Finding Penny

This child is strong willed. She's passionate. She's unique. She wants to be pretty, strong and smart. She wants to know about everything. 

                  

Today, she went on a field trip with school to the movies- her first time in a theater. They went to the Movie Tavern, but she kept telling everyone she was going to the Movie Cavern. They watched Finding Nemo. Ten minutes into the movie, during the first shark scene, Miss P lost it. This is the part where severely limiting her screen time backfires on us. She sat next to a teacher, because she was nervous for the scary parts of the movie. But after the shark scene, she was hysterical and they couldn't get her to calm down, so one of the teachers took her to the lobby and sat with her while the rest of her friends finished the movie. She wouldn't go back into the theater. She happily munched on popcorn and talked with the teacher...in her eyes this was way more fun than watching a scary movie. 

Miss P is very lucky to have an American Girl Doll that Nana won for her at a raffle. She got it for her birthday and also received some hand-me-down AG clothes from our neighbor. She LOVES her doll, but so far we've been lucky enough to keep her from the craziness of the store. Well, the catalog came in the mail today. It was addressed to her. She sat on the couch and paged through. Every few minutes I heard things like "Look mom- Saige can be a ballerina" or "Wow- I want to buy this for Saige." We talked about how those things cost money and she would need to save to buy them. She first tried to take all of daddy's change out of RC's change basket. Her first response was "well mom, I can just use your money. It's for Saige, not me, so I don't need to use my money. Isn't it nice of me to want to buy this for Saige?" Later, she decided that Saige needs this ice cream stand. "well, I can just have a lemonade stand to earn money. I can sell hot dogs and ice cream and lemonade and then I can buy this for Saige"...aaaaaahhhhhh! We're in trouble!

Backyard adventures

You  never know who you'll meet in our backyard. We have frequent visits from deer, rabbits, squirrels and groundhogs, but recently we've had some more unique visitors.

 Mr. Turtle visited the other weekend. Uncle Dave checked him out before we let the kids have a closer look.

 Mr. Turtle was not a fan of the kids and soon retreated into the woods.

 Then Sunday we saw this mischievous little child below. This photo was taken with long lens...I fully realize that this little bitty should not be out in the daylight hours and we've been keeping a close watch since. I'm hoping it was just one more kid in the neighborhood that was not listening to their parents and that it doesn't signal any issues. 

We certainly share our neighborhood with some interesting animals!

Dorney Fun

We took our annual trip to Dorney Park with my parents recently.

Penny & Porter had a blast in Camp Snoopy! 

 They both loved the rides and the characters. Last year, Penny was a big apprehensive of the characters and Porter really only wanted to ride the cars. This year, they both wanted to ride all the rides. There are still a few rides we kept Porter off, as we are a bit cautious with rides that could jar his neck, but we made up for it by letting him take a repeat on his favorites while Penny rode those more adventurous rides. Penny rode the kiddie roller coaster three times and the frog hopper "Flying Kite Tree" ride five times. Porter's favorites were the cars and Sally's Swing ride. 

 Porter sang along with the show and really just had a blast! Penny was a little less interested in the show.

 We had a picnic lunch, just like when I was a kiddo. It was a great mid-day break!

 I was impressed- both kids made it from 10am until 6:30pm before we decided it was time to hit the road (Porter took a 2 hour nap in the stroller).  While Porter napped, we took Penny to the log flume ride. She's been talking about "Splash Mountain" since some of her friends have recently visited Disney. As excited as she was for the ride, she was not a fan. She was upset that the waterfall rained on her! She quickly got over her disappointment when we arrived at the old fashioned car ride. 

Given the log flume debacle, I was surprised that one of Penny's favorite parts of the day was to watch the boats splash at the bottom of this ride. She thought it was hilarious as she watched the people on the bridge get splashed and the people in the boat shake themselves off after their plunge. 

We had beautiful weather. The park wasn't terribly crowded. Both kids left happy. Penny fell asleep in the car before we hit the turnpike :) Porter sang happily the whole way home. Another great trip to Dorney Park. Can't wait to see how much they've grown when we take our trip next year. 

Here are flashbacks from last year-

Haha- Papa wore the same shirt :) 

Ooooh! I love you!

Snuggle Puppy has long been a favorite of Porter's and we all have it memorized. 

I love when Penny reads to him. And when she makes up games for him to play. He learns more from her than anyone. 

There are definitely times she sees him as an annoying little brother. I hear "stop it Porter!" Or "I don't want you to splash me!" most days. But then I hear "Porter visited me today at school and my friends were so excited!" Or "I even got to sit next to Porter for the musician show." They love each other :) 

3 Years

Last night, as Mother Nature sent us a thunderstorm the lifeguard in me would have loved to watch unfold, I snuggled my little loves to sleep in my bed (a super special treat reserved only for nights when high winds worry me that a tree may decide to tumble) and thought about that day three years earlier when we found out we were expecting baby #2. 

The morning of my sister Becky's wedding, I took a test. And it said yes :) We were beyond excited. That excitement of the first trimester was replaced by worry in the second trimester and acceptance in the third. I can tell you that today, I'm every bit as excited for Porter's future as I was that morning three years ago when I learned he was more than just a wish. He's pretty amazing.

The fears I had for Penny upon learning of Porter's diagnosis have changed. Mostly because of the love they share. Nothing makes my day more than hearing something like "mom- when I was playing with Porter at school today through the fence he thought I was so funny." Even though they have different playgrounds separated by a fence, they look for one another :) Her friends love him. And their parents do too.

We are lucky. For every fear, there is always a bright side. For every worry, little arms grasp tightly around my neck to let me know it's going to be ok. As my little man matched his breathing to my own and surrendered to sleep while his best sister wrapped her arm over his back and did the same while snuggled against me, I too fell asleep happy. Hopeful. In love.