Thrill Seekers & Summer fun

Happy Summer everyone!!  We Nathlichs are on a quest this summer for the ultimate adventure - thrill seekers that we are... so here's what we've tried so far.

Memorial Day weekend at Viva Vienna - we started out nice and slow.  We met Auntie Em and Nana and tried the Ferris Wheel.  As you can see I took it in stride and tried to find the joy in the sheer height - but Hayley was generally not impressed...

The fam went for a race down the slide. 

 Because it was nothing short of 95 degrees that weekend - we took a timeout to refuel with a little frozen custard from our all time favorite custard shop.  This was my first ice cream cone experience and while it was a tad challenging, I didn't let much of that thing go to waste (or - for that matter - I didn't let much of that thing go to mom!)

Also: here's a new Abby trick - giving you the thumbs up while saying "Yeah, DUDE!"

We'll blow this picture up nice and large so you're sure to see the THRILL SEEKING look on Hayley's face.  And so you can deduce that there is nothing "mom" about this photo.  This is a 100% Daddy idea.  Here's the back story.  Dad had the morning off.  Mom went for a run.  In a way that only dad's can do it was decided that Abby should be outside (in her pajamas) and that she should run behind the car pushing me at top speeds while I giggled hysterically.  (In fairness to our father, he is in front of the car, ready to bring it to a safe stop).

Now - Mom gets home, sees this scene and all she can picture are the 100's of safety concerns: Abby tripping and busting open her chin.  Hayley falling out or crashing at the bottom of the hill.  But no.  We continue to have the time of our life.  Mom's a worrier.  Dad's a hero. 

Sidebar from Mom: WHHYYYY is that ALWAYS the case?!?!

We went back to the fair with our friends Cassie and Erika.  Look at my thrill seeking face.  Even my horse can't believe the wild ride.  Cassie's cool as a cucumber... she must do this thrill seeking stuff a lot.

Erika and I didn't feel this was much of a thrill seeking event.  I mean, I've been on a hundred of these horse rides.  No big thing.  So we practiced my super model wave.  And Erika helped me take it to the next step: she taught me the paparazzi block.  See how you block your face with your wave?  Such skill.  I'm still working on it...

This girl is pure genius.  She now blocks her face with the rail of the carousal.  Pure. GENIUS. 

So then school got out for summer and we were able to commit more fully to our thrill seeking missions.  Gabby, Mom, Hayley and I went with our buddies Tucker and Evan to their grandparents house in Williamsburg and spent two glorious mornings at Busch Gardens!  Since they go there all the time they knew all the secret ins and outs of the park.  The Sesame part of the park was geared for pre-schoolers, and I ruled that place.  Here's Gabby and me getting ready to ride the Tower of TERROR - actually - they call it Prince Elmo's Spire so as not to scare off the little kids. 

Gabby looks a little nervous - and that Grandma lady we don't know looks terrified -so I am giving everyone a calming Thumbs Up DUDE!

When a lot of people saw the picture Mom put on Facebook of our adventure in these crazy harnesses they thought it was just a place to go pose - you know - fake.  You know.  Calm.  You know - NOT thrill seeking.  So here's a picture to prove that this ride was legit.  It went up - and down - and I was not scared one bit - I hung my head over the edge just for an extra THRILL.

Day 2.  We'd get to the park so early there wouldn't be any lines.  So the ride would stop and I'd call out my most famous sentence right now, "ONE MORE!" and without even having to get off - we'd do ONE MORE.

Sure the harness is pretty much the size of my body - but I LOVED it.  I'm getting to be a big signer now too - and when the ride would finish I'd look at Mom and Gabby and start furiously signing "MORE!"

All through the Sesame section they played Sesame tunes.  So I took many opportunities to stop, sing and dance.  Often when standing in line and everyone else would move forward.  I would not move forward.  I can't be bothered to follow societal norms when I am overtaken by the need to groove to a little "C is for Cookie".

Then SUDDENLY, what to my wondering eyes should appear - but Elmo!!  Grover!  Abby Cadabby!

I was pretty much stunned.  As was Gabby.  This was the ultimate thrill for both of us.

I was generally unimpressed.  Or at least I had to act that way. 

When we'd ridden every Sesame ride a minimum of 6 times each - we were off to explore the rest of the park.  That's the back of my head and Tucker flying balloon #7 - ALONE! 

