Mid-Late May: Shenanigans

After our trip to Holland, MI, we kept it pretty low key.  We had another big trip coming up at the end of the month, so we did our normal!

Here are our shenanigans in pictures:

Just a normal ride around on the plasma car!

Learning to swing while standing!

My silly kitty.

I love this photo of Kate.

That hair though.  That beauty!  I am one lucky Mama.

We headed to the zoo!

And sat on a big bronze moose!

We also got to meet Nora, the new baby polar bear!

She was playful and cute and had since become a celebrity in our house.

We said hello to the beautiful cheetah that was just relaxing right
by the fence.

We also fed the giraffes!

Successful time feeding by herself!

Maya really enjoyed the train ride!

We headed to the park.
Maya Bear - all smiles, as usual!

Kate shows me she can do the fireman's pole
by herself.

So proud!

Practiced our grumpy faces...

And our genuine smiles!

And had our first tastes of watermelon which
was a huge hit!

We all had baths after dinner too.

She definitely didn't like the rind.

Kate organized a family people train at Brian's Aunt's and
Uncle's cookout.

It collected people along the way.

And Maya explored the play food in the kitchen
when sister bear was napping.

We played with dishes in the dishwasher.

And Kate and I had a super silly night one night where she
was being a complete goofball and we just laughed at
everything!  This was the photo I got to commemorate that
night.

On that same night, I found 200+ naked photos of
myself while I was getting dressed (thank you,
iPhone bursts) and this random one where Kate
asked me to mimic what she was doing.
Some sort of 'roar' evidently.

Kate slid down this super fun slide at gymnastics:

And we shared an ice cream cone in the car!

We worked on painting our lower case letters.

Maya joined the fun when she got up from nap.

We were having so much fun that we stripped down and got messy.

We promptly included baths.

And house cleaning...

We had a really silly dancer in our living room:

And we went to an awesome Touch-A-Truck event where we touched and sat in all sorts of trucks and other cool vehicles!

In the cab of an 18-wheeler.

In the back of a school bus.

In line for a helicopter.

In said helicopter.

Once again, Maya is super excited to be on a
moving train!

Big sis pushed little sis around in the shopping cart.

And I celebrated my 34th birthday with the family I love:

Brian, Me, Kate + Maya.

The big 3-4.

I usually do a birthday post, a little recap of where I am and how I am.  I'm skipping it this year and recapping with a 34 years old feels a little older than normal statement.  I'm not entirely sure why.  I don't physically feel 34.  I don't think I look 34.  I know I don't act 34, but for some reason this birthday just felt a bit older than normal.  That's the best way I can put it.

I'm 34.  I'm still young.  I still have a lot of living to do.  I'm still grateful to be celebrating birthdays, but 34?  Man, nearly 35.  And that means, nearly 40.  How is that possible?

Last day of gymnastics.  I love how intently Kate
is listening to her teacher.

I've said this before but I'm saying it again: the thing with being so far behind on our blog is I forget a lot of the little things.  Most of these groups of photos would have otherwise had their own blog posts, but for now the photos are being honored together in one post.  Perhaps that is a good thing.  I can and do get a bit winded sometimes.

Don't worry.  Once I'm all caught  up, normal posts will resume.  [Cue applause now.]

A Trip To Holland

Holland.

For a long, long time I have talked to Brian about making a [now] family trip to Holland to attend the Tulip Festival in Lisse - Keukenhof.  I first learned about this incredible place while I studied Horticulture in college and it left a lasting impression on my heart and soul.  (So did, like, 100 other places around the world I studied about in college too, by the way.)

Every year when we talk about where we are going to travel, I bring this up.  So, what does Brian do?  He finds us a Tulip Festival...in Holland...and books us a trip.  BUT, and there's always a but, it wasn't Holland.

It was Michigan.  Holland, Michigan.  Five hours north-ish of Columbus, OH.  It was doable, affordable, and we both kind of thought it would semi-squash that aching for the real thing and perhaps become an awesome annual trip.  We learned otherwise...

When we first heard about the tulip festival in Holland, MI, we had HIGH hopes.  I mean, this tulip festival was supposed to be a compromise to THE REAL THING.  So, we compromised Holland, MI for The Netherlands "Holland" and found a Tulip Festival called Tulip Time to curb the desire of the real thing.  The festival really started on Friday night, May 6th, and went through the following week.  We decided to head up and go right before the actual festival started and stay through the beginning.

Thank goodness we did this because with the early spring we've experienced most, if not all, of the tulips were either at their prime bloom or already past it.  Negative mark one.

The tulips we did see were very pretty, but they were a lot more sparse than the photos online showed.  Negative mark two.  For instance, we took a walk down "Tulip Lane" which was supposedly part of a walking path that lead you through the town with tulips.  Yes, the street was lined with tulips.  Yes, it was pretty.  But, it was two tulips deep.  And it looked...forgotten.

Ok, maybe more than two deep in some areas but not more than four.

