Vacation day 2

To answer Kasey's question, it absolutely was a time share pitch trip again. We love those! So in the morning we spent about 90 minutes listening to the sales pitch, but it went well and we didn't mind. In addition to the nicer villa, we also received $75 dollars in food credit and another 60 dollars cash.

So, we took full advantage of our "gift" and had lunch at local Alaska Pete's. Yum!

It didn't come to 50.00 though so we had to add some slices of cheesecake to take back to the fridge. Darn. ;)Out of order, but that night we used the rest and got 4 milkshakes and 3 more slices of cheesecake. We of course didn't eat it all that night, just the milkshakes. We enjoyed the cheesecakes in New York. Nice box, eh?

OK, back to day 2, we drove to a town with a great name, Grant's middle name,

What did we do in Easton, you ask? Here's a hint.

and another hint

We went to the Crayola Factory! It was so awesome! We had a great time and we took a lot of pictures, so hope you don't mind seeing a few (or a lot!).


Cool Giant crayon, eh?

Our favorite crayola colors are:

Christian-jungle green, vivid tangerine, and another shade of yellow.

Victoria's favorite color has always been pink until last week. Now it is blue.

My favorite color to wear is definitely black, but I enjoy looking at all colors. I prefer cool to warm colors and really liked some of the other colors I am touching- lavender, pacific blue, and razzle dazzle rose to name a few.

Danny's favorite color is "Carolina Blue", but the closest on this color wall was this one, cornflower. We wonder what Grant's favorite color will be. He is so laid back, he will probably say he likes them all and that will be the truth.

When we went to the Crayola factory, I was expecting a tour of the real factory, but it was more of a great children's museum. We did get to see how they make the crayons and markers though. Neat machines. The kids got samples of the crayons and markers that we saw them make. We got to sample a lot of their products too.

We were all big fans of their clay. Can't think of what it is called right now.

The chalk was fun too.

We tried out animation.

V made a giant sandwich

Christian took a break in a tube.

We all made paper bag puppets and blot painted butterflies. Christian's was in the drying oven.OK, so we didn't ALL make those things. Grant was sleeping for that part.Victoria and Christian and I had a blast with this part though! Fun with music, colors, and lights. We danced in front of a wall and our images/shadows played in front of us like a video. Hard to describe, but awesome!

Here's V.

The boy on the left is Christian.

Grant wasn't in the backpack the entire time. Here he is flying in the sky as a butterfly.

Speaking of flying, the time flew by there, but is not flying on this post. So, the rest of day 2 will have to be in another entry.

Happy Road Trip!

Spring Break! Yippee! Danny and V were home for the week and we took a trip to the Poconos in Pennsylvania. It was kinda random, but we had lots of fun.

The first day was mainly driving, but the kids did pretty well and slept a lot on the way.

Victoria and Christian helped entertain Grant.

His favorite monster helped too. Thank you again, Cameron!

After a 5+ hour drive with only one stop, we got to Shawnee and checked in. We were planning to stay in a little hotel room, but instead stayed in a little villa. (Free, might I add. Ask me about it.) We were excited to get there and look around. The kids were impressed and Danny and I were too. 3 beds, 3 full baths, a kitchen, living room, laundry room etc. Very convenient and so much easier than a hotel. It was nice to move all of our food from a cooler to a fridge and then serve lunch on real plates instead of paper.

By the way, homemade oreos... so easy and so delicious. Let's ignore the "so not healthy" part. We were on vacation, people. "This is not a hotel, this is a house." Pretty much a condo or townhouse.

Then we played in the indoor pool for a long time! We hadn't been in a pool since last summer, so it was a blast playing in the water. Initially Grant wasn't so sure about it, but warmed up to it and even started kicking as I pulled him around. Poor kid has such sensitive skin though. His skin did not respond well to the pool water despite bathing immediately upon getting out. Spotted baby boy.

Can't believe I didn't get any pictures of the best part of the day!f I guess it was a bit new and tricky supervising 3 in the pool. Plus, we thought we might swim again the next day. So I planned to take some then. Procrastinating Brooke.

Stay tuned for more vacation posts. Trust me they will be much more COLORFUL!

Guess what I am!

A coat closet! Hehe!

I didn't know where he got it, but V remembered...

Oh that silly Morris and that silly Christian! They make us laugh!

Easy Easter cupcakes

The kids and I made these for V's class. Easy and delicious and the kids liked them.

Airplane Rides!

What kid doesn't love an airplane ride?

Weeee! I'm flying!

Great Smile Christian!

Nice form V!

Oohh, crash landing!

Don't judge a fuit by its peel.

So, I have been wanting to try an ugli fruit for a while now. They were really cheap the other day and I thought it might be fun to try. Plus, I thought maybe snack time could be a good time for a quick lesson about judging based on appearances.

The kids weren't so sure that they really wanted to try an ugly fruit, but we cut it open anyway. Inside it looked just like an orange. A little more "appealing" on the inside isn't it?

We tried it. It tasted good, but sour too. I would describe the taste as a mix between an orange and a lemon. I sprinkled mine with sugar. It was very juicy and I think it would be awesome as "ugli-ade." We just might try one again sometime.

Victoria's favorite hairdo these days. It is just like her friend Lexi's hair.

And a funny side view. It looks a little neater in the morning. The poor girl has crazy baby hairs that come out and frame her face, just like her mother. She sure is cute though.

No two feet are exactly the same

Look at these cute little footprints!

If you can't read the fine print, lets find out who each footprint belongs to.

Sam's was the red one!

Christian's foot was green and oh so ticklish!

And Laurie made the pink print.

I just love 3 and a half year olds!

Brighter Backyard

I love trees, and like natural yards just fine. However, we want to have a productive garden and need a lot more sun to be able to grow one. So, some trees needed to go. Danny's brother, TJ, owns a tree service in Williamsburg called Tiki Tree Service. He was in town this weekend and Danny convinced him to come and knock down a few on his day off! Thank you!

We thought it was crazy to see him climbing up the tree with spikes on the sides of his shoes. He wrapped himself around the tree too( can you see what I mean?) But he just climbs them with a chainsaw hanging at his side. Kinda crazy and creeps me out a little, but can I really be surprised? He is the brother that climbed and worked on 1000 foot towers with Danny.

Quick pose

Timber! Down goes the Holly tree

A little higher

The kids watched through the window. Victoria thought it was pretty cool to see them climb and work. She also liked seeing the sawdust falling like snow as they fed wood into the chipper. Christian, shook his head and was worried that TJ would fall and "die", but watched anyway. "What is uncle TJ doing? What is he doing? I don't think that's safe. That's not safe!"

We were glad that you were safe, TJ. And we really appreciate it!

They didn't have much time to work, so they only got a couple trees down, but already the yard looks brighter. If they knock down about 5-6 more then we might have enough sun to grow some veggies! Wouldn't that be nice? Every year we try, and the plants grow, but hardly produce anything. Maybe this year it'll really work! Wish us luck!