Thanksgiving in Philly!

View of the parade from our hotel balcony! Soo cool!

All of us at the aquarium--oh, and my preggo belly.

The famous Liberty Bell.

This year we decided to take a trip to somewhere we've never been before--Philadelphia. It worked out great because Lois got to come down from New York and join us for Thanksgiving! We had a good time exploring the history and sites. Scott's goal was to eat a cheesesteak everyday, and we almost achieved it! The only day we didn't have one was on Thanksgiving. From this trip we also learned that it's nearly impossible to make a left hand turn in New Jersey! What should've taken us 10 minutes, ended up taking 45 minutes because we kept getting turned around. Even our GPS didn't know what to do. We also took a 2 hour drive to Hershey, PA and toured the Chocolate factory. Brin loved the ride and singing cows. All in all it was a great time and it worked out great. Even traveling with a 2 year old on a 4 hour flight was better than I expected.

2 year old pictures

How sweet and innocent....

She's a goofy kid sometimes...

Love this one!

Yep, she's got the attitude thing down.

Our little girl is growing up so fast! Here are her 2 year old pictures that we had taken a few weeks ago. I know I should post more often, but seriously I'm worn out from this pregnancy and working! I love some of these head shots. When Brin saw the pictures she said, "Doggie shirt? I wanna wear doggie shirt!" I was shocked she actually wore the bow in her hair for all of the pictures--thank goodness, her Daddy gives me a hard time about buying matching hairbows!

More birthday pics....

All of the kids went crazy over the Elmo pinata! (Brin included)

"Aunt" Lisa, Brin and Mommy

Some of our wonderful party guests!

The infamous Elmo cupcakes--again decorated by Daddy Nosker.

Brin turns TWO!

Cookie Monster cupcakes decorated by Daddy.

Mommy, Brin, and Daddy at Brin's 2nd birthday party.

The infamous Elmo pinata!

Brin enjoying her Elmo cupcake, at sunset.

That's right, we officially have a two year old on our hands. She is quite the handful, always full of energy. This year on her birthday we had an Elmo/Sesame Street themed party and invited a bunch of friends. All in all, everyone had a great time. I think Brin's favorite part was stuffing the Elmo pinata with candy the night before. She just kept saying, "Elmo, candy?" Brin's daddy was the decorator of the adorable Cookie Monster and Elmo cupcakes. He also did a fantastic job maning the grill. This past weekend we had a small family birthday party in UT for Brin. Thanks everyone for making Brinlie's birthday extra special!

Dessert BEFORE dinner!

Girls enjoying their pie and ice cream!

Kate with her tongue out! Too Cute!

Not to be outdone, Brin sticks her tongue out!

Last night we joined our friends, the McCallisters for some dessert BEFORE dinner at the annual Manitou Springs Pie contest and ice cream. Both Brin and Kate loved the pie and ice cream (as well as the mommies and daddies!) The playground was packed with big kids, but that didn't stop Brinlie from pushing her way through to go down the slide and play on a grasshopper! It was a great night with good food and company--we can't wait to go again next year!

Playdate with Kate

Brin and Kate dancing on the stage

Brin and Kate in a boat

Sticking their heads out

With all of the rainy weather this summer, we decided to take the girls out for a playdate. A local group (not going to mention the name of the place, you take a guess) has a GREAT play area for all ages. We took the girls over there to burn off some energy from being cooped up inside for several days because of the rain. Mommy McC and I decided to dress Brin and Kate in their matching shirts. Aren't they adorable?!

My little "flower girl"

Everyone, including the dogs, had to get in on the flower planting.

Brin "helping" her daddy with the back planter.

Smelling the flowers before they are planted.

No, no, no, Brin has not been asked to be in a wedding, she just simply adores all flowers! Every flower we see, no matter where we are, Brinlie insists on smelling it. While most of the time it's adorable, sometimes I just need to run through the grocery store! What's a busy mom to do? Allow her to smell all of the flowers, of course! Maybe in the future she can pursuade/guilt her daddy into buying her mommy flowers more often. Until then, I'll just settle for the yearly planting of my flower pots and area in the backyard.