Do Abby and I look bored here?  That's because we were.  This was seriously the SLOWEST swing ride EVER.  Our mom pushes us faster at the park.  This ride is so boring the ride operator would call out "WEEEEE" each time we went by just to keep himself awake and try to pretend that he doesn't run the least thrilling ride at the park.

So our next adventure was up to Connecticut to visit Grandma and Grandpa.  I took Hayley off to my favorite "Playground by the Sound" and tried to show her the THRILL of my favorite slide. 

I was okay with it - but I just don't love it like Abby does.  Abby would go up and down 150 times if they let her...

Talk about thrill seeking - I like to ride the big girl swing now!!

Swinging is my favorite thing at any park.

I love climbing.  And maybe you can't tell in the picture - but this thing moves around a great deal AND it was super high - taller than mom.  And after trying it catiously once or twice I'd scoot right up that thing. 

While we were in Connecticut we got to spend a lot of time with our good friends Emma, Matthew, Johnny and Lila.  Emma and Matthew took us for a ride on their big raft.

I like to lean back and live on the edge.  You know. Wild Child.

Abby looks a little partied out to me.

I'm not partied out, Hayley - it's just that running and jumping are more my style...

Emma would go underwater and then pop up and spit water at me.  It was the MOST fantastic game EVER!

CUTE!!

So as you can see we've had a pretty thrilling start to our summer - and there's just more and more fun to come!

Abby started Extended School Year (aka: Summer school) this week - it meets in the mornings and runs for 4 weeks.  Since she's a social butterfly she is loving it.  She finishes up in August and then a week later we're off to Michigan.

Just after our last blog post, within 48 hour Hayley went from "I don't really move at all on my own" to crawling, sitting herself up, standing herself up and cruising around at the speed of light.  She now needs 3 seconds max to make it to a flight of stairs OR the dog's water dish.  I taught her well.  For right now - she's not walking on her own- but we're guessing that will work the same way... "Nothing" to "All in" before Mom and Dad can even figure out what hit 'em!

We hope you're enjoying your summers too!



Happy Birthday, Sweet CHEEKS!

Really, what do you title the post that's going to need to cover MONTHS of events because blogging just hasn't actually happened for a while?!  We'll go with the most important event - Hayley's FIRST birthday!!  Cake!  Ice Cream!  Chocolate!  Cheeks!  (Okay, Cheeks doesn't really belong - but how can you look at a picture of her and NOT comment on those things?!)  Being 1 is awesome!

Sidebar:  Check out Abby in this same adorable outfit on her first birthday:


Thank you to Mom's friend Brie for making us this outfit so that our first birthday pictures are sooo adorable.  Okay, fine, we make all our pictures adorable - but the outfit helps us go the extra mile!!

And for the brief moment of this post that I can steal to write about myself:  I had my ballet "recital".  We were kicked out of the dance studio that day and had our "recital" in a "Meeting Room" but Whatever.  I'm a STAR.

While the other children danced about I continued to stretch.

Perfect Posture.  And no, it's not a funny camera angle, I really am a foot shorter than everyone in my class.  And I made it work.  I had style and grace.  And boy do I look cute in a tutu and leotard.  I am currently enrolled in my second session II of ballet... so there's more to come.

On one Saturday in March, when the golf course where Dad works assumed we'd still be having winter weather - they gave Dad a WEEKEND DAY off - so - since we were in a long string of 80 degree days and we knew this wouldn't happen again until November... we braved the crowds and headed Downtown to see the Cherry Blossoms!

Classic 3 and 1/2 year old pose:  CHEEEEEESE.

This is what the cool kids do - wrap their arms around their BFF's necks.

Luckily, no park police caught Hayley in this BLATANT violation of the "Don't touch the blossoms!" rule.

In early April Mom and Abby had Spring Break... and Dad had "Welcome back to the LOOONG hours of golf season" - so the Nathlich ladies hit the road and went to visit Grandma and Grandpa in Connecticut.  We decided to visit the Bronx Zoo - they have a Children's Zoo where you can act like animals - so here's Abby making her home in a log. 

And since I don't do that crawling stuff - here I am - checking out the scenery, holding up my cheeks, and just looking cute.

While we were in Connecticut we decided to celebrate my first birthday a little early with our good friends up there.  I really wasn't sure what to make of it all.

... still not quite sure what to make of it... but I was quite glad that Lila and Abby decided it fit to dress royally for my party.

Hmmm....

There ya go, Hayley.

WHAT? Hayley took one taste of the frosting and when we offered her another she refused. So there's further conformation that she's her father's child...

