Anna Kate Turns 3

Last Saturday, we headed up to Moorseville to help Anna Kate celebrate her birthday.  Sara took a lot of pictures on her blog, but this post is to confirm that yes we did attend and the kids had a blast.

We were the first of Anna's friends to arrive and the girls turned up the crazy to 100 straight away with all the balloons.

 Carter was a bit more subdued meeting friends that were more of his size.

 The whole family took a turn on the swingset, although not pictured was me running back and forth to keep them all moving.  You would think that Laura could swing by herself....

 The girls eating some kids snacks.  There were a lot of little kids at the party and one of the smaller ones grabbed a chip off of Avery's plate while they were eating as her plate only had healthy food on it.  The mom apologized and we didn't think anything of it.  At the end of eating, the father asked his little girl, "What's in your belly?"  Avery rolled her eyes and said "My chips...."

 Anna having Happy Birthday sung to her and the awesome cake my mom made for her.  It's so funny to watch kids enjoy being the center of attention on their birthday.

 Carter making silly faces with Daddy for the camera.

 A book was a part of the presents, so everything had to stop to read it.

 Carter was a great helper opening the presents.  He is actually sitting in one of the boxes, tearing up the tissue paper into confetti to be used at a future birthday party or parade.

Day Off

For Martin Luther King day, Laura had to work and I had the kids to myself.  Since it was very cold outside and we couldn't go on any long walks to burn off a certain 4 year old's energy, we decided to meet Sara and Anna at Discovery Place Kids to let the kids run around some.  It is a pretty cool setup for kids between 2 and 8 where they can do all kinds of pretend activities.  It is pretty much a giant extension of Avery's favorite parts of school; so the kids had a blast.

Avery immediately went to the top of the indoor playground and left Anna at the bottom.

Carter was having a blast just sitting and watching the tons of kids and parents running around like nuts.

Anna Kate - Professional Race Car Driver

This is Carter feeling the artificial grass in front of the indoor playground and flirting with all the stay at home moms.

Family picture on the firetruck

Carter was not so excited about pretending to be a farmer.

However he was pretty stoked about getting to tear paper while the girls did some coloring.

There wasn't a ton that Carter could do other than the water table which we saved for last.

This little guy was having a blast and soaked himself to the bone splashing in the water.  Luckily Aunt Sara warned me and I packed extra clothes.

After playing for a while, we took the Rotmans out for lunch to celebrate Sara's birthday and to thank her for helping me burn off some of Avery's energy.  Carter pretty much only ate junk food for lunch, so he fit in great with the rest of us.

5 Guys was Avery's suggestion since they stopped there on the way back from Disney.

While Anna is not a picky eater, she enjoyed her cheeseburger and even shared with Carter some.

A week at the lake

So last week Laura loaded up the kids and with the help of my parents and my sister headed towards the lake while I was golfing in Myrtle Beach.  I met them up there a couple days later and missed some of the fun, but we all had a great time being spoiled my Gigi and Ru.

Gigi teaching Anna and Avery how to make sweet rolls.  She sent us home with some, but we didn't share with mommy.

 Of course Carter was a big hit with Anna.  Everytime he would come into the room she would say something like "It's baby carter!" much like Avery called her "Baby Anna" when she was younger.  Carter appreciated the attention and gave them both plenty of smiles.

 And lots of books were read.  Both Anna and Avery love having books read to them, so it was nice to split all the reading between Sara, Gigi, Laura, and Ru.

See the piles of books???

 Carter was also on his best behavior although he didn't do much swimming.

 By the end of the week the two little girls were pretty tired from all of the swimming, tubing, and jetsking.  Ru or myself would drive the jetski and Sara/Anna in one tube and Laura/Me/Avery in another tube.  This is me and Sara taking them on a "peaceful" standup paddle ride.  Avery enjoyed hanging her feet off the side and shifting her weight quickly from side to side, while Anna wanted to jump off at all times.

Uncle David was there too and did a great job watching Carter so that Laura could get in the water.

Avery and Anna

While we were in the hospital; Gigi, Ru, and Sara brought Anna and Avery to visit.

The pictures were cute.

 Best Buddies.

 A hug for her cousin.

Anna Banana

A few pictures from Avery hanging out with her favorite cousin during and after the gender reveal party.

They were both laughing at the top of their lungs.

 Laughs and smiles sharing a rocking chair.

 I wonder who is copying who...

 The morning after the party they had a lot of fun with the balloons left over from the party.

 Anna also came with us to the Thanksgiving parade in downtown.

 Anna and her family.

Other than football....

Sometimes it's hard to imagine, but we do have a life outside of NC State football.  If Avery is not cheering with us at the games, she is having some fun with her grandparents.  One weekend, Gigi and Ru had both girls for a little while.  Avery and Anna helped Gigi make a delicious lunch!

 Little hands make great stuffing mixers

 Anna even let Uncle Rob hold her for a few seconds :)

We also broke in the fire pit at home with some damp wood, tiki torch oil, and sparklers.  Oh and of course s'mores!

Lake Trip

This past weekend we went back to the lake so that Gigi and Ru could watch Avery while we sweated at the football game.  They had Anna as well so Gigi was excited about having her little girls play together.

Nothing like a good swing on the way down to the lake.  I think Anna has enough sunscreen on... 

 Luckily there are two so the toddlers don't have to share.

 Avery was showing mommy how do to the paddle board.

 The girls also had a good time digging in the sand area that Ru built for them on the beach.

 I think Ru had a good time as well.

 Avery and Anna playing with the 100 toys that Gigi brought.  Avery was a good big cousin for the most part.  In this picture she is surely in mid-sentence about how you are supposed to play with certain toys.

 Avery also convinced Ru to put together the train tracks for her.