Cars & Princess Party - 3rd Birthday

Somehow the kids have grown up and are now leaving the "terrible two's" but are entering the "trying three's." They are talking a lot more (and talking back even more), expressing their opinions (on everything), and learning the fine art of negotiation (especially as a reward for potty training). Almost daily they say something that makes us chuckle...and also something that makes Jason want to pull out the few remaining hairs on his head.

Their third birthday arrived on Friday, August 5th. Meghan's family visited the house for the celebration, and the kids got to open lots of presents, including two new bicycles and a lot of new toys. Somehow they didn't get many clothes for their birthday......unless you count the barbie clothes.

Their birthday party was on Saturday, August 6th, at 5 pm. We created a theme of "Race to Princess Castle" as a way to combine Isabel's wish for a princess party and Cameron's wish for a cars party. The party was well planned -- with lots of outdoor activities, including games and a pool for the kids to play in. Unfortunately, as luck (or mother nature) would have it, it started to thunderstorm at exactly 5 pm. So the kids "outdoor" party turned into a modified indoor party. We had about 20 minutes between storms, so all of the kids got to play outside for a little while, and then come inside to make crowns/tiaras and eat pizza and cake. At the end of the party, the sun came out again, so everyone went outside to splash in the pool and slide on the wet grass. All in all, the kids had a great party and slept very well that night.

Below are some photos from the day.

Isabel exclaims "Cam, we are three years old today...yay!"....."Big Deal" says Cameron.


Yummy, I luv to eat cake for my birthday...the candles on the other hand don't taste too good (Cameron discovered that fact himself)


Isabel learned that licking the candles is better than eating them.

"Come on, this way to my Princess Party!"


The kids were able to splash around in the pool in between thunderstorms. They had a great time with their neighborhood and preschool friends.

Isabel was rarely seen without a tiara or crown of some sort on her head during the party :-)

Some of the kids anxiously awaiting the arrival of the cakes.

"Look at my new princess tiara!"

Cameron got a cars cake for his birthday...

...and Isabel got a princess cake for her birthday.

Cameron had a great time opening all of his cars presents. He now has enough cars to open a dealership for very small people.

Isabel has enough princess toys and clothes to start her own kingdom.

Showing off her new tiara and earrings (her first pair...clip on...no holes in the ears yet).

Outer Banks Beach Trip

In early June, we took our annual beach trip to the Outer Banks with Meghan's entire family. It was a week full of sun time, pool time, beach time, sleeping late, ice cream and donuts. What could be better? The kids really enjoyed the pool and the beach, and Isabel enjoyed the excursions into the Town of Duck to get some "pink" ice cream. The only problem with going to the beach in June is that our vacation is already over and we have half of the year left!

Below are some photos from the trip. The kids are growing fast and developing their own opinions....which they tend to express more often and loudly than we would like!

We rented two bikes and a trailer for the kids and went on a couple of bike rides around the town of Duck. We even found a couple of up/down "roller coaster" hills where the kids yelled "Go Daddy go! Faster!"


Isabel loves her dresses and has the cutest little-girl smile this side of the Mississippi. Often it is a mischievous smile, but it is still cute :-)


Every year we take family photos on the beach. Maybe one of these years we will get a photo where all 4 of us look at the camera and smile!


Here are two fake smile...but at least they tried!

Isabel loves her "big" brother Cameron :-)

Cameron loved playing on the beach with his dump truck. This dump truck was Jason's when he was a kid. Cameron still did not like the ocean very much, but maybe next year he'll go in the water!

Duchess enjoyed her daily afternoon Frisbee sessions on the beach. :-) Dixie also enjoyed chasing her ball on the beach every day, and even went into the water a lot.

The water guns were a big hit in the pool...Cameron and Isabel enjoyed getting grandpa and grandma wet!

Isabel showing her little mischievous smile again, as she wielded her water weapon and got everyone wet!

When he needed a break from the sun, Cameron studied his math and science to prepare for his Duke application in 2026!

A Day at Lazy 5 Ranch

Christi, Jordan and Madison were visiting for the weekend, and it was a beautiful day on Saturday. So we all packed into the car and went to Lazy 5 Ranch in Mooresville, NC. (http://www.lazy5ranch.com/) Lazy 5 ranch is a place with over 700 animals and is a type of "drive thru" zoo, where you can drive your car through the park and all of the animals come to your car so you can feed them...or you can visit the park by riding on a wagon and feeding all of the animals from the wagon. The idea of emu and lama heads sticking in our car was not too appealing, to we opted for the wagon ride option. The kids loved seeing the lamas, emus, deer, rhino, goats, giraffes, zebras and various types of cows and buffalo. Some pictures from the day are below. Isabel checking out the animals off the side of the wagon. Cameron feeding a lama off the side of the wagon. Meghan, Cameron and Isabel feeding some of the animals. Cameron showing off a winning smile with some sort of white animal in the background. Christi, Jordan and Maddie at the end of the wagon ride. The whole gang at the giraffe enclosure. This was one of the highlights of the day. Jason put Cameron on his shoulders for a closer work. Jason, Meghan, Cameron and Isabel on the wagon.

