June visit to Grandma's house

Here are a few pictures taken during our June visit to Grandma and Grandpa Bear's house while our hardwood floors were being installed. Yes, they are from 3 months ago, but at least I finally got them posted. This is a good pictoral of our visit.

The Cub House ROCKS!!!! This cub house was my savior!! It got the cubs out of the house and entertained. It's decked out with carpet, ceiling fans, windows, and TOYS!!! My parents really go all out for the cubs. Can you say "spoiled"?!?!?!






"Oooh, look Mommy! Another animal for us to torture!"


Isn't he the cutest? Even after the cubs picked him up by the neck in a death grip.


Baxter has learned to keep his distance. In reality, he really is great with the cubs, and the cubs love him!


Some serious golfing! Zach spent a lot of time golfing. He has perfected the fist pump. Too darn cute, if I say so myself.










Some serious kite flying. Emily loved it. Zach, not so much.






Some serious Heather-trapping. My dad kindly put up this sign so I wouldn't have a repeat of the "attack of the killer hose guard".


My dad doesn't throw anything away. Here is a picture of Emily on MY very first tricycle.


Some serious wearing-out. Little guy was exhausted from all those rounds of golf.

Road trip: Second Addition

Since everything occurs in twos around Cub Central, it seems fitting that for the second week in a row, the Cubs and I headed to Grandma and Grandpa Bear's house. This time, however, we ended up going sans Dad since he had to work. It was a last minute decision, the cubs and I were home alone with no plans, and Uncle Brian happened to be visiting from New York (a very RARE occurrence). Since Uncle Brian wasn't able to come to me, then in order to see him, I must go to him...and 'him' was at Grandma and Grandpa Bear's. The weather was beautiful. The cubs were able to play outside. Everything was great. Until bedtime. After trying to convince the cubs that air mattresses were NOT trampolines, and two hours of Emily crying, I made a very conscious decision to never make this trip again, especially if Dad isn't able to come with us. Grandma Bear and I tried everything to get Emily to go to sleep. She cried and cried. It was really putting a damper on my evening. Enter Grandpa Bear to the rescue. He took her from me, took her to her room, and came out 5 minutes later. Nothing but quiet. ?!?!?! I asked him in astonishment what he had done to my daughter (perhaps opened a window and tossed her out) and he said that he put her to bed, told her to be quiet and to go "night night". As if I hadn't already done that (only about 100 times). Must be that male thing. UGH! It was a rough night with little sleep. It is definitely easier for Grandma and Grandpa Bear to visit Cub Central. I'm still glad that I went. I don't get to see Uncle Brian very often, so the trip was well worth it. Just hoping that traveling will get a little easier as the cubs get older.

Road trip

On Saturday, March 6th, we loaded up the cubs and all their required paraphernalia and headed west to Grandma and Grandpa Bear's house. It's only a 3 hour drive, but with the cubs 3 hours can feel like 9. All in all, the drive went pretty well, with only one minor meltdown due to "need for snacks". Sometimes you just can't feed them fast enough. We arrived right before lunch. Steve and I unloaded the car, passed the cubs over to Grandma, and left to run some errands. We had an appointment, went to lunch, visited my Grandfather, and then headed back. Of course there were no naps taken while we were gone, so we promptly took them outside and let them run and run and run. Poor little cubs were so exhausted by bedtime, that Steve even commented that he had never seen Zach fall asleep so fast. Bedtime went much better than expected. Emily had the pull-out couch, Zach slept on an air mattress, Grandpa Cub provided a watchful eye, and Steve and I slept soundly in the guest room. We didn't hear a peep from the cubs all night. Unbelievable. Nothing like a little country air to induce a cub coma.

"Run, Sissy, RUN!!!" Twenty acres of vast openess await you.

The cubs even played a little golf.

Before bed. All that country air....

Poor Zach, sleeping on the way home....exhausted cub.

Update from the weekend with Grandma and Grandpa Bear

Last Friday afternoon we loaded up the cubs and drove to visit Grandma and Grandpa Bear. The road trip went pretty well but after two and a half hours in the car I was just ready to get there. We played inside for a while (it was too windy to play outside), ate dinner, and put the cubs to bed. On Saturday Grandma and Grandpa Bear cub-sat for us while Steve and I ran some errands. We went to an Estate sale for my Grandparents, had our taxes done (so exciting), and went to lunch at a Chinese restaurant. It was nice to have some time without the cubs tagging along. I think they had a fun time without Mommy and Daddy too. Grandpa Bear let Emily play with a keyboard and I'm sure that entertained her for quite some time. She's quite the little pianist. On Sunday we drove home. It never seems like our visits are long enough. We were really impressed that the cubs slept pretty well in their pack and plays. Much better than our previous visits. Unfortunately they won't be able to sleep in them much longer, the cubs are just growing too fast.

