Finding out...

Keri and Scott are almost half-way through their pregnancy and this weekend they hosted a get together at their house to announce the sex and name of the baby.

 Keri made cupcakes that said "boy" or "girl" on them and dyed the cake either pink or blue to signify what the baby is. Addie has been convinced it was a boy; me on the other hand have thought girl the whole time, since Keri has been really sick like I was with Addie.

 The happy pregnant mommy just before the big reveal.

 This is cool because it's really the moment when everyone pulled the cupcake wrapper away and saw...

 PINK!! They're having a little girl! To make it super cool and special, they've decided to name their daughter Quinn Adelaide! Seriously! Isn't that awesome? How special can a seven year old be to have her cousin named after her?? Growing up little Quinn will think Addie is so cool, right?!

 After the reveal, we were exposed to Cornhole for the first time ever. It's horse shoes meets quoits.  We had a lot of fun playing for the rest of the night until the dark (and mosquitoes) made us go inside.

 Ben really thought it was fun and even asked to play again today.

 There's the 18 week belly!

Cornhole!

Number 5

After what has seemed like months of a loose tooth, Addie FINALLY pulled her 5th tooth out. Man, it was dramatic, but she did it on her own terms, on her own time.

We joke about how quickly her teeth grow in, since she won't pull the loose ones out until they essentially fall out. We said by the time of Scott and Keri's wedding in 11 days, she may have that bottom space all filled in already!

Camping outside

All summer long the kids and Muddy have plotted to have a camp out in their backyard. Well last week was the big night!

 Muddy, Guppy, Uncle Teb, Addie and Ben read scary stories, made smores, sang camp songs and all around just had a great time.

Muddy, Addie and Ben all slept in the tent all night long.  They were zonked and really enjoyed the opportunity. Thanks Muddy for making it happen!

Philadelphia Zoo

Muddy, Uncle Teb, Addie and Ben went to the Philadelphia Zoo the other day too. This is the only picture I have from the trip, but they had a great time.  I mean really? How often is someone able to say they've ridden a camel before?  They all had a wonderful time and got to explore the whole incredible zoo.  Addie came home with two trivia questions for us "Who created the Philadelphia Zoo?" and "What was the first zoo in America?"

July 4th

 Addie and Ben helped me make the American flag for our chocolate fountain.

 We went to the Riverfront for their fireworks and the Delaware Symphony Orchestra concert. I bought a ton of the glo-sticks from the Dollar Store and we had quite a lot of fun creating with them. Addie wore her headband that had streamers and fiber optics built into it, like mini strobe lights!

 Ben loved his hat.

This picture cracks me up, because she looks like she's trying to be a Vogue model.  She's wearing her new dress from Polo, which we bought for the 4th of July.

These kids've been everywhere, man

 Muddy, Uncle Teb, Addie and Ben ventured to Pennsylvania one day to visit Crystal Cave, which is inside a mountain and full of stalagmites and stalactites.

 They LOVED it and were really surprised they were under ground.  They thought it was creepy when they turned all the lights off for one minute too.

 Ben looks really proud right here, even though it's hard to see

 Pretty excited.

Overall a really neat trip that they're sure to remember for a long time!

Arg thar be pirates

This weekend was the Wilmington Pirate Festival, which is the second year they've done it, apparently.  We participated as one would expect.  The temperature was, not exaggerating, 95+ degrees and sunny.

 Here are my pirates next to the Kalmar Nyckel, one of our famous tall ships. 

 Muddy made Benjamin four different facial hair options, so he could switch them out as they got too sweat-laden.

 Here are the kids and Graham pulling some weights as pirates would have.

 My pirates and their pirate-costume-making-Muddy

 Pirate Ben was on the look out for someone/thing.

 Then the pirate parade and costume contest started.  Honestly there were way more adults in full pirate attire than children by any stretch of the imagination. 

 My pirates lined up, as the the "real" pirates judged them for best costume....

 And Addie won! She got called up on stage and she grabbed that microphone like she's an old pro! The lady in the sunglasses is a local radio personality, who MC'ed the festival.

 Addie's prize was four tickets to the Wilmington Blue Rocks minor league baseball team and the honor of getting to say "Play ball" to start the game. She said to me, "I guess this means I'll have to be on tv again." Tough life, eh?

 Muddy and Guppy took them to the game, where Addie was still in costume.  Ben looked thrilled, clearly.

Muddy sent me a text about how Addie was down on the field, chatting up the managers.  Look at how she commands the attention of those baseball men! No doubt who is in control!