"Quick, lets get all this in the cart before they notice"

a busy middle and end to July...

I apologize for the lack of posts in July. Everyone is doing fine. The girls were on vacation from the hotel with Mima Fitz in Williamsburg for a week and have been spending fun weekends playing with Mima Gurr in Alexandria as we try to get the house clean and empty and ready for our official move up to PA and such.

We are still keeping busy during the week with trips to the local playgrounds and parks in the Harrisburg area and we hit the pool sometimes twice a day.

Addysen starts her gymnastics class tonight so I'll see if I can sneak a camera into the gym for a pictures of her first day.

Anyway, I'll be updating with photos a little more often throughout August.

We hope to catch up with cousins Mauricio, Michael, and Alexander, and friends Evan and Brook before the summer fades away..

The Playground at Crestview

The weather was perfect today for a day at the playground! After breakfast the girls and I decided to search out a "new" place to play. We headed off towards Longs Gap and Crestview in search of a playground that we have seen from the road a couple of times while driving by. We found the park in no time and Addy was running to the slides before I could get Ave unhooked from her car seat.

The playground at Crestview is the perfect size and the girls really like it. Addy really digs that it is purple, blue, and red!



The playground has lots of places and things to climb which is essential to good times..



It also has some really good places to get way up high and check out the view..





We even found a slide that is the perfect size for Avery to climb up the stairs and come down "almost" on her own...



Addy gives this playground a thumbs up and a "so cool" and she has already decided that we will be going there again in the morning.



I'm pretty sure Avery won't mind at all.







until next time...be good.

4th of July!

This past weekend we headed south to Williamsburg, Virginia to celebrate the 4th of July with Mima Fitzgerald, Granddad, and Monty.

My parents hosted a huge party with all of the cousins on my Mom's side of the family and all of the kids and so on from each family (sadly Michael and Aunt Peggy were not able to make the long trip out this year) there. Still, they had a lot of people running all around which kept things fun and busy all weekend for the girls.

Addy and Ave loved absolutely everything about the weekend as they have been missing their grandparents and Monty quite a bit while up here in PA.

They especially liked playing around at both of the pools and the pizza party at the waterfall pool with their cousins.







And we always like lounging around the house.







We capped off the weekend with some 4th of July fireworks! Williamsburg has a first rate fireworks display. This is our second year in a row to see the fireworks in Williamsburg and we are already looking forward to doing it all again next year. Addy has already said that next year she wants us to get closer to the fireworks...who knew.

This year, despite the larger crowds (last year the area was fairly empty due to the rain that only cleared just before they shot off the rockets and such and we stood practically under the entire show - it was amazing), my Dad was able to find a great place to park the van and we all got to watch the show from our parking spot.



Addy felt that the front seat of the van provided the best (and safest) viewing of all the fireworks. She watched most of the show and would excitedly call out all the different colors as they appeared in the sky above her. Good stuff!

Koser Park in Mechanicsburg

Last week we discovered this big park and playground in Mechanicsburg, and it's just a few miles east of us.

Koser Park is tucked back into a residential area and is full of kids from the neighborhood to play with. The playground is surrounded by ball fields and has lots of room for Addy and Ave to run (crawl) around. There are also lots of trees that provide much needed shade for breaks and such.

Addy loves climbing up everything at the playground..





Avery has really started getting into climbing as well. Here she is eyeing up the red stairs next to the bench we found for our stuff.



And just moments later...



Addy likes to run across this wobbly bridge about twenty times before she starts on the slides.



And the girls agree this is the best slide in the park, the super fast twisty slide (seriously, they must grease this thing or something). I'll try to get a picture of Ave and I going down next trip.









Avery can't wait until the day she can go down on her own.



One last slide and we're off to the pool...

North Middlesex Park

One playground we like to go to often is North Middlesex Park. We usually hit this park a couple times a week. The drive is very short, just about 5-10 minutes away from where we are staying right now.



Addy also likes that we have the whole place to ourselves. We have yet to see a single person playing on this playground in four weeks. I have no idea why - it's a bit older but it's always clean and the great views of the surrounding mountains are perfect.






And it has a seesaw. Good stuff!

Childrens Lake in Boiling Springs

We did manage to get back to Boiling Springs to visit Childrens Lake and feed the ducks and swans. There is a little store on the corner that sells huge $1 bags of corn for feeding the ducks.



Addy likes to toss as much food in at one time so that all of the ducks come running and quacking all around us.



Ave thinks that's pretty funny too...

Two weeks too long...

I apologize that it has taken us (okay, me) so long to get a new post on the ol' blog. We've been running between Carlisle and Alexandria each weekend and then with school and the holiday this past weekend I just haven't had many free moments to write. Now, armed with a coke and a full bag of pizza combos, I will press on and upload as many photos of the girls as I can while I "cheese my hunger away"...

The girls are doing great. They both seem to love our mornings together preparing for our adventures. Just this morning Addy told Avery that she was her "best friend ever". Good stuff!

Chocolate World

Today Addy, Ave, and I headed back to Hershey to take on Chocolate World! We rode the Chocolate Tour...



We met three very happy singing cows...



We drooled over Hundreds of Hershey Kisses in the making...



Yummm!



And then we ate lots of Chocolate (and a bottle of formula) in the shade outside...good stuff!

Hershey Gardens

Yesterday the girls and I went to Hershey to meet Tammy and Evan at Hershey Gardens. We spent most of the morning in the Childrens Garden. The Childrens Garden has lots of fun things to do including a Butterfly house with over 300 of the little guys flying around and a hedge row maze shaped like a huge pretzel which we ran around in for a while.



Hershey Gardens is full of beautifully landscaped open spaces as well as lots of little nooks for kids to explore like this sleepy creek.





After climbing to the top of this friendly pig...



...Addy and Evan found a quiet place to regroup, check out the map, and grab a much needed snack.





Evan loves the train and would have played there all day if the girls hadn't convinced him we would come back later.



He is also a master at spotting all the fish in the pond.





Here are two of the pictures Addy shot in the Butterfly House.