Lyla is 9 months

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oO70FcqnmKA


Lyla is 9 months old today. We have hit the good times! After she overcame several ear infections she has returned to her happy cheerful self. And once again sleeps through the night! Here are some things about Lyla and above is a video of her "talking":

* She has 2 bottom teeth. Her top 2 teeth have broken through but aren't quite visible.

* She is eats solid food. She really loves to chow on the fruity rice puffs!

* She has 2-3 naps each day and goes to bed around 8pm. She sleeps until 7 or 7:30am.

* She can sit unassisted.

* She rolls over both ways now and is showing signs of crawling but not yet. Hallelujah!

* Her height and weight will have to wait until her doctor appointment later in the month.
* She has had 2 ear infections and the Dr. thought her left eardrum ruptured. She was very unhappy for a few days. Or weeks...or months...I think the ear stuff started around 6 months old.

* She is a very happy baby and as you can see she loves to talk!

* She is a lot of fun these days and does really well being hauled to different sporting events and activities that her older siblings are participating in.

Williamsburg with the Thornocks

Since our move to the DC area we have had the pleasure of hosting many guests.  This time we had the pleasure of welcoming Shane's sister and her family "The Thornock's" to DC!!  They came for a 2 week tour of the east coast sights! 

For Memorial Day weekend we decided to head down to Williamsburg with the Thornocks for some good ol' colonial fun!  We visited Jamestown, Yorktown, & Williamsburg in 3 days.  We had a great time.  It was very hot but the kids did good trailing from site to site.  It was fun for Alli and Andrew because this year in school they learned a lot about the early settlers of Virginia.  We started off the 3 day tour at Jamestown Settlement.
 

We saw a Powhatan Indian village. 

We also saw the early colonist's fort.  We found some of the early settlers sporting some pretty heavy armor!

Next stop Colonial Williamsburg.  This was quite the place.  We stepped back in time when we entered.  There was lots to do.  We toured the Governor's Mansion.  (Not sure if the picture below is the the mansion. I just thought it was a great picture!)

We were able to see a mock trial.

Then out in the public square we found this!

Don't worry it is all pretend.  Ty isn't crying, just has a case of sun in the eyes!

These kids however deserved to have one foot locked up!!! 

Too much walking.

We found some colonial divas!

We got to see the colonist put on a "play" I guess, about their lives leading up to the beginning of the Revolutionary War.

On to Historic Jamestown.  This was probably one of our most favorite spots.  We had a very dynamic tour guide who made the stories and info of the early settlers come alive!! 

Captain John Smith the most famous but was not the Captain of the ship when coming to Jamestown.  Christopher Newport was the Captain but doesn't get the same notoriety as Smith.  Christopher Newport was one of the people Alli and Andrew studied at school. 

The kids loved the Jr. Ranger books! 

Pocahontas statue.  Contrary to Disney she didn't marry John Smith.  She married John Rolfe and move to England.

And for those who were wondering if Lyla was having fun...She was!  She did really great getting hauled around from place to place in the heat!

Next, Yorktown...

 We found some cannons as we took a driving tour around the battlefield at Yorktown.

We found some soldiers from the Revolutionary War.  The kids even got to try out their shooting skills.

 We got to see a replica of a war camp.  This was really neat.  It was also really hot on this day.  Those tents were steamy!!

 We were able to hear about what it was like to be a physician during the war.  Here are the kids checking out the doctor's tools.

 At the end of our tour we found some facinating folks.  The kids had fun wearing colonial cloths.

 Kenzie actually found a crazy colonist!! 

  

As you can see above...We had a great time with the Thornock's!!   

Cherry Blossoms

One evening the kids and I decided to go check out the cherry blossom trees downtown. Well, it took some convincing the kids but eventually we made it out the door.

After finding parking we walked...and walked...and walked along the river.

It was really pretty and the kids enjoyed running thru the weeping willows.

Andrew fell thru one of the gigantic holes in the sidewalk. Ty found a stick to swing around. Alli was bouncing from one tree to another. Lyla was fast asleep in her pack. Me...I was counting kids making sure no one took an unexpected swim in the Potomac!

After our walk we caught a bus (a short bus ride) that took us to the Jefferson Memorial.

I found 3 blind mice hiding on the steps of the monument!

The view from the Jefferson Memorial.

It was beautiful. The kids had fun running around and I had fun sitting on the steps soaking up the evening sunshine. We even managed to catch a bus ride all the way back to our car!! I think everyone was glad we made it to see the beautiful cherry blossoms!

See! Don't they look happy!

Ty is Five!

Ty is now FIVE years old! He just couldn't wait until his birthday. (mostly couldn't wait for all his presents!) Everytime we would go to Target he would hit me up for a pack of Pokemon cards. I would tell him he would have to wait until his birthday. He didn't like that answer.

Much to Ty's delight we were going to be in Washington for his birthday. He wanted to have a birthday party at "Big Owl's" (Big Al's). He didn't care for bowling he just wanted to hit the arcade area! Oh, and he wanted all his cousins to be there too! Especially "Wheel" aka Will! He got to ride the motorcycle ride with Dad! He also won lots of tickets to get candy!

He was joined by lots of siblings & cousins.

After Big Al's he wanted his special birthday lunch at McDonald's but a certain one. He wanted to go to the "Playland" McDonald's!

And the activities just kept going! He had a birthday bash at Aunt Kiki's house! Ty is just facinated with sharks. Loves everything about them. He loves animals in general but sharks are by far his favorite thing right now. We were lucky to be in Vancouver where a fabulous cake decorator lives. It just happens to be his cousin Karsyn! She made an amazing "Shark" cake for Ty and he LOVED it!

Ty was excited to have his family to share his birthday with. He also got to share his birthday with our old neighbor friend Sennika and his favorite baby sitter Taylor and her family! He was just loving all the attention he got.

Then FINALLY it was present time. Ty was asking every 5 minutes if it was time to open presents! He was so excited to get Pokemon cards, Gomu erasers, Pokemon and Sharktale movies, MORE animals, a Shark book & a Bat Mobile!! He was pretty happy with his haul! But I think what made it the best 5 year old birthday party EVER, was that he was able to share it with his family and friends who we miss so much!

And now my baby boy is 5! Can't believe that. The next milestone is starting Kindergarten this fall! Then I will have 3 kids in school!

Five COOL things about TY!

1- He loves everything about animals, sharks, snakes, bugs, crocodiles & alligators. He loves to watch National Geographic movies about animals. He pretty much loves to watch any movie!

2- He loves to talk! If you have ever had the pleasure of being near him you would know this! He just talks and talks and talks and talks.....but he says some pretty funny things!

3- He started playing T-ball this year and loves it! He loves sports. He thinks he is the best at everything! It is fun to see him play ball!

4- He loves chocolate milk!! He has a glass every morning and "snuggles" with me in bed! We like to read stories and have some snuggle time before the day starts. I will miss that when he goes to school. He is my little "snugglebun"!

5- He is the life of the party! There is never a dull moment when he is around!

Happy Birthday Ty!

We love you and can't wait to see what this year brings!