POTD: Pre-dinner Entertainment

Oliver has been great at entertaining himself this summer while we have been in the bungalow.  Usually he is contently playing in the gravel or with his trucks or golf clubs.

This is what he was up to while I was making dinner tonight

POTD - cousin fun at the SSC

Scott, Jenn, and Remi joined us for a weekend at the club.  The weather was absolutely phenomenal and the cousins had a blast playing together.  We will definitely have to make this an annual visit.

Another Beach Daytrip - Dickinson Style

For not being beach people, we sure have been a lot recently - three trips in as many weeks.  On Monday, we were off to Ocean City NJ to visit college friends that had rented a house for the week.  Lauren & Mason came too.  Originally, Pauline was going to tag along, but I just didn't have the energy to have all three kiddos on the beach, so Pauline & Alex stayed home and enjoyed a quiet day together.  Lukas is easier in the car (although he does not appreciate stop lights), so that's how he got to tag along. 

Here is the next generation of Dickinsonians.....

 

Oliver & Life with Twins

Oliver has adjusted to the babies much better than we had expected.  We've been careful not to blame the babies when we can't do something with him because we are caring for them.  He's been able to take it in stride that he sometimes has to wait before one of us can help him.  Of course, it helps that Pauline & I are both home all day, so his life hasn't been altered quite as much as if I was home alone all by myself.  Hopefully, when I go back to work, he continues to be this cooperative for Pauline. 

 

If you asked him, Oliver's biggest complaint about the babies is probably their crying.  Of course, he has yet to understand that most often it his noisyness or crying/whinging (mostly in the car) that has woken them up and irritated them in the first place.  Pauline & I aren't exactly a fan of three screaming kids in the car either! 

 

Oliver been very gentle and to-date he's only acted out once (hitting Lukas on the foot when he got mad).  Oliver frequently asks to hold "dat one" and beams while he is holding one or both of his brothers. 

 

While I had expected Oliver to want us to treat him like a baby, I was surprised that he didn't really want to act that out until this weekend.  While Adam & I were feeding the boys, he told us Ricardo (the monkey) was hungry.  I made him a bottle and he fed and burped Ricardo while we fed the babies.  It wasn't long before he was drinking the bottle and wanted Mommy to feed him like a baby.  Afterwards,  Oliver's water play included making form-Ula (that's how he pronounces it). 

Morris Arboreum & Chestnut Hill

Sunday it was my turn to come up with the idea for our family outing.  I have been wanting to go to one of the local Arboreums for some time, but was unable to do this as our Mothers Day outing since I was pregnant and had no idea how much walking would be involved. 

 more photos after the page break

Mommy Milestones

I get asked a lot how we are managing with twins.   Each week feels a bit more manageable than the week prior and gives me more confidence to get out and do more.  About two weeks ago, I hit a pretty big milestone - I managed to get out of the house with the twins without any help and was able to run a bunch of errands.  Of course, it took me a lot longer than I thought it would to actually get out of the house.  I was in and out of five different stores without being brought to tears, despite the boys multiple attempts to bring me down.  This was my setup for feeding & changing the boys in the car in between stores. 

Feeling confident the days of Alex's hysterical crying would bring me to tears were behind me, I bravely took all three boys out to breakfast while we were in Cape May.  The trip started well - there were only two other occupied tables, and Oliver was on his best behavior.  I managed to feed Alex before the food came and since Lukas was still asleep, I actually got to eat some bites of a warm breakfast!  I was feeling quite cocky when I took this photo... things went downhill only a few short minutes later.  While feeding Lukas, Alex started wailing - he was sitting in a nasty blowout.  It was at this very moment that Oliver decided it would be fun to start playing with the knives on the table and it wasn't long before I realized that Lukas also had a poop -- three crying boys and a mommy unsuccessfully fighting back tears.  I ended up changing Alex's diaper under the table, while our sweet waitress soothed (possibly fed?) Lukas.  The 30%+ tip I left was worth every penny.  I've definitely learned to not be so stubborn and just take the help when kind strangers offer it.  There's just no way to survive going out in public with my three otherwise. 

