Happy Easter!

Holidays just keep getting better and better at the Holland house - primarly because at least one child actually is starting to get the concept of Santa and the Easter Bunny, etc. And, the other? Well, the other just loves to follow his sister's lead and laughs the entire time doing it. Oh - as it turns out, he also LOVES to torment his sister by taking ALL new toys that she receives and while doing it, gives this mischevious little brother "I know this is really going to piss you off" look. It's comical. The first couple of times. Not so much when it lasts all weekend. Anyway...on to Easter.


Saturday of Easter weekend was ridiculously cold and rainy....perfect weather to decorate easter eggs inside. After putting on our aprons of course...

Sunday ended up being absolutely gorgeous - high 60's and sunny....perfect weather to hunt for easter eggs outside!

BUT, prior to that, the kids woke up to both easter baskets waiting for them downstairs (Note the NEW countertop that they are sitting on! Soon to be stained a darker color...)

and quickly noticed eggs placed around the house. After we plowed through those, we made our way to the yard where they quickly found more eggs. Unfortunately, this was all captured with the video camera and the video is approximately 10 mins long, so I thought I'd spare you all. The rest of the day was spent doing yard work (more on that later) and playing outside until it was time to get all dressed up and go to Grammy and Grampy's for Easter dinner.

Notice Alex's "Say Cheese!" smile...






And, who would have thought? The Easter Bunny left eggs there too!


and, just in case you thought I was kidding about Alex stealing Avery's things...

and, there he goes with it!



Overall, it was a great holiday. Hope everyone had a Happy Easter!

Teen!!!!

This was what Alex called Christine when she was here to visit 2 weekends ago. Obviously, he was getting this from the last syllable of her name, but I couldn't write Tine! Because, that would be pronounced, well, just as it is spelled - Tine and then you wouldn't get it. So, we're going with Teen.


Christine came into town two weekends ago for probably her last visit before moving to Amsterdam and becoming Mrs. de Vries. We had a great weekend and in keeping with our true "groundhog day" like tradition, we pretty much did the exact same things we do every time she comes into town. Friday night, dinner in Providence by ourselves (and, this time we found a GREAT cheese, meat, bread and wine shop/restaurant!).


Saturday was spent taking the kids to gymnastics, walking Deacon and taking the kids to the playground.





As you can see - Christine was kept busy with Alex and was given the very important job of holding Avery's baby while she played...

Saturday night, we drank wine and made dinner at home (two of my favorite things to do).

Sunday, we walked! 10 kilometers to be exact - for Multiple Sclerosis. The original plan was to take Deacon and to leave the kids at home with Josh. However, Avery overheard us talking about the walk the night before and did not approve of that idea. So, Avery came and Deacon stayed home (not because Avery took his place - more because we weren't sure if he could handle 10 km's and then what in the world would you do with a dog who decides to just stop mid-walk??).

Mind you, I must have said to Avery, "Avery - this walk will be very long and you will have to stay in your stroller the entire time" about 500 times both the night before and the morning of. I will take bets as to how long you think it took her before we heard, "Mom, when can I get out of the stroller?" Approximately 2 mins would be the correct answer. But, I quickly realized that letting her out of the stroller was actually a preferable approach, as she pretty much had to run to keep up with Christine and I and then almost immediately got too tired to walk and wanted to climb right back into the stroller. It worked out nicely, actually. Here is Christine and Avery after the walk (just before Avery knocked over her entire cup of juice, but whatever...)



The rest of Sunday was spent relaxing at home and then Christine and I were able to sneak away for about an hour prior to me taking her to Providence to enjoy a cup of coffee at a coffee shop on the water before leaving (and while there, witness a seagull eat an ENTIRE starfish - whole, but that is a story for another time).

It was a bit more of a sad good-bye than normal knowing that this would be her last time here for a while, but the good news is, Josh and I just booked our tickets to go to the wedding in Amsterdam, so we will be there to witness the grand event! We can't wait (and are already starting to mentally prepare Opa and Grandma for what is in store for them during those 5 days of babysitting!)....

Check this out!

This is the lunch that I packed for Avery this morning - isn't it great?? And, if you believe that, you obviously don't know me AT ALL. I mean, seriously? Sheep sandwiches? With eyes and cheeks and bows in their hair???? Surrounded by carrot flowers and cheese hearts????? Who has the time to do this for their kids in the morning? This picture was in Parenting magazine as a 'creative lunchbox idea.' Whatever happened to "Eat this because it is healthy and because I told you to eat it?"

