Story Land

Team Monkey was taken to Story Land in New Hampshire for a mini retreat in the mountains and a fun day at the park. Having never been to any type of amusement park before, they had absolutely no idea what to expect...

Miss Annabelle was super keen to go on all the rides, Jack not so much. He sat out the first ride of the day, the flying shoe, and was a bit hesitant to get on some of the other rides. He eventually gave in and, even though he tried to jump out of the flying balloon, he seemed to really enjoy going on the rides.

Annabelle's enthusiasm didn't always guarantee a positive outcome... She was apparently freaked out by the roller coaster, which I didn't witness because I was too busy driving back to our Chalet to get Jack's Teddy Bear, the flume ride and the tea cups, which I got to see first hand. She was so upset on the tea cup ride that they actually had to make a special stop to let her off!

All in all, I think everyone had a great time. The weather was great, admission price to Story Land wasn't too painful (kids 3 and under free-woohoo!), stuff inside the park was pretty reasonably priced, no one got too cranky, and we spent most of the day hopped up on sugar... Who could have asked for more?

Adorable Moment Of The Day

I pulled up in front of the house and let the kids out of the car. As I went to open the front door they went over to inspect the oozing sap levels of their favorite tree (a new ritual). I called them to come in and Annabelle came running, but Jack stayed by the tree. After calling for him about 10 times, Annabelle finally said "I'll get him for you Mom", and she went back outside, took him by the hand, said, "come on little fella", and led him inside.

~These are a few of my favorite things~

I can almost hear music from The Sound of Music playing in the background~

Christine from Manic Mommy has tagged me to come up with a list of my ten current favorites. Since she not only knows where live but, could probably spit on my house from her front steps if she so desired, I thought it would be wise to play along! So here goes:

the list is in no particular order

1. Pilates- I've taken Pilates classes in the past but have never really been into it, Yoga has always been my hippy exercise of choice. Recently though I've started taking a Pilates class at my gym and I am really loving it. I am actually starting to notice a difference in my gut!
2. My Life Is Good pajama pants. The weather has been cool here for the past few nights so I got to wear them for the first time in months... Ahhhh, how I've missed them so.
3. A good Margarita- seems to be my drink of choose this summer. That, and the Mojito. Oh, and those Corona Lights that Manic Mommy keeps feeding me, also on the list. I guess this favorite is- all drinks containing alcohol in general.
4. Having a tan. Sounds silly I know but, having been in CA for so long I had almost forgotten how horribly pasty white I become in the winter. Being here in MA for the past 2 years has made me appreciate the summer sun!
5. Being completely contradictory to the above favorite, I do love Fall in New England.
6. Speaking of Fall... Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte is definitely a Fall favorite! I also wait all year for the Eggnog Latte, but that's a whole other season.
7. Another recent favorite, which I am actually just starting to go off of, is Webkinz. My sister gave the kids some Webkinz pets a few months ago and, as my children are too young to use the computer, I have been dutifully keeping those pets alive (and playing all those nerdy games).
8. I have also, sadly, become a reality t.v. junkie. I am awaiting the premiere of the new season of Survivor. So I will count Survivor as a favorite.
9. One of my all time favorite things is Christmas. I know I am supposed to be thinking of current favorites but this is hard, so Christmas will have to do!
10. Now I am tired of thinking so I will list as my most current, current favorite thing: finishing this post which I have been putting off for a while and choosing two other poor soles to carry the torch.

So, I choose my lovely sister Kristen, because I'm sure she will have more interesting favorites than I, and I also tag Tina because, what better way to welcome her back from her year long blogging hiatus!

It's Official!!!

No more diapers for the girl who swore she would wear diapers forever... Annabelle is officially potty trained!!

I'm guessing the general consensus would be that, it was about time! But I must say, by not pushing her very hard and letting her decide when she was ready, saved me a lot of frustration. One day she decided, and that was that. Apart from the 2 accidents she has had (luckily both at home), this potty training business has been a breeze!

