Americana Trip to Philly and DC

It isn't the best timing to be going on a vacation.  We just closed on a house and are in the middle of packing and figuring out where Berke is going to go to school, etc. etc.  etc.  Lots going on, so in typical Gentry fashion we decided to add a little more stress as the cherry on the top!

We had this vacation planned for a very long time,  the plan to drive to DC for the 5 days my BFF Julia would be there for her sister's graduation.  We both had baby girls (2 months apart) and they needed to meet and it had been nearly 2 years since our last visit (way way too long). 

So off we went, road trip style.  Berke has never been any place in a car over 4 hours and Viv has only gone about 2 hours, so we were not sure how it was going to go.  I charged the ipads, bought new twistable crayons and sketch books for both kids, packed snacks and books and hoped that would be enough to get the kids through.

We left Tuesday after work in hopes that driving through the night would be helpful as the kids would sleep the whole way.  Yeah, nope, they sure slept for about 30-50 minutes the entire trip.  They may not have slept, but they were very good.  They watched movies on the Ipad once it got dark, we listened to a book on tape and Vivi played with her Baby Leap Pad Gram Taft got her for Christmas.

We woke up in Phili the next morning and decided to explore the city before driving the rest of the leg to DC.  We had a lovely time and had no idea how much Philly had to offer.  We saw the historic Liberty Bell, visited Betsy Ross' home, visited the US Mint and saw how coin is made, and visited Independence Hall.  

Independence Hall was my favorite, it was amazing to be in such a historic place where the documents were formed that govern our country.  It was really humbling to be there.  

We then finished our drive to Washington D.C. and met up with Julia and her family in the Air B&B we rented right in the city.  It was so great to see my BFF again, I  always have SO much fun with her and we just laugh about anything and everything.  She is the BEST!  

We snuck out our first night in town and saw Mr. Lincoln in his monument; I have always wanted to see him at night and it was quite stunning.

The next day we were up and ready to take on DC...until we realized our 6 year old came down with Sever's Disease (a painful bone disorder that results from inflammation of the growth plate in the heal), which is less than ideal when you plan to walk 5-10 miles for the next 4 days.  We also soon found out that our 17 month old wanted to walk the entire city and was not about to be confined to a stroller.  So 6 yo went in stroller and 17 mo old came out.  Let the chasing, running, pushing, whining begin.  

This pictures here is Lady Liberty, she is on top of the Capital Building, this is a replica to show how large and beautiful she is.  She's a total babe if you ask me!

We were told the Capital was having some "routine" repairs done that last happened 50 years ago (does this seem routine to you?)  So we didn't get any great pictures of the outside of the capital.

The kids were troopers in the Capital Building tour, but it was not fun or interesting for either of them.  We decided to head to the Air and Space Museum which was WAY more fun!  

We loved learning about the progression of the airplane and the planets and space.  Super cool stuff.

Berke loves Amelia, cause she was super cool in the movie "Night at The Museum 2" it was fascinating to learn about all she did before she disappeared.  A real feminist and smart cookie this one!

Viv just ran around being cute and waving and blowing kisses to everyone who tried to talk to her (everyone).  She is a real charmer, this one.

Next Day, the whole family got to see Mr. Lincoln.  I mean seriously, who doesn't love this man for his leadership, intellect and bravery?

Jed, Julia and Jolie with Vivi, Laci, Berkeley and Xian.

We visited the Korean War and World War II Memorials to honor and remember our grandfathers.

We then met up with Xian's childhood friend, David Plyer, who works at the Library of Congress and showed us around.  Talk about a jaw dropping building.  The architecture and art work were beautiful.

We finally made it over to the Museum of Natural History.  We saw a lot, but we needed MORE time there.  Dinosaurs, insects, rocks and gems and more!

Jolie and Vivi worked on playing with each other and become BFF's, which by the end TOTALLY occurred.  They are the CUTEST!

Day 3 included visiting the White House.

While Julia went to her sister, Amy's graduation ceremony, we took all the kids to Zoo to see the Panda's.  Baby Panda Bao Bao was so adorable.

Wow, three kids is why harder than two!  

This got old by day three when Vivi was screaming and kicking Berkeley to get off her stroller but he was unable to walk!  Oh joy!

We had a lovely and busy trip.  It was wonderful to see a city that has SO much to offer.  

