Life on the Road Less Traveled

A Recap of 2025

2025-12-01T00:20:00.004-05:00

Our theme words for 2025 are “adventures” and “afflictions.” Thankfully, it was not the adventures that caused the afflictions!

We started the new year off with a trip to the mountains, visiting family friends with family. And celebrated Darwin’s 14^th birthday, despite his ongoing health conditions. We had a few inches of snow, but not enough to sled on.

In February, we celebrated Rose’s 11^th birthday, visited family in New York where there was plenty of snow for sledding, and had the first afflictions when Rose sustained an elbow injury that resulted in a cast, followed by the loss of our beloved Darwin. Thankfully, we all got to spend his final day with him, providing comfort and love in his final hours. Nicolle donated 11 inches of her hairRose experienced her first overnight travel soccer tournament in Virginia, and Zoe guest played for an older team more locally.

We had to adjust our track-out plan in March due to Rose’s injury, so we did a week in Universal Studios, FL, riding ALL the rides! Rose’s cast came off in time for the Jefferson Cup soccer tournament in Virginia, where Nicolle (who was Rose’s soccer team manager) celebrated her birthday.

We experienced our first overnight cabin camping at the YMCA Camp Kanata in April, where we played soccer, basketball, volleyball, and did rock climbing, archery, shooting, canoeing, arts and crafts, mini golf, and lounging in hammocks. We also had two beach trips, going to Fort Fisher in mid-April (which is crazy early to have a beach day!), and to Myrtle Beach for Rose and Zoe’s soccer tournaments at the end of the month.

We ended the spring soccer season in May with another tournament for Rose in Greenville, SC, and started summer swim team at the end of the month. We missed the first week of swim to vacation in the southwestern US, flying in/out of Las Vegas (seeing the Vegas strip, Red Rock Canyon, an Aviators baseball game, and visiting the science and natural history museum and learning from the on-site scientist), and visiting Zion National Park (UT), Bryce Canyon National Park (UT), Horseshoe Bend (AZ), Grand Canyon National Park (AZ), and the Great Wolf Lodge (AZ). Rose and Zoe earned their Junior Ranger badges at the 3 National Parks, and highlights for the family included hiking “the Narrows” through the river in Zion, riding e-bikes and hiking in Bryce Canyon, staying on the rim in the Grand Canyon (where Colin and Nicolle did a sunrise hike), friendly squirrels, trying to figure out the time zone changes on the trip, stargazing, and getting to see our college friend at an Aviators baseball game in Vegas.

In June Rose and Zoe did their 5-day-a-week summer swim and indoor soccer, we experienced The Soccer Tournament and all its soccer celebrity sightings, we practiced rollerblading at the local outdoor hockey rink, and Rose and Zoe finished 5^th and 4^th grades respectively. Rose’s 5^th grade graduation marked the end of elementary school, and the loss of her classmates (none of which would go on to her middle school with her). Rose also had her tonsils out at the end of the month and the 14 day recovery was more difficult than any of us imagined.

The girls had a little over a week off between grades for July 4^th, where we celebrated with the annual swim team pool party and neighborhood block party (Rose did the best she could but was still only halfway through recovery). On July 7^th Rose and Zoe started 6^th and 5^th grades on a new year-round “track.” We had to switch from track 2 to track 3 because the middle school does not have track 2. This meant Zoe had to leave her friends of 4 years behind and move to a whole new class of established friends. We wrapped up the summer swim team season mid-July, and with Zoe experiencing an ear infection that proved difficult to treat. Colin and Nicolle celebrated 19 years of marriage in July with a delicious dinner at Sullivan’s steakhouse and visits to the Azelea and Sunflower gardens in Raleigh. Colin’s birthday followed shortly after, where a local owl graced us with its presence on our fence. On our new track-out schedule, the girls only had 3 weeks of school before our first vacation. We took advantage of our annual national parks pass, and took a trip to the Pacific Northwest, flying in/out of Seattle. In Seattle, we visited Pike Place, the Pacific Science Center, the Woodland Park Zoo, the Amazon spheres, the Starbucks Reserve Roastery, and road the subway, bus, monorail, and rode the Seattle Great Wheel. We lucked out to be there during the “Bite of Seattle” festival, so we got to sample some local cuisines and enjoy local musicians during a beautiful day. From Seattle, we made our way to Mt. Rainier National Park, where we got to experience the most amazing “dark sky” stargazing – way better than anything at Zion, Bryce, or Grand Canyon in May. We saw numerous shooting stars right from our lodging at the historic Paradise Inn. During our hike, we got to see Marmots and chipmunks on the trail, and Rose and Zoe loved reaching the snow near the top and finishing our trip with their Junior Badges. From Mt. Rainier, we made our way west for an overnight stay at the Great Wolf Lodge in Grand Mound. Of all the lodges we’ve stayed in (Williamsburg, Charlotte, Scottsdale and Grand Mound), the one in Grand Mound seemed the smallest and least exciting. There was no outdoor area and while most of them have the same water features, the MagiQuest experience we love was crammed into smaller spaces. Scottsdale was the newest and biggest, but we still love the Williamsburg and Charlotte ones the best. From Grand Mound we continued west to Olympic National Park, making stops at Lake Quinault, Kalaloch Beach, Forks (to see elk hanging out by the road), and to the northern part of the peninsula for a stay at a brand new cabin on Lake Crescent. We had clear blue skies and beautiful weather, except for the hour we spent right on the coast/beach where it was windy, chilly, and cloudy/misty. We got to canoe on Lake Crescent before driving up to Hurricane Ridge and taking the ferry across Puget Sound for a night north of Seattle, just south of the Canadian border. The girls earned their Olympic National Park Junior Ranger badge at Hurricane Ridge.

The final days of our trip (into early August) took us to Vancouver and Whistler, Canada, where we enjoyed more amazing weather, with bike riding (around Stanley Park and to Kitsilano beach where we went swimming in the English Bay), walking/hiking (across suspension bridges and around Vancouver and Whistler), and riding the gondolas (including the longest unsupported gondola, the “Peak-to-Peak” connecting Whister and Blackcomb mountains). We had no issues crossing between Canada and the US, and made stops at the Boeing Future of Flight attraction (missed out on the factory tour!), the Ballard Locks, and the Museum of Flight before flying back to Raleigh through Denver. Our 16 hour overnight stay in Denver turned out to be closer to 13 hours due to delays and our bag getting lost, but we made the most of it with a trip to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science (thanks to our ASTC reciprocal membership!). It was 100 degrees in Denver that day, so our plans for anything outdoors folded, and we enjoyed some In&Out Burgers (and Culver’s for the girls) before flying back home. We’ve always been lucky on track 2 that our vacations were later in August, once most of the crowds died down. We definitely experienced more travel disruptions with flight delays and car rental waits than we’ve ever had to deal with in the past. Once we were back home, Rose and Zoe started up their soccer seasons, Zoe started gymnastics, and we dealt with a lot of rain. Our beloved Bond Park was flooded for a solid week. Just a week after starting back at school, we flew to Boston to participate in my brother’s wedding. We had a lovely weekend with family (adding a visit with Colin’s family), amazing weather, and a joyous celebration.

