Fall Fun with Grandma and Grandpa Parry

Well, Grandma and Grandpa Parry graced us with a quick visit down this past weekend. Richard was busy Saturday morning running in the Baltimore Marathon Relay with our friend, April!

Richard and April on the right.
Richard ran a 7:55 min mile!

My folks arrived around 1 p.m.-ish on Saturday. The weekend was a bit dark and dreary but we managed to find things to occupy ourselves.

Here we are at the school playground:

Grandpa helps Frances along the monkey bars

Grandma and Frances steer the "ship"

And at the nearby basketball court:

Doing a dip with the grandparents!

Racing! Frances in green and Grace in pink

On Sunday the girls helped me make an allergy-friendly apple cake for grandpa's 60th birthday (we celebrated a bit early)!!!

Gracie!

Here they are singing to grandpa (Grace left, Frances right):

Grandma made allergy friendly pancakes so MiMo devoured them with some NY maple syrup. Yum!

Grandpa helped the girls carve their first Jack-o-lantern:

Grandpa, Grace and Francie

Grace getting in the pumpkin guts,
Frances trying to clean them off.

Here's a video of them cleaning the pumpkin:

Grace helping poke out the carving pieces

Grace and Frances with the pumpkins

MiMo eats his pumpkin!

Grace showing Moses the inside of the jack-o-lantern

Grandma helped me weed through our new hand-me-downs and others we had in the attic. So now everyone has their winter clothes out and summer clothes stored away. It was a short visit and we miss them terribly! We can't wait to see them again.

Richard turns 33 years and Moses turns 14 months

Last weekend I took the girls to the farm (as usual) and it was in its full Fall form. We played in the newly constructed hay maze and we picked two pumpkins from the pumpkin patch. The weather was gorgeous.

Grace in pink and Frances in gray

Gracie and Francie being silly

Francie and Gracie with their pumpkins.

We’ve taken advantage of the school playground and the big rocks by the front of our complex.

MiMo and the girls

Grace at the top, and Francie waiting her turn

On Friday I worked on a simple project that's taken me THREE years to complete! Can't wait to hang them up!

Frances, Grace and Moses

Sunday was Richard’s 33rd birthday! The girls helped me make an allergy-friendly apple cake that everyone could enjoy (even MiMo!). I cooked it a little too long, doh. I knew I should have trusted my instincts and not followed the baking directions on the recipe, but there’s always next time. Anywho, still tastes good to us.

Frances in foreground and Grace in back

Measuring sugar!

Moses will be 14 months old tomorrow! He still only has 7 teeth, I swear the 8th one is still simmering under the gums. He waves goodbye and can say “bye.” He likes to put the play phones up to his head and say “heh-ro” – sounds like Scooby. He says “shoes” and “car” and “agua.” He likes pointing at the picture of the girls as babies and saying “BABY!” He makes lots of animal sounds. He’s not really close to full on walking. I was hoping by 14 months, but maybe by 15? Yesterday he walked from the front door, around through the kitchen, out through the diningroom and only sat down to go down the step into our sunken livingroom. So he can go far, he just decides crawling is easier for the most part. Here is a video I took of him walking in circles at the basketball court:

Squirrels, Maryland Zoo, Perfect Weather, Hockey!

We've all been nursing a lingering cold for almost 3 weeks now. So we haven’t had much to update on as we've been holed up inside.

We did have a squirrel issue for about a week. We knew one had fallen into the chimney. It was scratching in the fireplace. We tried Howard County Animal Control, but weirdly, they don’t handle “wild” animals. So we had a hard time finding a company that actually dealt with wild animal removal – that didn't want to charge an arm and a leg. Many of you know, I have had a personal experience chasing/catching a squirrel in my living space before (college), so I know how hard it is, and having kiddos around, I wanted a pro to do it. We finally got a hold of a company, scheduled them to come, but they never did. Last Saturday we called them back but they wanted to double the charge for a “weekend call” – even though it wasn't our fault they didn't show up. Anyway, we didn't hear much from the squirrel, so we figured it had expired. But then Sunday night, we heard it scratching like crazy again! So I called the pest place back and made another appointment. Richard graciously stayed home to wait in our allotted time period. But nobody showed up. He called and had trouble getting hold of them. Then they claimed they’d been calling him, but nobody had. Then they said we never had an appointment (I had made it just the day before, really?). So anyway, they claimed they were going to make a quick trip out to us. They finally showed up and we had TWO dead squirrels in the fireplace. Blah. So they are supposed to come back to replace the cap on the chimney – sometime??? Ah well, hopefully no more animals get trapped.