Ashes...or Bums?

Here are some recent videos of the kids.

1. Ashes...or Bums? We really need to teach Cameron how to pronounce his "sh" sound...or else he changed the words to "Ring around the Rosie."

2. Our little princess...Isabel loves her princess dress and heels.

3. A good laugh. Making new use of a ceiling fan to entertain the kids!

Halloween, Christmas and Everything In Between

Since we seem to have a hard time posting a lot of posts to this blog, I am going to post one big update with lots of photos covering Halloween to Christmas of 2010. The kids have grown up so fast and they are starting to say lots of funny things, leading to the creation of the new blog section "They Said It." In this section, we will post phrases the kids say in their very own way....


The photos below show snapshots of October through December. We spent Halloween trick-or-treating in our new neighborhood, Thanksgiving with Jason's family in Vermont, and Christmas with Meghan's family in North Carolina.

HALLOWEEN 2010

Isabel was a little lamb for Halloween and enjoyed say "tick teat" at all of the houses.



At first, Cameron did not like his Lion costume and sounded like a lion with all of the screaming he did. But once he started to drag his "big truck" with him through the neighborhood, he began to enjoy himself.


Cousins Jordan and Maddie joined us for some trick or treating in our neighborhood.


The whole gang out trick or treating (Jason taking the photo).


THANKSGIVING IN VERMONT 2010

Cousin Anna and Isabel enjoying some play time together.


We took the kids to a UVM hockey game and they both liked watching the Zamboni during the time between periods.


Isabel liked wearing her winter hat, and is seen here with Nono Darling.


Cousin Ethan, Cameron and Isabel playing with the rocking horse that Daddy used when he was growing up!


Of course, no trip to Vermont would be complete without a little snow!


Cousins Ethan and Anna together with Cameron and Isabel, who were not too interested in posing for this photo.


While we were up north, we spent a few days in Boston and visited with the kids' Nanny Erika and her daughter Amanda. Isabel got to dress up like a princess.


Cam and Izzie in Charlestown, MA.



CHRISTMAS IN NORTH CAROLINA 2010

Cameron all dressed up and ready to go to church on Christmas Eve.


The Darling, Bahler, and Tabaretti clans (and Duchess, sneaking into the photo) on Christmas Eve.


All the kids in their Christmas Eve outfits...we took the kids to church, which was an adventure. They did not like sitting through an hour long mass!


The Darlings all dressed up for Church.


Cameron and Isabel playing with some new toys, and responding to Jason's request to "laugh for the camera!"


Isabel on Christmas day, wearing her new headband and flower.


Cameron got his "joo joo bean" (how he says choo choo train) from Santa for Christmas....


...and Isabel got her "baby doll" from Santa for Christmas!

Moving into New House and First Day of School

Right after Labor Day, we were ready to move into our new house just north of Charlotte and close to Lake Norman. The kiddos stayed with Grandma and Grandpa (in their words, "mah-ma" and "pa-pa") while we got the initial round of boxes unpacked. After a few days, they joined us to get settled into their new home. They especially liked the completely empty living room and dining room -- we had no need for furniture for these rooms in Boston in our small condo -- giving them a lot of room to run around. Their new house also has space to create a "playroom" in the downstairs office area. Complete with two built-in bookshelves to store all of their books, this is a room they can go to get away from mom and dad and enjoy their toys.

The week after we got moved into the new house, they started preschool at an area church where they go two mornings per week. Isabel especially likes wearing her backpack to school (I think maybe she is wondering if it is magical like Dora's backpack), and they have enjoyed meeting new friends and learning from the great teachers at this school.

Some photos of our first weeks in NC are below.

Isabel enjoys sitting at her new table in the playroom...


...she really enjoys her new table.


Cameron is the book worm of the family, and enjoys putting his feet up and choosing a book from the shelves in their playroom.


A game they have enjoyed is an early version of "hide and seek", where one of them hides and we all say "Isabel, where are you?"....


...and when Isabel show you her hiding place, we all say "There you are!!!" Not much seeking in this game!!! Another aspect of the house the kids like are the extra kitchen cabinets that they can use for their version of hide and seek.


Isabel wearing her backpack on the first day of school. The backpack is as big as she is and we need to hold it up or else she falls over backward!!


Going out the front door with Mommy and Grandma to their first day of school...


..."Bye-bye Daddy!"

Farewell to Boston...

Even though we "love that dirty water" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a65H8PR17fY) and Boston will always be the city where we started our family, we packed up in August and moved south to North Carolina. On the weekend of Aug 6, we made the long drive to North Carolina with two dogs, two kids, and two cars full of two thousand pounds of stuff (or at least it seemed like 2000 lbs!). The following week, Meghan and I returned to meet the movers and say our final farewell to Boston with a dinner in the North End and a walk over the Charlestown bridge. See some photos below.

The moving truck barely fit on our little street, scraping by the power lines and trees above.


Self portrait from our driveway, with a final look at the entrance to our first house together.


Dinner in the North End with Jess and Darrin, with the best table in town, looking out the balcony at Hanover Street below.





Final parting shot, taken from the Charlestown Bridge with the Zakim Bridge in the background.