State Fair with Mr. Ron

My dad offered to take Charlotte and me to the State Fair last week as a birthday present for both of us. My mom took care of Natalie for the day, since she's in that stage where she's not quite up for walking around all day, riding rides and eating junk food, but she's also not the hangs-out-anywhere-all-day baby, either.

Natalie had a great day with my mom (they wore each other out!) and Charlotte had a great time at the fair!

Charlotte didn't even bat an eyelash at riding this tram across the park.
I was clutching her with white knuckles.

Mr. Ron being brave with C behind the wheel

Riding rides with the big kids 

These flying elephants were her favorite!

She was shouting "Up, up, and awaaaay!"

Pony ride! 

Tons of rides and things to see, but she wanted to
play on the playground. :)

Charlotte mentioned a few times throughout the day how much she missed Natalie. After we dropped Mr. Ron off at home and picked Natalie up, I could hear her telling baby sister alllll about her day at the fair - the rides, the butter cow, the crafts, the ice cream cones... and looked in the rearview mirror to find them holding hands!! Of course I had to pull over to capture this moment! I'm sure there will be moments later on when I have to pull over & turn around for completely different reasons! LOL!

Mommy/Daughter Day

Last weekend, Charlotte spent the night at Grandma & Grandpa's house while Natalie got some quality bonding time with Ben and me. We went shopping at Target, let Natalie have her first few minutes on the iPad, and enjoyed coffee before Ben went to work. 

Today, Grandma came to pick up Natalie and kept her overnight while Charlotte got some quality time with us. Charlotte was a little sad about Natalie leaving - and said she missed her well within the first two hours she was gone.

Natalie scarfed a couple strawberries whole while I made her breakfast

Our first order of business was a special lunch. Charlotte asked to go to Jimmy Johns - for the pickles, of course - but I surprised her by stopping by Ben's office first and he got to go with us! She was so happy!

pickle!

After lunch, I took Charlotte to get her hair cut before preschool starts next week. She looooves getting her haircut - mostly because of the DumDum at the end. :o)

before

after

We took a quick spin on the Zooey car before we left 

After the haircut, we headed home so Charlotte could take a nap. When she woke up, she asked for the same snack I'm sure every three-year-old asks for... dry bran cereal! Ha! 

After her bran cereal snack, she asked to go to the mall to ride the escalators. Her first choice was to go to the park, but it had been raining enough to get all of the equipment wet, but not raining hard enough for puddle stomping, so she thought of a fun indoor activity. I'm not going to argue with free entertainment! So we rode on the escalators at Bergner's and then headed over to Macy's for comparison. 

Between the two escalator rides, we found a candy machine with Mike & Ikes - C's favorite! I put them in her pocket & showed her how to pull one at a time out to eat. She walked soooooo slooooowly through the mall, clutching her pocket, making sure none of her movements shook any of them out. C loves pockets, but I think this is the first time she's used them with purpose :o) 

On the way out of the mall, she stopped on this bench between the two sets of doors at Bergner's just so she could shout "echooo!" a bunch of times. hahahaha! I love this little girl! 

Ben and I are so grateful that our parents are such a big part of our kids' lives. Our kids love spending time with them (Natalie actually fussed and reached back for Grandma this morning when I held her while Grandma gave Charlotte a hug) and we are lucky to get some one-on-one time with each girl - - and occasionally each other! :o) THANK YOU! 

Mommy's Helper

For weeks, PBS has been teasing a new Daniel Tiger special in which Daniel's family welcome a new baby. Why a show geared towards preschoolers puts out commercials weeks in advance like that, is beyond me. Do they know anything about preschoolers and their {lack of} concept of time?

Putting that aside, Charlotte loved the episode! She spent loads of time preparing for her pretend new baby, and then being a big helper once the new baby came. Charlotte was great when Natalie came along - as helpful and understanding of changes as anyone could expect from a 2-3 year old. But I think it's pretty clear she has much to learn about babies...

Babies do not typically eat edamame on the table

Babies should not sit in "swings" by their necks...

While holding your nose during diaper changes sounds like a good idea, it doesn't really work too well.

Charlotte is THREE!

How has it been three years already? No way!! 

We have a big pool party planned with our extended family on Sunday, but we did a few special things today to celebrate her true 3rd birthday. Charlotte found balloons taped to her door when she woke up this morning. 

She found a few presents in the living room after she went downstairs. We got her an electric toothbrush (which she's been begging for), dress-up high heels (which she's been begging for), a basketball hoop (which she's been begging for), a Frozen coloring book with sticker puzzles, and Candy Land! Of course we had to play a quick game before Ben went to work. :o) 

While Natalie took a nap, Charlotte & I baked her birthday cupcakes. Then we met her best friend Sofia & her dad at McDonald's for lunch & to play at the Play Place since it was raining. The girls had a great time! 

After a lovely afternoon nap, Charlotte ignored her new toys and played with a balloon for 2 hours straight - - - and I'm not exaggerating at all. She would blow it up as big as she could, then let it go, making it pop out of her mouth. She hid it from Natalie, crinkled it in her hands, clapped on it, played basketball with it... for two hours she played with the balloon. 

She asked for sausage pizza for dinner and we had her cupcakes for dessert. She picked the blue frosting & fish sprinkles to match her pool party! They were really good! We're all really excited for her party on Sunday with all of her cousins. After she opened her presents this morning, she said very disappointedly, "but I wanted a pool party with my cousins!" Heheh - she doesn't quite get the days of the week yet. :o) 

Happy Birthday, baby girl!! We're so happy to be the parents of such a sweet, bright, funny, thoughtful, feisty, and loving little girl. We love you very much! 

Sleeping Kids / Creeping Mom

I'm that creepy mom that takes pictures of her kids as they sleep. But I'll take it up a notch and post about 60 of them all at once. Here is about 3 years worth of sleeping Charlotte pictures. Enjoy!