Retiring

This season's soccer has come to an end and we have all decided that Savanna would like to retire from the sport. After all ..."mommy, I don't like to run" puts a damper on the ability to effectively play this sport. Maybe sports are not her forte and we will stick with the arts. At least, for now that is a good plan! The other day she thought she might like to try karate but I think she has already forgotten about that. Thank goodness! We don't want her learning anything she could use against us, any of us! She is already a step ahead of us on everything else. This soccer season concluded after learning a little more about the game and making some friends from the team. That is all we could ask for!

1 little, 2 little witches

This Halloween has been filled with fun activities for our little witches. Savanna saw a picture in a magazine and decided that she would like to be a witch. Of course, then Sadie hopped on that bandwagon. At one point Sadie decided to be a boy and Savanna wanted to change into Uniqua but we were already working on our witch costumes so we stuck with that. I think they turned out to be precious witches! Savanna was a "mean" witch and Sadie was a "happy" witch. Everything is happy in her eyes and I love it! Our costumes were put to good use as they were worn to Savanna's class Halloween party, trick or treating downtown, Truck or Treat at school and neighborhood trick or treating.

Truck or Treat

As a fundraiser for our playschool they put on a touch a truck event where children can come and climb on, ask questions about, and honk the horns of various vehicles. We have enjoyed this event for the past several years. It has been held the weekend of Halloween for the past couple of years and children are invited to dress up in their costumes. Well you know we took advantage of another opportunity to sport our costumes. The girls had a good time playing games, climbing on a number of vehicles (boats, motorcycles, garbage truckes, police cars, etc.), and seeing their friends in costume.

Picking pumpkins

The girls, who we all know have their own opinions, were in charge of choosing their own pumpkins this year. Savanna's class went on a field trip to the pumpkin patch and she chose a nice one there then we took Sadie to another pumpkin patch for hers. They were both pleased with their choices and they look fabulous on our front porch. Noah got one on Sadie's pumpkin trip and I found mine at Harris Teeter. Lame I know but it is a nice looking pumpkin for a good price. Can't beat that!! I am sad to say that none of the 4 pumpkins on the porch were carved into jack-o-lanterns this year though.

Turning 5

Our first born is now a five year old who will be off to Kindergarten next fall. She is the independent, opinionated child she has always been but is really starting to look like a big girl instead of a little kid. She is quite proud of the big kid she has become. Can't you see the transformation from 4 (pink shirt) to 5 (blue dress)? We celebrated with a Backyardigans party in our backyard surrounded by friends and family. Our adventure took us to the beach where we helped our Backyardigans friends decipher a birthday message for the birthday girl.

Birthday Adventures

For Savanna's birthday trip she wanted to picnic at the airport and then visit the children's museum in Raleigh. It was a beautiful day to be at the airport to play and watch the planes. There were quite a few taking off and landing while we were there. We tried to talk her into the state fair but she insisted on the Marbles museum. It is huge and gave us all plenty of entertainment. Savanna enjoyed designing dog clothes while Sadie wanted to surf and play soccer. We closed the museum down and headed to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner and yummy birthday dessert which we savored for days.

New Tricks

We like to head to the park whenever possible although it is not as often now that we have our own playset in the backyard. Savanna has been practicing on the monkey bars at home and sure enough can make it all the way across most monkey bars she meets. Sadie is a brave soul and will try anything so the big playground in Elon provides endless entertainment for her.

Oh Sadie!

The terrible twos was a breeze with Savanna but Sadie has a different take on the term. She is our child who is into EVERYTHING. To make matters worse for us she is also very opinionated and independent. One of my favorites is when she got out of the car while I was holding her arm. As soon as she stepped to the ground she crossed her arms and said in an I mean it tone "I do it myself!"
Another example, this morning I went in her room to get her up and she is holding up her diaper. Yes, the one she went to bed wearing the night before. Thankfully there were no additional surprises except that she had also put her pajama pants back on sans diaper. As of right now, she is still wearing no diaper and am keeping my fingers crossed that she is not sitting in a puddle of peepee at this moment. This girl is giving us a run for our money!

Crystal Coast

Now that we have found the beaches here we are hooked. Our trip to Emerald Isle was a blast and full of beautiful weather. The first few days were cool, as you can tell by Sadie's stiffness in the water. But by the end of the week Savanna's bookini was just right for jumping waves. We had a busy week of adventures including the aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores, the Maritime Museum in Beaufort, and Shackleford Banks. Savanna loved seeing dolphins. Sadie had a good time in the water and searching for shells. Thank goodness for tidal pools and this trip provided a large one with hours of entertainment. There was skipping shells with daddy and jumping waves with mommy. There is so much to do while at the beach!

Beating the Rain

We enjoy the zoo and one Sunday we decided to pack up and go. The forecast was calling for rain in the late afternoon so we thought we would try to beat the weather. An early picnic lunch hit the spot and then we headed in to see the animals. We started in Africa, but it did in fact start raining while we were there. We will have to save North America for another time. The rain did take us to the aviary exhibit which we usually bypass on a sunny day. There we saw lots of colorful birds. The girls also liked the vents on the floor. Many times we found Sadie with her head down with the air blowing her hair. The elephants were so close to the front of the exhibit that we could see the hair on their backs. We saw lemurs, gorillas, a lion, emus, zebras, and giraffes. Though our trip was cut short we had a good time with the "amals" at the zoo.

Birthday field trips

We took Sadie to the Natural Science Center in Greensboro for her birthday field trip. This has become a fun tradition at our house and who doesn't love field trips. After the "amals", her favorite part of the day, we headed to "Donald's" for lunch. Savanna has brainwashed her little sister but we love to hear her say the restaurant's name so off we went for chicken nuggets, french fries, and milk. Then, we headed to Donna's pool for some "wim" time. Sadie bug is fearless! She will walk off the steps and sink then laugh about it. After our hearts start beating again we can laugh too. She is going to be a fish like Savanna has transformed into. What is a trip to Greensboro without a stop at Feeney's yogurt bar. Sadie enjoyed strawberry frozen yogurt with blueberries and strawberries on top. Needless to say, everyone was tired at the end of the day so we headed home for early bedtimes. Both girls went to sleep without any argument.

"Dadie Birtday"

Our baby is 2!! And, for the record, not much of a baby anymore! Independence is quite the dominant trait at our house and while I love that we are teaching that to our children it is difficult to take as a parent. It is amazing to see the Bug in action. She can play with other children but she is not afraid to go off and play by herself. That is exactly what she did at her party. You could tell that she was excited to celebrate! We finally got her to say that she was 2 and not 1. That took some work. Our animal theme was a hit with the kids and Noah's cake was admired by all the adults. We want our children to feel as special as they are on their big days so we put a good bit of time, energy, and creativity into their parties without getting too elaborate or expensive. You will NOT see us on the MTV series My Sweet 16! They will appreciate that one day. We even made a lion shirt for the birthday girl. She came out looking like she was reincarnated from the 80s but cute none the less.  At the end of the night I heard her singing, "Dadie birtday, Dadie birtday!" We are so blessed to share our sweet girl with such good family and friends.