What "Beach Day" at daycare looks like in April in New England

Vacation, Part Deux

Yes, we did actually go to Florida - I bet you think I forgot, don't you? Nope. Just couldn't find the cord to attach Josh's parents camera to my computer. But, alas - I have found it. Don't you worry... So, first of all, getting back to this flying by myself thing. Oh my lord! It was fabulous. I have not flown by myself for nearly 4 years. I have ALWAYS had a child with me. That said, I decided to make the most of it and a) bring a book, b) bring a cross stitch (which hasn't been looked at since before Avery was born) and the most exciting thing???? c) GET A COFFEE!!!!!! These are the things that most people take for granted when flying. But, with 2 kids (or even just one), you can't do things like get a coffee because then you will be that mom who is carrying a diaper bag (which, in my case is always overflowing with too much stuff), a purse, your kids' bags, your kids and all of this while trying to carry your coffee, which inevitably results in it spilling on some innocent person while walking down the aisle to your seat. Anyway - so, I got the coffee and did my cross stitch and then... looked up to see two 20 year-old boys who were flying to South Padre Island for their Spring Break and who were sitting across the aisle from me ordering a beer every 45 mins (using their FIFTY drink tickets that they BOUGHT ON EBAY!). At this point, the cross stitch? Not seeming like the "coolest" idea I have ever had. I nearly just stopped everything I was doing to explain to them that "hey - once, not so long ago, I was as cool as you and I went to South Padre on Spring Break and I started drinking at 11 AM in the morning..." but then figured that wouldn't really be all that cool either. So, instead, I just sat there and tried to convince myself that I didn't want to be in their shoes because they would most likely be hung over and feeling like crap all weekend and that I didn't care if they thought I was a dork because I was doing a cross stitch - I'm a mom now and a damn good one and as long as my kids think I'm cool and love me, that is all that matters. RIGHT???? Onto the trip... Josh and his parents had been in Florida since Sunday and I met them there after Texas on Tuesday night. The weather was incredible. Low to mid 80's all week. The kids had a blast. There was a great little playground approximately this far from our hotel... The kids had a great time playing there and it was a nice way to do something other than the pool or the beach (not that those options are shabby ones, but whatever)...

We went to a water park one day, which was good. They were still a bit young for all of the slides, etc., but they did like walking around in the shallow water and climbing on the equipment. It was a bit challenging getting pictures of the outing considering I was also in the water, but here they are regardless...

Just like at home, both of them loved being on the beach. Alex seemed to prefer that more than the pool and Avery was the opposite, which led to one of us at the pool with her and one of us at the beach with him most of the time, but it worked..

And, actually - I didn't mind being the one at the pool because we managed to find the ice cream cart conveniently located at the entrance to the pool. Needless to say, this became a favorite of ours...I mean, Avery's.

My one selfish wish was, one of the nights there, to not rush to get out of the pool for dinner or for kid's schedules and to get a drink by the pool - I was not picky - it could be with the kids or without the kids, but I really wanted a drink by the pool. Well, needless to say, that didn't happen. I did end up getting a drink, but it was consumed in our hotel room while trying to feed Alex dinner, give him a bath (clearly my "brrrr! there is no more water - time to get out" method didn't work, as he still chose to pretend to go "night night" in the tub vs. get out) and get him ready for bed AND it was shared with Avery who was also enjoying a "cocktail" of her own (cleverly created by myself to stop the "I want a fancy drink!" meltdown...strawberry/mango juice combined with fizzy water and a lime).

And, in keeping with the same "let's have the kids involved in everything" theme that we seemed have developed on this trip, Josh and I decided to invite Avery on our date night a) to avoid the "I want to go to dinner with Mommy and Daddy" meltdown and b) to give her a nice night out with Mom and Dad. In reality, she is so easy in a restaurant that it really isn't a big inconvenience having her there. Here we were before our big night out... And, here we are at an attempt to get a family photo prior to heading out for our big night out. As you can see, this is something that we have yet to master...

Oh, and I nearly forgot! The most exciting part of the entire trip? Avery swam around like a little fish! For those of you who know my daughter, you will know that this is HUGE. This is the girl who doesn't like getting her face wet in the bath tub, much less the pool! This is the girl who literally hangs out on the stairs of the pool while all of the other kids are swimming and jumping around her. Well, not this year! Because, Mama got her water wings! She loved them and LOVED showing us how well she swam with them on. And, better yet? After 5 days of trying to convince her, we finally got her to go down the slide (this only AFTER she witnessed her little brother doing it).

Of course, whoever was taking her had to be sure to lift her up at the end so that her face wouldn't get wet.

Overall, it was a great trip and a great balance of drinking coffee by myself and sharing a cocktail and dinner with my 4 year-old...

"Avery and Alex - time to leave the playground and go home for dinner!"

Don't Let These Pink PJ's Fool You...

I am 100% Boy and I've got the energy to prove it...

I think that the funniest part of this whole video is the fact that everyone (including Deacon) is just sitting there as if nothing is going on around them...