Grandma and Grandpa Came to Visit

In Nov. my parents came out to play with us for a few days. It was a lot of fun and we planned some fun activities while they were here.

One day we headed over to Hershey, PA and we went to Hershey World. It was a lot of fun! I would definitely recommend it to anyone and actually, I think we will head back this month to participate in all their Christmas activities that they have.

Lauren boxing up some Hershey Kisses

Lydia boxing up some Hershey Kisses.

Lauren ready to watch the 3-D Hershey Movie. They pipe in the smell of chocolate - yummy.

Lauren loving the free ride you can go on explaining how they make their chocolate. We had to go on this a few times because they give you a little Hershey candy bar at the end and we all wanted our free chocolate. And I was holding Jack each time we went so they always gave me two! Darn girls ate the extra chocolate every time though.

Lydia enjoying the ride too.

The singing cows from the ride - Lydia loved them.

My pict. are out of order but here is Lauren with her box of Hershey Kisses she helped box up
(no, you don't get to keep them but she had fun anyway).

For our other big excursion we decided to head over to Liberty Park in NJ and take the Ferry out to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. It was a lot of fun and something we hadn't done yet since living here.

Lauren wanted a Statue of Liberty hat for her souvenir of the day and so here she is proudly wearing it.

This is a pict. of my parents taken from the Statue of Liberty looking across the Hudson River at NYC. I don't think they believed us when we said it was really close and we would get to see it. We had fun picking out some of the sites across the river. We could see the Empire State Building, the Brooklyn Bridge, and we could see where they were working on the 9/11 Memorial.

Our family with some of NYC in the background.

Lady Liberty herself. It was really fun to actually be right there and get to see the Statue. Ellis Island was pretty cool too but our kids were pretty tired of day trips by this point and the young ones did not do so well at Ellis Island. The history of the place was kind of lost on them. They liked being able to run around at the Statue of Liberty though.

Just a cute shot of the girls at the Statue of Liberty.

So that is some of the stuff we did when Grandma and Grandpa came to play. We are already planning their next trip. They want to come out next Summer during the Hill Cumorah Pageant and see it with us and then go up to Niagara Falls.

By the Numbers

Lydia and Jack each had a check-up at the Dr. last week. Lydia had her 2 year check-up and Jack had his 4 month check-up. Both had to get shots and neither was happy about it. But they are both very healthy (which we are very grateful for) and they are both getting bigger.

Lydia:


Lydia weighed in at a measly 24 lbs and 12 ounces (25%) and was 35 inches tall (80%)
Honestly - I don't really think Lydia is in the 80% for her height. She is definitely not taller than Lauren was at this age and Lauren was always at about the 75% for her height. The way they measure the height at my pediatricians office here is funny. They just have the child lay down on the table and they take a pen and mark the top of the head and then mark the heel then get a measuring tape and see what it comes out too. I don't think they do a good job of lining the child up right or making sure they are getting the top of the head and not the hair. They had to redo Jack twice last time because they realized they did it wrong when he was off the chart and they realized they were marking from his hair (which pokes straight out of his head) and not his actual scalp! Since Lydia is 2 now, they will start measuring her on a normal scale and use the scale to determine her height as well so we should get a more accurate reading at her 2 1/2 year check-up!

Jack:



Jack is a whopper! He weighed in at 18 lbs. and 2 ounces (90%) and he is exactly double his birth weight! He was 25 3/4 inches tall (70%). So he went down in both of his stats from his 2 months (he was in the 95% for weight and 75% for height then). He is definitely a chunky monkey but so dang happy and smiley (for the most part)! Everybody is always amazed though when I say he is only 4 months old . He definitely looks more like a 6 month old baby. I am guessing that in a year he will weigh at least as much as Lydia if not more!

Great Wolf Lodge

Dave and Lauren both had no school on Columbus Day or the day following so we took advantage of the break (and the great deal we were able to find) and surprised the kids with two days at the Great Wolf Lodge in the Pocono Mountains. It turned out to be such a fun little vacation for our family and the best part was that it only took us about 30 minutes to drive there! We checked in on Mon. after lunch and headed straight to the indoor water park where we swam until dinner time. The kids did better than I ever expected. Lauren LOVED doing the big rides with her Dad and I was able to stay in the more calm parts of the water park with Lydia and Jack. Lydia was the perfect size for all the little slides they have and she loved being able to walk all over the park. Jack was so good too and would just sit in the water with us and when he got tired, we put him in his car seat and covered him up and he would nap away.

The kids also loved the room and we brought microwave popcorn and drinks and we were able to relax for a little bit and hang out in the room and have fun.

Since we were there in October, the Lodge had a Halloween Hunt and the kids could dress up and they got to go to different parts of the Lodge and at each place were given candy or small toys. They loved that part as well.

After the Halloween Hunt we changed into our Pajamas and headed down to the main lobby of the Lodge and they have a big story time for all the kids down there. My kids loved it and had a lot of fun watching the animated story as well as listening to the story read to them by a worker.

