Jack's Third Birthday

Hard to believe he's gone from this...

to this. What a sweetie pie.

Birthday boy excited for some waffles!

Big sister even more excited for presents.

Jack's present opening started at 8 o'clock in the morning, and I think he finished the last one around 8 o'clock at night. The boy can't be rushed. And it was driving Clara crazy.

Party time! We all gathered in the back yard, and Jack enjoyed some power pushes on the swing from Grambles.

Snuggling with Grambles

Clara and Su-su. Clara hadn't seen Gramby & Su-su since her birthday, so she got to open some gifts of her own.

Nay2 and Jackie Boooooy

Opening gifts part II.

Uh-oh, look at that stance, potty break!

Of course by then the food was ready. Lunch is served: hot dogs, potato salad, asparagus and strawberry salad.

Pondering the years.

Back to presents. Musical card from Memo & Augs. If you can't make it out, it's playing, "Conga" by Miami Sound Machine. Classic dance song at the Carrig household.

Coffee pot to go along with his mixer.

Checking out the bells and whistles

He really wanted the coffee beans finely ground.

Excited for presents and cake!

Three candles! Jack was a bit leery of the open flame, so we opted not to light his candles. That seemed to be just fine with him.

 Enjoying his chocolate chip pound cake

And with all the excitement going on, look who has a new trick! Meghan can sit up unassisted.

Who had a great birthday?

Waffles for dinner? Sure! My big three and five year olds!

*Insert "Superhero" Here* to the Rescue!

Happy Birthday, Jack! 

Haven't sorted through all the wonderful pictures and videos from the day yet. So here is a back yard moment from an afternoon last week.

Clara is calling out 'Wonder Woman to the rescue', to which we responded that Pop-pop would be so proud, or at least he'd enjoy saying it in his patented Pop-pop-ese. Jack is saying 'Humpty Dumpty to the rescue', though clearly he is more durable than the classic Humpty Dumpty. Jack as Humpty Dumpty totally would have totally gotten back up on that wall.

Spring Break 2012: Cousins

Clara's spring break the first week in April overlapped with Annabeth & Aunt Jo-jo's month long visit to Richmond, so we got to spend lots of quality time with our extended family in from the Pacific Northwest.

On Tuesday morning we headed over to Maymont park. I believe this was taken before we actually crossed the fence from the parking lot into the park. They were already loving the lush green grass.

Grambles with his three mobile grandchildren. I think he's in control.

On the way to see the animals, we detoured to pick wild flowers.

Jack really likes the sheep.

Goats!

Snacktime

Meghan enjoyed stretching her limbs after being in the Ergo.

Of course the toddler wants the baby toy, 

and the baby wants the grass.

Thursday morning we gathered at Gramby & Su-su's house for an Easter Egg Hunt.

The players:

The Hunt begins...

I think this picture pretty much sums things up.

Jack discovers eggs are more than meets the eye.

Jack abandons the hunt in lieu of treats while Clara enjoys the fruits of being the only participant interested in actually hunting eggs.

Lunch followed the Easter egg hunt. Check out Meghan & Annabeth dressed alike.

And on Saturday the big kids hung out one last day with Annabeth.

Grambles with his "Thing Ones"

Exploring the gazebo

Yesterday in the Park

I think it was the fourth of July, err.... not as such. I think it was the twenty-fourth of April just doesn't have the same ring to it.

Anyway, we were in fact at the park and on the greenway yesterday afternoon, and I thought I'd take a break from playing catch-up to post about our outings.

I caught this cute video of Jack jumping from stone to stone with a return trip on the balance beam. His arms are really working hard to keep him balanced. :)

Clara and her friend Janie playing orphans. Apparently the game is dictated by the garb, and those are "orphan" dresses.

Check out Meghan working the tripod! I tried her only a week or so ago, and she didn't last more than a second. She'll be sitting up before long.

Attack of the man-eating baby.

Big smiles as she attempts to rip my face off.

After leaving the park to which we had driven, I decided was too nice a day to not walk, so we headed out again. Meghan had been pretty fussy all day, so it was a good chance to have her nap in the Ergo. Later we determined the cause of the fussiness, a new tooth! Hopefully it will break through soon and bring back my happy baby.

Always time for some bench pictures, though lately Jack has been too fast for me to get them together. He says, "let's keep moving." I must say that a lot while off-roading. :)

And for a parting shot: today's bench picture.

Aloha, Uncle Jack & Dy!

This post is a long time coming but nonetheless important because it heralds the arrival of Jack & Dy to Raleigh and the East coast! Woohoo. We were so excited to have them come stay with us for several days the first week of March. 

Clara loved snuggling and reading with Uncle Jack & Dy every chance she got. Meghan on the other hand didn't cooperate quite as well. Poor Dy, Meghan seemed to explode every time she'd try to hold her.

Leave it to Uncle Jack to invent some new games. He dubbed this "Massive Kicks" which then became "Massit Kicks" by Clara.

And the Ring of Fire!

When it was time for Uncle Jack & Dy to move on up the coast, Memo & Aubrey came to our house to pick them up. And they brought us O Sole Mio for lunch! We had our delicious steak sandwiches for lunch out on the deck thanks to the unseasonably warm weather that undoubtedly Jack & Dy carried with them from Hawaii. Of course Memo seized the opportunity to snuggle with each of her great-grandbabies. Meghan discovered Memo's glasses, Jack gobbled down some chocolate eggs that Memo brought, and Clara didn't miss a chance to have Memo read her a chapter of "Felicity", the American  Girl story we were reading at the time. (Best thing about iPhones is that Memo had no idea I was taking her picture when she was holding Jack. Check out that winning smile!)