Yay for family!!

     Visits from my family make me so happy and excited.  My dad was able to come out to the East coast to visit.  First he went to New York to visit Bryan, Wendy and Jack.  Then he traveled to Maryland to visit Matthew, Courtney and their kids there.  And on Sunday, he drove the Delaware to visit us.  It was so nice to see him again :) I haven't realized how much I have missed those old man jokes of his :)

 He took us to Dairy Queen to get a little desert.  The kids were thrilled!

 Jane, of course, was so happy to have grandpa around and cuddled with him a lot. It was really darling :)

 My dad had the sweet idea to have a combined birthday party for all the grand kids since he wasn't able to participate in their birthdays :) So, Ryan and I drove to Maryland on Saturday to join everyone for the day...and the party which Jane and Beckham were so excited for!! There was a cake and everything:)

 Though taking turns to blow out candles was a little sketchy, all the kids felt so special and loved the birthday cake!!

 My dad got each grandchild a few presents.  Jane and Charlotte loved their new dresses for the new Brave movie from Disney.  Merida (the new princess from the movie) had been Jane's favorite princess ever since:)

 We have been trying to explore Delaware more and more and managed to find an actual HIKE!!  It felt so much like home to be hiking, surrounded by trees and woods and a lake.  It was a nice day!

 My little Beckham is getting so big!!  I just wanted to add this picture cause he is getting so brave and and grown up.  AND I have a big announcements about Beckham...he is potty training and doing GREAT!!  Yay for my big boy Beckham!!

Thank you dad, for visiting us.  It made my day :) And if anyone else wants to visit us... any way, any place any time is good for us:)

Travel, travel, travel!!

 Our goal, while living on the east coast, has been to travel and see as much as we can.  A while back we were able to take a weekend trip to Washington DC for my niece, Charlotte's birthday.  While there, we went to the DC area to do some exploring.  We stumbled across the National Botanical Gardens and they were AMAZING!!  We had so much fun exploring this beautiful place!!

Ryan takes such wonderful pictures!!

 There was a beautiful garden surrounding a center pool with fountains.  This was, for sure, my favorite part. It was so beautiful!! My cute kids really add to the scenery as well :)

 There was a fun little children's garden that the kids really enjoyed.  They loved planting their own flowers in the garden.

 And watering all the plants...

 Just outside the gardens, was a huge man made pond.  Beckham insisted on getting a closer look.  And once again, props to Ryan for getting a darling picture of my kids pondering life while looking at the scenery :)

 Just this past weekend, we took a somewhat impromptu trip!!  It was such a fabulous weekend and just the little break we all needed.  First, we drove to New York and visited my brother Bryan and their DARLING son, Jack for a bit!!  Then we explored NYC.  Ryan found a cool Greek restaurant that is owned by a Food Network chef.  The food was delicious and the atmosphere was really nice!!

 Next, we visited the Museum of Natural History.

 Here are Ryan and the kids by the African elephants.

 Beckham loved the gorillas...or the goriyas, as Beckham would say :)

 This HUGE tree stump amazed me!!

 Under the Whale in the ocean. room, there was a dance floor that we relaxed on for a bit.  Beckham was exhausted...

 But the energy came back quick and he and Jane had a grand ol' time dancing.

 Of course, once the kids noticed the water fountains, we HAD to play in them. It was fun and relaxing :)

 After saying goodbye to my family in New York, we headed to New Jersey to stay in a very unique and fun hotel.  Here's a picture of the stunning NYC skyline disappearing into the clouds.

 The next day we headed to Philly to go to the Sesame Place.  It was such a fun day!!

 Jane went on her first BIG kid rollercoaster!  She was super brave all the way up until this moment...right before we boarded.  No turning back now.  She was a little scared but had a great time!

 This was a cute little carousel.

 All the rides in the park were made for kids.  So we were all able to go on the rides together.  We enjoyed this big swing.  Both the kids felt like they were flying :)

 This rocket ride that went up and down was made for kids but was still pretty intense.  I sat next to Beckham and coudn't see him during the ride...but I think he liked it :)

 Most of the park was a water park.  It was a HOT day so the water was heavenly!

 Jane loved Abby Cadabby so much!

 This was Elmo's big bouncy bed.  Oh the kids had so much fun!

 Sweet hug!!

 Cookie Monster's cookie mountain was super fun!  I want one of these in my back yard someday.  You climb up with bare hands and feet...

 Then slide down! FUN

 We happened to catch the cute parade on our way out.  They sang and danced to songs about counting and ABC's.  It was just cute and darling.

We had a wonderful, adventurous quick trip, going to three states in two days.  The East coast is so different that way but a lot of fun too!!  We are having a great time exploring our new home :)

Ripe For The Pickin'

 One of the BEST things about little Dover, Delaware is Fifer Farms!!!  This Amish run farm has wonderful seasonal produce, delicious home made goods and super fun festivals for every season!!  This past weekend was the strawberry festival.  So, we decided to go and pick our very own fresh strawberries to celebrate the strawberry festival.

 The kids had ALOT of fun and thought picking their very own perfect, red strawberries was just the best thing ever!!

 This little guy was my favorite strawberry.  He was all wrinkly and warty...he looked like an old man :) He sure was tasty though!!

 Here are the spoils of our little excursion!!















                              
And here are the kids enjoying their hard earned strawberries...DELICIOUS!!                         

Here is a very appropriate picture of Beckham in his "I am full" pose!!  This is a new thing he has been doing lately that I think is just cute.  It makes me laugh every time.  "Look how full I am, mama!!"

We had some new neighbors move in a few months ago and we have become pretty good friends with them.  I am so grateful to have some good friends live so close...it makes Delaware feel a bit more like home.  Well, here is just a DARLING picture of their two boys (in super hero costumes :))and Jane and Beckham looking out the window...Cute!!

Colonial Jane

 This past weekend, Jane had the wonderful opportunity to perform at Dover Days.  This city celebration is a big deal in Dover!! Everyone dresses in colonial dress and celebrates being the first state.  Jane was very excited to be a part of this wonderful celebration by dancing and singing with her schoolmates.  They got to dance and sing around a maypole and everything!!  It was too cute!  The picture above is of Jane with her wonderful school teachers.

 I didn't spring for a colonial outfit for beckham but he was still very excited to be there with Jane :)

 Here is Jane posing in her new colonial outfit...she LOVED it!!

This little gal is growing up way too fast!!  Happy Dover Days!!