In September, Zoe turned double digits, having a small celebration with her “old” friends, and a party with her soccer and school friends. We were in full-on soccer mode with practices and games taking up a lot of our time. Our Sundays were free, so we managed a beach trip and local park adventures.

The soccer schedule continued into October, along with Zoe doing gymnastics and Rose starting basketball. Both girls sustained ankle injuries during the fall soccer season, landing us several trips to the orthopedics for x-rays, with Zoe in a boot for a week to ensure it was not a stress fracture (which thankfully it was not) and Rose getting orthodics for her shoes. We engaged in fall-related activities with our free Sundays and were able to go to the State Fair during the week since the girls tracked out at the end of October. Nicolle’s schedule allowed for more activities with the girls since Partners In Health (Nicolle’s employer) announced the closing of US operations (in February 2026). In between transition work, professional development, and job searching, Nicolle took Rose and Zoe on adventures to cat cafes in Chapel Hill and Fuquay-Varina. The cat cafes support cat rescues and allow people to spend an hour with cats. The girls love cats, but Colin is allergic. We had plans to travel to the Dominican Republic during the week leading up to Halloween, but Hurricane Melissa derailed our plans, so we went to Williamsburg, Virginia instead. We enjoyed roller coasters, shows, and food at Busch Gardens and Nicolle tried her best to pretend the 85 degree indoor water park at Great Wolf Lodge was the Caribbean. We ended the month collecting 19 pounds of Halloween candy but donating almost all of it to a local nonprofit.

In November, Zoe’s soccer team was able to participate in the ACC College soccer championship game as player companions. Rose and Zoe both also played in soccer tournaments back-to-back weekends (Rose locally and Zoe in Winston-Salem), where Rose’s ankle injury finally got the best of her and required healing the rest of the month. We did a local 1 mile Turkey Trot (where Rose walked in a boot), which benefitted Freedom Ride Rescue, the agency we have fostered dogs with in the past.

In December, Cutie, our Elf on the Shelf made her return to Cary. She's not super creative, but both girls enjoy finding where she has gone each morning. The first weekend of the month, we went to a performance of The Nutcracker at NCSU's theatre. While we miss the free shows that Holly Springs High School used to do, we like the City Ballet's show and the intimate seating at NCSU's Stewart Theatre. Watching The Nutcracker live has become an annual tradition. Predictions for extreme cold and some possibility of snow kept the kids out of school for more days than was necessary in December - they were home without any actual snow for sledding! But the temperatures were freezing, very rare for North Carolina. Nicolle dragged the girls to a holiday orchestra performance at the Cary Arts Center, and the girls complained most of the time. It's not likely to become a tradition any time soon. But, we were finally able to go to the Chinese Lantern Festival at Koka Booth Amphitheatre, and that was a big success. While the lights were beautiful and interesting, the girls really enjoyed the kid's zone with interactive features, and interacting with people in Florida through a giant screen/camera features. We indicated it was "cold" and they showed us their shorts and sandals. And the kids in NC and FL all enjoyed the universal hand gesture for "6-7." (iykyk). Rose finished up her first basketball season, being handed her team's first loss in the final game. She learned a lot and enjoyed playing with new and old friends. Christmas was very different this year, since we spent it on a Caribbean cruise with Nicolle's family. We opened a few presents before leaving NC on December 20, and we didn't get back home until 10 days later - on December 30. We flew through Orlando on the way to San Juan, Puerto Rico (our first time in PR!), and had a night in an airbnb right in Isla Verde with Nicolle's parents (who had a long journey from Portugal), and Nicolle's brother and sister-in-law. Our 7-day cruise departed December 21, and we visited the beautiful islands of British Virgin Islands, Antigua, Barbados, St. Lucia, Saint Maarten, and the US Virgin Islands, before returning back to San Juan. Thankfully we had another overnight stay in Isla Verde (with enough time to check out Old San Juan), before a late flight to Orlando, where we spent another night in the really cool Hyatt that is right in the airport. The hotel has runway views from rooms with balconies, from viewing areas in the hotel, and from the outdoor heated pool. There was a cool front the day we were there, and Rose felt a bit under the weather, so we rented a car and walked around Disney Springs for the final day of our trip before catching an evening flight home. Disney Springs had a cool scavenger hunt with their themed Christmas trees, so the day turned out to be pretty fun! The girls were disappointed that Santa didn't bring anything to the house - he had stopped by the cruise to deliver Roblox gift cards. While we loved the trip, we missed the magic of spending Christmas at home!

The COVID-19 Pandemic Summer: April-August 2020

2023-08-31T00:40:00.060-04:00

It's true that COVID disrupted our lives like nothing we ever experienced. We were so fortunate that our disruptions were minor and we found outlets to preserve our mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing. Our exploration of local parks extended beyond our beloved Bond Park (though Bond Park served as our daily refuge). We did a lot of biking (girls on bikes, parents on scooters), venturing to places like Davis Drive park, White Oak Creek, the Tobacco Trail, North Cary Park, downtown Cary, Lake Crabtree, and so many more spots along the many greenways. In Bond Park and at Lake Crabtree, we did a lot of fishing, catching and releasing fish throughout the summer. The girls found and took care of a tiny turtle, who they named Rainbow for most of the summer and then released him before starting back up at school. We biked to restaurants and ordered take out, eating the food outside on picnic tables, on park benches, or on a blanket.

Daily morning walks around Bond Park kept me mentally and physically well

One of our many walks in Bond Park as a family - almost always to the stream and bridge #10

Checking out the train at Davis Drive park

We checked out lots of snakes in Bond Park

Fishing at Lake Crabtree

One of our regular spots to bike to for lunch or dinner
Here we are getting pizza, but we often got Kilwins ice cream

Masking up was a regular thing, which we didn't do much when we were hanging out as a family of 4 (which was most of the time)

Rainbow the turtle spent the summer with us.
Rose and Zoe took really good care of it

We took lots of trips to downtown Cary. Having a snack or treat by the fountain was a weekend evening highlight

We found ways to be creative at home

And checked out the flowers at the Museum of Art

We did some baking on occasion

And we set up the tent in the backyard

Thank goodness the neighborhood pool gave us options to use it for the summer

We reserved times throughout the summer to cool off

And we stuck to our own lane

Summer swim team looked different with coaches masked and on the sidelines and parents sometimes helping our kids in the pool. There were no meets

But they were thrilled to have any type of swim team and get their end-of-season medals

Zoe's swim lessons that started at the YMCA in March and only ran for 1 week picked back up in July and finished in August

We went to the 4x4 beach several times over the summer

And kept our distance from other people

We celebrated Easter doing an egg hunt in the neighborhood

We went strawberry picking

The neighborhood kids played together, something they hadn't done before. And when Colin got a new job in June, sometimes this became my office

The cellist in our neighborhood performed for us in the cul de sac and we celebrated birthdays and holidays this way

We made a trip to South Carolina and western NC to visit my parents in the summer, and we found beautiful hikes

The girls made an iced tea stand in SC

We did the best we could with virtual learning for about 10 weeks, from the end of March to the beginning of June. Most mornings we would carry Rose down from her bed to her morning meeting at 9am. She had a few assignments that were almost always done by 11am. Zoe would get to be on her tablet, watching Khan Academy Kids, Reading Eggs, Miss Megan's Camp Kindergarten, or read on Epic until Rose was finished. After lunch and a walk, their free time included lots of fort building, creating stories with characters in their room (that mommy and daddy were expected to pay/tip to watch), reading, or playing in the neighborhood with friends. I gave up trying to keep a tidy house, it was better for everyone to allow them to create their play spaces.

