Cedar Waxwings

Outside of our window late last week - eating cabbage palm fruits.

The Zak's visit the Zak's... again

This past weekend we headed down to North Fort Myers to visit the (Ben) Zak's and company. We had a great time hanging out at home, playing with the kids, and exploring the area.

Looking for wildlife at the slough.

 Green heron hunting for dinner.

 Some of the terrain; thank goodness all the trails were boardwalks!

 

 

Ah, the wit of a 5-year-old :) Lydia was very tired at this point (as you can tell by the hair-twirling), and for those of you who don't know, she calls her pacifier her 'pi'. She had a pink one which we lost but now she calls every pacifier a 'pink pi'.

 We stopped here for supper one night after the boys did a little fishin'.

Cereal time.

Sprinkler time.

Getting some help opening a birthday gift from Uncle Benny and Auntie Janna, which she promptly wanted to try on :)

 Attempting a cousins picture:

 Not too bad...

 And she's off.

 We are going to miss them terribly :( 

On our way home on Monday we had made plans to spend the day at Siesta Key, which, according to Dr. Beach, is one of the best beaches in the country. And you know it's reliable since he's a doctor and all.

It may seem crowded now, but remember this was only a Monday! Yikes.

Beautiful water, shallow enough for little kids, sand the consistency of all-purpose flour.

Dr. Beach was right.

Lydia loved the sand almost as much as playing in the water, which is good because despite our warm winter, the Gulf is still just a little chilly. We'd have to drag her out when her lips started going purple.

It was an especially windy day which brought some cool kites to the beach. Lydia called this one a 'snake'.

 We stayed til sunset since this will probably be our last 'beach day' before we leave. Lydia had a short nap in the morning in the car but didn't sleep at all in the afternoon. By 6pm she was quite loopy.

 If you ever have the chance to go, we highly highly recommend it!

*************

edit: Forgot to mention - I had so many toppings left over from the Elmo cupcakes I decided to bring these and Rice Krispie treats. The Oreo's and Reese Pieces, however, were eaten. Mostly by me.

And now back to our regularly scheduled knitting

My most recent knitting project - a little hat for my friend Polly who is a mere days away from popping out kid #2, a girl. Very exciting!

The top of the hat is a bow made of knitted cords. It was a fun and fast project (which is why I prefer knitting for babies rahter than adults - much faster to finish:).

I'm pretty sure I misread the pattern though and made it a bit too long, so she may have to fold the ribbed edge up so as not to blind the poor child.

My second most recent knitted project failed to get photographed before being put in the mail, which is unfortunate because it's one of my favorite projects so far - a little sweater for the daughter of some dear friends. Hopefully when it eventually fits said daughter I can convince them to send me a picture :) (Hi Wakeman's!)

A very merry un-birthday to you!

What to do when you lack the desire to have a regular birthday party? 

Invite your neighbors to the park and bring cupcakes. Kids having fun + little work = happy birthday girl and happy mama.
This was one day after her birthday, hence the title, in case you were wondering/cared :)

Lydia has 2 good friends here at out apartment complex who are a few months older than her, and I'm thankful to have become friends with both moms. 

As you can tell it was hard to convince the kids to not touch all of the cupcakes before eating them :)

Despite this face, William and Lydia actually get along very well :) My guess of his inner monologue: You mean we're can't eat until we sing a song? What is this nonsense?

I can't blame him, that's usually what I think at birthday parties, too.

This is Itay (pronounced Ee-tie); he understands Hebrew (from mom), Spanish (from dad), and is learning English. This kid isn't even 2 1/2 and he's already smarter than me.

 This is how Lydia and Itay play together: run around screaming, fight over the swings, hug and make up, and then Lydia feels like her personal space is being invaded and starts to cry. Repeat daily.

Adi (mom) sings lots of songs to Lydia in Hebrew and she just loves it.

 Here is a list of 'party supplies' that I brought to the park a.k.a. the playground at our complex: cupcakes, sippy cup, wipes, a garbage bag, and my camera. That's right, I'm awesome.

(Please ignore my hair, I'm deep in the awkward-growing-out stage)

 These were quite a hit with the kids actually, which made me happy. Elmo cupcakes! I found some decorating ideas on Pinterest (Oreo mouth, Reese's nose, mini-marshmallow and mini-chocolate chip eyes, red sprinkles).

The morning went as planned: start with cupcakes, let the kids run the sugar off until everyone is crying (which they did, especially Lydia). Thankfully our neighbors/friends are very understanding :) We're so glad they celebrated with us!

And later that day, finishing the last 'Elmo cake':

March Madness

Two years ago today our lives changed forever, for the better. Better than better in fact. For the amazing.

The birthday girl, who thinks it's funny to not look at the camera.

 Such a joy in our lives, even on the parenting-is-really-hard days.

 Happy birthday to you, sweet Lydi-bug!