Springing into Spring (and the Supermoon!)

Last week, we got a peek at spring...two days in the 60s and one reaching 74! We maximized our time outdoors and Eamon and Nora (and me, too!) loved every second. While I've enjoyed the winter for the most part, I will not miss the bitter cold (and all of the coughing, sneezing, and snot that seems to go hand-in-hand with the season). Although the temps dropped this week and winter stuck its tongue out at us with two morning snowfalls, those lovely warm days made me even more excited for the next two seasons.

Here are some shots from our time out in the park...Nora's first little ride in the swing and the amazing Supermoon that hung over the Manhattan skyline as though it was painted there.

Jack is TWO!

We celebrated Jack's birthday last Sunday with a yummy pizza dinner and, of course, CAKE! at Leezie and Speed's. The birthday boy was as happy as can be--as were his cousin and big brother who were more than happy to help Jack blow out the candle. As you can see, all three boys were sporting their green in honor of Jack's St. Paddy's Day birthday...even though we were celebrating a few days later. BTW, Leezie and I didn't plan that at all. What can I say--great minds (and sisters!) think alike!

Getting So Big!

What happened to my babies? On Friday, Eamon got his hair cut and emerged from the barber's chair looking like a five year old.

Later on that day, we went to the playground and he tried mightily to play tag with a bunch of five- and six-year-olds (he couldn't really keep up). When I saw him in the mix with the "older" kids, I did get a little emotional...all of a sudden, he transitioned from toddler to big boy.

Today, I registered him for preschool. He'll attend a program that goes five days a week, five hours a day. Glad to have the opportunity to send him to this program, but I know I'll have a hard time letting him go.

Nora, meanwhile, is changing and growing every day...she loves being on her stomach and checking out the world around her, as you can see in these pictures.

After our hike up Mt. Tammany, we checked into the Pocono HoJo (yep, we're high-rollers) and went straight for the indoor pool. Eamon and Mark splashed around while Nora and I hung on the deck, though she did take a little dip in herself. It was a bit too cold for her, but I couldn't resist the chance to put her in her very fuuuurst bathing suit!

Almost Spring!

See ya, snow! We're really ready for winter to be over around here. Cabin fever got the best of us, and we decided to take a little weekend trip to hike the Deleware Water Gap. It's something Mark and I have been wanting to do forever, and when he saw the weather was going to hit the 50's this weekend, Mark made the executive decision to just do it already. So off we went Saturday morning and made it to the trails mid-day. We found a trail that seemed suitable for both big and little people (Nora was in the Bjorn, but Eamon, of course, wanted to walk on his own) and wound up spending 2.5 hours in the woods! We made it almost the entire way up to Mt. Tammany before we decided that scaling steep, slippery rocks to make it to the top would probably not earn us any points in the parenting department. So down, down, down we went. The trees may have been bare and the trails extremely soggy from the recent rain, but we loved being out there and hope to do it again once spring finally, well, springs!