Sometimes virtual learning and my "desk" looked like this

Kindergarten graduation was a welcomed end to virtual learning that spring!

Zoe had her pre-k graduation in mid-June, despite not having gone to pre-k for 3 months. We did send her to preschool (they remained open) for 1 day and realized it was better to have her home with her sister, so they could play with each other and we could get work done. We had pre-paid for 6 months of preschool in January and given the fact that I maintained my income and Colin received unemployment during the start of the pandemic, we felt like our tuition helped keep the school afloat. We did the same with our YMCA membership even though it was closed for several weeks at the start of the pandemic.

In August, Rose started 1st grade in a virtual setting, much like she finished kindergarten. She attended classes for 1 week before we found a private school that would take Zoe for kindergarten and Rose for 1st grade. Because Zoe's birthday is in September, she misses the cutoff for our county public school system. We had been looking into private schools for Zoe that have a later birthdate cutoff for kindergarten. We were prepared to send Zoe to the preschool Rose went to when she was a baby, but on a whim, we decided to check out a Montessori school close by. It was the best decision we made! More info to come on future posts, but we were so grateful to have them both learning in-person from 8:30-3p daily, with an aftercare option until 5p. Had we stuck with virtual learning for Rose and in-person kindergarten for Rose, I know we would have struggled with filling her afternoons. The Montessori experience, though not perfect with the masking and social distancing in the classroom, allowed both Rose and Zoe to grow and thrive with their learning.

One of Roses' first days in 1st grade at the public school. This lasted 1 week

Ready to start their year in a Montessori classroom

First day at Peace Montessori, masked up and ready to learn!
Boy were we glad to have found this program.

Normalcy before the pandemic, a recap of January-March 2020

2023-08-30T18:20:00.000-04:00

What a year 2020 has been. Little did we know what would transpire as we brought in the new year. We started the year off with a New Year's hike in Umstead State Park and hiked to a really cool chainsaw art tree that I had read about online. We ran into some friends from Zoe's preschool and enjoyed a beautiful day in the park. It was a lovely start to the new year, that followed with several hikes and explorations to local parks throughout the mild January we had.

Chainsaw tree art at Umstead State Park

Some of our hikes included:
The Hemlock Bluffs Nature Preserve, where we got to play in the children's play area, see deer, and enjoy the nature trails, and
Lake Crabtree County Park, where we got to experiment with taking pictures with our digital cameras, play in the sand at the waterfront and on the volleyball court, and hike on the mountain bike trails.

We joked that one of our New Year's resolutions should be to set a goal of how many different trails we could hike this year. Little did we know that the world would change in a few months that would make staying close to home and finding things to do a necessity. I have been so grateful to live where we do and have state, county, and town parks to explore this year.

Rose and Zoe at Lake Crabtree County Park

Family photo at Lake Crabtree County Park

All winter and into the spring, Zoe has been into wearing elaborate headbands. She's always hated having her hair brushed and doesn't like to let me give her a ponytail, so I'll take whatever she'll do to keep her hair out of her eyes. You may see some of her headbands in the posts from this year.

Zoe's wearing her New Year's "Cheers" headband for our trip to the Durham Museum of Life and Sciences

Zoe wearing her unicorn headband at school

Zoe's class focused on learning about the world this winter. The children each got to teach their classmates about their own origins. Zoe was able to teach her classmates about Portugal and learned about Germany, Ecuador, and Guyana from her classmates. When fires raged in Australia, the children learned about the country and the animals needing help. The school took up a collection to rescue koalas, which meant we got to talk about koalas at home for weeks.

Zoe learning about the world at school

Winter in North Carolina is really only the month of February. It's typically when we actually see some snow, frozen rain, or ice. The winter continued to be mild, allowing us to continuing enjoying outdoor adventures. We did have one snow "storm" that shut things down for a day and melted before noon.

February is also the month we celebrate Rose's birthday. We usually celebrate on the day, have a party with friends over the weekend closest to the day, and then travel to New York to celebrate the three February birthdays in the family. Our Southwest airlines companion fares expired on December 31, 2019, so we no longer had the "buy four tickets for the price of two" deal. Instead, we decided to try Spirit airlines, flying from Raleigh to Boston and renting a car to drive to Albany. Our Thursday evening flight ended up being canceled (because of a maintenance issue), so we flew out on a Friday morning, and while our return flight from Boston to Raleigh was uneventful, it was a late flight, getting us home around midnight. The girls did well traveling once again, and it was nice celebrating the Miller birthdays with the whole family. While it's always nice visiting family, it's difficult seeing Colin's dad battle Parkinson's with dementia. Each time we visit, he seems to know who we are less and appears more and more frail. The past year has been filled with urgent care and emergency room visits from pneumonias and falls.

The birthday girl wanted Duck Donuts for breakfast on her birthday before going to school

Celebrating with a small cake on her birthday after gymnastics and dinner

Rose's birthday party cake from Costco

Rose's birthday party with friends was at the bowling ally and was a combination of new friends from kindergarten and old friends from pre-school. The kids had a great time bowling, in the arcade, and coming back to our house for the "after party." We spent the second half of the weekend at the Durham Museum of Life and Sciences with Avo and Vovo, riding the train, seeing the butterflies and building forts in the treehouse area.

Rose's fancy New York birthday cake

Being in a year-round school, Rose had 3 weeks off in late February and early March. In addition to the trip to New York, we also took a trip to the beloved Great Wolf Lodge in Charlotte. Colin's great aunt passed away shortly after we left New York, so he flew back for the funeral and met us in Charlotte on his flight back. On our way to Charlotte, we stopped in at the NC Zoo. It was a rainy day, so it wasn't crowded, but many of the animals were active.

Rose is always looking to make a great deal. She asked Avo and VoVo for $20 for $3 worth of quarters!

The girls love the Great Wolf Lodge

We love going to the Great Wolf Lodge during track outs when prices are low and there are few crowds.

Darwin celebrated his 9th birthday at the beginning of January. He's getting more grey around the face.
Rose has loved him so much since birth and greets him just about every morning.

We did swim lessons for Zoe to get her comfortable in the water in preparation for summer swim team

It would have been lovely to be off three weeks with Rose for her track out, but we did have to work. She went to camp a few days at XL Sports while Zoe went to daycare.
She picked up roller blading so quickly!

