Posts Tagged ‘travel’

My Week(214) in iPhone Photos

Sunday, December 7th, 2014

We played a little hooky this week. Since E is on actual non-working vacation for the first time in three years I’ve declared December the DON’T CARE month and we’re doing as many fun things as possible, even if it means skipping school. The kids are 5 and 3, I’m pretty sure they won’t be educationally handicapped for life just because they missed a few days. Especially considering last week was half-days and Evan spent them watching movies. They’re probably better off with us in Ohio, learning useful game-playing skills like Battleship and Hand & Foot.

Sunday:

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No no, no pictures please

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My extremely fancy and professional set up for Christmas card photos

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I COULD have gone to the grocery store alone, but then who would have said hello to all the lobsters??

Monday:

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The pretty sky makes this house look extra creepy

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MOMMY TAKE A PICTURE

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Magic garden of the future!! Caroline tried the parsley. Said it tastes like parsley.

Tuesday:

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Abominable snowman ring pop was an excellent choice

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It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

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Look Ma, found my foot

Wednesday:

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Internet, meet my new baby, Laptop, meet the internet.

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5 pm teacher conference might as well be the MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT

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She made up a song about his feety-feet and sings it all the time

Thursday:

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Abandoned gas stations make surprisingly good places to stop on long trips

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She’s the Queen of Burgers

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“Mom, did we trash the place?” “Yes honey, you trashed the place.”

Friday:

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Teaching Evan about targets… “And that’s why Daddy works on submarines!”

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A quick wrap job so I had my hands free…

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…for the important stuff.

Saturday:

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Why yes you may go outside and play in the freezing cold if you want.

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Hello, is it me you’re looking for?

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Linc and I went for a freezing cold walk to look at lights. He lasted 2 minutes before he fell asleep – and stayed asleep – for almost 2 hours.

I can’t believe it is already the second week of December. TOO FAST TOO FAST. I need more time to do all the holiday stuff. Plus I haven’t even MAILED Caroline’s birthday invites. If I hadn’t ordered them already I’d be tempted to just make a Facebook event and send it to my entire friends list and just hope a few people show up. I can’t imaging why I feel so rushed and disorganized this year. Maybe I’m not drinking enough Diet Coke. That MUST be it.

Kiawah 2014

Wednesday, October 15th, 2014

Oh, the beach house. Why can’t real life be like the beach house?

If you haven’t been reading for years, the beach house belongs to the uncle of one of my friends. He allows us to borrow it once a year for a long weekend. It has 6 bedrooms, each with their own private bath, a huge kitchen, 3 wine fridges, a fully stocked (with alcohol) butler’s pantry, every TV channel ever, a deck and private pool, and beach access to an always deserted private beach. Everything about the beach house is nicer than my own house, including the dishes and beds and beach toys. There is a planter full of herbs that grows on the deck, so if you need fresh basil for dinner it’s right there. The towels and sheets are color coded to the bedrooms, so the cleaning service can put them all back in the right place when we leave. I imagine the beach house is what life is like for celebrities every day.

This year we went from three kids at the beach house to SIX kids at the beach house, ranging in age from 2 months (Linc!) to five years (Evan!). The number of adults actually fell. The weather wasn’t very good and I only made it down to the actual beach once and I drove alone for two days each way to get there AND my car broke down 10 miles from Kiawah…but it was still an amazing vacation.

The beach house is lucky. It turned out my car just had a dead battery, the baby slept through the night, and my often-missing husband even made it to the house for a very brief visit. It was so great to see my friends and talk about life and jobs and changes and babies. We’re already planning for next year’s trip (and saving up for a nanny, since we’ll have 6 actual kids, rather than 3 and 3 babies). I can’t wait.

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Having kids at the same time as your friends works out well.

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The pool was pretty cold. They did not care.

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We try to buy a gift for the owners every year. This year we bought a huge crab pot, so next year I can fit all the lowcountry boil in it.

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So much foooood.

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There’s an old fashioned pharmacy/soda fountain in the shopping center on Kiawah

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The beach was a little bleak without the sun, but it wasn’t too cold for the kids.

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He really wants to learn how to surf

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He was really good at boogie boarding though!

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Linc likes the beach for about 5 minutes.

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The “O” has a sad face in it, because Princess Sadface had a meltdown about…something. We still aren’t sure what.


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Then she cheered up.

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Couch naps, not just for babies!