The next morning, we got back in our suits and headed back to the water park for another day of swimming. We finally headed out about 1:30 that afternoon because the two little ones were ready for naps and we were all hungry (the food was really expensive so we figured we could make everyone happy with a Happy Meal and save lots of $$ in the process). We definitely got our fill of swimming though. We are hoping Dave and Lauren's schedules match up again next year and we can find another great deal.

This is what Jack looked like for most of our time at the water park.

The girls all dressed up and ready for the Halloween Hunt.

After story time they got to take their picture with the wolf cub (Lydia wasn't so sure standing right next to the wolf cub was a good idea).

The beautiful Pocono Mountains (if you are from the West, more like hills) - the leaves are just starting to get really beautiful!

Lauren really felt like big stuff when she tried to do the leap pads across the pool. I took her picture just as she was toppling off.

The girls loved playing in the wave pool. I love the zero entry for all the play areas - perfect for little ones.

My Little Peanut

I cannot believe that two years ago today, I was the Mom to just one little girl. I can barely remember when it was just me and Lauren all day, doing whatever we wanted because there was no more nap time and because she was such a good girl we could go anywhere. We would go to movies together, the Children's Museum (any time of the day), swimming at the pool or beach, or off playing at the park or with friends. But that all changed on Oct. 6th 2008, when little Lydia joined our family. Tomorrow this little peanut turns 2 and she is such a sweet little thing! Sure, things changed quite a bit after she came along but that was okay - we were SO HAPPY to finally have this little one join our family!

She has been the best little sister for Lauren. She absolutely adores having Lauren as her big sister and follows her around all day and loves to be doing what ever Lauren is doing.

She has also made the adjustment to being a big sister as well. She loves her little brother Jack and is so good to take care of him and is so gentle with him. If he is upset she is the first to run and get help. Once Jack is on the move I think Lydia will have a permanent little shadow herself!

Lydia at 1 week old

Lydia today - being my big helper and unloading all the silverware from the dishwasher.

We Love you Lydia!

I'll have what he's having

I was at the store last week and realized Jack is finally old enough to sit in a Bumbo chair so I bought him one. He does really well in it and seems to like it. Little did I know his older sister would decide it was the coolest place in the house to sit. Now, whenever she sees Jack in his chair, she immediately asks for him to get out so she can have it.

Jack, enjoying his new chair

Lydia, also enjoying Jack's new chair.

Right now Lydia has the upper hand but just wait - I think by the time Jack is 1 he will out weight his older sister and it will not be so easy for her to just take what she wants from him!

Palmyra Trip

Our Ward here in PA decided to do a Temple Trip to the Palmyra, NY Temple so we decided to go. It was a really fun trip for our family. The Palmyra Temple is about 4 1/2 hours away from our house so we decided to go up on Friday (Lauren didn't have school) and see the historical sites and then go to the Temple on Sat. with our ward. It ended up taking us longer than we had hoped to get up there but we finally made it about 3pm. We went directly to the Hill Cumorah and that was really neat to see. It was so beautiful there. There is a big visitor's center so we went in and looked around for a little bit. Then we "hiked" to the top of the hill with our big double stroller. I didn't see a way to drive to the top but there was. It was a good work out for us though and I am glad we walked to the top.

Our family in front of the Christus at the Hill Cumorah Visitor's Center

View from the top of Hill Cumorah, looking out onto the valley below.

Lauren and Lydia at the base of the statue on the Hill Cumorah.

Statue on the Hill Cumorah

After visiting the Hill Cumorah, we went down the road a few miles to the Smith Family Farm. There is a very small visitor's center here and then the missionaries take you on a tour of the grounds and houses they have there. We started off going to the Log Cabin the Smith Family built when they first moved to Palmyra. It was very small (Kitchen/family area, parents bedroom with a little room off of it for baby Lucy, and the upstairs with a big room for all the boys and a small room for the two older girls). It was in this house that the Angel Moroni came to Joseph Smith telling him about the Golden Plates. The log cabin has been rebuilt but it is built on the original foundation. We were able to walk upstairs and see the bedroom.

The outside of the Log Cabin

Lauren and Lydia in the living area/Kitchen of the Log Cabin.

A view of the Palmyra Temple from the Smith Family Farm. You get this view of the Temple as you walk down the lane between the Log Cabin and the Frame House.

This is the Frame House. Joseph's oldest brother, Alvin, started construction on this house for his family but died before it was completed. The family completed the construction and moved into it in 1825. It was much larger than the log cabin and about 80% of this home is original. The family did not live here for very long though. A loan suddenly came due on the farm and the family did not have the money. The were able to stay in the home for a few years before they were forced to abandon the home and move back to the original log cabin. This home was very nice with a parlor, kitchen, and food pantry. The kitchen even had a stone sink which was pretty state of the art back then. They had to fill the sink by hand but then they could pull a plug and the water would drain out into the yard.

This is the fireplace in the Frame House. Joseph Smith hid the Golden Plates under the bricks of this fireplace to protect them from the mobs.

This barn is directly across the street from the Frame House. It is actually Brigham Young's brother's barn but the church moved it to this site because the Smith's barn was destroyed. But this barn sits on the original site of the Smith families barn.

