The night that started it all...

Our very first date, almost 11 years ago.

From Texas to Phoenix to Arkansas to London to Connecticut, it has never been anything but the best of adventures. 

Happy 8th Anniversary to us.




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Misquami-what?

Summer in New England is pretty fantastic.

One of the best things is that you are within an hours drive of many different states. To this Texas girl, whose daddy used to tell her while on family roadtrips:  "The sun has risen and the sun has set, and here I am in Texas yet", this is nothing short of miraculous.

Danny took the day off on Friday, and we had promised the kids we would take them to the beach.  So we packed up and headed to Misquamicut Beach, Rhode Island. Despite heavy traffic on the way there (which is very hard for  5 & 2  year olds to understand, I might add. We kept hearing the "beach, beach, beach!" chant in the backseat for the entire hour and a half we were stuck in standstill traffic).

This part of Rhode Island is on Long Island Sound, which means gentle waves that are perfect for small swimmers. However, it also means that there are no seashells, much to Kate's chagrin. We spent the day jumping in the waves, playing with seaweed, collecting rocks, and digging in the sand.  One of the things that surprised me was the mild temperatures on the coast. It was maybe 80 degrees at the shore, which means that you can actually sit at the beach all day without dying of heat exhaustion as you might in the South. The water was a bit brisk for my bones, but the kiddos did not seem to mind.

On the way back, we stopped to eat at a seafood shack that I have been dying to try. 

 

 It is right on the water, and you eat outside in the fresh ocean air with the view of the harbor.

 These kids have expensive taste. Kate declared that she wants lobster for dinner every day.

 

 

Strawberry fields forever

This is the last week of strawberry season, so today we headed to a local farm to load up. We picked 8 pounds of berries, and I think the kids consumed about 4. It was definitely a case of one in the basket, three in the mouth.

If you know my kids, then you also know that this is only about 4 days worth of fruit. We may go back tomorrow to get more for the freezer. If you have any great straw recipes, holla.


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Have You Ever Seen Someone Eating Pizza While They are Sleeping?

AlbaTurkey

We recently returned from a trip out West to visit Danny's family. The last leg of the trip was to Albuquerque to visit Danny's sister and her new baby. Kate kept referring to it as "AlbaTurkey", so we'll go with that from now on.  We discovered that both of our kids apparently get mild altitude sickness, as both of them got ill on the trip. Michael puked all over the breakfast table at a restaurant, and Kate chose a more private route of puking all over herself in the car, which then caused hysterical screaming and dramatic dry-heaving from Michael, due to the smell.

The kids were both enamoured with Baby Isaac. We had to stop Michael from shoving the doll's baby bottle in his mouth.

Danny's parents with all their grandkids at Isaac's baptism. The only way to get Michael in this photo was to hang him upside down like the monkey that he is.

We went up to Santa Fe for the day, where we did some hiking, picnicking, Georgia O'Keefe musuem-ing, and celeb spotting. We were studying the trail maps at Hyde State Park when I realized that I was standing next to Harrison Ford and Calista Flockheart. We saw them several times as we all tried to make sense of the poor information provided by the state park regarding the hiking trails.  I have to say that Hans Solo is a very fit looking 67 year old.

One of the coolest things was a last minute visit from Uncle Trey! He is a pilot with the USAF and had to do a routine flight on Tuesday anyway, so he flew into ABQ to meet us for lunch.
This was easily the highlight of Michael's year, as he not only got to get up close to the airplane, but also got to clamor around inside the airplane and 'drive it'.

In and out

No trip to the west coast is complete without In and Out. Kate declared it better than 5 Guys, due the fries.

-Michael isn't sure yet. He needs to eat there about 13 more times to make a smart, educated decision.



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Bitten

Does the butter at your house look like this?

The culprit, who clearly feels no remorse.


my iPhone

Why Michael falls asleep at dinner

Because this is how I have been finding him at naptime lately.



Observe the crib moved to the middle of the room. Oh, and he is not wearing pants. And his sister is a reluctant partner in crime. Obviously.

Dr Michael

Come sit down and tell me about what has been happening.
How are you feeling?

Tell me more! You had a dream about what?

Well, in my expert opinion, it is probably due to unresolved issues from your childhood. Did your mother hug you enough?

Hm. Interesting indeed. I had no idea that kangaroos could spawn human children.*

*Courtesy of Kate, who has been telling me all day that her real mom is a kangaroo.

