Beach Day

On Wednesday, Hannah and I loaded up the kids and headed to the beach for one last lazy day of summer. We went to a state beach just between Dewey and Bethany Beaches on the Altantic coast in Delaware - about 2 hours drive. After many "Are we there yets" from the backseat and an Anais accident in the car while putting on swimsuits, we schlepped through the sand with all our things including a double stroller, tent, 2 chairs, sand toys and 4 kids. Ellen and Anais had fun making sand castles and chasing seagulls and Hannah and I both got in a little swim. The highlight was seeing dolphins swim by near the shore - according to the locals, a common occurrence in the area.

Almost 6 months

The twins are closing in on the 6 month mark and we've begun a bit of baby boot camp with a strict schedule thanks to the book "A Contented House with Twins". An oxymoron if you ask me but we are giving it a whirl. We're on day 5 and it seems to be going well. They are eating and sleeping at the same time and in bed around 7pm. Nicolas is handling it better then Dylan and has already had several good nights including a 7pm - 6:30am sleep with a "dream feed" at 10pm. They have both gotten pretty good at going from 10pm to at least 4am without a feed. For my kids thats pretty impressive.

Little Princesses

Jodi's an Iron(wo)man!

My BFF, Jodi, finished her first Ironman Triathlon in Canada this last Sunday. She did the whole thing in 14 hours and 11 minutes!!! That's a 2.4 mile swim in 1:32:48; a 112 mile bike in 7:19:20 and a 26.2 mile run in 5:06:20. Pretty amazing. And after cheering her on from my computer desk, I've been inspired to finally start running again post-babies. So today I ran a very slow 30 minutes (with a little bit of walking here and there). I'm a long way from an Ironman or even a 10k but a girl's got to start somewhere. Thanks for the inspiration, Jodi. You rock!

Our new Romper Room!

We finally got around to finishing something around here - thanks to Ellen's birthday party! After several trips to Ikea and hours and hours of painting and organizing (Thanks, Hannah!!!), our basement has become a place for the kids to play, read and create. The space was perfect for Ellen's party and we are looking forward to making many more memories down there. Here is a before and after shot as well as 2 photos from one exhausting trip to Ikea.

Lizards in the park

Ellen and Anais met a new friend in the park a couple weeks ago.

Ellen's Birthday Party

Ellen turns 4 tomorrow and we celebrated today with a birthday party complete with Princess cake and Tinkerbell plates. Here's a photo of Ellen with her much anticipated cake and one of Anais swiping a couple bites of Ellen's very special "Cinderella" piece!

Nicolas meet Nicole. Nicole, Nicolas

I went to LA last weekend with Nicolas in tow. Somehow traveling alone with a 4 1/2 month old was the most relaxing restful trip I've had in years! Nicolas is truly an angel and slept 8 hours straight both nights. Why he doesn't do that at home is beyond me. We were in LA for Drum Corps International Championships and shared hotel space with my cousin/biz partner, Nicole. My old team, Blue Devils, won their 12th championship!!! It was a great trip and I'm really glad I had a chance to go.

And the little one said "Rollover! Rollover!"

Grandpa Dave

Grandpa Dave stayed with us for 3 weeks in July. We all had a wonderful time with him and are so glad he was able to visit. We miss you, Dad!