the turtleback zoo:

we have had such an amazing and crazy couple of weeks!  we have been going and going and i am pretty exhausted at this life trying to be a fun mom to my girls and sometimes i feel like i am going just fall over dead but i am so blissfully happy with this life of ours.  life is good, God is good.  anyways, we had a great time at the zoo last week.

hazel thought this giant cow was pretty cool, and loved standing up in front of it!

not happy at all ;)

and hazel chose the bald eagle on the carousel!

the farm!

on wednesday we went to an actual farm in new jersey.  i don't know if you remember but hazel has this obsession with raspberries.  so we drove up and saw the animals, rode the hay ride, and picked raspberries right off the bush and ate them.  we picked quite a few peaches too and i have been enjoying delicious peaches and cream all week.  and tonight we made peach cobbler with said peaches and it was completely amazing.  hurray for farms nearby!

cora's rolling tongue (laugh crying emoji) ^^^

if you look closely you can see hazel's raspberries smothered all over her face ^^^

things i'm loving that our girls are doing these days:

hazel at two-and-a-half years:

off-pitch humming to intro theme songs of tv shows we watch

going over to cora and talking to her when she is sad

saying things like "good job!" when i am asking her if she is keeping her panties dry

going pee pee in the potty like a big girl!

reading books and counting things

pointing out the color of everything in stores

cora at five months:

looking up at us and smiling all. the. time. {like seriously, anytime we make eye contact}

watching her busy sister move around the room

grabbing her feet and eating them

taking long naps so i can get stuff done {hazel never did this}

sitting up on her own

babbling on car rides

philly!

mimi and grandpa were in town this week with us.  yay!  we had so much fun with them!  yesterday, we took an impromptu trip to philly!  since we didn't have a tons of time, we just hit the liberty bell, independence hall, and jim's for a cheesesteak.  at some point we will go back and see some of the other sites!  like the rocky steps... duh!

probably one of the best things to do in philly is people-watch.  they have some very interesting people down there, from all different walks of life!  it was so fun.

i've become a playground

flips from Paige Brunt on Vimeo.

life lately:

well, there is some big exciting news over here!
our hazelnut is potty-trained!
and we are so so proud of her.

because of said potty-training, we have been spending a lot of time at home.  so here are a few photos of our simple little life lately:

1.  swimming in the evening with dadda
2.  bath time - hazel "smiles" for the camera
3.  cora weighing in at 17 lbs 14 oz, 26 in at 4.5 months
4.  driving by the wtc memorial

1.  adding color to our porch
2.  THIIIIGHS
3.  cora is so sweet, and squishy, and delicious.  she is a complete joy.
4.  my girls are finally playing together!  they each think the other is hilarious.

the nj state fair.

one of my favorite things to do is try out a new state fair.  i like eating different delicious fried foods, and showing the animals to our girls, seeing the bright lights of the carnival rides, and people-watching.  while the food didn't really live up to the "big tex" state fair, (and no ostrich races, what a tragedy) the nj state fair did have its strengths.  for instance, they had a demolition derby going on.  i had never seen one before, and i don't believe they are safe, but peeking over the fence into the arena and seeing the wreckage was kind of fun.  hazel loved seeing the animals, and she even got to pet a sheep.

sure do love this family of ours.