In Trouble

I can't remember why she was even in "time out" when I snapped this picture. It was just one of those days... But I'm sure she did something really bad!

Wet

His sister poured water on his head...

A Few Fun Facts About Being Out In Public With A Potty Training Three Year Old

(At least my potty training 3 year old)

• They will announce to EVERYONE that they are wearing underwear


• They will tell EVERYONE what type of underwear they are wearing at the moment (i.e. Little Mermaid, Curious George, etc...)


• They will tell EVERYONE what type of underwear they wore yesterday


• They will try to show EVERYONE their underwear


• and their little bum too


• They will tell EVERYONE that they went "peeps" on the potty


• They will tell EVERYONE that they went "poops on the potty...
• Yesterday


• But today they had a little accident...


• and pooped in their Little Mermaid underwears


• But now they are wearing different underwears


• with fairies on them...


• And those don't have "poops" on them
• And EVERYONE will be happy to know

Not A Moment Too Soon

And just when I thought my blog might turn into an angry rant forum... My Mama has, on her birthday, gone and offered me the use of her camera (which, ironically, we gave to her on her birthday last year), for the next 3-5 weeks, while mine is being repaired!

Happy Birthday Nana!

*note missing flowers and small finger prints on the cake

WTF?

It's only 8am, my kids have been up for about an hour... Already, this morning I have found (and cleaned) pen marks all over the love seat, a banana that someone had stepped on and left mushed in the rug, pancake mix spilled all over the kitchen, syrup all over the dining room chairs, and a puddle of milk in the rug. I have put back the "little chairs" (which were used as climbing devices in various locations) about 6 times, pulled a wad of toilet paper out of the bathroom sink, picked up about 2,000 cars, built a train set, and opened about 30 mini cans of playdoh. I have succeeded in making a pot of coffee, but have not had any yet. I've also made pancakes (hence the syrup all over the dining room). Right now I am about to go and pick up all of the playdoh, which is now ground into the rug, but not before I change Jack's stinky diaper. I hope this is not an indication as to what today is going to be like!!!!!

Waaaaah!!!!

I just smashed my camera!!

I am so annoyed. I was trying to get a decent shot of Annabelle wearing her new shirt that her nice Auntie Kristen sent her, when the camera slipped from my hand and landed face down on the hardwood floor, on the lens which was fully extended. I picked the camera up and tried to retract the lens, it gave a pathetic little moan but wouldn't budge. I gave it the once over, and it was then that I noticed the camera body, much like my own, is falling apart at the seems.

A slight panic set in before I remembered that; when I bought the camera originally (2 years ago), I might have also purchased an extended (4 year) warranty from Best Buy. So I searched every place I could think a Best Buy warranty plan might be hiding, and I found several... Including one for a Canon Elph, purchased in 1999! But alas, none belonged to the Canon SD500, smashed camera of the day. Which made me not only annoyed, but also very sad...

Then I thought: Hey, I can get a NEW camera! I've been thinking about getting a digital SLR anyway, I even recently told Nick that if he wanted to get me one as a joint Christmas/birthday gift, that I would be happy to accept it. Problem solved! Only, as nice as a digital SLR would be, it is rather bulky, and I would also like to keep a little point and shoot handy for chasing after Monkeys and all, which would mean that I might have to go ahead and get a new point and shoot, as well as a SLR... And probably a divorce too.

Not ready for a divorce yet, I waited on hold with the Best Buy service department for over 20 minutes (surprisingly, my cordless phone-yet another Best Buy purchase- didn't die out on me during this time), and a very nice gentleman got on the phone and informed me that yes, I did purchase the extended warranty for that particular camera! He gave me my sacred warranty number, told me to bring that, along with my busted camera, to the nearest Best Buy store and they would have my camera back in tip top shape in no time! Yeah!!

So, to get to the long-winded point: I won't be posting any new pictures for a while... Except for this not-so-great one, which I was able to salvage for Auntie Kristen: And husband, even though my little camera will be mended soon, I still want a digital SLR for my b-day.