We've Seen the "Magic"

 It was princesses, princesses, princesses for 5 days in Orlando, FL.  Ryan was at the national ENT conference taking his written boards, so we decided to tag along.  He did a great job on his exam - we will get the results at the end of June.  Best of all, we have time once again at night without him reading up on the latest in the ENT world!

 We spent two days at the Magic Kingdom.  As you can see, the girls were in heaven.  We met the Fairy Godmother, many of the princesses and the usual Mickey Mouse gang at dinner at the Contemporary Resort.  Some of our fellow residents joined us at Chef Mickey's for a kiddo feast - pizza, mac and cheese, hot dogs - they loaded up and had a few adult offerings to enjoy as well.

 Friday morning, we had breakfast at Cinderella's castle.  We walked in and got to meet/photo op with the fabulous princess herself.  Caroline did a great job and didn't let the characters scare her, which was a nice change from her usual behavior with dressed up characters!  Then we headed upstairs for breakfast, great menu - but the attendees were even better.  Snow White, Aurora, Jasmine and Ariel also stopped by our tables for more chatting and photos.  Caroline was in heaven!

Caroline and I managed to check out the Electric Light parade on Thursday night and she was completely transfixed.  I don't think we missed any important events, and can't wait for the ENT conference to take us back in two years for more magical moments.

The Birthday Zone

March always starts out with our focus on Caroline's birthday.  This year she had some friends join her for a swimming party at the Gertrude Barber Center.  It is a fantastic facility in which the pool floor can be raised/lowered to any height.  The kids were loving all of the pool toys and being able to reach anywhere in the pool.  Their favorite part seemed to be running around the gym after eating cake, you could tell cabin fever had set in!

April brings us Audrey's birthday month.  She invited her friends over to share a cupcake with her.  The kids loved batting around the pinata - but in the end it took a sledge hammer to really get it open!  She's now every bit of 2... flying off the handle for no reason, while her language is jut exploding!  She's a little parrot most days, trying to imitate anything we say... Caroline thinks it is the greatest game around.  Audrey can say just about everything, but still refuses to say "please".  So strange!  Oh well, she'll get there.

And in the midst of the birthday madness, we made a family trip to Evansville!  It was great for our family to check out Caroline's new school.  She's ready to be a kindergartener next fall!  Ryan's family joined us as well, they were great babysitters and they got to see our new city.  Below is a photo of our new home, 3001 E. Blackford Ave.  We are so pleased, and bought it only after seeing it via Face Time.  Gotta love technology! : ) It will be home as of the end of June!  Now to sell our Erie house... always something.

The Never-Ending Winter

Apparently, like everyone else in the USA, Erie is never going to have spring.  Seems like there is way too much cold all over the place!  I'm needing some new ideas on how to entertain inside, this was supposed to be my Zoo month.  We should have visited it everyday! Maybe April...

We are going out of turn this month, I uploaded photos first 

and this was the order they appeared in on my screen!

Audrey: becoming quite the chatterbox.  She's able to repeat almost everything she hears - for better or worse.  But she is more clear than her sister was at this ago, so it's nice to not have to translate everything she says for other people.  She loves puzzles and has an affinity for finding any puddle that may have formed outside.  When she wakes up, she always asks for her sister which is so charming (even when they are fighting over toys)!  Next up is her big birthday month... we are ready for the 2s!

Anna: I can't believe I have a 5 year old, and that she's Kindergarten bound.  It is quite strange, but I'm really enjoying this age.  I can talk to her about things associated with the move and she really gets it.  The YMCA seems to be my saving grace these days.  I still get plenty of workouts in each week - read, time away from the girls - which helps in everything I do.  Caroline attends all kinds of classes which have really helped us get through these months.  I'm all finished packing for now, the 'For Sale' sign is in the yard and we've had a few showings.  I really can't do much more until the 'Sold' sign is up!  I did manage to survive the installation of new carpet.  It really does look nice, and you can't beat the fresh carpet smell when you open the doors.  I'm just sorry for all of the Moms whose children crawled around on our previous carpet... what a mess!

Caroline: Birthday Girl!  She's wearing a shirt made by Becky Copple.  You can find her shop "Sew Ro" on etsy... hint hint!  She loves ballet and continues to practice all over the house.  Caroline loves her Barbie dolls which is new for me.  I wasn't into them as a kid, but I'm doing a great job of corralling  all of those little plastic shoes.  In the evenings, she's able to stay up later than her sister - sh, don't tell Audrey!  It's nice to have some alone time with her in the evenings, and she respects our space when I need to work.  She's always available to watch another episode of "Electric Company!"  Next week we head to EVV for a house hunt.  Caroline (and the rest of us) are very excited to see her new school and learn all about the wonderful world of Kindergarten!

Ryan:  Does this guy look tired?  Well he survived a night at Chuck E Cheese, Caroline's choice for birthday dinner.  Call has been a little nuts lately and trying to keep up with studying and house projects, the poor guy needs a 28 hour day just to get a little extra sleep!  He was doing great at working out in the AM until last week, when he found himself shoveling more than not.  He's doing great and trying to keep his nose to the grindstone until boards arrive in May.  We are all looking forward to our Evansville trip, he gets a few days off and we get to show his Mom around our new city!

I Think The Groundhog Was Wrong....

Okay since my favorites in KC have experienced an Erie sort of snow week, I'm thinking that Groundhog did see his shadow.  Will this winter thing ever end?  The zoo opens up here on Friday, best late-afternoon time killer around... and more snow heading our way.  Not the easiest way to navigate the zoo with snow on the ground, but I'm getting close to desperate so I might just bundle up the kids and go!

We did have a marvelous 5 days on Anna Maria Island (outside of Tampa) with Dad and Allison.  It started off cool, but that didn't stop the sandcastle builders from staying busy.  There was plenty of time for swimming in the "warm pool" i.e. hot tub and tons of seafood for the adults.  It warmed up perfectly by the end, and except for taking a little longer to arrive back in Erie than originally planned, the girls were fabulous travelers.  It was so nice to hear the ocean and really have a chance to catch up with my family.

Bring on March.  Bring on warm.  Bring the sunshine consistently back.  Bring on a major snow melt.  Bring on a birthday girl....

Ryan - sitting across from me studying.   He has two exams coming up and is studying in most of his spare time.  Last weekend, while the girls and I were in FL, he managed to rip up all of our upstairs carpet.  He is dedicated!  It is looking great, now if we can just get it finished off this house can go on the market.

Myself - trying to juggle kid activities and bid visits on carpeting/hardwood floors.  We've hit a snag (a usual with the Palmer household) and the upstairs can't be refinished.  Now the big question, laminate over the existing floors or just carpet it all once again.  I've heard pros and cons on both sides.  I really don't care.  I'm just hoping not to spend a fortune and I am ready to have my house back!

Caroline - gearing up for her birthday month.  The invitations are printed and will be mailed soon.  She's just so excited for her party and the multiple celebrations that will ensue, wonder where she learned that one from?  She's into reading more and more.  We will go over sight words in books and she helps me "read" books.  She's also great at keeping Audrey occupied by "reading" to her.

Audrey - loves having all of the torn up carpet in the sunroom.  It's a perfect climbing mechanism and she embraces it with every chance she gets.  Today I found her splashing in puddles, just as happy as a clam.  Guess I need to get that kid some rain boots for the spring!  She is really talking now, two word sentences but still can't manage to say "please".  She's a rock star at "Thank You" so I'm not sure what the issue is... but we will get her figured out.  She also loves singing her own song "Mir, Mir Mir" to her own tune.   What a great kid!

Moving into the 4 month countdown!