their motet, A new commandment ("by this love a man will know that you are my disciples"). the second is the recessional hymn (several of the choristers had left to stand at the doors collecting donations towards the 6th-8th grade choir's trip to Rome this December).
the first day of school went off without a hitch. we made quite the parade walking down the hill from our house to the bus stop with the babies in the stroller (hooray again for the Bob!). the girls ride a mini bus with about 10 other neighborhood kids who all attend our elementary school, and boy am I glad we don't have to drive them back and forth every day as we did when Cece was in preschool and not permitted to ride the bus (driving is 20-25 minutes one way depending on traffic; not terrible in itself, but that time really adds up when you're making two round trips a day).
the toothless wonder :)
just out of the frame is our crossing guard, Bob, a retiree who knows all the kids' names but also the names of all the dogs who come past on their morning walks!
they didn't know what to make of the morning expedition; I just plucked them out of their respective beds and into the stroller to make it down the hill by the 7:30 AM pickup time
3) Happy 38th Birthday to me! my Grandma Jo used to say that her favourite age to be was always the age she was right then, and I'm inclined to agree with her. I feel like the mid-30s to mid-40s are a sweet spot where you hopefully have some stability and clarity in your life, while still (hopefully) enjoying good health and a reasonable amount of energy. on my birthday itself, Nick watched the baby while I splurged on a long overdue haircut and highlights, and then that evening we went out to dinner at the Capital Grille -- the very first time I've been to a proper steakhouse! the next night, Nick stayed home with all four girls while I went out for dinner, drinks, and adult mini-golf with Blair and Amy. and then there were thoughtful cards, gifts, and well wishes from other family and friends. I am truly blessed!
I don't have the skill, time, patience or tools to ever make it look like this again myself, so a post-salon selfie is essential! (also taking advantage of the surprisingly excellent light outside the parking garage!)
a beautiful arrangement and sweet words from my mama!
I had to borrow a hair clip from Greta to tame my hair on the ride into downtown... a full circle moment for sure
bacon, bourbon, and my brilliant husband
my phone camera didn't know how to function in the dim restaurant lighting... but that porcini-rubbed steak was unbelievable.
scrumptious desserts on the house! (the waiter also sprinkled birthday confetti on the table after learning it was my birthday: a fun touch given that it didn't involve confetti on MY table at home)
first time checking out the Pennsylvania Market, a European-concept hall with multiple food stands, a wine cellar and traditional bar
love these girls! (the charcuterie plate was delicious but we were expecting some bread or crackers to come with it. I guess we'll know for next time)
ordering via phone at Aslin Beer Company, which feels weird when you're inside sitting at a table, but both beers were absolutely delicious and the How Now Brown Cow is officially my new favourite pumpkin brew!
super fun mini-golf at Puttshack!
4) Elizabeth's first pigtails. a line item in and of themselves. she is at such a hilarious age and makes us laugh dozens of times a day with her shenanigans, including lip syncing to a nonsense song that Greta sings, running up to us and turning around to present her rear end and asking "check?" to have us check her diaper, snorting like a pig if she sees a picture of one, and asking us to undo the "guckle" (buckle) on anything and everything with a buckle so that she can re-buckle it.
(that spot on her shorts is water!)
5) Fall Fest. this was the first time we actually made it down to the local park for our town's fall festival! they did a nice job, with lots of free activities for the kids (pumpkin painting, balloon animals, face painting, touch a truck, etc). I did feel for the sweet woman painting the kids' faces -- she was kneeling the whole time on a mat on the ground, and I'm sure her legs must have been aching. but she did an absolutely beautiful job with the face paint!
I asked her to give me a "fierce face"
we had to dash right from the festival over to Cece's soccer game. it was an unseasonably warm day with no shade on the turf field, but Greta quickly made the best of the situation. and Cece's team won!
the babies were a little antsy during this game so I have no pictures of Cece actually playing that day. here's some from her first game of the season (a much colder day!).