So after all that hassle, I decided we needed to get out of the house, since people we feeling a bit better. So last weekend, with the nice, cool weather, I decided to make a “girl trip” out to the Maryland Zoo (Richard stayed home with Moses). I had never been before, and I guess my expectations were low given my allegiance to the National Zoo. Pleasantly though, it was an amazing visit! Even more kid oriented than the National Zoo. You could bring strollers in everywhere!! And there were zoo staff all over the place, providing interesting tidbits of information. Plus, lots of play stations (things to climb on, slide down, climb in, etc.). And the exhibits were a lot closer, so you could actually feel like you were close to the animals. Oh it was a big hit. I’m thinking a season pass will be a nice Christmas gift this year!

Grace and Frances!

We saw some animals we didn't get a chance to see at the National Zoo (either because they weren't there and/or we didn't have time). We saw the giraffes, the warthogs, the chimps, the penguins, the crowned crane (Uganda!), lots of leaping lemurs, polar bears, and a kookaburra (a personal fav of the girls). And of course, many, many others.

Francie and Gracie
This was a bit higher up on the trail, we were able to go closer!

Finally! A giraffe, and sooo close!

Penguins!

I can’t wait to go back! Yes, me (hehe).

On Sunday I took the girls to the farm in the morning. The cashier asked where we had been the week prior – I told her we were home, nursing colds – I guess we’re definitely recognizable as regulars!!

Grace and Frances being silly

The fairy cottage in the Pine Tree maze (where Sleeping Beauty was raised)
The girls hear "a witch!"

In the afternoon we went out to Centennial Park. Love that place.

Grace in blue and Francie in pink
Can't wait for the leaves to start changing...

Tackling Moses with kisses

Moses loves the outdoors!

Throwing pebbles

Tuesday night, Richard and I had an actual date night! Wow! It was a belated anniversary/early birthday present for Richard. I had bought us tickets to the Baltimore Hockey Classic: Caps vs. Bruins. The game was awesome. Ended in a shootout. Caps lost, but we still had fun!

Moses is 13 Months Old

Moses turned 13 months old on the 1st of September. He's still not walking yet. But he's taking little jaunts here and there. Yesterday he walked a good five feet by himself. So I know by 14 or 15 months old he'll be walking full-time. I was a late walker - 18 months old - so I think he's doing better than I was at the same age.

He's talking a bit more now. Not clearly, but the intent is there. He says, "hi", "thank you," "pee-boo (peek-a-boo), and "Agua." And whatever else he was saying before. Still not the vocabulary his sisters had at this age, but he's just taking his time.

Moses' hair was getting quite long, so Richard broke out the clippers for his first haircut. We were surprised how emotional we would be about it. It was sad to see the curls go and see this "little boy" emerge from where our "baby boy" had been. He looks very handsome though - growing up way too fast.

Haircut aftermath, all those soft baby curls...

Back view

Front view

Looking like a big boy!

The girls are changing too. Just today, Frances woke up, made her bed, got dressed and came downstairs - all by herself. They are  more and more independent. I had to go get new shoes for them as the ones from the spring were running a bit small. We got "cookie" inserts to support their arches since they were pronating while walking.

The latest Wacha Sayin'?:

After a marathon clothes-changing in the morning, I had told them, "no more until after breakfast." I'm in the kitchen and I hear them whispering, "Geez, Mommy is being bossy!" I had to laugh.

A recent favorite phrase, "That's boring..."