... And the one who dove face first into the frosting and will leave the cake untouched... she's Mommy's girl.

This one's for my uncles.  I'm ready for lessons!  The stick is bigger than I am but it's really all about the outfit, right?!

Obviously not all that impressed by the beautiful scenery - we took Hayley to the beach playground.

And for her first trip down my favorite slide!  Can you see her cheeks vibrating in this picture??

By the end of the week we came home for Easter and we decided to try dying a few Easter eggs. 

We also discovered that while cupcakes may not be my thing - Chocolate certainly IS.  I was happy to explore my Easter basket from our neighbor and friend, Pam.  Here I am hunting through it for more of the good stuff...

On Easter morning we did a little hunt for eggs.  Only I didn't hunt.  I just sat and looked cute and made Abby bring me all my eggs.

I found that - especially since I was on double collection duty for my sister - I could hunt a lot faster when dad held my basket for me.  So I made him follow me around while I filled up my basket. 

In our Sunday Best.

And then, finally, my REAL big day arrived!  So, obviously, Evan and I celebrated together... I mean, we've been SUPER TIGHT for... well... a year.  364 days if you want to be technical about it - seeing as how I am 2 days his elder... but this was a leap year.

Classic one year olds - we wouldn't look at the camera.  Period.  Forget looking at the same time.  Neither of us would look.  But check out what a great catch he is - down there fixing my car for me.  Of course, now that I really study the photo - perhaps he was trying to get into my car...

Let's take a moment for a vintage Hayley and Evan shot:

Wow.  We really fill our clothes a LOT better these days!

Since our house isn't really big enough to house my HUGE fan base - we had our party at a park.  Check out all that pizza on my tray.  Hey, it takes work to maintain these cheeks!!

Happy birthday, Kiddos!

Since in the past week we had learned that I was not a cupcake fan but I WAS a chocolate fan - we went the chocolate cupcake route this time.  High risk in a white shirt...

Alright - let's get rid of this crazy plastic thing...

Going for the cake first:   Just like Daddy.

Eating small, dainty amounts:  uhhh... not really a Nathlich nor Howe trait.

So I showed her how it's done!  (Says Mom: That's MY girl!!)

It took a while - but she got the hang of things!  Sorry Mom, but looks like Abby's the best teacher in the family!

Present time!!  Man was I happy to see a new friend!

For birthday celebration #3 - Nana and Auntie Em came to visit and I decided to help Hayley with her gift opening.

And now for the true test of Nathlich-ness:  Baskin Robbins Mint Chocolate Chip Cake.  Things looked good from the start...

Someone insisted on using her spoon on her own.  It's not gonna work out for you that way, Hayley.

In fact, in important moments like Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream cake: I prefer to ditch the utensils altogether.  The just impede the process.

I

...AANNNNND:  Four for Four!  The official birthday cake of the Nathlich Family!

Alright:  here are the boring updates (boring because they come without pictures).

Hayley:  At my one year appointment I was 22 1/2 pounds and 29.75 inches... 75 percentile for height and weight.

Throughout this winter and spring I have become VERY well acquainted with everyone who works at my doctors office.  Wanting to give Abby a run for her money I had a fairly rough winter/spring - after cold #4 that I couldn't shake without a doctor's visit and prescription for nebulizer and steroids the doctor just told us to use the nebulizer at the first sign of a cold - and my next 3 colds ran their course "normally".  At this age - it doesn't mean anything but could be a sign of asthma to come. For which we can blame my dad. 

Abby:  I got on the scale at Hayley's one year appointment and I'm 28.5 pounds and 33 inches.  So when our pediatrician walked in and called us "the twins"... well... we earned it.  He's giving Hayley until 18 months to catch and pass me.  We'll just see about that one...

I had a great winter/spring - despite this being my first year in preschool with all those germs - I got sick ONCE.  Seriously.  ONCE.  Abby= Rockstar.

We also just had Abby's annual IEP meeting.  Her teachers say she's doing really well.  She's talking a lot, she still signs when someone has a tough time understanding her, but for the most part she speaks and signs - she's become as independent as her short little legs will allow on the playground.  She LOVES arts and crafts and dress up and she's great at (and loves!) yoga.  As for her goals for next year, they would like for her to "follow inhibitory directions like "Stop", "Wait", and "Don't put that in your mouth"" and "to participate in non-preferred activities for 6 minutes." No arguments there.  That sounds like our Abby!