Autumn's triathlon

Autumn participated in her first triathlon yesterday. The event was purely for fun, no timing was performed, and every participant broke a finisher's tape at the end and got a blue ribbon. It was a blast. Here she is with her friends, Ashley and Ella and her cousin, Adilyn before the race.

Goggles, swimcap, and lifevest were donned before the 2 lap pool swim.

She did great during the swim, especially once she stopped trying to put her head underwater like she does during her swim lessons. It doesn't work with a lifevest on!

Daddy helped dry her off after her swim, get her sneakers on and then gave her instructions for the bike ride which was about a mile.

Next year Joshua can participate too.

She was smiling during the whole bike ride.

Making the turn into her run transition.

Great running form! :-)

Crossing the finish line!

One happy kid afterwards. What a fun, positive experience!

Big excitement

So there was lots of excitement in the house last night as Autumn lost her first tooth. It was hanging by a string and basically popped out when I pulled it with a tissue. She was beyond excited, wiggling and squiggling when she went to bed, and ran into our room at 2:30am to tell us that there was $1 under her pillow. She couldn't wait to go to school today and I saw her showing her toothy grin to her friends on the bus as it drove away this afternoon - which totally cracked me up. She just spontaneously starts to giggle when she feels the empty space with her tongue. Joshua stares at her in awe and said "My teeth are going to fall out when I'm big." It's hilarious.

Speaking of the Bud, here is a picture of my child that could likely get us arrested if we do not clarify. Yes, he is 3. Yes, his shorts are size 12 months. Yes, they are safety pinned at the waist and still falling off. Yes, his ribs stick out. No, his belly is not normally that distended. I know he looks like he belongs in a 3rd world country and truly, we do feed the child. I think this is a great picture to show my future pregnant daughter-in-law!
 

Family pictures

We had some family pictures taken a couple of weeks ago for Joshua's birthday and Easter.

Love this picture of our sweet 3 year old. I think this is one of my all time favorites.

Easter 2010

What a gorgeous, fun weekend! On Friday the kids and Daddy went to Grandmom and Pop's house for the day. They had fun playing outside all day, riding on their bikes and taking tractor rides with Pops. The Easter bunny made the first of many visits.

Friday night Brooke and Arianna came to spend the night. Autumn and Brooke slept together in the big guest bed and were so cute together. Saturday morning we decorated Easter eggs and then had Easter dinner with my family on Saturday night.

Sunday morning the bunny came to our house and left some treats in the kids Easter baskets. They quickly found all of the eggs he had hidden. They are getting too quick and he might have to get trickier next year!

Autumn was so excited to give Daddy her gift - a musical card that plays "I Want Candy," an inside joke between them as he apparently blasts the song in his car on a "Hits of the 80s" CD.

After church on Sunday morning it was to Mommom and Poppop's house. We enjoyed a delicious brunch and of course, that bunny came to her house too. Talk about sugar overload!

The Garges grandkids (minus sleeping Daniel)

Daniel woke up and we were able to line the kids up by age...so cute!!

All in all, one of the best Easters we have ever had. The kids crashed into bed last night, happy and giggling about all of the fun adventures we had this weekend and giving thanks for all of our blessings.

March

March 5th - Autumn had her first ever school dance. It was for Mommy's and Daddy's as well and she generally stuck to us like glue although she did giggle and dance with some of her school friends.

March 6th - Celebrating cousin, Adi's birthday at Boing gymnastics center.

March 17 - We enjoyed a visit from Mommy's cousins Dana and Devon and their sweet little girl, Kathryn (9 months old).

March 21 - Daniel's Baptism. He is so smiley and sweet at just over 3 months old!

March 27 - Joshua could not wait for his 3rd birthday this year. All he wanted were Matchbox cars - he wasn't disappointed. He even had one on his cake! It was highlighted with a new car bed from Mommom and Poppop.

He loved opening his cards. This one played "The Chicken Dance" song.

Continuing with the car theme, we went to a local car show on his actual birthday. Helpful since Mommy and Daddy are currently car shopping themselves.

And his birthday was topped off by a sundae at Red Robin. We can hardly believe our favorite guy is 3 years old. He just gets sweeter and sweeter!

January and February

Finally...here's some catching up from the past few months....

January 16th - We visited the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. It was a fun day to see the traveling Body Worlds exhibit and lots of other things for the kids to do and learn.

January 24 - Brooke visited overnight with us. She and Joshua are good buddies.

February 2 - Getting up close and personal with Arianna at Bepa's house. Luckily she is very tolerant!

February 3 - The kids have been enjoying swimming lessons all winter. It's a great escape from the cold winter dulldrums.

February 11 - One of many huge winter storms. That is the top of our 6 foot fence behind the kids.

Pictures soon

I've had no interest in posting over these past 2 months...sorry to anyone who may occassionally glance at this blog. A techno-rebellion of sorts. Check out Chris' blog at http://motiv-8.blogspot.com/
for some recent updates. I just got a new camera so I will post again soon - part of the reason for my lapse in updates. See you soon!