Scenes from New York: Summer '11 Road Trip

As Cambria and Ezra would probably say, our time in New York was long but enjoyable. 

We got ice cream everyday because you just can't find ice cream like that down south. 

We went to the park...many times.

Niagra Falls. 

Family visits. 

Pedicures, subs, pizza, and just an overall relaxing atmosphere helped to make our stay oh so nice. 

And my {pregnant} sister came home with an extra dog too.

We could actually go outside during the day and there weren't any gnats!

We explored the countryside and visited a chicken "farm":)

We drank from a natural spring hidden away in the hills and explored a HUGE antique shop. 

I was sad to leave, but am SOOO happy to be home.

And to be quite honest, traveling with 2 little ones for a long time who are both in cloth diapers can be stressful, but we managed.

And now we're home. 

I missed this house! 

Here's a few snippets from our time in NY.

 gazing out the window

swinging

buzz

my man

preggo

love for a sonx2

and fun with mom

clapping hands 

bathing in a sink

ICE CREAM!! 

pretty porch flowers

evil  eye

Are You My Mother?

sibling love

cutie pie

grandpa

family

cousins 

pedicure

pretty girl

daddy <3

grandma 

beautiful sky

mama and Noah 

strong boy!

And Niagra Falls.  {Cambria was with Grandma}

Baby Bump

That's a cute little baby bump right thurrr. Dontcha think?

 {the font is blue because i think it's a boy}

Day 3 & 4 of Summer '11 Road Trip

The first half of Saturday turned out to be a success, but the second half was a big mess.  We woke up, got dressed, and packed everything we needed for the day.  People in my family always get on to us about being late and taking too long to get places or get moving, but it's a lot of work getting all our things together.  You just don't know, unless you have a little ones yourself.  Diapers, wipes, wipe solution, hats, extra clothes, camera, bib, cup, sling, carrier....I could go on, but you get it.  We gots lots of crap! So after all that we headed to the National Zoo.  I went back and forth about whether I wanted to go because frankly, I don't so much like supporting the idea of housing animals in a small enclosed space when they should be roaming free in the wild.  But after much turmoil in my head, I decided it would be fun for Cambria AND it was free, so she probably wouldn't have an opportunity again for a while.  So we went.  It was awesome being able to show Cambria animals she sees in her movies or reads about in books.  It got pretty hot towards the end, but it was overall a fun adventure.  We got to take the "choo-choo" too and Cam liked that. :) 

I was very pleased with the cleanliness of D.C.'s metro system.

walking to the zoo.

turtles

the lion was my favorite.  he went to the very top and roared several times!

there were so many pretty buildings like this one!

cool guys in the city

When we got back Cam and Ezra both passed out.  They were sleeping for so long that we finally decided to wake them up!  We headed out at about 6:30 in hopes of finding some dinner and seeing some sights.  We decided to get off at a stop right near The Mall and quickly discovered there were NO places to eat.  Literally nothing except like two uppity, non-kid friendly places.  I was freaking out at this point and starting to think I was going to have a panic attack or something.  We were out in D.C. with two babies, at 8 o'clock, aimless and hungry. After walking around for almost an hour hungry and aimless, we found a little health food burger and pizza place.  The meal wasn't bad, but at the end we realized that somewhere along the way Kyle had lost his debit card!!! AND I didn't have mine with me.  Luckily Kyle is a weirdo and has memorized all of his card's information so we were able to pay with that.   After the meal it was getting dark so we quickly made our way to the metro and then headed back to our hotel.  It was a stressful evening that didn't go as planned.  Well, actually, we didn't have a plan when we left our hotel, so maybe that was the problem.  Maybe we should start actually making plans when we do things...nah, that's just not our style. (sorry Ashley) ;)

she was PASSED OUT

as was he

while we were walking around we stumbled upon a sweet view of The Capital

finally a place to eat!

he just couldn't hang anymore

cancelling his lost card :/

Sunday we woke up, quickly gathered and packed our things, and got some breakfast at a local cafe.  We saw the sights we had wanted to see the day before and got back on the road.  There are so many things to see in D.C. and we definitely did not see everything, so a trip back is in our future.  The 5 1/2 hour trip to New York ended up taking us about 7 1/2...typical.  It was a relaxing drive except for the last hour or so when Cambria was done being in the car.  I'm glad we have until Saturday before we have to drive back again.  In the meantime, we will be enjoying ourselves up here in Upstate New York! 

Mr.O's house

that boy eats anywhere, in front of The White House even

Washington Monument

Kyle in his happy place, the National Air and Space Museum

The Supreme Court.  The massive size and detail of the buildings was incredible.

my kids love to sleep

and they love their pacys

we HAD to stop for ice cream.  you just can't find the ice cream they have up here anywhere else!

ice cream + my cuties = a happy mama

I'll blog about our time in New York thus far tomorrow, but it's really just been a lot of relaxing, playing, and eating.  All the fun things in life :)

Day 1 & 2 of Summer '11 Road Trip

Car packed and ready to go!

Our Finnegan Family Road Trip of Summer 2011 has officially begun!  It all started on Thursday around 4 o’clock when we merged onto the lovely I-95.  Our first destination was Fayetteville, NC for the night to stay with one of my aunts. On the way, we decided to eat at Mellow Mushroom and it ended up being an excellent decision.  Our food was fantastic: a tossed salad shared by the three of us (E doesn’t eat foodies yet) and a pizza with BBQ tofu, spinach, and BBQ base. DELICIOUSNESS!!! 

We ate outside because we were tired of being inside the car.

