Day 3 - Memorial Day: A parade, a Picnic and the Pool

Day 1 & 2 has been updated - check it out!

We had a great memorial day today. We are in New Jersey at my Grandmother Mickey's (GGM). She is my mom's mom and will be 90 in November. She has some heart problems and has been feeling pretty bad lately. So, we were hoping our visit might perk her up. I think it has worked so far today - she had a great day. This morning we went to a Memorial Day parade in my grandmother's town - she walked down to the parade route (about 2 blocks)and sat for the whole parade. Karlee and Kendall had a great time - the Veterans in the parade were passing out flags so they had a blast waving their flags and gathering candy. GGM had brought bags to keep their candy in. The firetrucks were really loud and hurt Karlee, Kamryn and Kourtney's ears but Kendall wasn't fazed a bit. After the parade we went to the neighborhood park and let Karlee and Kendall play and swing. Then we went to GGM's church for a picnic of hamburgers and hotdogs. We enjoyed visiting with some old friends as well as my Uncle Dale. This afternoon, we let GGM rest and we went to ride around and get the girls to sleep. Ken and Karlee stopped at the Pier Village for root beer and a treat at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. Then we headed to Strollo's Lighthouse for Italian ice. My mom and her friends used to ride their bikes to Strollo's every Saturday during the summer, so it was neat to take the girls there. If you have never had a real Italian ice, you are missing out!! I had lemon, Ken and mom had cherry and Scott, Shanna, Karlee & Kendall had blue raspberry. Yummy!! Later we headed to the pool at the hotel for a swim and then back to grandmother's for dinner -leftover pizza from Freddie's Pizzeria (another of mom's childhood memories).

What a great day! My aunt and uncle arrive from Indiana late tonight so we will enjoy seeing them tomorrow.

Days 1 & 2 - From Bad to Better

Day 1 was the bad and it wasn't even really a whole day (thank goodness) but Day 2 was much, much better. We got started a little bit later than we had planned (between 4 - 5 p.m.) and didn't actually get on I-85 until about 7:00. The older two had been a little trying - Karlee got in the car around 4:00 and was "ready to go". Well, as you just read, we were not quite as ready. So, she proceeded to ask every five minutes "Is it time to go yet?" while climbing in and out of the car that Ken was trying to pack. Normally this would drive us crazy anyway, but asking Ken while he was trying to figure out how to fit all our "stuff" (in my defense, I am packing for FOUR children - two of them babies) in the van was just about to put him over the edge. This lasted a least an hour and was a good indicator of how the first leg of the trip would go. Once we got out of the drive way the questions abruptly stopped as Karlee declared. "I"m hungry" - a statement Kendall immediately echoed. So they worked their way through the snack bag between our house and Watkinsville. Now, any mom who has traveled with young children knows that you must have an arsenal of "treats" to combat boredom, tantrums, hunger, etc. I - being the super savvy mom that I am - had several. Most were simple things but new (at least to the girls) or favorites. There are as follows - 1. The purple bucket (containing: marker stampers which Karlee saw in the house before we even left, new coloring books, a lift-the-flap book for Kendall & Junie B. Jones book for Karlee, doodle pads, stickers and Leapsters) 2. The snack bag (containing: smarties, pretzels, Scooby-Doo graham crackers, Reese's snack mix, fruit snacks, craisins, M&Ms and peanut butter crackers.) 3. Kit Kittredge: An American Girl DVD. Twenty minutes into our trip, I had used up numbers 1 & 2, leaving me with only Kit Kittredge for the next two days and I doubted it was going to work for Kendall anyway. Well, back to the actual trip. About 45 min up the interstate, Karlee finally fell asleep, the twins settled down and Kendall stopped shrieking anytime she wanted something/we got on the phone/we asked her a question and Ken and I finally had a chance to talk about how far planned to travel that night and call some hotels. Kendall was being very good - just jabbering and singing to herself. Once Ken and I had made some reservations, I turned around to check on her and she was completely ORANGE!! She had colored every part of her skin that was exposed with an orange marker. And she proudly announced "Mama I paint my toes too!" She had done several "coats" on them. We cracked up - she is such a riot - but no markers for Kendall today. We made it a little north of Charlotte and it was way after eleven before we finally got everyone to bed.

Saturday started out a little slow again but quickly improved. Everyone was fed and in good spirits as we headed out. We had an uneventful morning except for one more marker episode. I did not let Kendall have any markers due to the small issue with coloring her whole entire body orange yesterday. But she cried and I felt bad so I gave her two – both yellow. And sure enough about 30 minutes later, her hands and arms were yellow. She didn’t do quite the job she did yesterday, but it was still impressive. Kourtney and Kamryn have been super content to sit in the back and watch their Baby Einstein video as long as they are fed every so often. Around lunch time, we stopped and picked up some sandwiches and then drove about 15 miles to the Virginia Welcome Center for a picnic and some fun on the playground. After we were full and played out, we climbed back into the car and headed to Norfolk. We arrived too late to do the Nauticus discovery center but we did get to tour the USS Wisconsin which served in WWII, Korean War and Desert Storm. We crossed the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel late that afternoon. The CBBT is the longest bridge-tunnel complex in the world spanning over 18 miles from shore to shore. It takes you over and then under the Chesapeake Bay on a series of bridges, causeways, tunnels and man-made islands. Then arrived at our hotel around dinnertime. Ken picked up pizza and spaghetti for the girls and yummy local seafood for us – shrimp, scallops and crab cakes. Then he and Karlee took a dip in the pool before bed. All said it was a very nice and pleasant day and we look forward to the Cape May Ferry tomorrow.