The morning we left we met up with some Utah friends KT and Matt Steenblik for breakfast and then toured the Ford Theater where President Lincoln was shot.  It was great to meet up with so many people on our trip.

There were some hurdles but it was a lot of fun and we made some great memories.

The traffic was awful  on our drive home; we were lucky to stop in New Jersey to let the kids get some wiggles out at our friends the Churchill's and eat some dinner there. With 3 hours left on our journey Viv threw up all over and we had a 45 minute delay of cleaning that up.  The smell was still present during our drive home (ewww).  We finally made it home at midnight after leaving DC at 11:30 a.m.  What a long trip that was, the kids did mostly well.  

Good times, let the memories roll.....

Boston Public Gardens

For Mother's Day this year my wish was to take the train to the Boston Public Gardens with my family and have a picnic.  Luckily the weather was amazing and all my wishes came true.  We walked down to Porter Square and hopped on the train and headed into Boston.  It was a hot sticky day, but after the winter you had you will not hear me complaining about heat.

 This year Berke was especially sweet to me about Mother's Day, it's like he gets that he is grateful for me (took ya long enough).  He made me a bouquet of flowers from tissue paper, drew a picture of us together going to the movies, gave me a hand print of his hand in paint, and had his Dad buy me some beautiful flowers from Trader Joes.  He was super sweet and adorable. 

During breakfast I told him about how much I loved him the instant he was born; that I didn't think it was possible to love someone so much that you had never met before.  I told him every day my love for him gets bigger and stronger and he looked at me with this huge smile on his face, like he was the luckiest kid in all the land, and that was my real Mother's Day gift.   Gosh, I love this kid!

(yes, I actually got a real candid smile)

 We walked around the Public Garden with about 5,000 other people who were soaking in the beauty.  We spotted a momma swan on her nest, people riding the swan boats and the admired the gorgeous flowers.

 I love my two babies.  Being a mom is the BEST, for reals, I love it so much.  It is exhausting and heart wrenching and frustrating so much of the time, but is also amazing and fun and silly and awesome beyond words.  These two kids of mine are so freaking cool and unbelievably smart.  Berke talked to me on our walk home about how he needs to start his own website.  He informed me it would have different tabs, one for history, one all about him, one to become an agent, one for activities and one to email him with updates.  He talked about this for 30 minutes straight!  He's so much smarter than I ever was; his imagination is top notch, no seriously, I've never seen anything quite like it.  

Vivi, she's kinda like me, she's a go getter, doesn't take no for an answer, if she wants something she is going to get it.  She is very inquisitive and social.  She walks up to strangers all the time saying, "hi, hi, hi." Clearly everyone thinks she is the cutest thing around, which I agree with.  She is a love bug and gives hugs and kisses away freely.  She makes the cutest animal sounds and knows where all her body parts are.  She loves Elmo (SOOOO MUCH) and reading books (there are 5 that are her go to favorites).  

I'm so lucky to be surrounded by the coolness, these kids make me hip!

 Berkeley is not great at smiling for the camera on command, but.... we will just take what we can get.

 We had a YUMMY picnic at the garden and then we all ran around, kicking a ball, playing chase, falling over, chasing birds, meeting strangers, etc.

Needless to say, today was perfect!

Easter is Eggcellent!

 Easter was a hit again this year! We colored eggs twice, once while Gram was in town and then again with our friends the Hadley's when we also decorated sugar cookies.  Egg salad sandwiches and stinky refrigerators have been a real part of our lives this past week.  

Everyone woke up to the Easter bunny and grandparents leaving them WAY TOO MUCH candy!  I honestly think that Easter is worse than Halloween at our house! 

 Mr. McDuff was happy to clean up any jellybean that happen to break loose from a plastic egg and was Miss Viv's shadow all day! 

 We had a little Easter Egg Hunt at our House this morning.  Once Viv found out there were jelly beans inside, all she needed were the two eggs she found.  Berkeley, like the good brother he is, was happy to find the rest of the eggs and claim all the candy as his own.

(Yes, his eyes are a bit red from all the tears we had prior to the hunt.  There were lots of "No's" coming from this boy and it was not the best of mornings, but we luckily recovered)

 This is the Best Family Photo we could get.  I sure do love my people!

 Viv has taken a major liking to her little friend Bennet, isn't he adorable?  We enjoyed a lovely brunch at our friend Aubrey and Stewart's House with so many of our amazing friends. We are missing a few families, but we had a lovely time together per usual.

