We love vacation!

February vacation has ended and we are all sad to see it go- we had such a great week! We were super busy, saw so many friends, and had so many fun days together. It was so great for me since everything was on our terms, our schedule. We didn't have to rush around to get anyone to school, the kids napped on a better schedule, no one was stressed and things were all around great! Mairead had an AWESOME week in terms of her communication. She was saying things like, "Daddy, I need a tissue." And when a package was delivered the other day she said, "What do you think it is, Mommy?" Incredible. My favorite was yesterday when she was coming down the stairs and the cat ran by, she said, "Oh, cat! You startled me!" Where the heck did that come from? It was pretty funny to hear such a little voice say that.

We had something different planned for just about every day of vacation and Saturday's adventure was a road trip to the South Shore to see our BFFs, the Estee family. When we loaded the kids into the van, there was a special treat waiting- a TV! IN the CAR! Grandma and Grandpa had given us these great portable dvd players for the car for Christmas and we have been reserving them for a long drive. We tested them out on Saturday and they were great! The kids were silent the entire way- Mairead was mystified- it was very fun to watch. Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa!



When we got to the Estees I forgot to take pictures until the end of the playdate- we were having too much fun! The adults got to enjoy Thai food from our favorite take-out place, and the kids had nuggets and fries from their favorite take out spot!

Jack playing, what else? Basketball!

Connor was so great about sharing his toys. I don't think he liked being harassed by the mamarazzi, though. We are so proud of Connor- he has become a super speller!

Ben, looking a little sleepy. Playdates are exhausting!

By the time we were ready to go home to go to bed, these kids were ready for sleep!

Mairead and Connor have known each other since Connor was less than 24 hours old. How cool is that?

On Sunday we had more snow. We thought maybe we had seen the last of it, but nope, Dave was out there shoveling again Sunday morning. The good news was that Nana took Mairead sledding in the back yard! Many of you know that Nana is not a huge fan of the cold, so you can tell how much she loves spending time with Mairead. They had a great time- Mairead LOVED it! She has always loved playing in the snow-- I hope the boys can learn to love it, too.

After their naps, the boys had to help Grampy with some very important 'fix it' type business. Ben made the measurements and Jack wrote them down in his 'handy dandy notebook' that never leaves his side. Both boys are obsessed with spiral notebooks. If you ever want to give them an amazing gift, go to the dollar store and buy spiral notebooks. You will be a hero.

It was too gross outside (freezing rain and sleet) yesterday morning to go to playgroup, so I brought in the water table and made it a rice table. There is one at EI and the boys love it. It's pretty much the same concept as a sand or water table, but less mess! The boys scooped the rice, ran their trucks through it, loaded the dump trucks and had an all around great time for over 30 minutes. When you are not quite two, 30 minutes is a LONG time. I highly recommend this activity- it just involves sweeping up some rice when you are done.

While they were playing, Mairead was up in her room in her turtle tent playing with her stuffed animals. I could hear her on the monitor singing and talking to her friends, and then saying, "And now, friends take a rest."

These pictures will be some of the last ones of our kids being under the age of two. It's hard to believe that these guys will celebrate their second birthday on Sunday. Time passed so quickly when Mairead was a baby, but with these guys, it has been lightning speed. I am sad that we are leaving the baby phase, but excited about all the fun things we will be able to do in the kid phase!