The one where we meet Elmo

The downside of Marc's new job is that he has to travel a lot more than he has before. The upside is that all that traveling means earning lots of hotel points so we can do fun stuff as a family! We took the kids up to Sesame Place in Pennsylvania a few weekends ago. We had gone several years ago when T was two and Nora was about six months old, and we figured they would probably find it a bit more exciting this time around.

It was so much fun. It is geared toward littler kids, so Teresa and Nora were both able to ride all the rides. There were even a lot that Finn could ride, not that he was super interested in them. But the girls had a blast. T loved the roller coaster. Nora did not. But they both loved the rest of them.

Waiting for his sisters to be done on the roller coaster. Back when he had a full head of hair :(

 How T felt about waiting for the carousal:

How Nora felt about it:

How I felt about Nora's attitude:

Teresa loved the carousal so much more this time around.

Reminder of the awesomeness that was her opinion of the carousal the last time we went...

This picture is a lie. Finn hated it. I took him on one at the mall a few weeks before and he thought it was the best thing ever. He definitely changed his mind the second time around.

You can even see Finn's cute little face squeezed in there by Marc in this one. 

Finn was so, so excited to see Elmo. When it was our turn he practically leaped out of my arms to get to him. Boyfriend got about two steps away from him and quickly started back tracking. It was pretty funny.

Sister selfie waiting for Elmo's show to start. 

We watched a live show with Elmo and Cookie Monster. Finn was sooooo tired and so funny during it. He loved Elmo so much, any time he got near us he would get excited and squeal "E-mo, e-mo!". He absolutely hated Cookie Monster. 

Last time we went we didn't even know they had a water park, so this year we made sure to be prepared. T loved the big water slides so much, she and Marc rode them several times while I hung out with Nora and Finn in the wave pool.

It took him a while to warm up to the water but he eventually decided he loved it.

Waiting for the parade. Why yes, yes we did regret buying Finn that super long sucker. 

T dancing before the parade.

Happy boy.

Tired boy. He took about a five minute nap the whole time we were there. He was having a rough go at the end, but the parade perked him right up.

Have to have a selfie with my Noodle, too.

I had to hold him back from joining the parade once Elmo showed up.

Sitting in the window at the hotel. These kids think staying in a hotel is about one of the most exciting things someone can do.

Easter, etc.

I mostly just have pictures to dump here! Easter was lots of fun, we spent the week leading up to it learning all about Holy Week. The girls loved it, they looked forward to it each day. This is the basic "program" we followed: http://www.mercyrivermusic.com/2015/03/how-to-celebrate-easter-holy-week/ . It was a great way for the kids to learn more about Easter week. We still have all their little drawings up on the wall and it is fun to see them examining them and talking about them now and then.

And of course they were super excited for the bunny to come!

Ha, poor Fluff, I shouldn't laugh at him but he was so mad that I came downstairs without him. Luckily all that chocolate perked him right up.

Little boys in ties! So cute.

He was an old pro at this point. When we did our co-op egg hunt he was so impressed by each egg and would say "wowwwwww" each time.

These are recent pictures from my phone. Finn insisted on wearing this hat to story time one day. 

Homeschool field trip! They get so excited anytime we pack a lunch to take somewhere.

This boy loves to build with blocks. He makes sure that everyone sees what he builds and praises him adequately before he moves on to something else. 

April was super busy but we had to sneak in one more trip to the Science Center before our membership expired. Nora's favourite part is the dinosaurs so we always spend plenty of time there. 

Seeing if they all fit inside a dinosaur nest. 

Nora Turns FOUR

This little lady turned four on February 13th.

I feel like she has been three forevvvvver. She is so ready to be a four-year-old. 

Here goes our traditional stroll down memory lane.

Brand new Nora

One.

Two-year-old cuteness. That pink dress definitely still fits her.

Three-year-old silliness.

Nora is delightful. And challenging. She's very stubborn. She is Finn's champion in every way. Any perceived injustice against Finn will not be stood for. We had some friends over once and Finn was upset that they were playing with his toys so Nora was rubbing his back saying "Finn, you are a kind and generous boy" over and over. She adores her big sister Teresa and wants to be like her in every way. She is seriously hilarious. Just a funny, funny girl. She is very thoughtful about everything she does. I'll see her watching me sometimes and if I stop and smile at her she will say something like "you are a good Mama" or one time when she was observing both of us playing with Finn she said "I really like you grown ups". She has very much grown out of her tantrum-ing this year, though she still has her moments, of course. Nora is very particular in what she wears. She loves shoes. We are often all waiting for her to be ready because she is deciding which shoes she wants to wear based on her clothes. She typically wears them on the wrong feet. She claims it is a fashion choice, but it might also because she doesn't want to admit that she got it wrong. I love everything about her and am grateful every day that she is in our family.

I took her for her four-year-old check up a few days after her birthday. She was annoyed about getting shots so deliberately failed the color vision and hearing tests, little stinker. She was excited to learn that she had a good growth spurt this year! She is up to the 50th percentile for height (she was 30th last year). Maybe she will stay taller than Finn for a bit longer after all. 

We went to Chevy's a few weeks ago when Marc's dad was here and when we saw the wait staff singing happy birthday to someone Nora immediately said "I want to eat here on my birthday!". So that's what we did. She was so excited to get her hat and ice cream, as soon as we ordered she asked when they were going to come sing. We told her it wouldn't be until the end of the meal. Poor thing, about half way through our meal all the waiters came out clapping and singing and carrying a birthday hat and she got so excited as they headed right towards us....and then they stopped at the table right next to us instead. Her little face totally crumpled and it was the saddest/cutest thing ever. I reassured her that she would definitely be getting sung to and she was so excited when her turn came. She's worn that hat just about every day since.

The girls have both had their hearts set on getting a bitty twin doll for their birthdays, thanks to our library having so many American Girl books for them to check out (over and over and over again). They were so sure it was happening, I would over hear conversations like "Oh, Nora, I can't believe you only have to wait another month until you get your bitty doll! I have to wait until May!" etc. I kind of felt like if we didn't get them dolls the disappointment would just be too epic to handle. Nora had the perfect reaction to opening her doll, she was gasping and saying "ooooh my goodness! ooooh my goodness!" as she was unwrapping it.

The day after her birthday we had a little party to celebrate with some friends. My photographer was doubling as the game master, so we didn't get too many pictures of the party. Nora had such a blast. 

And of course we did a birthday interview, and of course I can't get the darn thing to load.