MY current fav: "I love you sooo much."

Adventures with the Cousins!

My brother, sister-in-law, and nephew and niece came down for a visit the last week in August. They drove down on Wednesday. On Thursday we made a late trek out to the National Zoo (to avoid morning rush hour – we still hit the evening one though). It was my kids’ first visit to the Zoo. Oh it was a hot day but the kids enjoyed the visit. In fact, my girls keep talking about the Zoo and all the animals they saw – and didn't get to see.

We saw the big lion. There was a window overlooking his paddock and the kids, I’m sure, looked like lovely little appetizers to him.

Francie, Isaak, Savannah, and Gracie checking out the lion

We also saw the fancy new elephant area. It was like a scene out of Jurassic Park. Very cool. The kids were bummed that there were no more giraffes at the zoo because of the elephant expansion. Ah well.

Isaak, Gracie and Francie
with the elephants in the background

Here is a nice shot I got of the whole family (sans me) at the Amazonia exhibit. The kids thought it was cool that the monkeys were just hanging out above us in the trees.

Moses, Richard, Isaak, Amber, Savannah, Tom, Grace and Frances
in the Amazonia Exhibit

We saw gorillas. This one liked checking the kids out.

Grace, Frances and Isaak checking out the gorilla

A golden tamarin tried to eat Grace’s hair beads through the glass haha. And we saw orangutans. The girls saw the orangutan throw up, then eat it – they said “Ewww! Gross!!!” haha. We saw tortoises, alligators, snakes, naked mole rats, tarantula, wolves, sea lions, beaver, etc. There was a wave pool by the sea lions that the kids enjoyed (until Amber noticed a lady getting in after taking a Band-Aid off – extra ewwww, we got out just in time!).

Frances and Grace in the wave pool

They had a farm section at the end of the Zoo. And of course later on, when we were home and I was asking what animals we saw at the Zoo, Frances kept saying, “We saw a cow!” I’d say, “And a lion!” and she’d respond, “And a cow, mommy, a cow!” Haha. Always with the darn cows. They see those every week! Silly girl.

On Friday, Richard stayed home with MiMo while the rest of us went out to the local petting farm. It was another hot day. The kids enjoyed it though. We went through the storybook area. Took a picture by the Clark’s sign and another on a big ol' tree that fell during Hurricane Sandy.

Savannah, Isaak, Grace and Frances

Aunt Amber, Frances, Savannah, Grace and Isaak

We did all the rides: cow train, pony rides, and the hayride.

Grace, me, Frances, Uncle Tommy, Savannah, Isaak and Aunt Amber

We also fed the goats and sheep.

Uncle Tommy, Savannah and Isaak
feed the sheep

And visited the other animals.

Checking out the donkey with Aunt Amber

We also did the Pine Tree Maze. It was nice to be in the shade!

Isaak, Savannah, Grace and Frances
in the Pine Tree maze

Frances, Grace, Savannah and Isaak

We finished out the day at Centennial Park playground.

On Saturday we went down to Aunt Signe (aka Great) and Uncle Freddy’s house for some BBQ. There was a brand new playground and splash park that had just opened up the week before, across the street. So we made our way over there and it was a BIG hit with all the kids.

Front to back: Frances, Isaak, Uncle Tommy, Savannah and Gracie

Frances, Isaak and Grace

MiMo loves the water!

Tiana and Ajanja met us there.

Uncle Glenn and Ajanja

Ajanja and Moses on the swings!

After playing we went back to the house to dry off and eat some BBQ. Ajanja introduced Moses to the wonderful world of potato chips.

Ajanja, Aunt Tiana, and Moses

Tom and the family were heading back home from Great’s house. We took one last photo of the kids on the front swing before they left. Unfortunately, Savannah fell off the swing, poor girl. But about 10 minutes later she was calmed down and doing better. Man, I wish I was that resilient!

Isaak, Savannah, Gracie and Frances on the swing at Great's house

All in all, it was a great visit. As the kids get older, I’m sure we’ll have even more adventures with the cousins.