{Outer Banks, North Carolina}

For Adam's final Spring Break, we decided to take advantage of the entire week off and we headed down to the Outer Banks.  We stayed at a beach house with two other families and we were about 50 yards from the water.  The little beach towns down in the area are packed with things to do and there are 4 lighthouses within the area that so charming to visit.

On one of the rainy days we headed to Jeanette's Pier that was recently rebuilt after Hurricane Irene.  We went to a craft class for the kids and being the offseason, we were the only ones there which was fantastic!

Olive was totally saying with those eyes, "Look mom, I am really trying to use my 'colors' so back off ok?  I am busy right now."  She is obsessed with purple and always says she has her 'colors'.  

The pier was really fun to explore with a couple of beautiful fish tanks to check out with bright tropical fish and also fish that are locally caught.  The girls loved watching people fish off of the pier and would have stayed all afternoon.

The Bodie Island lighthouse is one of my favorite that I have ever seen.

The beach was just amazing.  At night I kept thinking that I was hearing airplanes come in and land, but it was really just the waves crashing onto the sand.  It was a lot more soothing after I realized that :)

The Currituck Lighthouse was more impressive in person than on the picture that I saw.  It is the only unpainted lighthouse in the area and is surrounded by beautiful walkways that run along the water.  We spent a really long time here enjoying the warm day.

The girls loved hanging out with Orville Wright at the Wright Brothers Museum.  It was so fun to see where they took off from on their first glider and plane.  The spots are also marked where they landed the first few times.  I thought it was hilarious that the person that they got to take a picture of the first flight was a lifeguard that happened to be nearby.  

One of the darling families that we spent the week with was the Prince family.  They had a little girl and a little boy.  The Hamilton family also had two girls so the little ones had non stop entertainment!

Here are all the little loves enjoying the bonfire getting heated up.  I was so worried that they would all want to get super close to the fire, but they all just sat so mature like in their beach chairs and enjoyed the evening.  Adam is the cutest dad and bought glow stick wands that were a hit from the dollar store.  They were all in heaven.

I just don't think one can look more sugared up than this!

Brian and Adam went fishing on the pier one day and caught lots of Skate and also a Puffer fish.  The Skate are in the sting ray family and absolutely have the most disgusting mouths.  I will spare you a shot of it.

Caroline was completely shocked to see those skate come out of the water.  Her reaction was priceless!

Have you flown a kite lately? 

I think that the kite flying topped everything we did that week, even seeing the lighthouses which says a lot coming from me.

We bought a real nylon kite and they just soared up in the air and were so fun to control from down on the beach.  We were out there for hours just enjoying them flap around in the wind, it was so relaxing.

Digging in the sand was another favorite activity for Caroline and Olive.  They would just sit and dig and plow in the sand all day.  The beach is the best playmate for any kid.

The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse has the well known barber shop swirl for it's decor.  It's a toss up between this one being my fave or the Bodie Island one.  

Ocracoke Lighthouse is on an island that you take a car ferry to.  We almost got stuck on the island due to wind and a boat getting stuck.  While we waited to hear if we would be able to leave, we were able to do some shelling on the beach.  Adam was able to find a huge conch shell which is so cool.

Since we waited such a long time to get back onto the ferry, we were the beneficiaries of a beautiful sunset on the way home from the island.  Each side of the road was lined with beautiful bodies of water and the colors continued to become more vibrant.

The Bodie Island Lighthouse looked so picturesque in this light.  

I will go back to Nags Head anyday.

Spring in Bloom

The first day of Spring was greeted warmly and beautifully here in D.C.  The cherry blossoms are at their peak and they will make you feel giddy and romanced as you walk under the white canopies of flowers.

This little doll was in heaven making bouquet after bouquet of sweet smelling blossoms.  She kept giving them to all of us and was proud of her little arrangements.

Olive was in bliss splashing in every puddle she could see as we strolled along the tidal basin.  

She was delighted by the effect every time!

Walking under the branches that just drape over the sidewalk had us all in awe.  Then the girls were in awe that they got the ducks to come over to them without anything to feed them.

We are truly smitten with these two little loves.  Every time one of them does something, Adam and I find ourselves making sure we both heard what cute thing they said, or saw what sweet gesture they did.

And Adam couldn't be more ready for another little gal.  These two have him wrapped around their little fingers.  They think dad is the coolest...he plays hide-and-go-seek in the dark...with flashlights (thanks to the fun idea Uncle Jon and Aunt Erin).

I think Japan wins for the best Valentine's Day gift ever given in history, 3,020 cherry trees that deliver millions of flowers to Americans every year without fail!

March of the Leprechauns

Last night there was a lot of mischief going on at our house.  There were four little children tucked in bed (because we were watching 2 of our friends kids) not making a peep, so they weren't the ones up to trouble.

We had leprechauns visit and they made a mess in the kitchen trying to cook.

They used both of our bathrooms and forgot to flush so the water was still green.

Luckily we set a trap that worked and we caught some!

 Since they were caught they turned into cookies and had no choice but to give up their gold!

(We used E.L.Fudge cookies and took care to leave out the ones with "elf" written on the back for the kids who can read.)

The kids were delighted to wake up and screamed when they saw the little footprints all over the house.  They looked for leprechauns for the rest of the day.  We taught them a song to help lure them to the house again.

March of the Leprechauns

"The leprechauns are marching, their marching down the hall,

their marching on the ceiling, their marching on the wall.

Their marching two by two, and now it's four by four,

What's that you can not see them?  Lookout! Here come some more!"