 From left to right: Marci, Lisa, Dan, Christian, Viv, Leslie, Josh, Courtney, Andrew, Gwen.  The kids were all enjoying their giddy hearts eating in the basement away from the adults.  

 I love these girls!

 Trying to get these kids to pose for a picture proved to be impossible.  They love each other however and had a great time finding eggs.

 Viv is a little slow to pick up on how this egg hunt works, but she did manage to find 3 light pink eggs!  Vivienne did a lot of falling on the grass, it was her first time walking on uneven surfaces, or even outside, and it was pretty hilarious watching her so unsuccessfully maneuver the yard.

 Vivienne looked amazing in her Gymboree Rabbit in a hot air balloon over Paris Dress.  

 My two beautiful children.  Berke rocked his $1 Target Fedora hat and his brand new glasses that I am totally loving on him!  

Gotta love the holidays!

Miss Viv at 15 Months Old

 Our little ginger, aka The Red Tornado, is full of spunk and fun!  Viv started walking shortly after the new year and that has turned in to running and climbing at this point.  Viv loves to point and whine until she gets what she wants, this happens a lot more than we would like to admit.

She has fantastic fine motor skills, she can put the top on and off a stick of chap stick, she loves putting lids on Tupperware, and is starting to do the large wooden puzzles with nobs.  She can do the large Lego's very well and tries to play with her brothers Lego's with some frustration as well.

This gal isn't super chatting, she can say "Mama" "Oh O!" and "No" She can bark like a dog, hoot like an owl and says Maaa for a cow.  She used to do a cat, but no longer preforms, she also no longer says Dada.  She can sign more, milk, and please.  She is not a lady of many words but she appears to understand everything we are saying to her, from get your coat, grab your bag, where's the dog, lets go bye bye (she does the most adorable wave by the way), put your socks on (which she tries to do ever so unsuccessfully).  She loves to snuggle, play with anything that has buttons (remotes and calculators are the favorite), she loves to dance when she hears music and she loves to eat whatever we are eating.  She has to feed herself now with forks and spoons.  She loves bananas, spaghetti, oranges, grapefruit, yogurt, pizza, and sweet potatoes.  

Bath time is her favorite and she is becoming more and more ticklish.  She has the silliest fake laugh, but the most adorable smile on the planet.  She loves to sit and look at books and has started taking an interested in watching Elmo.  

 She still loves her mama the most but daddy is quickly climbing the latter of coolness.  She loves playing with McDuff and giving and receiving kisses from him.

She still loves to be doing whatever Berkeley is doing, from cars, Lego's, stuffed animal play, etc.  She wants to be in all the action.  

She is into everything and making it impossible to keep the house clean, but I wouldn't have it any other way!  She is a keeper and makes us laugh every single day.  She is so much fun and I'm amazed watching her grow and develop all too fast.

We love you baby girl; our little miss independent lady!

March Madness

 We finally broke the record; we have now officially survived the snowiest winter in Boston on record.  We did it!  Not gonna say it was easy or that it was worth it, but we at least have bragging rights, which in these parts, is pretty popular.  

There is not a lot going on or a lot to do when it is so cold outside and the snow is SLOWLY melting.  We are maintaining our routines, school, work, commuting, daycare, little sleep, wake up at 5 a.m. daily, repeat.  

The kids are growing, changing and learning so much.  As they grow bigger our apartment gets smaller and smaller.  The kids take it is stride and even though we've spent way too much time indoors lately, we still love each other and that is all that counts.

 Look how big my baby girl is getting.  Her beautiful red hair is growing, teeth are coming in and she is learning and getting into everything!  She thinks all animals bark, she loves to eat (not baby food, that is for babies), loves any toy that makes music and/or has buttons (remotes, calculators and phones are the best), and she loves to point at everything and wine until we figure out what she wants, which is usually something she cannot have.

 Berke is surviving Kindergarten and informed me that his best friend is Julius, his girlfriend is Shaylin (but when he tells her he likes her she tells the teacher.  Ms. Scrima says that is not appropriate for school.)  He gave up on karate, wasn't for this kid, so we are on the hunt for a new hobby....the search continues.  

He does seem to enjoy electronic music making with his dad.  Never a quiet moment with these two around.