This is what Jack looked like while touring the Smith Farm.

Ms. Lydia walking into the Sacred Grove. There are many paths through the Sacred Grove but we just went on the shortest path because it was close to 6pm and the site closed at 6pm. It was so peaceful and beautiful though. Lauren thought it was a little spooky though because it was kind of dark in the grove. We were there late in the day and it was very overcast and threatening to rain at any moment so she would have preferred a little more light in the grove. It was really pretty though.

Dave and Lydia walking in the Sacred Grove.

After the Sacred Grove we headed to our hotel and we swam and watched Camp Rock 2 The Final Jam and hung out and relaxed. Then the next morning I went to the Temple early while Dave kept the kids and then Dave went with the rest of our Ward later and I went to the church house across the street from the Temple and helped watch kids while their families were over at the Temple. We had 17 kids under the age of 8 we watched for a few hours while their families were in the Temple. The Bishop and his wife took all the kids between 8 and 12 and they went to the Hill Cumorah. So there was a good group of us who made the trek to Palmyra. After the session our ward provided lunch so we ate and then loaded up and headed back home. We made it home just in time for Dave to watch the first BYU game of the season (and yes, they won in case you were wondering).

On our way home we stopped in Scranton, PA to get gas, feed the baby and get a treat. The girls got to eat donuts while we fed Jack a bottle before heading the rest of the way home.

My Chubby Baby

I love this chubby little guy. I have never had a chubby baby before and it is so fun to see his fun little rolls and big happy smiles! He had his 2 month check-up last month (he was actually 10 1/2 weeks old) and he weighted in at 15 lbs and was 23 1/2 inches long. That puts him in the 95% for weight and the 75% for height. And he has turned into a great little sleeper (like his sisters). He will now go down to sleep anywhere between 9pm - 11pm and he sleeps until about 7:30am. He is getting better at going down for his naps now too. He will cry for just a minute (if at all) and then he is out. We sure love this not so little guy!

1st Grade!

So, we have a big 1st grader at our house! We had a really fun summer but for the last couple of weeks, Lauren has been very ready for school to start. She started a new school this year since we moved in May and she has been excited to meet the new kids. I really hope she has a fun year and meets lots of fun little friends.

Thief

Dave brought me home some chocolate from his trip to San Francisco and this little stinker found it and ate it ALL. I think she really liked it! What can I say, she is her mother's daughter.

Arizona Fun

We went to Arizona the end of July and stayed for almost 3 weeks. It was fun to introduce Jack to his cousins and to be surrounded by family for so long. We hadn't been home in a year so it was a long overdue trip. We only had to pay for 3 plane tickets since we have two children under the age of 2 but Dave had to stay the whole time so I could get us all home (we needed two laps for the two lap children). Luckily all he needs to do his work is a computer so we brought his laptop and a wireless router and he could work from almost any room in my parents house. He also ditched us for 4 days and went to San Francisco for a conference so it all worked out for us to stay and get a good, long visit in.

We did a lot of swimming while in AZ and the girls loved it.
We even rented out Carson Jr. High's pool for a night and had a great time being the only ones allowed in and having free reign of all the diving boards and water slides. I really think Lauren did the big slides at least 40 times.

This is Lauren coming out of the slide.

Jack is finally at the stage where he just smiles and coos when we talk to him. We love his big grin.

More big grins for his Mama

We also played at Amazing Jake's when we were home (an indoor place with rides and games and food). When you are in AZ in the Summer, finding indoor activities is a must and this is one we have done the last few times we have gone home.

Jack and his Grandma Hobbs

We also always make a trip to Jump and Shout when we are in Arizona. Lauren loves this place and this year Lydia was able to join in the fun.

Lydia really did love it and had a huge smile on her face most of the time (I just had a hard time capturing that smile on camera).

I really wish this picture would flip around but I can't get it too. We had 4 new babies born in the Hobbs family this year. In this picture they are layed out in the order they were born with the oldest on the right (bottom). Paige (Tiff's baby) is the oldest, born in Feb. Karlene (Dave's baby) comes next, born in April. Ivy (Ron's baby) is 3rd, born in May. And Jack (mine) is the youngest, born in June. It was a lot of fun having so many babies for everyone to hold and snuggle.

Smiling Jack

We had a lot of fun being in Arizona. We went to a cabin up near Snowflake for three days with both my sister's and their families and my Mom came along as well (Dad had to work at the Temple so he didn't get to come with us). We were able to see some fun movies while home (Eclipse and Despicable Me) and we ate TONS of Mexican Food. Dave and I were able to go to the Temple together, a novelty these days with a new born and living 1 1/2 hours from the nearest temple and 3 1/2 hours from our assigned temple. Swimming early in the morning or right before bed was a favorite thing to do because then it wasn't too hot outside and the pool water wasn't quite so warm. And Lauren and Lydia loved having so many cousins to just play with and follow around. We can't wait until our next trip home and hopefully it won't be in the Summer so we can do a few more outdoor activities.

Our next big adventure is Lauren starting 1st Grade next week! We will have to do a post soon about all the fun we have had for our last week of Summer Vacation.