Rainy Day Adventure

Kate woke up this morning ready for a new adventure. But where do you go when it's raining at the beach, other than touristy beach shops? Well, we went off to the aquarium today!!


Kate had never been to an aquarium before, and I was really excited to see her reactions to the fish and animals. We walked in and everything she saw evoked, "Wow, Mommy" or "Look, Daddy!" She really enjoyed the experience.

A few friendly creatures greeted us upon arrival at the aquarium.

There was a sting ray tank where the kids could reach in and touch the rays as they swam by. Much to our surprise, Kate, typically quite brave and adventurous, shyed away from the chance to touch a ray. She did reach in with much prompting, but I think God gives you an innate sense of danger: stay away from sharks and anything that has the word sting in it! She's no fool! She did touch a sea urchin though in the tidal pool.

Kate saw all kinds of fish, alligators, snakes, salamanders, eels, frogs, and sharks! There was a huge shark tank, and two divers were in cleaning the tank. One of the divers waved to Kate from the tank, but she was a little apprehensive about getting too close to the moving sharks.

Of course there were also turtles to been seen - a favorite of Kate's and Daddy's. The aquarium had a unique sea turtle rehab center, where they saved sick turtles and return them to wild when they are able. They also had a sea turtle tracking exhibit, that seemed pretty interesting. Here are Kate and Daddy with some fresh water turtles.

So at the end of the day, when we sit and talk to Kate about her time at the aquarium asking her what her favorite animal was that she saw today. Kate responds, "The persons waving!" Out of everything she saw, it was the diver in the shark tank that waved to her sticks in her memory.

Off to the Outer Banks

We are taking our beach vacation a little late this year; however, there is something wonderful about the ocean in the autumn. Josh managed to work a business deal so that we got a week's stay at a family's home in the Outer Banks, North Carolina. The house overlooks the sound and is in a nice quiet neighborhood with beautiful walking paths and quick access to the beach.

Yesterday, Josh, Kate, Shayla, Auntie Shawna and Cousin Gabriella all went for a swim in the ocean, while mommy stayed homed and enjoyed a wonderful nap. Kate has loved flying kites with Daddy (Daddy bought her a small turtle kite just her size), finding shells, walking to the pier and playing with her cousin! She also enjoys chilling on the balconies and admiring the view.

Our niece, Gabriella, loves horses! So today Uncle Josh took Bri and her mom, Shawna, off on a wild horse adventure! The northern part of the barrier islands is a horse/wildlife sanctuary. There are Spanish mustangs that have roamed these parts of the beach for ages. A tour guide took the three of them in a jeep deep into the dunes and restricted access areas of beach in search for horses (and possibly some boars too!). It was a two hour ride through sand, dunes, and very cold winds. Katie would probably have loved the adventure, but pregnant Mommy and little Kate decided to wait the adventure out this year and plan on doing it another year down the road!

View from the jeep

State law requires humans keep a distance of 50 feet away from the horses. Must be tough to adhere to this law when you walk out your front door and find them munching on your grass!

I Love Firefighters!

There is a fire station right down the street from our house. We drive past it almost every day. Each time we go by, Kate says, "I love fire fighters!". Her aunt Debbie bought her a fireman's hat a few months ago that she loves to wear, and Daddy bought her a toy fire engine just last month that is one of her favorite toys.

Today, the station hosted an open house, and Josh took Kate and her cousin, Gabriella, to go check out the engines. You might not be able to tell by look on her face, but she really did have a good time. I think the music was really loud for her, and she was a bit apprehensive. However, she loved getting to sit in a fire engine!!

Fall in the Finger Lakes

Josh and I just returned from a few days in the Finger Lakes Region of New York. It was Josh's birthday, and we decided to celebrate with wine country. My parents and my aunt Jeanne and Uncle Billy also joined us. We had a fantastic time. Josh toured a total of 17 wineries. I went to a few, but since I can't drink while pregnant, I opted to spend some time alone in the hotel reading and napping. It was a great balance of romantic time with Josh, fun times with family, and priceless time alone.

The foliage just started to turn toward the end of our stay; it was beautiful. Oh, how the bright colors and crisp autumn air makes me long for New England again. I think part of my soul feels like I'm in New Hampshire when we go to Lake Seneca. We only took a few pictures, but it's hard to capture the essence of what your seeing in a small viewfinder!

Kate and Shayla stayed with "Aunt Holly" in Long Island. She very graciously offered to care for our brood so we could go away. Our trip involved a lot of driving - MD to Long Island (way the heck down long island too)- LI to Upstate New York - back to Long Island - back to MD. We are glad to be home now. We managed to bring Kate and Mia back some incredible pumpkins. Josh bought his share of wine; I shopped at the fresh produce stands!!

Kate Learns to eat noodles without her fork!

Kate has never been a fan of spaghetti, but tonight she decided to give it a try. Actually, she "swiped Daddy's noodles" off his plate and found out that she loved them. It was a messy dinner, but at least she ate (a rare feat these days). She's a mess, but boy is she cute!

The video today just makes me laugh! I found the original video of the baby panda sneezing on facebook. It can be seen here:
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=50666972814&ref=mf

Like Kate, I can't stop watching the Panda video because it is so funny. I've probably watched it at least 30 times.

I hope this is something that makes you laugh!

Choo Choo!!

Debbie and I met at the Rio yesterday. The kids were so excited to ride this little train that goes around the promenade area. We actually rode it twice because the kids enjoyed it so much.