Monkeys!

Our Ann Arbor buddies Chris, Stu, FIona and Eilidh sent the girls monkey t-shirts. Cuteness ensues!

Pretend You Like Each Other

They do actually like each other. It's just sometimes they forget. And you have to remind them. By saying, "hey, I'm taking a picture, look at each other and pretend you like your sister!"

Happy 23 month Birthday, Amity!

This poncho was actually a present from Grandma Bonnie and Grandpa Art, to Zara. Amity ended up wearing it. Cute ensued. Can you believe she turns 2 in a month?

Happy New Year!

We began 2012 with a hike to South River Falls in Shenandoah National Park. We knew it would be an auspicious (and possibly wet) trek when we saw the rainbow while eating lunch (in the car, with Amity napping in her car seat in back, because it was so cold, and wet...) We would not be deterred (and I stole Wes' hat). Good thing, too, because the falls were amazing. Turns out the trail is a loop, but we weren't certain of the details (how long a loop? how far into the loop were the falls?) so we turned around and headed back. And then it rained. Again. But we made it back to the car and out of the park well in advance of the 5pm gate closing curfew. And had a wonderful time. Next time we'll do the loop.

Going on an Edventure...

Another day of travel, another fun museum. I think this is the best children's museum we've ever been to - we hardly even saw everything there was, much less tried it. Even with extending the trip home out to 3 days, we still didn't get to spend as much as we'd probably have liked exploring along the way, but what we did do made for fun times. Evidence of said fun times include Amity as dentist, Amity as West African cook, and Zara as very small person in chair with very large kid (who is actually a play structure!) in background. For anyone going anywhere near Columbia, SC with kids, do check out Edventure. It's TOTALLY worth a stop.

The MoSH

One of the awesome perks of membership to our local children's museum is reciprocal membership at children's and science museums all across the country (and some in Canada, I think, too!) We use this benefit to its fullest extent when traveling, often stopping for an hour just to run around and explore in a new museum somewhere (and not be sitting in the car). Here we are in Jacksonville, FL, at the MoSH. The giant sideways face is the entryway to an exhibit on the human body.

Ormond Beach

The only thing we didn't get to do while visiting family in Florida was get to the beach. So, when Amity woke up from her nap on the first day of our trip home, we got off at the nearest exit of I-95, and headed east. We arrived in Ormond Beach about an hour before sunset. As to not waste time with changing and since it was kind of cold anyway, I figured we'd just all go in the clothes we were wearing and wade a bit in the water and play in the sand. However... 3 out of 4 of us ended up getting significantly wet. 1 of us had to remain dry in order to properly document the expereince... and hold the iPhones and car keys.

Riding River Run

The really awesomest thing about Aunt Debbi's horses is getting to ride! Here Z is getting ready to ride River Run, Deb's very tall (over 16 hands!) horse. Zara did fantastically, of course (video to follow some day soon-ish). And most importantly, she has a wonderful time! She rode every day we were in Florida. Thanks SO much for hosting us, Deb and Craig!

Maté

One of the best parts of visiting excellent Aunt Debbi in Florida is the horses! Here Zara's hanging out with Maté, after helping Deb give him a bath. Zara spent a great deal of time helping with farm chores, and seems to take follow in the footsteps of her various horse loving relatives!

Jekyll Island

We planned our trip down to Florida as a 2 day drive, with a stop in Savannah, GA, as that's about the halfway point. Ironically, however, we never ended up in Savannah proper and just kept driving on by. As we were about to pass an exit for Jekyll Island National Park, Amity started have a mega-meltdown, so we quickly left the freeway and went exploring.

Long story short, here's a pic of our 2 resident cuties relaxing in the rocking chairs on the porch of the Jekyll Island Club Hotel.