Easter 2017

Two days after we got back from the Disney Cruise it was Easter. 

The girls dying Easter eggs. They were interested for about 10 minutes, then I had to finish the eggs. They were beautiful ;)

That afternoon we spent at the Torresdale Golf Club for brunch and an Easter egg hunt. Here's our mini clan (with sun in our eyes). 

And here's the whole clan: Zoe, her boyfriend Elliot and Elliot's mom, Lydia, Dave, and Kathy. It was an absolutely beautiful day - the first of hopefully many to come in the next few weeks! 

Decorating the Christmas Tree

The weekend after Thanksgiving we got our Christmas tree and Dave's parents and Zoe came over to help us decorate it.

Lauren helped pick out the ornaments...

 And Zoe and Sophie decided where they went on the tree (the lower branches were definitely well decorated)

 The princess in front of the final product

Zoe Turns 18!

On June 28th Zoe turned 18! Her grandparents threw her a surprise party - and she was really surprised. It was at the Ocean City Yacht Club, and a whole slew of friends and family turned up to celebrate. 

Here's the birthday girl with Dave

 Zoe, Sophie & Me

Cousin embrace! 

Christmas!

This year we spent Christmas Eve at our house with Mom Mom and Pop Pop. Dave made a fabulous dinner (2 fishes, as opposed to 7) and then we opened a few presents. I got a new camera, and so did Sophie! She did a lot of practicing...

 This one was taken with mine...

A science kit! Dad was as excited as Sophie!

We then spent Christmas morning at home, just the 3 of us (well, with Benson, 4) and then headed to the Sharps for the day

 All she asked Santa for Christmas was chocolate. Easy to please I guess. 

 Jumping for joy with her new doll

 And a toy for Benson too

 A doctor kit from Santa at Mom Mom and Pop Pop's house. 

 They were very good patients

 With a butterfly net from her bug catching kit. She caught an ant later in the afternoon. Not much insect activity in Jersey in December.

 Having fun with Zoe

And ending the day with ice cream with Shannon. Goofballs. 

A Week in Paradise

Last week we took a big family vacation to St. John. We rented a house on the Cruz Bay side, on the boarder of the national park. It was an amazing week of good food, snorkeling, swimming, hiking, and generally just unwinding. Sophie loved the sun, sand, water and all of the attention from grandparents, her aunt and cousin.

 Here's a shot of the house from the driveway. It was made up of three separate buildings, with a pool separating two of them, and a courtyard separating the other two.

 Bathing Beauty

The whole crew on our last day (sigh). 

Merry Christmas!

This year we spent Christmas in New Jersey with the Sharps. We got to see a lot of family - and Sophie got a second round of presents (lucky baby!). 

 Here we are Christmas morning

 Sophie with her cousin Zoe (we really need to work on that smiling on demand thing...)

The day after Christmas Mayslanding, NJ got 18 inches of snow. We didn't venture out in it, but rather gazed on from the warmth of the house. 

Shannon's 2nd Birthday

Last weekend Sophie's 2nd cousin (I think) turned 2! They had a little party for her at a park in New Jersey. She got to hang out with a lot of family. 

Here's Sophie & Zoe (she was happy, despite the deer in the headlight look here)

Shannon had a blast. Here's the birthday girl with her mom Danielle. 

This was the first time Shannon & Sophie met. Shannon was really cute and kept touching her face and arms and feet. It'll be great when Sophie is a little older and they can play! 

Cruising the Chesapeake

We spent the last 4 days with the Sharp's on their boat in the Chesapeake. It was a wonderful, relaxing vacation. We met them in Rock Hall, MD, sailed to Annapolis, then Lankford Creek, and then back to Rock Hall. The first night was really hot, but it got better after that - and we were able to sit out under the stars at night and do some swimming during the day.
Sophie enjoyed being on the boat. She spent most of the timing laying back with her hair blowing in the breeze.

She also had a chance to do a little swimming. Although she wasn't a huge fan of the life vest, she didn't seem to mind the water. She floated around for a few minutes before she wanted to get out. Luckily the water felt just like bath water. We'll have her swimming like an olympian in no time!

Zoe had her 15th birthday on Monday and we celebrated with cake and ice cream.