Gardner Family Rules

I recently made up a little creed to say with Peter stating the house rules.

Here is how it is supposed to go:

Me - No Fighting
Peter - No Biting

Me - Big Hugs
Peter - No Drugs

Me - Say Please and Thanks and you won't get
Peter - SPANKS!

Me - Follow the Rules
Peter - Stay Cool

The only problem is this is how he does it:

Me - No Fighting
Peter - No Biting

Me - Big Hugs
Peter - No Drugs

Me - Say Please and Thanks and you won't get
Peter - No Drugs!

Me - Follow the Rules
Peter - No Drugs! NO DRUGS!!!

Then today Peter received a time out because he was not saying please, and throwing a tantrum because he wasn't getting what he asked for.

After his time out I sat down with him to talk about why he had gotten the punishment.

Me - Peter, you know the rules. You need to ask nicely, with no screaming and no crying.

Peter - and no drugs

I am hoping this is the last drug talk I have to ever have with him.

Oh, and on the topic of following rules, Peter has also started telling Aaron to "ask nicely" when Aaron (who doesn't talk much) grabs for something or asks for "juuuuce"

Sally's Birthday

The day after we got home from the beach was our summer intern, Sally's birthday. When Sally first came to live with us, I received an email from her mother letting me know that not only would Sally be turning 22 while she was with us, but that it would be her first birthday away from family. Brett and I decided that we would celebrate her birthday large to make her feel loved and thank her for her help this summer.

The birthday celebration started with lunch at Chop'T in Arlington after church. Sally loves salads, so I thought this would be a perfect choice. To make the lunch more exciting, Brett Andrews (the Head Pastor from New Life and Sally's connection to us) showed up to surprise her with his whole family.

After lunch, my mom, our friend Sarah and I took Sally to Cassiana Spa to get her first ever manicure and pedicure.

Next on the agenda was the Kennedy Center for dinner and to see Shear Madness (for a second time for Brett and I).

We grabbed dinner on the roof-top cafeteria at the Kennedy Center before the show, and got to take a few scenic pictures.

Our friend, Andy Spray, came with us; and as we guessed the show was a lot different than the first time we went.







The Day was full of firsts for Sally and we enjoyed sharing them with her!

Family Vacation to Cape May

There is one thing about my life that I really do not like - since becoming a wife and mother I don't have the time or money to visit my family as much as I used to.

Before getting married I used to visit my Aunt Marilyn and Cousin Shellie and family on a pretty regular basis.

Since having Peter, I have only been up once (other than Thanksgiving). I miss them sooo much, so I decided to ask them if they wanted to vacation together (i.e. I invited my family on their annual trip to Cape May).

I am pretty glad I did, because it was the best vacation EVER!

This was our first real vacation since becoming parents, and Peter and Aaron's first time at the beach or seeing an ocean.

Over the winter Marilyn sent Shellie and I a bunch of rental house's to select from, and we decided on Howard's End.

On Saturday July 25, we drove up to Cape May.



The trip would have been great, except the DVD player's battery died at the same time we hit beach traffic. Thank goodness for YouTube on my iPhone and snacks.

When we finally arrived, it was almost dinner time so we ordered Pizza and ate on the big front porch of the house.

After dinner we took the kids for their first taste of the beach. Aaron literally did taste the beach (a theme of him eating sand lasted all week); while Peter and I went down to put our feet in the ocean.

"WATERS ARE FUN MOMMY!" was Peter's excited remarks as we headed home that night.

Sunday July 26, we woke up and headed straight to the beach. We played in the sand and water until lunch time and headed back for food and naps.




While the kids napped Brett and I relaxed and read books.

That afternoon, we stayed in and watched Cars with the kids and hung around the house.



Monday July 27, it was back to the beach in the morning until we had to go back again for lunch and naps.

During his nap that day Peter learned how to climb out of his portable crib and then proceeded to unpack all of our suit cases, throwing the contents into Aaron's crib. We learned about this when my cousin Erin walked by the kids room and said they were laughing.






Apparently, Aaron thought the Peter show was hysterical. To be honest we did too.

After the failed nap, we took Erin and our boys to rent a surrey bike ride; but about 20 minutes into the ride it started pouring rain. We peddled to the house and dropped off the kids and then Brett and I biked back to the rental office to return the bike. We were soaked to the bone when we got home.

After storm we walked to the Washington Street Mall and walked around a little. A giant (creepy) Elmo was there and we got ice cream with Marilyn, Sammy and Erin.

After, Brett and I took a walk to show Peter the Fire Station.







Tuesday July 28, we kept with the tradition of heading to the beach for the morning.


After the kids got up from their naps we went shopping for gifts to bring home.


Peter didn't like shopping much, so Brett was nice enough to watch him:



That night we took a horse and carriage ride with Marilyn, and my cousin's Hannah and Courtney.




Wednesday July 29, we got up early and tried to rent the surry bike again; but this time we quit because the kids were both throwing fits.



So, we were back to the beach!

That afternoon we took the boys on a Kid's trolley ride of Cape May. Peter made sure everyone knew that the trolley says "ding ding!" But got in a little trouble for sticking his head out the window to see the wheels during our tour. Somehow, I don't think this is the last time my kid will get in trouble during a guided tour.


After the trolley ride we walked to a house that we were told was the house used to design the real Barbie dream house. I have decided that Brett needs to buy it for me, but he hasn't agreed yet.


That night Brett took the Hannah, Sammy, Courtney and Erin to see the Ice Age movie.

Thursday July 30, was Aaron's first birthday. He was so excited about it that he slept until 10am!

I stayed home with him, while Brett took Peter to the beach for more fun in the water and pulling his wagon all over the beach.

That evening we had a birthday celebration with spaghetti and strawberry short cake, and Aaron got to open his presents (which Peter then played with).





After our celebration, we took the boys to the beach to fly our new kite, then headed up to the board walk to an arcade before calling it a night.







Friday July 31, Brett got up and took Peter and Sammy to the zoo. Brett was really impressed with the zoo and Sammy and Peter had a good time.





Aaron and I hung out at the house, and I reluctantly packed for the sad departure that was coming the next day.

Shellie and I took Marilyn out in the evening for dinner at Trish's Fine Dining to thank her for treating us to a wonderful week at the beach.

Saturday August 1, the kids woke up late, so Brett and I had lots of time to pack up the car, clean the house and take photos of the house.






The drive home was better than the drive there as far as traffic goes, but we were very sad to be leaving.

Cape May, NJ is now my favorite place (with Hershey, PA being a close second).

THANK YOU MARILYN FOR OUR BEST VACATION EVER!!!