Getting ready for preschool

I can hardly believe it, but Charlie and Lily start preschool next week! They're only going for 2 1/2 hours twice a week, but still, it feels like a new chapter in our lives is starting! They're very excited! We've been spending this week getting ready - talking about what school will be like, talking about their teacher, etc. And this morning they made their "all about me" dolls to bring on their first day. I thought they were too cute not share. As you can see, Charlie's has a theme ;)

Love, Annaleigh Donations

Tonight Joe and I sorted through all the donations for Love, Annaleigh that we've received in preparation for Wednesday. To say we're thrilled is an understatement - just look at all the wonderful things we'll be bringing to the St. Peter's NICU and PICU. Thank you to everyone who donated!

Wildwood 2012

This past week we took our annual trip to Wildwood. We had an amazing time! Thank you SO much to Uncle Jim, Nick and Jen at the Acropolis for having us again this year! We were lucky enough to share our vacation with MomMom, PopPop, Crackers and Uncle John. As I tell all parents of young kids, I don't recommend taking family vacations without grandparents to help ;)

Checking out the beach as soon as we arrived.

First dip in the ocean for the year. They loved it just as much as last year!

Our little diva taking a "fudgie wudgie" break.

My birthday fell on our first day of vacation so we celebrated at a super fun restaurant/ice cream parlor/mini golf course called Duffer's. It had a train that ran around the ceiling of the restaurant that Charlie loved and the most humongous ice cream sundaes ever.

This picture makes me laugh every time I see it.

Happy birthday to me!

First attempt at mini golf.

Relaxing with Daddy and the Cookie Thief iPad book before starting another busy day.

Say what you will about mini vans, but can your sedan fit six full-grown adults, two preschoolers in car seats, a double stroller and beach gear?! ;)

The hotel pool is always a hit! And this year I invested in Puddle Jumpers for Charlie and Lily, which totally changed our lives. They can "swim" around all on their own!

Chilling with MomMom.

Lunch on the hotel room deck after a busy morning at the pool.

We rode bikes on the boardwalk every morning before breakfast, and we spent two evenings there doing the rides. Wildwood has the best boardwalk, and it was just a few blocks from our hotel. I also ran their every morning too, although I don't think it did much to counteract the affects of the ice cream, fudge, caramel corn...

Showing off their airbrush tattoos - matching kitties. We tried to talk Charlie into the turtle or fish, but he insisted on the kitty cat. With gold glitter. Lol.

Charlie and Lily loved visiting their grandparents in their rooms every day. They'd march right down the walk and let themselves into the rooms.

Hotels are fun!

We had to stop on our bike ride one morning to see the "giant beach balls."

Another day in the sand.

We went to a pirate dinner show one evening. The show was kind of lame and the food was pretty bad, but it was affordable and right on the beach, which was really nice. And Charlie and Lily got to meet some parrots!

We ended our trip with a stop at the Cape May zoo on our way home. There were lots of animals to see but Charlie and Lily were more interested in riding the carousel and train and playing on the playground.

Roar!

We didn't really buy any souvenirs on our trip, but I couldn't resist this lifeguard sweatshirt for Charlie. How cute does he look in it?!?

And Lily got a "Call Me Maybe" shirt in honor of her current favorite song ;)