We visited Windmill Island Gardens where there really is a Windmill and the fields are planted with thousands of tulips.  But, again, it was not nearly the amount of tulips that I expected to see.  I mean, I expected tulip fields as far as the eye could see.  What I got was tulip rows, as long as the arms could reach.  Negative mark three.

In addition, the entire atmosphere was very...touristy.  There were carnival type food vendors that lined the streets.  There was a carnival, think state fair, type of festival that was supposed to be at night.  The areas denoted as good areas to view tulips seemed like small planters full or beds filled with tulips.  And it wasn't because we were there a day before the festival started.  We saw the same exact tulips that the festival-goers were seeing too.

Like I had mentioned, most of the tulips had already bloomed and a lot of beds with the "early bloomers" simply had tulip stalks.

The windmill was neat, but the people giving tours were literally sticklers about any extra noise while they were presenting.  They also looked as if that stinkin' windmill was the last place they'd like to be.  If I didn't know better, I could've sworn we would have had a quiz at the end of our tour and would have gotten slapped on the wrist with a ruler if we didn't answer the questions correctly.  Luckily, that was not the case.

On top of it all, our directions took us there through a bunch of country roads and it was just a really strange and long travel route AND Kate was not in the greatest mood for the majority of the trip and didn't really want to do anything we suggested...even with an unplanned park stop and snow cone thrown into the mix.

Overall, we were thoroughly disappointed in Holland, Michigan's tulip festival.  It was a complete letdown.  We were happy to have gotten in later on Thursday (before the festival), had Friday to explore, and to have left early on Saturday.  Suffice it to say, we will not be going back as a planned vacation or making this an annual trip.

On some positive notes, we stayed at an amazing hotel right downtown (Courtyard Marriott), right on the parade route.  Kate and Maya loved the balcony and we loved people watching.  We also ate at a really decent, albeit touristy, place called Windmill Restaurant.  The food was inexpensive and tasty and filled us all up for breakfast two mornings.  The downtown was quaint and really quite pretty with all the little boutique shops.  The little kids dressed in their dutch costumes were positively adorable.  And, it was Mother's Day weekend, and I had both of my babies in my arms at one point.  That always makes everything better.

On one last positive note, Kate still talks about this trip.  Whenever we are playing she mentions going to "Michigan, Holland" at some point!  (And I can vouch for this since I am writing this three months post-trip.)

And now, our first and last trip to Holland, MI in photos:

Maya climbed into our bag to get her blanket before we left!

After 5-ish hours in the car and Kate still wanted
to be pushed on the luggage carrier.

Maya gets her first peek at the balcony!

A little breakfast in bed for our littlest lady!

Kate and Daddy at the Windmill Restaurant.

Mommy and Maya too!

My little dutch girl at the park we stopped to play at.

Taking a walk around a local Holland park.

Maya Bear with the tulips.

Getting this photo may have made the trip worth it!

But having both of my babies in my arms definitely did.

I love this.

After our walk around, we headed to Windmill Island Gardens.
Complete with a windmill...and some gardens...though not on
an island...

This was the best we got for our family photo.

Tulips.

Lovely tulips.

My girl in a row of tulips.

Trying to capture a moment.

And that I did.  They both aren't smiling but they are both who
they are at this moment.  And I love them completely.

Maya checks out the windmill and the already
bloomed gardens of tulips.

The view from the windmill.  That little area where all the
brightly colored tulips are is where all of the photos above
were taken.  It probably is really pretty when all the rows
that are in the forefront of the photo are blooming.

Checking out a random person on the street showing
off her bird friends.

Pre-wooden shoe dance sister entertainment.

Wooden shoe dances in the street.

All together now.

And a little klomp-klomping for your viewing pleasure:

The kiddos got to take a turn at the end too.
Minus the wooden shoes.

One day I'll make it to Keukenhof for the real thing.  One day.

First Week of May: Family, Photo Shoots and Poison Apples

We had an extra special week this week because my Aunt Jennifer and my Uncle Ricky stopped in Columbus, OH for a couple of days and we got to spend a lot of time with them because they were staying about a half of a mile away at a hotel right down the street.

I can't stress how amazing it is for me to have my people visit me and my family in Columbus, OH.  When we are in Maryland, we are pulled in a lot of directions.  We typically get to see a lot of family and friends but it's usually limited time.  When my people come to Columbus, OH, I get them to myself, for more than a couple of hours, without having to share, and I can keep my girls on a semi-regular schedule.  It's awesome.  I become extremely selfish, and I love it.  It makes me so happy having my family and friends over because I don't really see them all that often in the grand scheme of things.  I am extemely grateful that my Aunt and Uncle were able to make the trip this May!  It was SO NICE to see them on my turf.

In addition to these two incredible people being here, we had a lot of our normal.  Just enjoying our days together.  That is what it's all about.

These two littles have my heart...BIG TIME.