They sang the song so many times, and hid a little bowl of treats in different places.  We had to have one more leprechaun visit later in the day.  That song is a special one because Adam learned it at his mom's preschool, Early Bird Preschool taught by Miss Gae.  It was fun to tell Caroline that Grandma B knew all there was to know about leprechauns.

For breakfast we enjoyed a fruit rainbow similar to what we enjoyed last year.

The little ones also enjoyed some milk made by the leprechauns and some Lucky Charms.

They loved eating their fruit with decorative toothpicks, they figured that the little sneaky green guys made those too.  

Don't kids make holidays the best!?  Thanks to the Taylors for joining the fun.

Yew Nork

Last weekend I went on last minute much needed girls trip!  No, not a trip with girlfriends, just me and my little Caroline and Olive.  We went up to Yew Nork, as Caroline calls it, and visited a friend whose husband was gone for the weekend.  She has two darling children that are exactly Caroline and Olive's ages so we were all very entertained the entire few days.  It was a great change of scenery for Olive who has perfected the lovely art of being two.

The drive up was memorable for me because as the girls fell fast asleep within 30 minutes of the ride, our little 22 week old little girl was extremely active inside.  I had turned off the B-I-N-G-O music and was listening to actual tunes that I enjoy belting along to, and I just felt our newest little one wriggling around.

I wasn't running around missing all of her action, I was able to just sit and smile as she poked and jabbed, it was wonderful.

The funny thing about the trip was that everywhere new we went I kept telling Heidi, "Oh I wish Adam could try this or see this!"  So I guess instead of leaving anybody home, we will just have to stick together as a family because it's too sad for anyone to miss out!

Friday night was so great because a sitter was with the kids and we went and explored free of strollers, diaper bags and worn out kids.  I was in awe right when I walked into the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  There was a live orchestra playing music in the lobby.  I could have sat down right there and been content for a couple of hours.  To add to the ambiance there were also live blossom branches placed all over which were so inviting.  The museum is open late on Friday and Saturday nights so it's perfect for a girls night or a date night.  

After soaking in the art, we scouted out an incredible hidden restaurant called Hudson Clearwater.  The front looks like a store front that is closed for the night, but then you walk around the side and there is a green door that was open and you walk through a charming little patio with twinkle lights.

And then you come to a quaint little restaurant with a dessert menu that had our mouths watering.  

To list a few they have a Butternut Squash cake with Cinnamon Buttercream and Dark Chocolate and Cocoa Brownie with Raspberry sauce and fresh fruit.  There is a whole list of charming little places to eat that look like the food is incredible here.  I can't wait to try some of the others when I go back someday with Adam.

(Pictures from Cup of Jo: NYC Guide)

Eating was pretty much the theme of the trip.  I think I consumed about 50,000 calories over the course of the weekend.  There are too many new and tempting places to eat, so we indulged.  

On Saturday morning we hit a place that I had heard rave reviews about last summer while we lived there.

Max Brenner absolutely lived up to all the hype.  Basically we had dessert for breakfast, but it wasn't crowded at all and the toffee banana crepe with caramel drizzle was devoured in no time.  

We passed on the 50mL syringes filled with purely chocolate that you can by which I think was a good choice being 10 a.m.

We stayed around Union Square and hit the Rocky Mountain Park as C calls it.  There is a slide that you climb up some rocks to get to and therefore she dubbed it the Rocky Mountains.

Another hidden little park that looks amazing is Teardrop Park .  Who knows how many clever little secrets New York has to offer, but it sure is fun to find them!

Some of the shops in Union Square are to die over.  This store is Anthropologie's home section on steroids.  They thing I was dying over was the selection of chandeliers because I would love to put one in the girls room someday.    

I don't have good pictures of Fishs Eddy, but this place I was in love with everything!  They have everything from small dainty cake platters to cool trays of New York.  I ended up with some small orange patterned bowls for different toppings when we have Cafe Rio salads at home.

They had endless amounts of perfect party details as well.  Pure L.O.V.E.

Heidi and I took turns sitting outside with the four kids because taking kids in here is just disaster waiting to happen!

After a much needed rest back at the apartment, Heidi's husband arrived home and sent us out again sans kids.  We did some shopping and then ate more healthy dessert at a tiny little cafe ChocoBolo.

I could have just sipped the hot cocoa all night, it was rich and so creamy.

Not only is the food and dessert worth stopping by for, but the atmosphere is unique somewhere you just want to take your sweet time eating.

The painted brick walls and the detail in the woodwork and mirrors blew me away.  

And the bench to sit on is like a vintage seafoam colored sofa.  It was the perfect addition to this little cafe.

The little girls had a tea party for just about every meal and it was so fun to see dear friends that we have missed!  

Just look at their dainty little hands, 4 is the sweetest age.

I couldn't get a decent picture of these two busy bodies this trip, but you get the idea of how darling they are together.  Or how forward Olive is :)

I loved that it felt really good being there for a weekend and not long term, I admire New Yorkers so much for their stamina.  I enjoyed that it is winter and that the humid stench of New York was actually neutral this time around.  

Traveling with the girls was so delightful.  Caroline had great city legs and walked everywhere, and I just used a tiny umbrella stroller which was so easy.  They continued their normal routine of singing just about the entire time and a New Yorker on the subway smiled and asked regarding Olive, "Does she ever stop singing?"  I answered no over Olive's rendition of "Tomorrow" from Annie.  

I want to take advantage of the ease of this time with the girls.  I just don't quite know what to expect when we have a third in the mix!