In early March, Colin lost his job just around the time I had a work trip planned to Asheville. Little did we know how much more things were going to change after that trip, and that traveling would look different for a long time. We celebrated my birthday early, first just the two of us, and then with my parents. The girls stayed in South Carolina with my parents while Colin went with me to Asheville. We had a lovely lunch at an Indian restaurant downtown called Mela. When I wrapped up my work in Asheville, we continued celebrating my birthday in South Carolina before heading back home for Rose to start back to school on March 9th. She had 5 days back in school and then the county closed schools because of the COVID-19 pandemic. We got a message on Sunday March 15th that schools would be closed starting Monday March 16th (my birthday) and there would be a 5 hour window on March 17th where personal belongings could be picked up. We kept Zoe home from daycare, and found ways to engage the girls in creativity at home. I was so thankful Colin wasn't working so he could set them up with crafts and daily learning (and structured learning once the county set that up by the end of the month). We started daily walks (I would usually join Colin and the girls on my lunch break), afternoon reading sessions (and attempted to give Zoe rest time like at daycare), and bought some age-appropriate workbooks. Lots of times, I worked at the kitchen table alongside the girls, or they did reading in my office so Colin could send out job applications or take interviews. In addition to being grateful that my job was flexible (and already remote), that Colin was not working and could manage most of the daily parenting needs, I was also grateful that unemployment benefits increased during the pandemic, that we lived in such close proximity to so many wonderful parks, and that March brings spring weather in NC, allowing us to be outdoors most days.

First week at home meant lots of art in our house

More art and creating

Socializing in the cul-de-sac with Costco pizza in the early days of the pandemic

Bridge 10 on the trail around Bond Park become our go-to spot for daily walks

We learned that you can catch fish easily in the basin near the Bond Park dam

On rainy days we created pool noodle battles

Or did gymnastics on the mat

We brought out our binoculars and spread deer food out on the trails

Sometimes my work days looked like this at the kitchen table

Other days I worked at my desk and the girls had quiet reading time

in my office

Zoe managed to get a few naps, but mostly Rose kept her entertained

We tie-dyed shirts and made homemade hand sanitizer

Online learning started March 27th and we all had to figure out how to do this with kindergarteners

Zoe loved getting to have screen time from 9a-11a like her sister

On nice days, we took e-learning outside

Neighbors created learning opportunities in Bond Park

A Cliff's Notes Summary of 2019

2020-01-02T10:55:00.000-05:00

If you don't want to read the full recap of 2019 in the series of posts published to the blog the past few days, here is a very quick summary.

While we didn't get to do any major trips to all-inclusive resorts or across oceans this year, we did fly to New York as a family several times. And, we took a handful of trips to the beach (Myrtle, Virginia, and Carolina) and to the mountains.

Nicolle managed to secure a big grant to bring on another new staff member, and will spend this holiday season writing more grants for 2020. Colin celebrated his first year at PRA Health Sciences by getting to work from home two days per week. A few days before turning 4 in September, Zoe took a spill off her bicycle, which resulted in our family's first trip to the ER and a handful of stitches. Rose turned 5 in February and started kindergarten in July. She loves it and is starting to read.

Here's to 2020 - a year that hopefully brings me more health and brings us all joy, health, love, and peace. My wish for Colin is fulfillment in his work. My wish for Rose is to feel a sense of compassion and empathy for others and to continue her drive for learning and accomplishment. My wish for Zoe is to gain confidence in herself and gain a drive for accomplishment, while preserving the sweet, kind, gentle, caring person that she is. While I don't do resolutions, I do strive for self-improvement in patience and kindness with my family, friends, and strangers. In 2020, I hope we continue our journey to travel as a family, maintain a healthy and balanced life, reduce, reuse, recycle, and strive for the things that support our growth and development.

A recap of 2019 - September through December

2020-01-02T10:48:00.001-05:00

The big news in September was that we had our first trip to the emergency room two days before Zoe's 4th birthday. Poor Zoe was riding her balance bike too fast down a hill and fell off. She split her chin open. I'll spare you the photos of the wound. It looked like she had a second mouth. The bigger concern we had was that she had bleeding in her ear. Because of the ear bleeding, Zoe had to take two sets of CT-scans, which kept us in the ER from about 7p until after midnight. It was a long night, Zoe was given some "loopy" meds, but they didn't do anything when the ER doctor finally stitched her up. I held her down with two nurses as she screamed that we were hurting her. It was awful and I hope we don't go through it again.

Zoe's 4th birthday party went off without a hitch. We scheduled it two weeks after her birthday and by then her chin was mostly healed. We rented a shelter at Pullen Park and Colin, in his usual fashion, made A TON of food that we ate for weeks after the party. The kids had a great time hitting pinatas, riding the train together, going on the carousel, and playing in a wooded tree area near the shelter. We also had a very nice day for the party.

I wasn't sure I wanted to sign the girls up for soccer again after the spring season, but decided last minute to do it. I was able to get Zoe in the 4-year-old league and Rose started the kindergarten league. Both girls had a great time and because I didn't have to coach (except to help fill in a game or two), it was more enjoyable for me as well. Zoe had a rock-star player on her team, and her coach incentivized the kids with stickers. Zoe loved the rewards and played really well. Rose's team started working more on positions, defending and attacking. Rose is a smart player, but isn't the type of player to get in the middle of it all. She got to play with some of her friends this season, so that was fun for us. And, the girls had a lot of early games. The season always starts so early (in August), so it was good to play early games while it was still so hot. We even got to spend the final weekend of September in Myrtle Beach when the girls both had 9a soccer games. We ran home after the games, packed up the car and were at the beach mid-afternoon. It was so hot that weekend and was nice to be at the beach.

The other exciting news was that since Colin got to a year at his new(ish) job, he was able to start working from home two days a week. It opened up the possibilities of traveling for us, so we could visit family more and work from those places while the girls could spend time with family.

Sisters watching iPad in the Emergency Room

Zoe the morning after her ER visit and a day before her birthday as we sign up to finally join the YMCA

Singing Happy Birthday to Zoe at Duck Donuts before school

Zoe's birthday card from school and a trip to daddy's office for hot chocolate

Zoe's 4th Birthday party at Pullen Park in Raleigh, NC

Friends all taking the train ride together for Zoe's birthday

Birthday girl on the carousel

Jessica McDonald from the NC Courage and USA Women's Soccer team comes to preschool to show her World Cup medal

Zoe playing soccer

Rose playing soccer

Water park at our Myrtle Beach hotel

Girls enjoying the ocean in Myrtle Beach

Beautiful sunrise from the hotel balcony in Myrtle Beach

We ended our day and trip with some galactic mini-golf

In October, the weather finally cooled a bit and we got to enjoy several preschool (5th) birthday parties, some local farms, a family photo shoot, a NC Courage soccer game, the start of a 4-week ballet program, a first dentist visit, the end of the soccer season, and the preschool fall gathering. We also ended the month with Halloween events and the state fair. Rose and Zoe took a storytelling class at the Cary Arts Center from mid-September to mid-October. I had signed them up for it before we decided to sign up for soccer. Our Thursday evenings for the month were very busy. Rose did a 4-week dance class from 4-5p at school on Thursdays. We'd rush to the Cary Arts Center for the 5:30p storytelling class, and then rush to soccer practice right after that (missing the first half). Unfortunately, everything was packed into Thursdays! The other unfortunate event that occurred was me hurting my back again. I had been playing soccer a few nights a week, doing yoga and pilates, and generally was feeling so strong for the first time since having kids. But the day after I did a 4-mile run in the neighborhood I had shooting pains in my back. I assume I triggered by bulging discs with too much exercise. I started back at physical therapy, hoping I could find the right McKenzie exercises to put the bulge back in place like I did 18 months ago. While I did get rid of the shooting pains up the back and inability to sit, by mid-November I got to a place where I couldn't stand for long or find a comfortable position to sleep (perhaps went too far with the exercises). It's been a difficult holiday season with lots of pain through traveling and what should be fun family events.