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Caramel apple pie. Recipe coming soon.

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Caroline LOVED that there were lots of people who let her help in the kitchen.

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Eating cake in her jammies. It was both early for cake and late for jammies. Vacation!!

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He’s not actually that grumpy, he just makes that face.

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Helping with important work. Or maybe playing games.

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Reading to Baby Jesus.

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The appropriate way to eat chocolate ice cream.

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Linc is almost exactly the same size as his 4 month and 6 month old baby friends. FAT BABY, OLD MAN FACE.

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Last morning at the pool

 

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Goodbye beach house! See you next year!

What We Did Over Summer Vacation (2014 Lake)

Friday, October 10th, 2014

It’s October, but that’s not going to stop me from posting these photos I took in August.  Maybe I’ll have the Kiawah trip photos done by Christmas.

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My Week(205) in iPhone Photos

Monday, October 6th, 2014

This week (the one we’re in, not the one in the photos) is International Babywearing Week. In the last 2 months I’ve been totally brainwashed by those sneaky babywearers, who got me with their pretty patterns and fabric geekery and adorable selfies. I promise I’ll take pictures of other stuff one of these days, but since THIS week is IBW, I can’t promise it will happen soon.

Sunday:

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He’s a jumper, not a toe-dipper. He does not get it from me.

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Pretty in Pink

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Vacation baby sleeps on the couch

Monday:

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I don’t think this qualifies as “baby” wearing

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He’s frowning because this is NOT the pool with the gorgeous view. He still loves the actual floaty.

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That’s my kid hugging my best friend’s kid. FEELINGS.

Tuesday:

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We were supposed to leave at 7 am. Oops.

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So of course this is what happened on I-95. More than an hour parked…

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…which lead to some car nursing. PARKED. WE WERE PARKED.

Wednesday:

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Vacation recovery day. I just stared at this for 12 hours.

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FOXES. I’m not sure I’m going to keep this one, but it’s so adorable

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A sea monster to eat your baby!

Thursday:

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My baby bump is still there. It’s just tied on to the outside.

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She thinks she’s “sneaking” apples for a snack. OH NO DON’T EAT THE APPLES.

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Floor nap success!

Friday:

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Sweater weather

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This one is called Ahoi and Caroline says it’s her’s.

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They would walk for hours if the sun didn’t set so early

Saturday:

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Great Grandma brings the best presents

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Caroline thought Brutus needed to be put to bed

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I’m not keeping this one, even though Linc seems to like it.

It’s officially fall here in Connecticut, although I am resisting turning on the heat for at least a couple more days. It’s gorgeous and my photography is getting busy again and there are way too many fun things to do. We also got (what I’m calling tentative) confirmation we’re going to be staying in Connecticut for at least a little while longer, so I can just enjoy my friends and my life and not worry about starting over somewhere new. Although Hawaii is going to start looking pretty good when they come fill the oil tank.

My Week(204) in iPhone Photos

Sunday, September 28th, 2014

I’m at the beach and never coming back.

Sunday:

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His face looks like this 90% of the time

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This photo was taken at 3 pm. Those are pajamas.

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Siblings

Monday:

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Babywearing pedicure

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Oceany toes in preparation for the beach

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After school face

Tuesday:

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Purple is a good color on him

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Not happy about those shots

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The icee machine was broken so someone stole my vanilla bean frap #spoiled

Wednesday:

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Pumpkin muffins taste better at MorMor’s house

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Watching Friends on my parent’s couch because I am actually 16.

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Foxy baby jams from Target

Thursday:

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Even soaking wet play areas are more fun than riding in the car for 8 hours

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My car died on the way to vacation, but Frozen + headphones helped (Car is fine now, dead battery)

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At the beach, you drink champagne with your snacks

Friday:

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It’s only like 73 degrees this weekend

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Spoiled children don’t even appreciate how huge this house is

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All those things are mine.

Saturday:

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Everything about Kiawah is nicer than regular places. This was just set up at the shopping center for pictures (I guess?)

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When I was pregnant with Caroline, we called her Sandy

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There are so many awesome things in this picture.

Like I said, I’m at the beach. I’m never leaving. Although I did ignore my children and put down my mixed drink long enough to finish my nursery post, so if you want to see Linc’s nursery you can come back tomorrow. I won’t ever see it in person again though, because I’M NOT LEAVING THE BEACH.