Uncle Ricky keeping Maya warm after some pool time!

Love them!

Aunt Jennifer is an amazing Aunt and took Kate swimming.
She totally got her hair wet!

My little bear looks so snuggled and it's so cute.

We had the entire hotel pool to ourselves!
#perksoffamilyathotelsdownthestreet

Kate is still very into role playing and more recently has taken the Snow White role.  She will randomly collapse on the floor which I have learned means that she has just taken a bite of the poison apple.  The only way to revive her is to give her true love's kiss and to gaze lovingly into her eyes.  It's borderline awkward, but I know these days aren't going to last, so I play along.  It totally threw me for a loop though the first time it happened.  Picture Kate throwing herself on the floor and not answering me when I asked what was going on.  Several moments later, as she picked her head up only and let out a deep sigh, clearly annoyed that I didn't get what was going on, she muttered, "Mommy, I'm waiting for true love's kiss.  I ate the poison apple."  #ok  #icanhandlethat

The thing is, these collapsed "moments" often happen at not so opportune times for me.  Like, in the middle of making dinner when I've got five different things I'm doing or when I've just picked up the basket of folded laundry and am making my way upstairs or, as in the instance below, when I'm feeding Maya and can't really get up for a bit...

But she has the collapsed look down pat!

One day this week we were all just watching the cars drive by outside and we turned our outdoor watching into a little photo shoot.  I never ended up getting a photo of both girls smiling at once and ended up giving up on that idea but I did get some pretty good outtakes along the way!

These two love just watching the great outdoors.
I actually like it too.  #letsbuildusafrontporch

Maya's moment to be cute and give a genuine smile!

Kate's moment to be cute and give a genuine smile!

Kate blocking Maya and Maya demonstrating her love of being
blocked.  #not

Kate smushing Maya to the back of the chair and sticking her tongue
out at me.  #whatdidido

Kate and Maya casting some sort of "no more photo" spell on me.

Kate showing Maya her teeth and Maya looking
intrigued/appalled.

Next stop: Holland!  But, trust me, it's not what you think.

Nine Months Old

Maya is nine months old.  We just had her well visit yesterday and she weighed 16 pounds 10.5 ounces (25th percentile) and she was 27" tall (25th percentile).

Sister bear is such a joy.  She is so curious about everything, especially things that Kate has or things that Kate does.  Her face lights up when she sees her big sister.  After all, Kate is still her world.

She's eaten more non food things than Kate ever did including: wrapping paper, books, dirt, sand, paint, leaves, grass, and homemade slime to name a few.  I'm pretty sure she scraped a piece of bird poop off of the table outside as well but I can't be for sure.  I guess it is true what they say about second children.

She officially started crawling on March 8th, 2016 and has never turned back.  Girlfriend is mobile and can get wherever she wants to go.  This includes going upstairs which she also loves to do.  She is also standing like a champ still and even makes advanced standing moves, like bending down and picking something up.

She is totally spatially aware which amazes me.  It's incredible to watch her.  If she drops a ball and it rolls under the couch, she bends down and looks under the couch like she's always done it.

She also grasps concepts super fast.  I feel like we show her how to do things one time and she tries it and does it right from then on.  This also amazes me.

She is super smiley and super vocal with screams, grunts, etc.  These sounds get very loud which I'm extremely curious to see if they stay loud or if they mellow out a bit.  It seems as though they get louder when she wants or does not want something.  She definitely knows what she wants/does not want.

She's been pulled, twisted, tackled, and tormented already in her short nine months of being outside of the womb, but I think that's what being a younger sibling is all about.  Then again, she jumped a couple of times while she was in the womb too when Kate dropped a loud play teapot in the empty bath tub.  Perhaps she's been tormented since conception.

She loves her some Mama, but she does not love snuggles.  She likes getting her milk from her milk lady and then pushing her milk lady out the door.  That's code for she likes nursing and then putting herself to sleep.  If I stay in the room to try and cuddle, she just thinks we're going to play and ends up staying up longer.  I already miss my baby snuggles.  Especially because I know they just get fewer and fewer from here on out.

Maya Bear seems to be her official nickname.  It has stuck with all three of her family members and I think even Jack knows it too.  Speaking of, she absolutely LOVES her some puppy dogs.  Small dogs, big dogs, any dogs.  And she loves being outside too.

Maya in an incredible addition to our family.  She is so precious and we are enjoying ever moment we have with her.  Kate adores her just as much as Brian and I do and I think she's even more excited for Maya to get a little bit bigger so they can officially play together.

Seeing the bond grow between these two sisters has been wonderful.  They are going to have some serious fun together.

We love you, Maya Bear!  Happy nine month birthday!

She loves her headband!

And so do I!

Crawling like a champ.

What posture you have, Maya Bear!

Hi, sweet baby!

In addition to watching how fast Maya is crawling, listen for Kate's giggle in the video below:

She sees something she wants...

Yep, she'll probably taste it if I let her too.