Summer Explosion...Part 1

We had a great time at Grandpa & Grandma's house in June.  We were there from June 19th-24th.  It was too short so I think I will have to head back in September without Nick so we can stay a little longer. :)  I have to divide this post in to more than one since it was a jam packed 4 days!  Grandpa named it Summer Explosion 2011 once he heard about Camp Nonna.  :)

The first day we headed to the grocery with Grandma while Jack napped and then we went to Rita's and got some water ice for the adults and custard for Isabella.  

We spent some time in the pool out pack.  Grandpa played with them for a couple hours.  They had a blast.

Jack really didn't know what to think at first.  Well he thought plenty...he thought he didn't like it.  He eventually became brave enough to sit in the little pool.

Grandpa let Isabella dump water all over him...what kid doesn't love that?

Grandpa tried to convince Jack to come in, but when he realized that was a lost cause, he joined Jack in the little pool.  :)

The kids loved being with the dogs.  They enjoyed playing with them and giving them treats.

Isabella created a game called the "Isabella mystery."  She made a trail of blocks to lead us to the "mystery."

 She wanted Grandma to find her...

But Jazzy beat her to it!

I think that was just fine by Isabella!

Jack loved playing with the dinosaurs that Grandma bought for her toy bin.

Jack likes to make them "disappear."  They do this when he puts them very close to his eyes and then kind of squints.

The dinosaurs also love climbing through tunnels.

Watching a movie after a long day.

A Jam packed weekend!

This weekend was busy, busy, busy.  We headed to NJ on Saturday morning to spend the day with the other De Angelos and Nonna and Pop-pop.  We spent the morning just hanging out and playing and then Doug and Katie made us a delicious lunch and dessert was compliments of Nonna.  It was nice to not be hosting.  :)

Ring around the rosey with Gianna.  All the kids and I were doing it prior to this and Jack still wanted to do it after Mark and Isabella had quit, so Gianna graciously accepted a couple more turns.  After she was done she instructed Jack to hold his own hands and do it by himself. Hilarious!

In the afternoon, we headed down to a community festival where it started pouring right about the time we got to the field.  So we got a little (or a lot) wet, but we had a great time!

The boys rode the train with the mommies.  It definitely would have been more fun without all the rain...Mark didn't love it. Jack kept saying "I like the rain" but I am not so sure that is really how he felt.

They also had free pony rides, and since it was raining and there weren't as many kids Isabella got to go twice around and then she got back in line for another turn.  She loved riding the pony.

She and Gianna were also excited about the bouncy houses they had.  There were several of them.

Isabella found it pretty challenging to climb this in the rain because she wanted to go too fast. Gianna got it on the first try.

There were also little games and swag at tents.

On the drive home that night Isabella said her favorite part was the "festiball"!  The day was a success!

Sunday Chris and Cristina drove up and met us at church at 9 am and then spent the day.  Chris and Cristina helped us makeover Isabella's room and we played a lot with cousin David.  They decided to stay for dinner and Father Bob was previously scheduled for dinner so we all shared a lovely meal. We had duck with plum sauce and chicken with plum sauce...delicious!  And I made another rhubarb pie.

The kids were done eating dinner, but the adults still wanted to talk so the kids caught an episode or two of Team Umizoomi.

Isabella's room makeover

We decided to finally paint Isabella's room.  We got the go ahead from our landlords and since I know Nick hates the whole process from start to finish I decided to do it during the week when he was at work. It think it was hard enough to convince him to buy the paint. ;-)  

This was what the room looked like before we started. We had taped it out at this point.

And after a couple coats of paint...

This past week Isabella was hard at work making butterflies to hang from her ceiling.  She made them with coffee filters, food coloring, and clothespins.  They turned out so cute and we hung them from the ceiling with thread.  Then Chris and Cristina came up this weekend and they made us some shelves made out of rain gutters.  Totally stole the fantastic idea that they featured on their blog recently. :)  Uncle Chris also helped hang Isabella's name over her bed.  Here is the finished product.

A vast improvement!!

Our big INDEPENDENT girl!

Isabella has become very independent lately.  I think she was a little slower to independence than some.  She has always been pretty happy to just let us do it for her. But she has suddenly realized that it is cool to do it all by yourself.  She gets up in the morning and uses the bathroom all by herself (victory!), she buckles her car seat, she builds train tracks for Jack or playsets, as she calls it, she reads all by herself, she beads necklaces and key chains all by herself and she definitely gets dressed all by herself according to her (although she can't figure out the direction that her pants go on, maybe why she likes dresses so much).

Last week she wanted to make her own sandwich. :)

Our big girl also started gymnastics.  Her first class was last week and class #2 is tomorrow.  She loved it!

 Our Little Gymnast!

They both look like such big kids to me in this picture.  We went to a little get together after mass on Friday at the rectory.  My kids were the only kids there and I just love them sitting and sharing their pastry.  They are growing up so fast (granted Isabella's feet aren't touching the floor yet or anything...that will be a crazy day!)

Nursery School End of Year Program

Isabella's preschool class had an end of year program.  It was adorable.  The little boy sitting next to Isabella did not appreciate performing.  He cried pretty much the whole time.  After the show we asked Isabella why Jacob was crying and she was incredulous.  Nick asked her if she thought he might have been scared. She said "no".  Later I asked her if maybe he was scared and she said "of what?  Maybe he had a monster under his seat?"  It cracks us up that she can't even conceive of being scared to perform.  She was totally in her element.  She spaced out a few times, but she enjoyed singing and dancing for an audience.

They each received a diploma for Nursery School.

They were all so proud of themselves!

Here are some videos if your interested:

I just love these two!

We got a few outdoor toys now that the weather has improved and we have fun playing bowling on the patio.

I need to note and keep forgetting that Jack has been fully potty trained.  He went to undies in April at 20 months.  I love his little boxer briefs! :)