Riding the cow train at Phillips Farm

My parents and brother visited for our trip to Phillips Farm in Cary

Got to see Carli Lloyd play against the NC Courage on a nice October night

Rose's first dentist visit

Zoe's first dentist visit - she was a bit less cooperative

Zoe finishing her soccer season

Rose finishing her soccer season

Zoe showing off her school projects at the fall gathering

Visiting the goats at Carl Sandburg historic site in Flat Rock, NC

Riding the bee train at Sky Top Orchard in Flat Rock, NC

Rose and Zoe doing a 4-week ballet program between soccer/storytelling class and the holidays

Girls love dressing up for ballet

First set of Halloween outfits for the party at Rose's school

Riding the roller coaster at the NC State Fair

A dreary morning turned into a super hot, muggy afternoon

Rose and Zoe got to milk a cow

Riding the gondola back to the exit at the NC State Fair

Paw Patrol Skye for Zoe (left), My Little Pony for Rose (right)

School outfits on Halloween - Zoe is ready for her school parade

Enjoying Zoe's Halloween parade at school

Rose is Princess Jasmine but the wig was too hot

Zoe is Princess Anna but didn't want the wig

A lot of candy for Halloween!

Professional photos by Ana Teresa Galizes - we just beat the rain!

Professional photos by Ana Teresa Galizes

Once we get to Halloween, the months of November and December go by in a blur with holiday festivities and candy/desserts! This year, Rose was tracked out (on break) for 4 weeks from November 9 to December 8. Since my parents spent most of the summer in Portugal, we made up for it with almost weekly visits between Cary, NC (our house) and the Greenville, SC area (their house). I spent the first few days of track out in South Carolina with my parents so the girls could spend time with my parents and I could go to work in Asheville. It's about an hour from their house to UNC Asheville (I telecommute for UNCA). We had a lovely staff retreat and I felt so appreciative and proud of the team and work we've grown to support healthy aging in our state. After two days of working in Asheville, I drove everyone home for a day and then we used our companion passes and rewards miles to fly to Albany for 6 days. Since we had done the flight back in April and August, we were pretty skilled at the process. Colin drops me and the girls off at the terminal so we can check bags and get through security while he goes to the park and ride to drop off the car. We had evening flights both ways and the girls did great with eating dinners from their lunchboxes, watching either the Southwest airlines movies/TV or downloaded Netflix shows on the iPad during the flights, and enjoying both the layovers between flights and the snacks/drinks on the flights. In NY, Colin and I used our YMCA memberships to exercise (he swims and I've only been able to walk and stretch because of lingering back pain). We also found a YMCA in the area with a gymnastics studio and open gym times for an hour three days a week. The girls also loved seeing their aunt's school (she is a teacher), playing with their cousin, sledding (yes, they had snow in November!), and celebrating Colin's dad's 73rd birthday. With his Parkinson's and dementia, we aren't quite sure if and when my father-in-law knows what is going on, but he does have some moments of clarity, though it is often difficult to understand what he is trying to say. Colin and I have provided some respite for his mom when we travel, often staying with his dad so his mom can go out. His mom was able to get a home-care agency to provide care-giving services 6 hours per week, which helps. But, being a 24-7 caregiver to a 70-year-old man who is essentially like a young toddler is challenging when you are in your 70's yourself. The experience staying at my in-laws the past few visits have helped me better understand the challenges of my work.

When we came back from NY, we all headed back out to Asheville so we could greet my 25-year-old cousin flying in from California. She's been an au-pair out there and is from Brazil and I'd only met her when she was a baby - when I went to Brazil at 18 years old. Colin and I both worked from my office in Asheville for a day, and then we spent the weekend with my parents and greeted her Sunday morning before making the drive back to our house to prep for Thanksgiving. We hosted my parents and cousin at our house, and I even took my cousin out to the clubs in Raleigh the evening before Thanksgiving. While my back still isn't better, I managed 4 hours of dancing (and about 17,000 steps!). Recovering wasn't any worse as my back continued to be challenged with both standing still and laying down.

Rose got to spend two days at the YMCA camp leading up to Thanksgiving, where they spent one morning at the pool. She also joined her friend from preschool at the Tumble gym for half a day Wednesday morning while Zoe had her Thanksgiving celebration at school. I was able to get a mani-pedi with a good friend visiting from Texas in the morning and then we all got to go to Colin's office for lunch and hot chocolate in the afternoon. In November, we also got to celebrate the opening of the brand-new Cary Regional Library. It's beautiful and contributes to downtown Cary's amazing renovation.

At the Greenville Zoo in South Carolina

Greenville Zoo - with temps warming up

Eating dinner as we wait for the airplane to arrive so we can fly to Albany

Rose doing gymnastics at the YMCA open gym time in Wilton, NY

Zoe doing gymnastics at the YMCA open gym time in Wilton, NY

Playing on the motorized cars in the Wilton Mall in NY

Checking out a yoga studio's grand opening in the Albany area

Rose and Zoe sledding before we fly back to NC

Back in Asheville, checking out gingerbread houses at the Grove Park Inn

Panorama view at the Grove Park Inn, Asheville, NC

Our favorite gingerbread houses among the hundred or so that we saw

Catching up with our dear friends visiting from Texas Thanksgiving week

Showing my cousin our favorite museum in Durham, NC

Thanksgiving meal at our house - feeling so thankful for my family

I'm sure everyone can relate to the wild ride between Thanksgiving and Christmas, especially if you have young children. Thanksgiving was late this year, and then Rose had one more week off before returning to school (for just two weeks before the holidays!). I needed to work, especially since I had one month (December) to write one grant and a second grant I was waiting for was released in December with a 2-month window to submit. So Rose did her final week off at the YMCA track out camp. She got to swim in the pool one day, go on a field trip to the planetarium one day, and create lots of crafts and run around. I also decided to quit physical therapy and try acupuncture since my back wasn't getting any better. I can't say I noticed any immediate relief, but I have experienced some slight improvements over the month of December since doing 3 treatments and taking the recommended herbal remedies. I'll likely give it another month before moving on to a orthopedic doctor.

