Nana & Papa's Takeover

**** My parents, also known as Nana and Papa, generously gave us an anniversary present of a one-night vacation, complete with childcare.  Although our anniversary is in April, Pete's vacation time is in the summer, so we spent months planning our blissful night away!!!  We vacationed in Lewes, Delaware, and had an extremely relaxing and fun time!  Nana and Papa also agreed to be guest-bloggers, and they have authored the following post of their time spent watching their grandchildren.  Our guest-bloggers decided to write in the voices of Eliana and Leah, and co-authored this post on their last fumes of energy after their "takeover" with the girls.  THANK YOU NANA & PAPA ****

Nana and Papa wanted us to be busy ALL THE TIME so we would get good and tired.  Our first stop was Alverthorpe Park.  We rode the cars, jumped on the trampoline, went on the seesaw, played peekaboo, and made new friends.  Nana and Papa thought we'd be tired, but NO WAY!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We still had plenty of energy to go nuts in Trader Joe's.

We went swimming in the pool, and played in the sandbox and the water table.  Eliana gave Nana and Papa a good soak with the hose.

They tried a new tactic; they thought that long walks would be the answer - to no avail! 

            A little water, and a rest in front of the Village Diner revived us.

We had enough energy to put on our own show in the lobby of the Keswick Theatre.

 After dinner we got to go to U-Swirl for ice cream.  It was delicious.

Nana and Papa did not think we were sufficiently tired so they took us to Raymour & Flanagan furniture store.  We ran all over the store and tried out lots of furniture.  It did the trick!!!

Happy Birthday Nana Nancy!

We were excited and honored to have Nana Nancy come visit, and totally thrilled to celebrate her 90th birthday!!  Nana is about to turn 90 years old, and has more energy now than I have ever had.  She spends her time at church, prayer group, security patrol, volunteering at the thrift shop, going to restaurants, playing Bingo and Bunco, and dancing the night away.  She says that she feels like she is 40!  Nana Nancy is always smiling, makes friends wherever she goes, and never stops praying for and encouraging her loved ones.

We celebrated at our favorite local Chinese restaurant, Jasmine.

Eliana was excited to present Nana Nancy with a gift. 

  Leah was super excited to eat ice cream (and to play in Mommy's plate like it was sandbox - gross.)

We even managed to get a photo with Nana Nancy with everyone smiling, 
which is no small feat!! 
(Papa and Nana were also there, but not pictured . . . 
in fact, Papa gets credit for taking all these pictures!)

As promised, here is a glimpse of Leah without the nap.  The meltdowns are so intense, they are a little amusing.  Poor Leah.  It's tough being a toddler.

Happy Birthday and all of God's blessings to Nana Nancy!!! 

Summer Begins!!

We've really been enjoying summer around here so far!  Eliana and Leah continue to be really close and love being outdoors together playing in the sprinkler and kiddie pool.  I love this picture below because I snuck in the doorway and they did not realize I was taking it.  Leah was a little scared during Strawberry Shortcake, and so she snuggled up to big sister for comfort. 

Leah has been doing a great job of going on the potty.  She does insist on pottying nude most of the time though, and refuses to let me put her diaper/pullup back on after she finishes.  With the recent heat wave, both kids have spent more time naked than clothed.   They even have an impressive nudie dance that they perform.  If Pete teaches me to upload video one day, you may see it, although perhaps that could get me in trouble with the authorities (?).

The girls are also enjoying Eliana's new Jeep.  Don't these two look like a pair of teenagers??  It is truly a glimpse into the future. 

And Leah was pretty excited to finally get her turn behind the wheel.

Sara's visit to Pennsylvania was a great way to kick off the summer.  (And of course we enjoyed her entourage of Aunt Jessie, Nana, Papa and Caspie).  The big kids hit Mason's Mill playground, while Nana and Papa made the sacrificial choice of staying home with Leah while she napped. 

But it turned out that Leah did NOT nap, because that has been what Leah has been doing lately:  NOT napping.  She's really not ready to NOT nap yet.  But, I don't have it in me to battle with her over the nap either.  So, we've had some rough days.  Really, rough afternoons.  Rough evenings.  But easy bedtimes!!  In fact, stay tuned for the next post where you can get a glimpse of what little Leah looks like without a nap! 

Happy Summer!!!