Happy Happy Birthday My Sweet Kendall!

Easter

I think we are all better from our bout with ear infections and pink eye. The twins are feeling much better and have finally moved into another room and a bigger bed - the have moved out of the cradle and into the pack-n-play. I think they like having more space to move around but it is taking them a few days to get adjusted. We had a great Easter - we enjoyed the service at church, then had dinner with my parents and aunt, uncle and cousin. After Sunday lunch, we went to my brother's for an Easter Egg hunt with some other cousins and my sister-in-law's family. On Saturday, we did "Easter" in Gray with Ken's family. We did a egg hunt there with all the cousins and the older kids had a great time playing water fight with the dollar store water guns that Ken bought them.

For The Love of Pink!

Now you probably know, that as a family of four (five if you count me) girls that pink would naturally be one of our favorite colors. And it is - despite the fact that when we found out Karlee was a girl, Ken swore no pink, ruffles or hairbows - our MOSTLY favorite (as Eloise would say.) We LOVE pink and have, use, buy, pick it when ever we get a chance - cupcakes, markers, shirts, cups, shoes, syrup (yep - Strawberry by Smuckers - yummy!), bubble gum, soccer balls, cars, pencils, underwear, Pink Princess Punch (our version of raspberry lemonade), bathing suits, blankets, pants, socks, sunglasses, toothbrush timer - toothbrush - toothpaste (Karlee went to the dentist today), baby bottles, ice cream, books (Pinkalicious is one of our favorites), bath water (Crayola color dots!), Barbie clothes, plates, sheets, straws, towels, applesauce, crayons, purses, bouncy seats and most recently this afternoon, Easter basket grass.

In fact, I have this conversation at least once a day:
Karlee: "Mommy, can I have the pink one?"
Kendall: "No, pink - me!" (Although I'm not so sure she really knows pink since almost everything you show her and ask the color, she calls pink.)
Me: "Stop - there are two pinks so you can both have one"

There is one time place that we do not love pink and that place is in our EYE! Yes, three of the four girls have pink eye - Karlee is the lucky one for now. We took Kourt in to the pediatrician because she has had runny nose, cough, gunky eyes and this morning, a fever. Well, turns out she has pink eye and an ear infection in her left ear. We also asked him to check Kam - she has pink eye also and an infection in her right ear. Since Kendall was also with us, he checked her eyes too - and you guessed it! - pink eye. So everybody is on eyedrops (you would not believe the price for a teeny, tiny bottle) and the twins have an antibiotic as well.

So today we did not have so much love for PINK- but ask us again next week - and I bet we'll be back to lovin' it again.

Not Me Monday

It was not me who got TWO parking tickets today while I was at school. I was running late this morning so I had to park along the same side of the street as all the other cars from school where I normally park but about five feet outside the school gate. When I got back to my car at noon when I was leaving, I saw two pieces of paper on the windshield. It was TWO parking tickets - one for $10 for parking on the wrong side of the street and $15 for parking on a yellow curb. People park there all the time!!!! It was right outside the school gate!!!! In 17 years of driving, I have never gotten a ticket for anything - "not even a parking ticket" - and now I get TWO tickets at one time!

It is not me who says "don't hit your sister in the face", "hey, get off her", & "let go of your sister" NOT to my almost 2 yr old and 5 yr old, but to my 6 month old TWINS!!! I know that it is because they sleep practically on top of each other and are with each other all the time but, come on, they could leave each other alone for a second. I never thought I would say those things to them.

During the "Spring Clean out" we did over the weekend, it was not my family that had enough junk to fill 10 12 14 large - I'm talking lawn & leaf-sized - trash bags. Ken did not have to back his truck up to the garage and load all the garbage and drive down the driveway because we had so much!

Easter Bunny

Karlee & Kendall spent Saturday morning at John Scott & Jacob's Birthday Eggstravaganza where they enjoyed an egg hunt, a visit with the Easter Bunny, cupcakes and ice cream and candy. Those Griners really know how to throw a party!!!




After the party, Ken took the girls to Harris Shoals Park to have a Happy Meal "picnic" in the back of the truck. We spent the rest of the weekend working around the house. We cleaned all the junk out of the guestroom and got the bed set back up, the new comforter put on the bed and the pictures hung. We also set up the pack-n-play for the twins to move in soon. Kendall still sleeps in the crib, so in order to get them out of the cradle (where they are packed in like sardines) they will have to sleep in the pack-n-play for a while. We also cleaned out the garage and set up a play area with toys, cardboard blocks, a Dora tent, a playhouse with a slide and tables and chairs. The girls have already had a blast playing out there - especially Kendall - she loves to climb and slide. Good thing too since it is so cold it must be WINTER again here!!!

On another note, the twins are almost 6 months old and we weighed them a few nights ago - Kamryn was 16 lbs 4 oz and Kourtney was 16 lbs 2 1/2 oz. Kourt has almost caught up to Kam - they both love their oatmeal!!