I'm so grateful for my parents, who traveled back and forth between their house and ours (4 hours each way) three weekends in a row (including Thanksgiving). They came to watch the girls so Colin and I could go to his holiday party (which we didn't stay very long because we were both so tired and my back was still hurting). Then they came back to join us for the hard-to-get-tickets Pullen Park holiday express event. We packed a lot of fun into those two weekends including getting and decorating our Christmas tree, decorating gingerbread houses, and the girls got to see Frozen 2 with my parents at the movie theater. As we approached Christmas break, Colin and I took the girls to see the Nutcracker and Rose has been asking daddy to help her fly high like the ballerinas since the show. We celebrated Christmas Eve at our home after a day trip to our favorite museum. We had to say goodbye to the large family of wolves at the museum - they are being moved to Virginia.

Colin and I were able to preserve the magic of Christmas for the girls. They put out cookies and milk for Santa with a note. Zoe wrote to Rudolph and they put bowls of food out for the reindeer. We let them open gifts from mommy and daddy on Christmas Eve and then we woke them up around 5:45a so they could open the gifts from Santa before we had to fly to Albany for the holiday break. While they didn't get to play with the presents, they did get to bring just one on the trip. Our flight travels (a long 6.5 hour trip through Tampa) went surprisingly well and we were in Albany in time for a Christmas dinner with the family. In NY we also saw Moana at the Palace Theatre in Albany, saw Frozen 2 at the movie theater, visited with Colin's 95-year-old great aunt in Poughkeepsie, and the girls spent a lot of time with their cousin. Colin and I both did some work and got to use the YMCA to do some exercise. We prepared some of our go-to-staple meals like shepherd's pie, sausage-veggie soup from a chicken roaster carcass, quesadillas, and a pork loin roast; indulged in the Italian catering from Christmas dinner and the cookies, cheesecake, and Jesus birthday cake desserts; and provided some care-giving respite. We flew home on December 30, before our Southwest companion fares expired on December 31 and in time to celebrate a noon-day New Year's Even balloon drop at the music school (Notasium), a not-so-exciting UK New Year's Eve countdown at Fortnite Brewery (7p), and driving to holiday light shows in the area. Both girls fell asleep in the car by 8p, but woke up during the transition and had a bed-time snack before going back to bed around 9-9:30p. While it wasn't a raging New Year's celebration, it was what we all needed after several months of travel and excitement.

Millers holiday card 2019 - didn't get Darwin in this one

Making gingerbread houses at the Bond Park community center

Haircuts

Decorating our little tree - girls helped pick it out

Eating smores in the igloo at the Pullen Park Holiday Express

Mailing her letter to ask Santa for a snow globe at Pullen Park

Family photo with Santa

Girls with Mrs. Claus

Family Pullen Park Holiday Express train ride

Family picture in the snow globe at Pullen Park

Inside the snow globe at Pullen Park Holiday Express

Girls sledding at Pullen Park Holiday Express

Making gingerbread houses at Rose's elementary school

Driving to see holiday lights around Cary, NC

Opening Christmas presents from mommy and daddy on Christmas Eve

It's Christmas Eve! Prepping things for Santa

Flying to Albany on Christmas day

Lots of presents in New York!

Moana at the Palace Theatre with their new fluffy friends from grandma and grandpa

Getting to sit in the cockpit (and touch stuff) on the Southwest airlines plane arriving home in Raleigh

Happy New Year Noon-time balloon drop at Notasium in Cary

Singing karaoke at Notasium on New Year's Eve

Happy New Year!

Recap of 2019 - May through August

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In May, we (finally!) finished the soccer season. I was glad to have Saturday mornings free again. Soccer overlapped just a week or two with the start of swim season. Summer swim team is an intense 8-9 week season, but at least it's weekdays. Zoe was able to practice with the team and while she didn't get to compete in any meets (except a final one in July), she did get comfortable in the water and got to swimming about 10 meters on her own by the end of the season. We also enjoyed the warm (but not too hot) weather, which was good for boat rides on Bond Park lake and to watch outdoor concerts at the Bond Park amphitheater. Living on a greenway adjacent to the park has been amazing and we always comment on how lucky we are to live in such an amazing area. For Memorial Day weekend, we celebrated with an annual Myrtle Beach trip with my parents. We always enjoy staying in a beachfront hotel with pools and this year did not disappoint.

Rose skating on Mother's Day 2019

Enjoying a Friday evening Bond bites, boats, and bands event

My very challenging 3-year-old team look so cute. But boy are they tough to coach!

Zoe starts swim practices with the summer swim team

In June we got Zoe re-tested for her food allergies. The doctor told us the tests at age 3 would help predict if she would grow out of them. Unfortunately, all her tests came back positive. She's still allergic to white fish, tree nuts, sesame, and sunflower oils. June also meant full-on swim team with nightly practices and weekly swim meets. We made it a family event and Rose excelled this summer. She won several first place ribbons in the 15 meter breaststroke in the 6 and under age group. Not bad for a 5 year old. The big event that took place in June was the end of Rose's preschool journey. She had been at Sounds and Colors 3 years (and at another school for 2 years before that). We celebrated both the preschool graduation ceremony and her last day of school. In June we also celebrated my dad's birthday. To finish out the month, we joined our family (Colin's brother-in-law, sister-in-law, niece and nephew) in Virginia Beach the final weekend of the month, just before the 4th of July.

Confirmation that Zoe is still allergic to several foods

Girls playing dress-up at home

Sounds and Colors preschool graduation on June 7, 2019

A Father's Day hike at Umstead State Park

Listening to Bluegrass at the Bond Park Amphitheatre

Saying goodnight to the ducks after listening to music at the amphitheater

Heading out to the paddle boats at Pullen Park with my mom

Rose and Zoe doing Swamp jacks during swim team warm-up

Rose keeping up with the older kids - "Eat my bubbles"

Proud of her 1st and 2nd place ribbons - a growing collection!

Rose's final day of preschool

Swim team photo - Rose and Zoe are bottom left in the picture

Rose riding the waves in Virginia Beach the final weekend in June

The main event in July was Rose starting Kindergarten. We have chosen the year-round school option in the county (kids can go either year-round or on a traditional Aug-June calendar). We are on track 2, which means Rose starts a new grade the week after July 4th and has 3-4 week breaks around late August, November, February, and May. July was also the end of summer swim team. Zoe got to participate in a swim event and Rose improved in all three events (freestyle, backstroke and breaststroke). Rose's backstroke has always been her weakest event and we saw her improve the most in that stroke. July was not as hot as other summers have been (though we did celebrate our anniversary on a day when the car temperature read 112 degrees!). For the 4th of July holiday break, we spent a few days at my parent's house in South Carolina and hiked to some waterfalls in western NC. Colin celebrated his 40th birthday in July and we celebrated 13 years of marriage.

