Summer Fun

It was another busy summer filled with a lot of fun activities, in addition to all those already posted (like visits from friends and family and our vacation to Williamsburg). Of course there was also some time for just enjoying the nice weather (like playing in our new turtle sandbox and swimming in the local pool.)

Our summer started with Daddy's cousin Hannah's wedding in May (Morgan's first!); it was a beautiful event in a historic building in Leesburg, VA. It was so hot, but we did our best to stay cool. Great-Grandma Brown and Great Uncle Jim made the trip from Phoenix...Grandma and Pop-Pop were there too.

For 4th of July, we went to Carlisle, PA stopping in Hershey along the way for the tour at Hershey's Chocolate World, delicious chocolate-peanut butter milkshakes, and a walk-through of the Hershey garden. Once in Carlisle, we had a great time at the local carnival with Grandma, Pop-Pop, Aunt Stephanie, Unclie Matt and Cousin Olivia before heading to the fireworks.

We also had a couple play dates with Morgan's BFF Emma. Our first play date was at Winterthur to visit the enchanted children's woods for their summer festival. Then we visited the Philadelphia zoo...the girls loved running from animal to animal, but I think a favorite that day were the playful otters.

We had a lot of fun planting a raised garden this year, starting our veggie plants from seeds, and taking care of it throughout the summer. In one box, we planted our favorite vegetables (zucchini, snow peas, hot peppers and red sweet peppers) and in the other box we planted a bunch of herbs, strawberries and raspberries. The zucchini especially did really well; some of the leaves and vegetables were almost as big as Morgan! Everything was so tasty and we had fun with all sorts of different recipes that it really was a huge help in getting Morgan to love fruits and veggies. The pictures below are from us enjoying one of our strawberry harvests with our neighbor John (aka Mr. W).

Williamsburg Family Vacation

The week of Labor Day we had a great family vacation in Williamsburg, VA. We bought a hopper pass for the area; so for the week we enjoyed a number of attractions such as Colonial Williamsburg, Country USA Waterpark, and Busch Gardens.

In Colonial Williamsburg, we had fun "living the time period" by stomping clay to make bricks, serving on the jury on several court trials, watching a play, and taking a dance class (even Morgan was one of the volunteers with Mommy and Daddy!), along with a number of building tours. And to conclude our visit, the entire family had an authentic lunch at King's Arm Tavern.

At the waterpark, Morgan surprised us by loving all of the waterslides and just playing around in the various pools. But nothing could beat her excitement at Busch Gardens. Morgan would go on any ride that they would allow.

Rest assured she did not go on that roller coaster...that is a picture of Daddy and Pop-Pop, in the front car while Mommy, Morgan, and Grandma watched from below. What a ride!

Morgan's favorite ride was the large pirate ship that swings back and forth...fyi you can hear the screams from that ride in the background of the balloon video above. We lost count how many times we went on it...and only stopped because Mommy and Daddy couldn't handle any more; she would have stayed there all day. Morgan also had a great time at Elmo's Playland with Cousin Sophia.

Williamsburg is so close to Virginia Beach, that we also decided to head down to the beach for a day. Being the week school started, there was no one there...it was great. And we had perfect weather...a little windy, but nothing a beach cabana rental wouldn't fix. ;)

And during our little bit of free time we were able to relax by the pool at the resort. Morgan loved swimming...especially with her new vest...she is definitely a little fish!

2 1/2: Walking Down Stairs and Potty Training

It's hard to believe Morgan is already 2 1/2 years old. She really is turning into a little girl right in front of our eyes...the things she does, remembers, says, and figures out are all simply amazing...nothing gets past her!

Two big things to share:

(1) Daddy and Mommy were making dinner one night a few weeks ago while Morgan was playing in the living room. We went into check on her and apparently she had been playing the old favorite "Night Night" where everyone takes a nap...but she was no where to be seen. In her place were Bubbles and George, two animals that are always upstairs in her room. Hmmmm...how did those get there...."Morgan? where are you?" A response from upstairs was, "Dee Dee, night, night." And here she came walking down the stairs. Holding onto the banister with one hand and holding Dee Dee (her doll) in the other. She looked so grown-up!

(2) A little over two weeks ago, Miss Ashley called Mommy and said, "today Morgan asked where her big girl panties were just like Emma's." And so started the process of officially potty training. With a lot of support from school, a lot of effort from Mommy and Daddy and a lot of hard work from Morgan, she transitioned into big girl panties, basically over night. She is doing so well with only a few accidents here and there...and the approximate daily missed "BM." We're working on it. ;) Like we said, it's a process...2 1/2 weeks and counting. We are soooo proud of her! Yeah for Morgan!!!!

Visit from the Reineke's

Our second set of visitors were Grandma & Grandpa Reineke and Uncle Tyler; another great visit that went way too fast. Here are some pictures/videos from Morris Arboretum and Wildwood Beach (the Jersey shore...a perfect day with beautiful weather before the official summer season kicked-off).

Visit from the K's

After the spring travels, we had two special sets of visitors to PA in the month of June. The first were the Klopfensteins (Morgan's friend Olivia). We had a wonderful visit, packed with all sorts of fun including strawberry/raspberry picking at Linvilla Orchards, ice cream at Freddy Hill (a local farm), swimming, and trips to a few playgrounds.