Zoe's party

Zoe had a blast at her 4th birthday party. We celebrated at home with some of her friends and a fairy named Miss Chestnut. Miss Chestnut was an amazing face-painter and balloon animal-maker and was so good at staying in character that the kids really believed that she was a fairy and watched for her as she flew away over our backyard at the end of the party. We had amazing weather for the occasion and everyone had a great time.

This past year she reached several milestones including writing the letters and numbers, reading short words, swimming and doing a few rungs on the monkey bars.

Lilia's party

We celebrated Lilia's birthday at Fairyland with her 3 besties and Grammy and Grandpa.

Z and L

Quotable Lilia

Me: "The mailman is here, what do you think is in the big box he's carrying?" (it was Lilia's birthday scooter)
Lilia: (running excitedly for the door) "My baby brother is here!"

evening at the beach

playing in the "ocean" of paper

Our move and kitchen renovation have provided some unique play opportunities!

it's all about the gear

So far Lilia's favorite thing about school is carrying her backpack and her lunchbox.

1st day of school

the aftermath

The storm was pretty mild. We spent a morning inside and by 11 or so it was pretty nice out and we went for a walk. The following day we had some bonus time with Granny and then flew home.

pizza

waiting for Irene

We were supposed to fly back to NYC bright and early Saturday morning but our flight was canceled because Hurricane Irene was on her way. We spent Saturday outside in light rain. The streets and park were eerily empty and it was actually a really nice time to enjoy the city.

cousins!

Of course we didn't get one shot with all four kids looking at the camera. We had a great time seeing the family.

Dosas

We had to visit our favorite South Indian restaurant in New York.

Lilia is 2!!!!

To celebrate we saw Grammy in the morning and then friends in the afternoon and evening. For dinner we had mussels and chocolate cake -2 of Zoe and Lilia's favorite foods. Soon we will celebrate again with Lilia's playgroup.

At 2 years old Lilia is very talkative and outgoing. She loves striking up conversations with strangers (she takes after her big sister in this way). She loves playing with little figures of any sort. She also loves to climb. She loves doing anything her big sister is doing and the two of them are best friends these days and love to play together. She hates sitting in the stroller and will walk very far if she's given the opportunity. She knows most of the songs from Sound of Music and Annie and loves to sing.

looking super cute

hanging out with old friends

spending time with Granny

We loved spending lots of time with Granny while we were in NY.

walking with Granny and Aunt Jen

a little pre-dinner dance

water play