Another visit to the Museum of Life and Sciences in Durham, NC

Silly on the big chairs at the Museum of Life and Sciences

Watching July 4th fireworks on the lawn in Morrisville, NC

Hiking Linville Falls between Asheville and Boone, NC

Playing with sparklers for July 4th in South Carolina

Hiking Turtleback Falls in Gorges State Park, NC

Silly faces at Turtleback Falls

Swimming at Turtleback Falls

Rose taking the bus on her first day of school - June 9, 2019

Zoe competes in her exhibition meet as a Swamp Pup

Rose competes in her final breast stroke of the season

Neighborhood kids cooling off on a hot day

Braving the 112 degree day to celebrate our anniversary with ice cream after going out to lunch

Face (or arm) painting at the Maple View Farms ice cream shop

Zoe plays independently and sings "Baby Shark"

Checking out the sunflowers replenishing the landfill at Dorothea Dix park

In August, we flew up to Albany to celebrate Rose's first track out and enjoy summer upstate. We had some challenges with our evening flight to Albany when our flights got pushed back from their 4:30p departure and finally got canceled around 7p. We decided to fly out the next morning, so we had consolation ice cream in Brier Creek (near Raleigh airport) while we waited for bags to come back out in the baggage claim. Everyone got to spend one extra night in our beds at home before having an uneventful flight to Albany the next day. I spent two weeks in NY with the girls and Colin flew back to work just 4 days in between the two weeks. In those two weeks, we traveled up to the Granby Zoo outside of Montreal and spent the night in Montreal, and we spent a couple of nights in Plattsburgh, NY on Lake Champlain. The girls had their cousins on both trips, so they had a blast. I enjoy Granby Zoo, with its zoo, amusement park and waterpark. This time, Zoe fell asleep in my arms as we waited to go on the carousel, so I had to sit out most of the amusement rides while she napped in my arms (thankfully while I sat on a bench). But Colin and I got to go on a few water slides on our own while the girls stayed with my sister-in-law. We also got to enjoy delicious pastries in Montreal. I walked with the girls to the pastry shop, which ended up being a farther walk than I thought. We had to call Colin to pick us up! Unfortunately, Colin had to be in NC when we went to Lake Champlain. We had two beautiful days on the lake, but the third day was so windy that the water was as rough as the ocean. I mainly sat on the beach hanging out with the girls, but did get to go kayaking and take a trip on the boat one day. The girls had a blast, even on the windy day. In NY, we celebrated Colin's 40th birthday with one of his friends and Zoe's 4th birthday. Colin's birthday bash was a fun event with his high school friends and our family all joining the party at a friend's house. Before leaving NY, we made a day trip over to Boston to visit my brother, and we celebrated Colin's parent's anniversary with Zoe's family birthday party. The day in Boston was a bit dreary, but we got to enjoy some of Boston Common and lunch at Mooyah Burgers. The girls liked taking the train into and out of the city.

The other big event in August was Rose receiving the kindness award at school. Her award coincided with Zoe's preschool focus on kindness. Since Rose was a recent graduate, the school posted her picture in the hallway. I also got to spend some time in Rose's class, getting to know some of the kids and the teachers. The state offers us community service leave and we can get up to 45 hours of leave per year to do literacy programs. I volunteered a few weeks throughout the summer and fall to do "literacy lunches" where I read to 4 kids in their classroom during lunch. The kids get to spend the lunch hour with me instead of in the lunch room. Rose gets to pick a friend and the teacher assigns two others. Rose's class is small (ish) with 18 kids, but 1/3 of the kids have IEPs (Individual Educational Plans) and very few had ever been in organized instruction before starting kindergarten. Having done literacy lunches a few times, I have gotten to be with some of the more challenging kids. I have always appreciated teachers, and the literacy lunches are a constant reminder of the work they do each and every day.

Girls have matching shimmery color-change unicorn backpacks, with hoods!

Amusement rides at Granby Zoo

Eating goldfish snacks on Mount Royal, Montreal

Sunset on Lake Champlain in Plattsburgh, NY

Panoramic view of Lake Champlain from our cabin

Two days of beautiful calm water and sunshine

The tres amigas were superheros on the sand when the water was too rough

Zoe and her cousin Isabella riding the tube off the boat - Lake Champlain

Rose and her cousin Isabella riding the tube off the boat - Lake Champlain

Rough waters on Lake Champlain the final day

Happy belated 40th to this guy!

We even had tattoos!

Boston Common on a dreary day

Boston Common Carousel

One final boating trip on Saratoga lake - this time, jet skis!

A smiley almost 4-year-old celebrating her birthday

Girls got to check out the cockpit - thanks Southwest pilots!

Rose's kindness award

Rose's kindness celebration at school

A Recap of 2019 - January through April

2020-01-01T00:04:00.000-05:00

Well...2019 was the year I didn't blog. Life was too busy and I just didn't set aside the time to record our happenings. We do have photos from the year, but just not the story. Here's my attempt to recap the year month-by-month.

In January we checked out a new museum in Greensboro and really enjoyed seeing the aquarium there. They have penguins and sharks and we got to see both during feeding time. We visited our beloved Museum of Life and Sciences in Durham to see the wolf pups who were almost as big as their parents. The girls tried a few weeks of gymnastics in January into February. And, I wrote a large federal grant that was submitted at the end of the month. We also registered Rose for kindergarten!

Sharks at Greensboro Museum

Video of girls dancing at Greensboro Museum

Having lunch at the Durham Museum of Life and Sciences

Visiting momma and papa wolf and their two sons at the Durham Museum

Zoe singing Sol Solecito

Rose singing her songs from preschool in Spanish

Rose doing gymnastics (no Zoe picture)

In February, Rose's birthday and travel to Albany to celebrate Miller women birthdays were the highlights. I had to wear a boot during the trip because of a high ankle sprain from soccer and spent two weeks with family while Colin flew back to NC for a few days for work. We also got to visit with my brother in western Massachusetts during the trip. The girls got new passports and we applied for a Southwest Airlines credit card that got us companion pass sign up bonuses (so girls could fly free with us). The end of our trip to NY was also when Colin's dad (who has Parkinson's) got pneumonia and spent a week in the hospital followed by several weeks of rehab. We noticed a sharp decline in his health after that trip.

Sisters celebrating Rose's birthday party at Rainbow Play

Happy 5th birthday Rose

Dinner out and ice cream for Rose's birthday on a warm February day

Family Google Hangout Happy Birthday to Rose

Rose singing and Zoe doing some gymnastics in the kitchen in NY - February 2019

In March, we celebrated my birthday in Cary and with a trip to my parents in South Carolina. We also had some warmer days. Rose and Zoe also started up soccer and I was very busy coaching both teams and playing two nights a week in a women's open league. Spring soccer came in a fury. Coaching was a struggle - mainly because of doing it for 2-3 hours straight every Saturday, and because 3 year olds are very challenging. We lost just about every game and I struggled to have the energy and excitement with each passing week. We did manage to find a few fun things to do, and since Colin had reached the 6-month mark at his new job, he got to start working from home one day per week. He's never had that luxury, and it has been so nice having him work at home with me on Fridays (when it works out that I don't have to travel for meetings).

My birthday cupcakes

Cary's kite festival in our backyard- Bond Park

Zoe hugging a dinosaur at the kite festival

Rose swinging at North Cary Park

Zoe running at North Cary Park

Enjoying a beautiful spring walk in the park

Exploring

Rose's silly face

Zoe's silly face

April was adventurous. We continued our soccer season with a few other activities on the weekends and had a nice soccer break for Easter. Since we earned our Southwest companion fares earlier in the year, we were able to fly to Albany to spend Easter with the Millers. We had some amazing weather, which made the trip much more enjoyable. I also had a work trip to Wilmington where I got to bring the family and we all stayed at the beach. I had to go to New Orleans as well, and found out I was awarded the large federal grant I wrote in January.