 This guy decided to grow out a beard for the winter.  I wasn't sure I'd like it, but holy moly, what a sexy beast!

 Berke is always the silly boy, always!  He drives me crazy at times, but there is never a day that passes that he doesn't bring a smile to my face.

 This handsome fella is BFF's with Vivi as she feeds him well, gives him lots of kisses and plays with him all the time.  He just got the winter fur removed, so he is all handsome and ready for warmer months so he can chase some squirrels.  

The Historic Boston Winter of 2015

I haven't done an update lately as we really haven't been able to do much.  To be honest everyone in Boston was talking about how great winter was in December and January; the weather was nice and we had no snow.  So many people including myself said, "I'll take this winter."  We clearly all spoke too soon.  When we got our first snow around 6 inches the end of January we were all so excited.  Wahoo!  We finally got to use our snowman kit that Grandma and Grandpa Gentry sent us for Christmas!  Berke and I ran out and played with the neighbor girls up the street.  We had fun building a snowman, a snow fort and having a snowball fight.  Vivi was inside hanging out with Charlotte.  It was great!  Awesome, I thought, we had our winter, not bad.

We made cookies and celebrated and enjoyed our snow day.

Then, it began, the first 12-18 inch storm occurred.  We got hammered and we could barely open the door.  I enjoy shoveling, so I headed out, eager for the exercise.  The first big snow, it was crazy but magical, nothing we haven't had to handle before.  

 With all the snow it was hard to get out, but we managed to walk to a local indoor farmers market one Sunday and to the Brandies Alumni Day another Sunday before a big storm.  Cabin fever has been a REAL thing this winter and getting out is necessary.

Next we had huge storm number two with 12-18 inches and we were thinking, "Well this is just nuts!  We cannot possibly get anymore.  There really isn't anywhere to put this stuff.  As you can see in our little city, the yards are pretty small and there really isn't any extra space to put snow.  Most people have to park on the street and when it snows like this the city we lose half of our street parking spots.  

After this storm school was cancelled for an entire week due to the roofs needing to be cleared.  This happen to be the week before February break, so we had two full weeks of no school.  Berke went to the babysitter with Vivi a few days, to school with dad for a day and then to winter camp the last week.  It was CRAZY!

Then big storm #3 hit, another 12-18 inches!  This was a defeating storm for the entire city.  We had NO WHERE to put this snow.  It was better in the burbs, but for us city dwellers this was awful!  The worst!  TERRIBLE!  I started shoveling but there was just no where for this white stuff to go.  It wasn't heavy but in order to clear the car I had to heave the snow 7 feet high and then it would come tumbling back down.  

This wall of snow in my neighbors driveway is 7 feet high, it is a foot taller than Christian.  There is a garage behind that pile.

 Each storm I would shovel off Charlotte's back porch, each time this was how much snow needed to be removed.

 Vivi thought snow was pretty cool for the few moments she got to touch it. Berke loves eating it and wont listen about not eating the dirty snow.  He at least avoids the yellow snow, so I guess we can be happy about that.

This is the pile in our front yard, as you can see it is way above the fence line at this point and our little tree is completely buried!

Keep in mind, I just switched jobs, I'm doing home hospice now, which I love.  But remember how the city loses half it's parking spots when it snows so the plows have somewhere to put the snow?  Well in most cities, people also put furniture and other household items to mark the spot that they dug their car out of.  So as you can imagine my job has been super amazingly fun with trying to find places to park (insert sarcasm).  

After storm three my back was sore and on Thursday morning I put some milk away and my back was out!  Next to child birth, this is the most painful experience of my life.  I could not walk, I could not hold my baby I could not do anything!  After a few pain pills and muscle relaxors I was on the mend (a week later). 

As I type this we are currently 1.5 inches away from beating the record for the most snow in one winter ever.  Clearly we want that snow, because we didn't go through all this to come in second place.  We want bragging rights that we survived this crazy winter.  We did set a record for most snowfall in February, duh!  

In the month of February Berke had 7.5 days of school and he was sick for one of them.  It's been a strange, cold and terrible winter.  I have never seen anything like this in my life.  The streets are smaller than before and everyone in the city is grumpier than usual!  I appreciate the sweet winter packages that have been sent our way!  Honestly the sweetest and most thoughtful thing ever!!!

So there you have it!  Worst Winter EVA!