Home again, Home again

We're back! We had a great, relaxing vacation. The travel back home was a little stressful because we had to be out of our condo by 10am but didn't take off until 4pm, so we had a long, napless day in the airport which led to wacky children on the airplane. But, we are always thankful at the end of a vacation, when no one gets really sick or hospitalized!! Since we got back late Saturday and yesterday was Easter, today is the day of finishing unpacking and the dreaded laundry. While I was sorting the clothes, the kids busied themselves with the piggy banks, a favorite pasttime for them. While they were playing, Keith (of course) tried to eat a coin. Then, Addy chimed in "if I eat a coin, will a gumball come out of me???" Of course I laughed hysterically.


















Our week was fairly warm, so we enjoyed many hours of beach play and pool time. The last day, when this picture was taken, was the chilliest, so we had to take our final pictures with our jackets on. Even though we couldn't get wet, we had a fun time flying Nanas kite and looking for shells.










The condo was, as usual, very nice. We borrowed one of the cribs from the condo for Keith, which we re-named "the prison crib" because it was made out of metal and quite tiny for our big boy!!! Although he had no problems sleeping, I think he was excited to stretch out in his own bed when we got home












Every moment that we were in the room, the door to the balcony was open so we could play and listen to the ocean. Here is a picture of Addy on the balcony before we went out to eat at Blackbeards, one of our favorite seafood places.



We did get out and about a few days. Monday we went to Sea World, which was fun, but I think the kids might still be a little young for an enjoyable day at a theme park since they can get a little grumpy without naps. We also went to Daytona Beach and, as a usual Pieper vacation includes, a factory tour, this time of a chocolate factory. The best part of this tour was the free samples!!!


Like all vacations, the end was bittersweet as we were sad to say goodbye to the beach, and slightly warmer weather; but also ready to come home. Thanks so much to Aunt Brenda and Uncle Larry for letting us use their condo, and thanks to Nana for help with the travel expenses. Also, thanks to Uncle Buck for watching after the kitties and making sure our pipes didn't freeze! All helped make our vacation so much more enjoyable!!!

OK, I just heard the washer finish....

Jen

I wish I weren't such a control freak

Well, I'm actually sitting down and taking a break from a very chaotic week right now. We're getting ready to head to New Smyrna Beach, FL for a little R&R. I can't wait!! However, because I can't possibly trust that Brian (or really anyone else, for that matter) would pack the kids stuff appropriately, I have put it on myself to pack for three AND make sure the house is spic and span, because I despise coming home to a dirty house. This, on top of going to my 2 bible studies, gymnastics, gymboree, library class and a small group cookout, has made for a tiring week.

Here's a few pics to tide you over until we return. Hope everyone has a great week.
Jen

Addy, taking a sip of a Sprite that is actually the same size as her torso!





















Keith being wacky






















This is how Addy chose to entertain herself while I packed

The pressure to blog may lead me to drinking

Wow! Who knew when I started this blog that I would have so many (and by many, I mean 3) people waiting and longing for my next blog! OK, I admit, I've sat back and enjoyed the many blogs that you all have posted since the time of my last blog, and felt continued "blog guilt" for not giving something back to the blog-munity (for the slow ones out there, that was supposed to be like community, only with a "blog" where the "com" usually goes).

It was only a mere...dare I say it...16 years ago that this time of year would coincide with my anticipated track season at AVON HIGH SCHOOL. Many of you may not know it, but there was a time, when I weighed considerably less, when I was a speed demon. Just like Lightning McQueen, I lived for my next race. Back in 1991, I hit the peak of my track career when I broke the AHS school record for the 300 hurdles, running that daunting race in a mere 48.4 seconds. I'm sure for the steroid-using teens of today, that may seem turtle-like, but back then, for a white girl, that was quite an accomplishment. In fact, I even qualified for the State Track Meet (we'll not mention how I did in that meet, the important part was that I got there).
Here's a snapsnot of me back then. Nice hair, eh? I believe this was the day, while we were all sitting around waiting for our picture to be taken, that we played MC Hammers "Can't Touch This" over and over again on our cassette-playing boom box, so we could memorize the lyrics for the regional track meet. These were the pre-internet days when lyrics.com did not exist!

So, while you all are sitting at your computers wondering where Peeper is and why she hasn't blogged yet...I'm probably sitting by the track reminiscing about the days past and wondering if Keith or Addy will start their hurdle training by jumping over the saplings of our back yard just as I did years and years ago.

I promise, the next blog topic will be more interesting.

Jen

Springtime, Cats, Bubbles and Crazy Hair

Well, I've been enduring the stories of Tracy going for runs in Houston while the temperature is in the 70s, meanwhile I look out my window at Mt. Snow and wonder if it will ever get warm enough here to melt. I finally got my wish; today is a gorgeous day and the kids and I were able to get outside for several hours and get some well-needed fresh air! Addison tried to dig up a butterfly that we buried last fall and Keith took several bites out of Mt. Snow despite the dirt-crust that lies on top of it.

I've been racking my brain trying to come up with a topic worthy of blogging and came to the sad realization that my life isn't very exciting!! So, I'll blog one of Addisons favorite topics; our cats. We started out with two brothers last June that we got from a free newspaper ad. We had just returned from a trip to Arizona and had discovered ancient ruins there at a place called Tuzigoot, a name that both Addy and myself really enjoyed. So Addy named one cat Pickle and the other was named Tuzigoot. Unfortuately, Pickle met his demise with an oncoming car last December. So, we then replaced the deceased cat with a humane society cat which Addy named Bergie Brandenburg. Today, while sitting on the toilet, Addy talked to me about her cats.

"One is named Tuzi and the other is Bergie. Bergie is my FAV-ERT (she laughs after this because she knows she pronounced favorite like a back-woods hick). And I love her so much. Hi Tuzi (the cat has walked up to her) Did Tuzi come up and sleep with me last night? First Tuzi and then Bergie. Did you hear the cats last night? I heard it, it went MEOW! and then MEOW! and it sounded like a baby crying. Can I cut Tuzi's fuzz with scissors?"

Here you see Addy with her beloved cats; Tuzi is the black cat and Bergie is the calico.

Everything has been preceeding pretty much as normal here. Brian and his parents took the kids to Gymboree this week; here is a picture of Keith in the bubbles.









Also, Addisons gymnastics class has started "theme" classes, and this weeks theme was "Silly Hair day". Funnily enough, every little girl in her class had the same hairdo, I guess there isn't much else you can do with a 3 year olds hair!


OK, this blog has gotten way too long...enjoy your week.

Peace and Love,
Jen

I'm blogging because everyone else is...

OK, so, everyone and their mom is blogging, so I guess we need to start too. I don't want to be the weird one everyone talks about. I can hear it now "Poor Addy and Keith, their mom doesn't BLOG" or "Can you believe Addison is over 3 years old and has never been BLOGGED?"
Hey, guess what? They don't have baby books either!!!


Jen