Horseback riding at a farm in the area.
We had a scary moment with Zoe nearly falling off and getting behind the horse

I'll spare you the video of this - Zoe rocked out on the drums

Rose climbing at the farm

Zoe the tiger - grrr!

Mufuletta sandwich from Central Grocery in New Orleans

Beignets from Cafe Du Monde in New Orleans

Riding the carousel in Holyoke Massachusetts to visit Tio Mark

Sleepover with cousin Isabella

Zoe singing and dancing on the tricycle in Albany

The "3 amigas" in Albany exercising - and Zoe's growing and slimming out!

Visiting a farm in the Albany area and getting to pet goats

Zoe has no fear grabbing and holding chickens

November-December 2018 Photo Dump

2019-12-31T22:32:00.001-05:00

November and December 2018 were about seeing friends and family.

In early November, we met up with our friends Nate and Laural in South Carolina and visited Greenville and Asheville NC with them.

Chimney Rock with Nate and Laural and my parents

Just after Nate and Laural went back to Texas, my first cousin from Brazil (my dad's niece) came to visit my parents. This time, my brother also made the trip to visit. Most of November was quite chilly, but we had a beautiful day in Asheville to watch the Christmas parade.

Watching the Christmas parade in Asheville NC

My parents brought my cousin to the Raleigh area for Thanksgiving and we showed her some of our favorite spots - Pullen Park, the beach, driving around town watching Christmas light shows, and the NC Zoo.

Riding the train at Pullen Park

Too cold at the beach, so went to the Aquarium

Rose showing how big she is at the NC Zoo

Zoe showing how big she is at the NC Zoo

For Christmas, we made the drive to Albany to spend it with Colin's family. We did our traditional trip to the New York State Museum and rode the carousel a bunch of times. We ran into family there, and the girls loved riding the carousel with their cousin.

Annual carousel ride on Christmas Eve at the NY State Museum

Joining Colin's parents for Christmas day church service

Girls opening up presents at their grandparents with the family in Albany

A fall filled with adventures - September and October 2018

2019-12-31T22:11:00.000-05:00

A certain little girl in our family celebrated her 3rd birthday in September and it has been all about Minnie Mouse in the house. Of course we had to have a Minnie themed birthday party. The party was held at a local park and had to be rescheduled because of a hurricane. Thankfully, the reschedule date was still in September and we had a beautiful day!

Minnie themed birthday party

Happy birthday sweet Zoe!

Zoe's singing Cinco Patitos in the bathtub:

Rose singing Mamma Mia in the bathtub:

We got distracted with the birthday party, hurricanes (two this fall!), and soccer and didn't notice that Darwin had a huge laceration on his elbow. We have no idea how he got it, but noticed that his elbow was exposing his bone as the hurricane hit. Colin took him to the emergency vet just before the weather got bad, and I had to pick him up close to midnight as the storm raged. Thankfully, it wasn't the worst hurricane we've ever had, but it did rain quite a bit and was very windy. Darwin was so afraid to go to the bathroom in the rain/wind with his cone on and ended up peeing all over the carpet! The doctors were able to stitch him up and put a bandage on him. In the first 24 hours he looked so pitiful, so I took his cone off while we were home assuming we could watch him. Boy was that a mistake! Before we knew it, he had pulled the bandage off and was licking the wound. So, it was back to the emergency vet for a re-wrap (and another bill). It took about a month for the wound to heal after stitches. On his first follow up visit it wasn't looking like the wound would close and the vet put some sugar in it. After a few more days it closed completely. Our vet suggested some laser light therapy to help the healing process and we did two treatments hoping that area would stay sealed completely. Elbows rub so much, they can be difficult to heal.

The fall always brings with it soccer season. Rose had a great season and really picked up her game. She was determined on the field.

Zoe started soccer this season and did really well. It's difficult to get 3-year-olds to play during the game. Most kids do pretty well with the 30 minute practice (which is usually fun), but then want to sit on the sidelines with snacks or parents when the game starts. As long as we arrived early enough for Zoe to "warm up" to playing, so usually did fine in the practices and in the games. She's showing herself to be feisty and aggressive in getting the ball and taking it to the goal. We just have to work on her aim.

Zoe's first soccer season

In October, we had our annual fall gathering at the girl's preschool. We love seeing the projects they work on, hanging out with other parents, and getting to see and talk to the teachers. The girls love showing us what they've been up to.

Rose's classroom theme was "la granja" - the farm

Zoe's class has been focusing on dinosaurs - check out the dinosaur egg

We love the cooler weather of fall and getting to visit some local farms.

This fall we also took a trip to the Zoo when the girls had a day off from school. The polar bear at the NC Zoo is always swimming.

October also means Halloween. We painted and carved pumpkins, had the girl's Halloween parade at school, and went trick or treating. This year the girls were both Batgirls. Their friend Lucas was catboy and we kept joking that the neighborhood was save with all the superheros!

Painting pumpkins before we carve them

Ready to go trick or treating

Getting a ride in the Mighty Max as we finish the night

July and August 2018 Travels and Highlights

2018-10-28T23:54:00.001-04:00

There are always so many fun, exciting things that happen throughout the summer and fall. It's hard to keep it all documented.

In our usual fashion, we made a trip up to the Albany, NY area for July 4th week to spend some time with family. Instead of going up for the whole week however, we visited with some of our family vacationing in Virginia Beach for the weekend, came back home for two days of work/school, and then did the 12 hour drive to upstate NY on the 4th itself. Our trip up was relatively quick and the girls did great in the car. I'm always so grateful that Colin can drive starting at 2am. The past few trips we have made just a quick stop around 8am for bathrooms and to change out of pajamas, and have actually gotten to our destination by 12 or 1pm! The girls usually sleep until 7a, so we have only about 4-5 hours of lively entertainment. Food usually takes up a solid hour. Music, storytelling, and chatting takes up about 2 hours, and we sometimes resort to a downloaded episode or two of a TV show on the iPad for the final hour stretch. During non-TV time, the girls often sing, take care of their babies, or engage in conversation with us. Colin tries to get us all to do some storytelling, and we have had some trips where the girls engage. Zoe is still a little young for it, but Rose is able to keep the story going and add new plots.

Happy Zoe singing in the car

Rose singing with her baby

Because the girls' cousins were in Virginia Beach for the week of the 4th, I stayed in NY with the girls for an extra week, working part of the time and taking a lot of time off. During the first few days without the cousins, the girls enjoyed time with their aunts and grandparents. During the second week, I did quite a few day trips with them. One day, we drove the 2 hours each way to just outside Burlington, VT to visit with a college friend who has kids almost the same ages. We found out Zoe is a great chicken catcher. In addition to loving the chickens, the girls also enjoyed playing in a kiddie pool (it was so hot all week!), listening to music, getting ice cream, and just generally playing with friends. We took the ferry across Lake Champlain, which they loved. But, since I didn't have much service during the drive, we listened to Bohemian Rhapsody on repeat about 10 times. Do you know the full song is about 6 minutes?? