SnuggleSnake

I've always called Brady my "buddy."  When Sylvie was born, I went to call her "buddy" and it seemed weird b/c she was a girl, so I've been calling her "bunny" or "baby bunny."  Now she always says, "I'm you baby bunny!" all the time and is proud of her moniker.

But when they snuggle with me, I call her "SnuggleBunny" and Brady, "SnuggleB" (meaning short for Brady).  But I think the kids hear this as "SnuggleBee."  So Brady says to me the other day, "I think Sylvie needs to be SnuggleSnake b/c it's a "S" word for Sylvie."  ha! clever!  I still call her my SnuggleBunny, but Brady will say, "SnuggleSnake it's snuggle time!" to her.  lol!

Big Bath

I think we've used the tub in our master bath twice in the 8 years we've lived in this house. Tonight we let the kids go "swimming" in it.  They thought it was a blast and true to their nature of kids whose mommy blogs, they said, "Mommy, take our picture!"  haha, awesome!

 "See our feet...this tub is so big, we can both swim in here!"

Boucy House

Our "sheltered" kids have only been to bouncy houses at birthday parties.  The open bounce times for these places are all during the week when we are working and they are at daycare.  Since we're still in quasi-vacation mode (meaning we all have the time off) and it's so hot outside, we took them to open bounce this morning.  Brady kept asking whose birthday it was and Sylvie kept asking me when they could eat cake- haha!  They had a blast!

 

 Sylvie wasn't so sure about the 78 mph hurricane winds...

 

 

 

The Bb's b-ballin'...I love how Brett's fully playing against Brady.  He's awesome- little b's athleticism definitely comes from big B. 

BG Continued

I was impressed with the decor at the Comfort Suites in Williamsburg.  It was very modern.  It almost seemed like it should be in NYC, not colonial Williamsburg.  So I wanted a few picts of the decor and added a few cute (but not very cooperative) models-

Yes, they are petting an 8' long boa constrictor!  What?!  I so did not remember that there was a "zoo" portion of BG, but it was totally awesome!

 

 In the aviary, the birds were Inches from us and just flying among us- so neat!

Another picture request from Sylvie, "Take aw pitcha by da beh-ah...and you can see our wing pops!" (They each had a ring pop and were quite pleased.)

  

We were a little better prepared for the spray parks today (with towels and a change of clothes) and what a wonderful relief they provided from the 100 degree weather!

 Ring pop lipstick for her and face paint for him-

I have no idea who their little photo buddy was here, but he looks like he's part of this group shot!

 

 Traveling around the world is exhausting!

5 PM snooze-

 

Cruisin' for a bruisin'.....................and then making an impact!

 

 Uh oh, mini drivers!  Now we're really in trouble! 

We stayed until the park closed at 9 PM, but I don't have many pictures from the evening.  I should have though...or at least that's what people told me when they experienced a grandiose show at Busch Gardens- the Sylvie Storm! O.M.G.!!!  Sylvie had a tantrum for 70, yes 7-0, as in SEV-EN-DEE minutes!!!! It started b/c she asked me for candy.  We were in Italy- the boys were riding the Battering Ram and we were hanging out near one of the misters.  She said, "Can I have can-eee, Mommy?"  "No Sylvie, we've had enough sugar today. We need to eat some dinner."  Her immediate response of "i-uhnt-antooo!" (I don't want to!) began.  I ignored it at first, but Sylvie's tantrums just don't stop and will not be ignored!  She escalated to shrieking.  I tried distracting her, then reasoning with her, and finally I just buckled her in to the stroller to contain her hoping the tantrum would peter out.  I purposefully put her in the Jeep stroller, b/c I knew she wanted the other umbrella stroller (that she and Brady had been fighting over for the past two days).  She was f.r.e.a.k.i.n.g.  o.u.t. and fighting the buckled restraints and screaming, "no, no, no! i-uhnt-antooo!"  I noticed several people staring at us and a few began to approach us.  I realized that it was possible that they thought I was kidnapping her.  Good grief!  So I made sure to use her name and mine, "Sylvie, you need to calm down. Mommy cannot understand you when you are screeching. You need to pull it together."  OMG!  It was craziness!  When the boys returned and I told Brett it had been almost 40 minutes already, he tried to reign her in- also without success.  So we wheeled her screeching self through the park.  Brady wanted to watch the free throw game and that's when a mom giggled and looked at us sympathetically and said, "You should get this on video for her. She'll never believe it."  Yes, she was A SHOW!  FINALLY @ 8:10 (70 minutes later) I made the stuttering stubborn hysterical girl drink some water.  That helped her physically and I think snapped her out of the tantrum.  Needless to say, we were both exhausted.  As I'm pushing her stroller, we pass an ice cream place and she says ever-so-calmly, "I cannot have ice cream b/c I cried. I do not get treats."  LOL! INDEED!!
We went back to the Forest of Fun for some "last ups."  Sylvie hopped out of the stroller and said, "Take a picture of me!" in front of the sign where we were yesterday.  Ah, good to have you back sweet girl!

We girls rode Elmo's hopping thing (which was like the Frogger they loved so much @ DW) while the boys rode Grover's Alpine Express.  As a reward for being okay with not being able to ride the roller coaster, Sylvie was able to sit in the coveted green stroller.  I had no idea what the boys were up to until we saw them go running up to the photo booth (the one that captures pictures of you while you're on the ride) and heard Brett say, "That one's not bad, but we can do better."  Apparently they rode the coaster like 10 times and were making different faces each time until they got one they liked.  LOL!!!

Busch Gardens

The Griswold-like vacation continues this week! Today we are headed to Williamsburg to check out Busch Gardens.  Sylvie (@ 2 years old) is free, Brady is free with the Preschool Pass, and we are planning to purchase season passes since they are the same price as a day pass.  So we'll be able to visit the park today and tomorrow.

Sort of like a mini Sesame Place-

 

 

How they measured up @ this park-

Brady was tall enough to ride the roller coaster in the Forest of Fun, but Sylvie was not.  She was so upset (b/c she rode the one at DW).  I told her this ride was for big kids.  It was heartbreaking to hear her sobs and pleas of "But I big! I BIG!"  :(

 I had no idea there was going to be water parts and didn't pack swimwear. They didn't seem to care!

Brady was NOT a fan of Pompei...just didn't love the fire, the rumbling, or actually getting wet.  He kept saying, "I do NOT like this ride. I do NOT like this ride."  :p

What's Busch Gardens without the mini Clydesdales?

 They are saying "eww!" here as they pick the tree's nose. (all Daddy's idea- lol!)

We went to the Celtic Frye show and got to see some more fun Irish dancing.  I wish I could have video-ed Sylvie during the performance.  She was SO fun to watch!  She smiled, clapped, and danced along with the show- showing how much she enjoyed it.  This little girl is TOO cute!

Brady's refreshments!  So we had to take his picture in front of it-

 

...and we had to take her picture in front of it too b/c she insisted on not being left out!  :)

 

Photo of the Loch Ness explorers as we waited for Daddy to return from his ride-

We'll be back tomorrow!