This was one of the best pizza I have ever eaten!

It really was a lovely, stress-free meal (sometimes they aren’t when we go out).  When we went to pay, our server informed us that a nice couple sitting near us had already paid for our food.  Apparently they said we seemed like a nice family with two cute, young babies…and so they wanted to pay for our food!!! Who does that?!? We were speechless and couldn’t believe the random act of kindness were the recipients of.  It makes me feel good because it reassured my belief in the goodness of people.   It also makes me think that Kyle and I are doing something right, and those kind people noticed.  The couple had already left se we weren’t able to thank them.  Kyle and I both felt all warm and happy inside and we decided we’re going to pay it forward one day.  

Cambria Sky enjoyed her dinner, it's smeared all over her face :)

chillin' waiting for our dinner

me and my girl

We got to my aunt’s house at almost 10 and put the babies to bed, talked to my aunt for a while, and then got to sleep ourselves.  That day was a good start to our trip.  We were up and on the road around 10:30 the next morning, on our way to our nation’s capital.  We only made one stop in which we ate us some yummy Cracker Barrel.  Towards the end of the 6 hour drive Cambria started to reeeeeeally need a nap, but was uncomfortable and only slept for like 30 minutes.  It didn’t seem to phase her though because she was hyper the rest of the day! Before checking into our hotel we decided to venture on over to the Arlington National Cemetery.  We got there around 5:30 and it seemed like we picked the perfect time to go because it wasn’t too hot outside and it wasn’t crowded at all.  We made it just in time to see the changing of the guards at the Tomb of the Unknowns and walked all around to see some of the other sights.  The cemetery was absolutely beautiful and I was in awe of how many soldiers are buried there.  It was incredible and I had such a solemn feeling while we were walking among so many graves. One of my favorite parts was looking at all the names on the gravestones, such a unique way of finding out cool, old-timey names. As we were leaving it started to pour and there were two perfect rainbows that formed over the city.  It was the icing on the cake and we all enjoyed watching the rain and getting wet.  

Ezra is a cutie in this one

Arlington National Cemetery

changing of the guards

beautiful summer rain

rainbow over the Washington Monument

We found a little vegetarian place for dinner then headed up to our room at the Washington Marriott.  It’s a pretty nice hotel so the rooms don’t have wireless and there’s no breakfast included.  BUT there is a Trader Joes within walking distance so Kyle was sure to pick us up some treats after the kids went to bed :D Today has been long and fun and after Cambria is done napping we will be meeting up with Ashley and Phillip!  Hopefully I can blog about Day 3 tonight!

Long Days

Gosh. 

The last two days have been sooooooo long. 

Yesterday, my dad, Amber and Casey came over to eat dinner in celebration of Father's Day. 

We won't be here this Sunday to celebrate because we're going on a summer trip; North Carolina for 1 night, D.C. for 2, and then upstate New York for almost a week.

So anyway, between preparing meals, making gifts, taking care of the babies, preparing for our trip, cleaning, laundry, etc. I am totally wiped out. 

And I feel like all I've been doing is running around the house trying to get everything done and have thus neglected the babies.

Of course I'm meeting their physical needs, but I don't like putting them second to a house chore. 

Hopefully tomorrow I can play one-on-one with each of them AND find a couple quiet minutes for myself.

I've been wanting to post about a few small projects I've recently done, but for right now check out these pictures I got from a mini photo shoot I had with Cambria and Ezra. 

This was for a Father's Day gift.  Believe me, I would not willingly dress both my children up in sports paraphernalia to take a picture unless it was for Father's Day. 

This one would've been so cute, if they were looking...

This is E's disgusted face hahaha

The best one I got.

She's not trying to eat him, that's a kiss.  And I didn't ask her to do that.

Cambria pointing to the paint I had on my leg which got there during the other part of this project.

  These were taken in our backyard at about 12 o'clock.  

It was hot as crap and I was by myself trying to take pictures of a baby and a toddler.  And Cambria DID NOT want Ezra on her.  

I bribed her the entire time with "treats" and when we went inside I let her eat TWO pieces of saltwater taffy.

She was thrilled.

Just a few things

I mowed our yard yesterday and it felt amazing.  We have just under an acre so it takes a good 2-3 hours or so.  I swear, mowing the lawn is one of the most satisfying types of work.  You instantly see the results of your labor and get a nice, sweaty workout all the while.  I love it, and I think Kyle and I will always fight over who gets to mow it.  He will probably win most times though.

My hands were SO RED last night after I was done.

Kyle will probably be mad at me for bringing this up again but yesterday our neighbor left this note on his car. 

We've never spoken a word to this lady and Kyle has parked his car halfway between our property and her's twice and one of his wheels was on like 2 inches of her grass.  C'mon, seriously???? I know that the problem is not ours, it's hers, but it bugs me that someone has that much anger.  We're not at all confrontational so we just moved our car and the note without saying anything.  But the note got me thinking about how strange our (and most people's) living situation actually is.  We live within feet of so many people that we barely talk to.  We are part of a subdivision that shares nothing except the roads we drive on.  We don't associate with our neighbors or call them friends.  I mean, on a superficial level we've talked to a few people, but nothing deep or meaningful. It's ridiculous!  Oprah recently said on her show that people who know their neighbors are happier.  I believe it.  And I would love to call the people who live closest to me my friends--good friends that I can call on for help or advice.  Maybe if we're here for a few years it'll happen....? Check out this kind of communal living.  I find it fascinating, what do you think? Anyway, we're going to just move past that note, stay OFF her area of the street, and hopefully build a relationship with her over time.  We'll see...