Cape May Visit

Last week, Pauline & I packed up the kids and headed to Cape May for two days to visit my cousin Robin whose inlaws recently bought a house close to the beach.  We got there on Wednesday morning before lunch and went home after dinner on Thursday - I thought we were there for the perfect amount of time.  Our crew can be a bit overwhelming to those that aren't used to the chaos that our life has become.

lots and lots of photos after the break (sorry for the repeatitiveness for BBros family that already saw Robin's photos)

Camden Aquarium Visit

On Monday, we headed out to the Camden aquarium with our good friends and neighbors Lauren & Mason.  Aquariums are frustratingly difficult for amateur photographers (me!) and this one was no different.  Here are some of our (& Lauren's) best shots from the day.

 

Evening Family Time

After dinner last night, we headed out for a walk to the playground.  It took him awhile to warm up, but Oliver got a big kick out of running around the mini-splash park.  Mommy (& Alex) enjoyed it too!

Another Fabulous Sportsfest Weekend

The first weekend in August was Sportsfest - My favorite weekend of the summer!  Pauline & I drove up with the boys on Friday afternoon and got us situated for the weekend.  We even managed to squeeze in a trip to the pool for Pauline to lay in the sun and Oliver to play in the sand, before Oliver & I ran a bunch of errands. Adam & Nicole/Devon joined us later in the evening.  We enjoyed a low key day on Saturday and then on Sunday our family was around to hang out at the pool, visit with old friends, and have dinner together. 

Photos from Friday (not bad for my cellphone)

Lots and lots of photos after the page break

Da Brothers...

Oliver refers to Alex & Lukas as "Da Brothers".  When he and Pauline come home from somewhere, the very first thing he usually asks is "Where da brothers at?".  It cracks me up everytime. 

The lighting is so good in my office in the afternoon, it makes me want to take photos of the boys (when they are all in a good mood).  Last week, I realized that these "Little Brother" onesies were Newborn-size and didn't really even fit the boys anymore, so I had to get in a quick photo shoot while I still could!

Lukas, Oliver, Alex

Visiting Pop-Pop in Avalon

Last Wednesday, Pauline & I packed up the three boys and headed to Avalon to spend the day with my inlaws who rent a house down the shore every summer.  Oliver has been asking for weeks now when he we would "go to Pop-pop's house", so he was pretty excited about the trip too, even though he really didn't have any idea what we were talking about when we mentioned the beach and the ocean.

There was a thundershower with heavy rain that kept us off the beach for a few hours in the early afternoon, but fortunately we were able to sneak in a few hours of beach time. Oliver wasn't a big fan of the waves and showed little interest in getting into the water.  He was happiest checking things out with Pop-pop and playing in the sand.  I don't even have photos of anyone else but these two!

Birthday Weekend!

Months and months ago I planned that we would come up to the club for the first time as a family of five the last weekend in July (little did I know that we would be coming up much sooner).  The weekend plans were set and both my mom and aunt took Saturday off from work for our family day.  While more cooperative weather would have been appreciated by all (it POURED for most of the day), everyone made the best of it and we really enjoyed one another's company and a delicious meal (huddled under the E-Z Up tent that they set up on our porch).  Oliver had a blast seeing all of his relatives and playing with cousin Bentley, and we finally got to meet Baby Preston, who was born a few weeks before the twins. 

The First Month Is Already Behind Us

We've survived the first month!

Lukas (L) & Alex (R)

 Plenty more photos after the break....

POTD: Beach Fun

Oliver is having a blast playing in the sand with Pop-Pop and Aunt Chris...  totally worth the daytrip to Avalon.  Fingers crossed another thunderstorm doesn't roll through and ruin the fun.