Yeah Mon! No Problem!

As many of you know, Jay and I were recently able to take a vacation (a second honeymoon of sorts) to celebrate our 10 year anniversary!  My parents so graciously came and held down the fort while we went away, and I think the kids may have been sad for about....oh....five minutes!  We had a fantastic time, although the adjustment from busy, busy, busy to absolutely NOTHING on the agenda took a little getting used to!  As an example, we arrived in Jamaica late Sunday night (two flights, TWO & A HALF HOURS of standing in the immigration line at the Montego Bay airport, and a two hour bus ride...UGH).  Monday morning, Jay and I were up, bathing suits on, suntan lotion applied, and ready to eat breakfast and hit the beach promptly at 7am.  You know, when you've got little kids there is no such thing as sleeping in, so we are used to getting up on the early side.  It didn't take long for us to realize we were the ONLY people out and about that early in the morning.  And we came to find out that breakfast didn't even start until 7:30am.  Oops!  Ah well, we soon acclimated to more of a leisurely pace and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!!  One of the highlights of the trip for me was not being responsible in any way for the procurement, preparation, or clean-up of the meals!!  Plus, I only had to worry about the food on my plate - a dramatic difference from at home when I not only have to concentrate on my own food but three other peoples' too. :)  As they say in Jamaica, "yeah mon, it was no problem!!"

Sandals Grande Ocho Rios, Jamaica

Our room as you walk in the door.

Looking out from the bathroom (you can see we had a balcony too!)

Looking in from the balcony.

View from balcony to the right. Not quite visible here, but Jamaica was actually sort of mountainous.

View from balcony looking left. Very lush and tropical.

Ahhh, the beach.

Jay's favorite - the pool. Complete with swim-up bar. :)

Us during our hike up Dunn's River Falls (a local tourist attraction).

The only "official" picture taken by the Sandals' photographers that we actually purchased.

Crafty

This one's for Grandma & Grandpa Lambert who sent Jack "My Giant Busy Box" a while back.  It's a box filled with all kinds of crafting supplies.  Well, he's been bitten by the crafty bug recently....and here is one of the end-products of some time spent in the busy box:

Jack named this: "The Alien Chicken"

Right now his artwork may be misunderstood by the masses, but someday he'll be hailed as a master. ;)

It's all about the accessories!

I recently bought hats for the twins to help keep the summer sun off their little heads. I was worried that they wouldn't keep them on for there are no straps. However, after trying them on, both Nathan and Matthew refused to take them off! They are now officially their favorite accessory.

Nathan insisted on wearing his hat to bed....and then we found him asleep like this. 

Happy Fourth!

I absolutely LOVE fireworks so this Fourth we decided to take the whole tribe to the Chesapeake fireworks.  The evening starts with a concert by the US Fleet Forces Band and then at dark the fireworks show begins.  I was leery of taking Nathan & Matthew for fear that the fireworks would scare them but in the end we decided to give it a whirl!  It turned out to be a wonderful evening of music, food, and fireworks all shared with some great friends.  Matthew didn't seem to mind the fireworks but Nathan really wasn't too sure at first; thankfully, about halfway through he changed his mind.

Nathan &  Matthew waiting patiently for the show to begin.

Bubble wands quickly became light sabers.

H-O-T

So we've been experiencing some SUPER hot weather here lately....as in a heat advisory all day yesterday and temps creeping towards triple digits.  This combined with the crazy humidity here has made it downright awful to be outside.  However, three boys trapped inside all day is a recipe for mayhem, so what's a mom to do?  Drag out the POOL!!  Instant fun and an energy burner to boot.  :)