Thanks so much for your kind words, Elisabeth! The haircut was a lot of fun, although after spending 3 hours in the salon chair (and paying the bill + tip!), I was reminded why it's a very rare occurrence ;)
I just had to look up the details for the chair as it was a Mother's Day gift years ago. One of my favourite things about it is that the cover/strap are all one piece with the chair so you can easily buckle it shut and carry it; you don't have to stuff it back into a separate sack. https://www.amazon.com/Kelsyus-Original-Canopy-Chair-Red/dp/B016MOIIM4
Oh my gosh. This post is chock full of so much sweetness. Your girls are beautiful. Victoria looks like a Gerber baby. Those faces! I am in total agreement that the older I get the harder it is to manage those motion rides. Ah, to be young. Toddlers are a hoot and those pigtails are super cute on her. Happy belated birthday. It sounds like you had an ideal celebration set up. Time with the girls and time with your husband, and of course your girls. I had to laugh at the photo of ALL.THE.DOLLS. We are a boy heavy household and we had some dolls, but nothing like that collection.
it feels a bit preposterous to sit down and type out a list of woes on my personal laptop, in my own heated house, while my four healthy children nap or play (respectively) and I sip on a San Pellegrino flavored water from a case that a neighbor on our Buy Nothing group just gifted us. and yet. and yet! there has been quite a bit of woe in the last several weeks and I want to complain about it, so I shall. at the top of the list: car woes. not one, but two of Nick's cars were hit by other drivers within the past month. fortunately he was not injured, but working on his cars is essentially therapy for him -- so he lost not just two vehicles in his fleet, but also the time that was required to deal with insurance and police reports, and the emotional benefit of his favourite hobby. this car was rear-ended while parked. Nick wasn't actually in the car, but saw it happen -- the driver of the SUV in the photo below was driving full speed in the right hand lane and didn't reali
Victoria Anne was born on the Fourth of July, weighing 6 pounds 3 ounces and measuring 19 inches long! Miss Victoria arrived right on schedule -- I had requested a 39 week induction based on numerous factors, including my age and gestational diabetes, although thank goodness the diabetes was well controlled without medication, so my maternal fetal medicine/high risk OB was comfortable letting me go up until 41 weeks if I wished -- which I didn't! I had an easy induction experience with Greta (at 10 days post-due date), so I was fairly confident that my body would kick into gear quickly the fourth time around. Cecilia's birth was a precipitous one-hour labor that has garnered her the nickname Sidewalk Baby, and Elizabeth was born after a relatively quick five hour labor. 39 weeks happened to fall exactly on the Fourth of July, and we decided to go for it! Mom arrived on a red-eye flight the morning of July 2, and came along to mass with us. that evening, we squeezed in
1) Baby Victoria Anne is here! you can read her full birth story here . she arrived at 5:18 PM on the Fourth of July, and we are all absolutely smitten. she is four weeks old today. as I've experienced with now all four of my girls, time is such an elusive concept in the newborn stage. on the one hand, it seems she can't possibly already be almost a month old, while on the other, I can't imagine a time that she wasn't a part of our family. one of the things I treasure most about this postpartum time is the opportunity to visit with friends and family. I'm so grateful for their support and thoughtfulness in bringing meals and spending time together -- it's nourishing for both body and soul! Vin and Susan brought us a delicious meal featuring pork belly and pork tenderloin (we had corn on the cob and salad too, but we probably could have all used a bottle or two of Lipitor!) unbelievably delicious ladies' night with my best girls (not pictured: pizza and wi
Awww. What a delightful post to read. So many thoughts.
ReplyDeleteYour haircut is gorgeous (because, obviously, YOU are gorgeous). It looks amazing. Love the pigtails; such a fun stage with little girls.
Happy Birthday, yay for fun evenings out. Love school music programs. That chair with the awning is amazing!!! I need a link to that one!
Thanks so much for your kind words, Elisabeth! The haircut was a lot of fun, although after spending 3 hours in the salon chair (and paying the bill + tip!), I was reminded why it's a very rare occurrence ;)
DeleteI just had to look up the details for the chair as it was a Mother's Day gift years ago. One of my favourite things about it is that the cover/strap are all one piece with the chair so you can easily buckle it shut and carry it; you don't have to stuff it back into a separate sack. https://www.amazon.com/Kelsyus-Original-Canopy-Chair-Red/dp/B016MOIIM4
Oh my gosh. This post is chock full of so much sweetness. Your girls are beautiful. Victoria looks like a Gerber baby. Those faces! I am in total agreement that the older I get the harder it is to manage those motion rides. Ah, to be young. Toddlers are a hoot and those pigtails are super cute on her. Happy belated birthday. It sounds like you had an ideal celebration set up. Time with the girls and time with your husband, and of course your girls. I had to laugh at the photo of ALL.THE.DOLLS. We are a boy heavy household and we had some dolls, but nothing like that collection.
ReplyDelete