Sledding

There is a perfect little hill by the high school to go sledding, which is right across the street from the Martin's house.  We got all suited up to sled a few times during our visit and the everybody loved it! 

I love this picture of Abby.  She was so determined to walk up that hill and carry her sled and she did it over and over.  She just looks so big to me here.

We crammed as many of us as possible on the sled at various times.  Good times!

After our sledding adventures we warmed up with some hot chocolate:)

An afternoon with the Staffaronis

When we were back in PA we were able to see  the Staffaronis and meet Andrew and Emilie, the twins.  It was so great to see them all!  Jackson, Abby, and Zack didn't waste any time getting reacquainted.  They played hard for the duration of our time and had so much fun together.  I tried to get a good picture of the 3 in action to no avail.

I loved holding the twins and in between watching the "big" kids and tending to the babies we got to catch up on life and it seemed as if it were just yesterday we were watching the kids splash in the water in Hawaii.  As we said our goodbyes Abby was not happy to be leaving Jackson and told me that she missed Hawaii when we got in the car:(. 

The Pennsylvania Farm Show

I  think Matt has been telling me about the Farm Show since my first visit to PA.  He has such fond memories of going with his family and was really excited to take us (we even extended our trip for it!)  It certainly was an event!  We saw lots of tracters and farm equipment that the kids loved.

One of the major attractions is the food court.  We enjoyed milk shakes, deep fried cheese, grilled cheese and lots of other treats.

We saw BIG pigs and cows ans bulls, and chicks and bunnies and every other farm animal possible.  As you imagine there was lots of animal poop and as I was reminding the kids to look out I felt my foot seep into a large pile...AHHH farm life:)

Yup, that is a BUTTER sculpture:)  Amazing!

We met some beautiful horses

The kids were intrigued by the stadium seating and had to climb to the top.

Enjoying quality time with Grandpa Martin

More Fun in PA

One morning while the kids were up early and mommy slept in they had a little hair party...Zack was quite a trooper:)

We went to breakfast at a Martin favorite, the Collony House.

Buddy decided to spend the last day  before heading back to the North Pole with some beautiful ladies.

Celebrating Bill and Marianne's anniversary!

We visited Chocolate World and had their famous chocolate mile and learned how they make chocolate on the ride, twice:).

We also went bowling with the Rossello's and and Casey and Rob for a fun night out.  I love the kids' bowling shoes:)

Pintersting and other excuses

There is so much that I still have to catch up on from the remainder of our trip to Pennsylvania and I am lagging on getting the blog updates.  We started school right away after we returned from our trip and I have been busy trying to put the house together. 

Also, the kids and I got in an accident on Saturday.   We were on our way to the Safari Park and got rear ended and then hit the car in front of me but there were no injuries.  We got quite a jolt but so far we are fine!  I have a rental car indefinitely while my car is getting figured out.  The car is pretty banged and likely totaled.  In spite of the accident, we ended up having a great day at the park with Candice and her two kiddos, Anthony and Sienna.  



 I have a few pictures below of projects started and not quite finished which is how everything feels these days.  In the meantime, Matt and I painted the kids' rooms and a few other projects thanks to my Pinteresting (if it isn't a word, it should be!).

I know pics are crooked here... this was in the mid stage and it is looking better that I have pics in and frames straight.

1000 Days

Zack was 1000 days on Monday (of course the only reason that is on my radar is because Matt knows things like that?!) but it gives me a good excise to highlight some of his new adventures.  He is growing up in so many ways but still my little boy that will always come snuggle and give kisses!

We began potty training boot camp last Sunday (I procrastinated as long as I could).  He was ready and it was time.  We went straight to underwear and he had 2 accidents on Sunday.  I was bracing myself for a long ride.  We sent him to school on Monday with underwear and 6 changes of clothes for back ups just in case.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that he was accident free in the afternoon!  He has done great all week and this weekend he was in underwear everywhere we went.  He beams with pride every time he goes to the bathroom and it is so cute to see how seriously he is taking it.  He has had one accident at school which I attribute more to the food poisoning that we got this week than anything else and had one at home but for the most part he has got it.  We are so proud of him and amazed how much easier it was with Z than Abby.  It may be the timing or just going straight to underwear- who knows but for now I am a happy momma.

Zack playing with his trains which he loves in his underwear:).

Some of Zack's highlights at 100 days:

-Zack continues to be so sweet.   I love how he is with his sister.  Zack will share any treat he has with her and the other day he called her Abs, like we do a lot.  Abby hurt herself the other day and Zack was comforting her,  "It's okay Abs..."  After he said it, he looked at me and said, "I call her Abs" with a humongous smile. 

-He is a bit confused with all the moves and then a trip to Pennsylvania in between.   He thinks that Grandma Lori and Grandpa Don's house is San Diego and Grandma and Grandpa Martin's house is Pennsylvania.  We could be driving around town and he'll say, "I want to got to San Diego/ Pennsylvania".

-When we were in Pennsylvania, Zack saw a palm tree and called our attention to it, "Look at the island."

-He STILL sleeps with his receiving blankets from the hospital and usually some other random cars and other toys of the moment.  The good thing is that he wakes up the morning and plays very contently until I go an get him but I love my snuggle time in the morning so I usually go in as soon as I hear him.

- He has a little friend group at school and sticks close to a few people and we hear about them daily: Ian, Matthew and Jonah.  I think he is a tad overwhelmed by the herd of kids that swam our street every evening and prefers to stay close to home or at least know we are close by.

-He still is really good at playing independently and loves anything that involves trains, planes and automobiles or blocks. 

-Along with his sweetness, he is definitely TWO.  He needs to be reminded frequently to use his "big boy voice".  He has a tendency to whine/mumble.  My favorite is when he complains that, "Abby said no to me".  Ironically, he has no problem saying no to the rest of us:).