Lambert Beach Week 2010

Over Memorial Day weekend we were lucky enough to join the rest of the Lambert clan for several days of fun and sun in the Outer Banks, NC!  Jay's parents rented a beach house where we met up with them as well as Jay's brother and his family.  We all had a great time catching up and playing on the beach.  Well.....all of us except the twins, that is.  They HATED the beach.  Nathan pretty much refused to set foot on the sand and Matthew might have enjoyed playing in the sand if it weren't for his terrifying fear of the water. So after two unsuccessful attempts at bringing them down to the beach to play, they were not invited back. :)  Thankfully, Jack and his cousin Lexi were content to play for hours (literally) on the beach happily splashing in the water (which was COLD), collecting shells, and digging in the sand.
I especially enjoyed this trip because it brought back so many wonderful memories of the vacations I took each summer as a child to the Outer Banks with my mom and all the Springer clan.  It was really fun to drive through Kitty Hawk & Nags Head and see familiar shops, restaurants, and of course who could forget the Brew Thru drive thru beverage joints where we would purchase T-shirts every summer (only when I was older did it dawn on me that the real reason to go to a Brew Thru was to purchase adult beverages and not just for the T-shirts as I had been led to believe as a youngster).  Okay, since probably only the Springers et al. are enjoying this little digression.....on with the pictures!

Day 1 @ the beach and Nathan is NOT impressed.

Jack & cousin Lexi having fun with shaving cream. 

Also note Matthew trying to have fun...until the water got too close to him and he had a meltdown.

Jack & Grandpa flying a kite.

Concentration!

Jay & Jack having a snack break.

No trip to the beach is complete without putt-putt golfing! 

An added bonus - this particular course had a dinosaur theme.

On the pier.

Another example of a "please smile for the camera" face.

The Chesapeake Jubilee!

Last weekend was the Chesapeake Jubilee which, to everyone other than those who live in Virginia, would be considered a good ol' fashioned fair.  I absolutely LOVE fairs and was excited to explore this one with all the kids in tow.  We also joined up with my good friend Sharon and her kids for the experience.  The morning started out nicely with the kids enjoying their share of fair rides for the preschool set.  Now for me the best part about a fair is the FOOD!  Who can't turn down greasy french fries, corn dogs, and funnel cakes?!?!  Well, much to my dismay, my Jubilee lunch of fries and a corn dog was so awful that I had to throw the entire plate in the trash can.  Let's just say the fries had this strange grey color to them....  Anyway, lunch woes aside we forged ahead with our afternoon which by now was becoming quite hot and sticky.  After a couple more rides our friends headed home while we decided to stick it out a little while longer.  Bad decision.  It only became more crowded and more humid and more hot the longer we stayed!  I attempted to make up for my horrible lunch by purchasing an ice cream cone but even this too was a disappointment - more like chocolate ice on a cone.  At this point we called it quits although Jack would have stayed all day seemingly unaffected by the heat and crowded conditions! 

Jack enjoying the jeep ride.

Jay with Jack and Conrad.

Sharon with all the kids!!

Roar!

Jack's preschool had a picnic in the park day recently complete with lunch outside, tons of bubbles, and even face painting.  What more could a kid want? :)

Jack wanted to look like a Tiger!

A Walk In The Park

We took advantage of some beautiful spring weather a few weeks back and made a trip to our wonderful city park.  Which, incidentally, was a recent victim of some deranged arsonist who torched an entire section of this fantastic play space (Fun Forest Arson).  However, the residents of Chesapeake have rallied behind the rebuilding efforts and the park was also the grand prize winner in the Sears More Green Across America contest.  We were the only ones there on this day so the kids had a blast roaming around wherever their little hearts desired!

Nathan

(Matthew was in constant motion so I was unable to snap a good photo of him)

From babies to toddlers.....

It has just dawned on me after looking at these recent pictures that the twins are officially no longer babies but have seemingly morphed into toddlers right before my eyes (sniff, sniff).  They are looking more like little boys every day and have really begun to take on personalities of their very own.  They are fun-loving little guys who laugh easily and are almost fearless climbers. Look out world!!

They ADORE cars and seem to always have one (or two) clutched in their little hands.  They eat with them and even insist on sleeping with them!!  I guess there really is no doubt who their father is. :)

I looked at this picture and was taken aback by how OLD they look!!! It's very bitter sweet to me because these are my last babies and while it's been tough going at times it has also been so wonderful having TWO babies to hold and cuddle.