A weekend at Grandma and Grandpa's -- in pictures

Road trip:


Emily, totally relaxed with her snacks:


Future pianist:


Taking a moment to smile at her audience:


Relaxing with her feet up:


Don't squeeze the balloon too hard:


Zach, giving the future pianist a little advice:


Intermission. Emily finally let Zach have a turn:


Empty boxes are the BEST!:


Our cute little man:


The obligatory Baxter photo:


Night-night time in the pack and plays:


On the way home, exhausted from the weekend:

Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa Bear

On Wednesday we packed up right after breakfast and headed to Grandma and Grandpa Bear's house. Like last year, the cubs were treated to their own live tree, which Grandpa Bear will plant outside. Emily's was decorated in pink and Zach's in blue.

After lunch we took the cubs to see their Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma. Emily was sharing hugs left and right. It was so sweet to watch her hug everyone. Very unlike Thanksgiving where she didn't want anyone to hold her but Mommy or Daddy. Zach was too busy exploring to give hugs. Zach is literally running in the only picture I have of him with his Great-grandparents. That cub is a bundle of energy.

We returned to Grandma Bear's house for dinner and the tree lighting. I love the tree lighting...it is one of my favorite parts of Christmas. It's even more fun with double the trees. Dinner is always yummy...this time we were treated to T-Bone Steaks. I could get very spoiled here, I don't get to eat these often at Cub Central. The cubs went to bed pretty easily, but Zach was very unhappy during the middle of the night and kept Mom and Dad up for hours. Not fun. Good thing Santa came before Zach woke up. Otherwise Zach's crying may have scared him off.

Christmas morning was tons of fun with tons of presents. Santa was very generous this year. We definitely have spoiled cubs. Almost the entire day was spent opening presents, which Emily loved! She is a present opening pro. It didn't matter whose name was on it, Emily was there to open it. So helpful! Zach could barely sit still. Emily had fun opening his presents too.

Present opening must be exhausting because both cubs went to bed on time and slept very well. Steve and Grandpa Bear got up super early on Friday to do the after Christmas shopping. Grandma Bear and I met them later in the morning with cubs in tow. After Christmas shopping was pretty dismal, especially when you consider our prior after-Christmas shopping experiences. I guess it saved us some money. We left later that afternoon to return home. I always hate leaving. It seems like we never get to spend enough time there but Steve had to work on Saturday, and we go where Steve goes.

We can't thank everyone enough for thinking of us this year. We received amazing gifts and loving cards and notes from our family and friends. We are a very blessed bunch of bears!

I haven't downloaded the pictures yet, but that is on my "to do" list. Maybe I'll get that done next year. Right after I get my Christmas cards mailed out. **sigh**

Thanksgiving with Grandma and Grandpa Bear

I was really looking forward to Thanksgiving Dinner at my mom and dad's. I was really excited about all the new foods that Emily was going to be able to try out. I had a feeling Zach wouldn't be too interested given the past week, but I just knew that Emily would try everything. Even the cranberry sauce that I don't like myself. Of course Murphy's Law kicked in.

When we arrived home from the airport Tuesday night, I discovered that little Emily Bear had a small fever. I had heard that sometimes teething caused fever, so I gave her some Tylenol and put her to bed. Wednesday morning her fever had increased so we called our Pediatrician and was able to get right in. According to the Doctor, Emily had some chest congestion even though she wasn't coughing at all. We knew she didn't feel well because she was excessively clingy. We decided to still continue with our original plans for Thanksgiving, so with antibiotic in hand, we packed up the car and traveled to Grandma Bear's house. We left at naptime so thankfully the cubs slept most of the way. Once we arrived the cubs played outside and explored the huge yard (20 acres allows for plenty of playspace). We worked really hard at tiring them down so they would sleep that night. Once the cubs were in bed we were able to enjoy the New York Strips that Grandpa Bear grilled for us. YUM!! We knew sleeping would be a challenge because they weren't used to sleeping in pack and plays. Surprisingly Zach did pretty well, but Emily hated it. Poor Steve was up with her most of the night.

For Thanksgiving, Grandma Bear and Steve spent most of the day preparing the "feast" while Grandpa Bear and I tried entertaining the cubs. Emily was still fussy and clingy and just not herself. She had a very small appetite and did not try a single thing. NOT A SINGLE THING! I was so disappointed because I was looking forward to her trying everything. Especially since we only have a big Thanksgiving dinner once per year. I guess we'll just hope for better luck next year. I must give a big Thank You to Steve and Grandma Bear for slaving away in the kitchen all day and preparing a really great meal for us. It was really wonderful!

On Friday we packed up the cubs and came home. Emily was still being a fussbucket and we had so much to do to prepare for our move into the apartment. We didn't even get to participate in the shopping madness. Again, maybe we'll have better luck next year.