Kate Turns 5

Yesterday was a special Mother's Day because our darling little lady turned 5.  Hard to believe.
Brand New. We were so surprised that she was a girl. I was convinced she was a boy.

I don't have any good photos from her first birthday party because she was getting her first tooth and decidedly Not In the Mood. But this was about a week after she turned one:

2nd Birthday. She looks so much like Michael does now.

Third Birthday, in London.

Fourth Birthday, also in London.

At her 5th Birthday Party on Friday, still making silly faces for the camera.

 She is so tall and slim now, and looks so much like a little girl.

This is how Michael gives hugs. At full speed.If you don't brace yourself you will fall over.

Kate's letter to god

Dear God,

I am almost five. I don't like to take a rest or tidy up, but I really love broccoli.
Sometimes I pray for my brother Michael, that he will be able to poop on the potty. I guess you heard me, because now he goes in the toilet all the time.


Love,
Kate



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Sibling secrets

Don't you wonder what they are whispering about?

I have a feeling it involves jelly beans.

Put me in coach, I'm ready to play

Lucky for kate, Coach also goes by "daddy".

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Love and Maple Syrup Go Together

March is Maple Syrup season. The warmer days and cold nights make it prime weather for tapping the maple trees to extract the sugary, delicious goodness. There is only about a 2-3 week window that the trees are able to be tapped. Since we now live in New England, I figured this was one of the things that we had to go do.  (Yes, this post is about 5 weeks late!)

We drove about an hour to a small town that was holding its annual "Maple Fest". There were several sugar houses there, and more maple syrup flavored foods than I have ever heard of.
theSaevas do love real maple syrup-none of that Aunt Jemima stuff at our house-so we were game to try it all.  Maple Syrup snow cones, cotton candy, hard candy, ice cream, hot dogs, kettle corn, and of course just straight spoonfuls were all on the menu. Along with a tummy ache.

The trees all have these buckets nailed to them to collect the sap.



















Oh, and maple syrup on vanilla ice cream is delicious. Try it...you'll like it.

Happy Easter

Easter was unseasonably warm here.  From what I understand, it is not uncommon to have snow on Easter here,  so this Texan was very thankful to be blessed with a beautiful day.

Kate is glad that she doesn't have a sister, because I would always dress them in matching outfits. I have to make due with what I can muster up in boy-girl sets. Danny tells me this will stop when Michael turns 3, so we don't end up with a Von Saeva family.

Cutting Michael out of this photo was not intentional. At least I don't think so.

Kate and Cowboy Dexter





We went to an Easter Egg Hunt at a neighbor's house, and they have a menagerie of animals. One of them is a 3 legged Great Dane. He was very interested in what was hidden in those eggs.

Day at the Museum

Yesterday was an unseasonal warm day, so we decided to take advantage of it by heading into the City.

We thought the kids would enjoy the Natural History Museum, so off we went.

I don't know who enjoyed it more, us or the kids.  Michael was so enthralled by the elephants that we could not even get him to turn around. Kate loved the exhibits on the Native Americans. She asked so many questions about their clothing, the housing, the animals they used, and the food they ate. I love that she is at the age of such wide open exploration and learning.

We ended the day at Central Park letting the kids run off some steam and share their goldfish crackers with this little guy.

These Squirrels are out of Nuts

Ready for spring, we are. Sadly, I think we have a few more snowstorms yet until we get there.

I'm daydreaming about my garden to get me through these last cold days. What are you guys planting in yours?

He was born a traveling man

Halfway to terminal 2 at ORD, michael discovers that indeed, napping on the flight would have been prudent.

he just stopped walking, lay down and tried to doze off. In the middle of the walkway at one of the worlds busiest airports.

Some people call him the space cowboy

What happens when your 2 year old gets into his grandmas makeup.

Kate said he looks like the joker.

I'm trying out a new app that will allow me to post from my phone. Hopefully it will enable me to update much more often!!

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2010

No lame excuses about being busy or anything else. Moving on.

Christmas was incredible. New Year's was a blast, and both kids stayed up until midnight. (!).
2010 is off to a terrific start, and I've seen more snow in the last 2 weeks than I've ever seen in my life.

A few photos from Christmas.
Christmas Eve with their matching PJs. Can you tell they are excited.

Family Christmas Eve photo, in case you forgot what we all look like:

And look at the vistors we had Christmas morning. Kate was very concerned that they were part of Santa's crew and had escaped, thus rendering the rest of the world Santa-less. There were 8 of them, playing reindeer games out in the woods behind our house.