The Zoe and Silas Show

9/2/14: Derek's parents came over for a visit on Tuesday. Silas took a super cute selfie of him and Papa!

7/31/14: On Thursday we met up with my Dad & Mary at the Minnesota Zoo. The weather was great and there were so many fun things to see before we even got through the front gate! The penguins were awesome - very social and fun to watch. We also spent some time playing at a dinosaur dig. It was pretty warm out so we took a lunch break in Dad & Mary's minivan. After lunch we spent some time indoors at the marine life touch tanks. For dinner we headed over to Auntie Sally & Uncle John's house. S&Z had fun playing with their cousins Duffy, Wyatt & Lucy before dinner. I didn't get nearly as many pictures as I would have liked, but I did manage to get a picture of me, Stephanie, and our cousin Sukoshi.

7/26/14: On Saturday morning we packed up the car and boat and headed to Sue & Bob's cabin, which is about 2 hours away from Minneapolis. The first task upon arriving at the cabin, per usual, was to put the flag up. The kids were so happy to help! The weather was great so we swam and hung out on the dock for much of the afternoon.   After a great afternoon of sun and swimming the kids had fun winding down doing crafts with Grandma. They even got to help Sue with dinner- Bob had to put the boat in so S&Z got another boat ride.  Everyone had a great time playing frisbee after dinner! S&Z were beyond ready for a show before bed!

6/15/14: After a rainy few days in a row it ended up being gorgeous on Father's Day, so we decided to go strawberry picking. We checked out a different farm called C.N.Smith Farm in West Bridgewater. We absolutely loved it, mainly because there were very few people there! We picked 5.5 lbs of strawberries in less than an hour. When we were done picking we took a (FREE!) hayride tour of the farm. We were the only family on the ride! We sat and ate some strawberries before heading to out to meet up with Derek's family for Father's Day dinner. S&Z loved the roosters that were roaming free. Afterwards we headed to Fresh Catch for dinner with Derek's family. In honor of Father's Day I had to get a picture of the three generations of father-son duos (4 generations total!). We are so grateful that Derek's grandfather is still in good health! As usual, the 3 musketeers had a blast! We are so grateful for Derek an...

5/12/14: On Monday I was invited to a Mother's Day reception at S&Z's preschool. It was so nice to stop and enjoy the beautiful day!  Derek's mom was in town for an appointment so they were able to join us as well...

4/15/14: Having fun with the jumping eggs they got from Gramma & Papa!

3/25/14: S&Z have FAR too much energy and enthusiasm in the morning! They were also very happy to have pancakes for lunch during a visit from Gramma & Papa on Tuesday!

2/20/14: S&Z were very happy to see Grandma & Papa for the first time since New Year's Day. Zoe was excited to show me her new Valentine bear when I got home from work.

12/27/13: There were power tools to be played with first thing in the morning! Mom & Dave helped us a lot with watching the kids after Christmas - I worked on the 27th and they once again held down the fort after Derek went to work.

12/26/13: I just caught a numbering issue that goes all the way back to APRIL, so I'm skipping 359 and correcting the error now with day 360. Ugh. Derek and I decided that we're done with the minivan and he's been car shopping for the last few months. We took advantage of my parents being here and headed to the Honda dealership in the morning in order to hopefully do the deal. Zoe & Silas had a fun day playing with Grandma & Grandpa (and with lots of new toys!)! After negotiating for 2-1/2 hours we finally shook hands and started the paperwork to become the happy owners of a 2014 Honda Pilot! Many thanks to Mom & Dave for holding down the fort all day with the kids - we couldn't have done it without your help!

12/23/13: I took advantage of my parents being here and went to the gym before getting a massage late Monday afternoon. While I was gone my mom got the kids involved in helping her wrap a few Christmas gifts. There was also time for some portraiture! Derek got silicone tree molds at the lab Yankee swap so we decided to make confetti cake trees for Santa instead of cookies this year. We baked the cakes on Monday night before bed so that we could decorate them Christmas Eve morning. I love Christmas traditions!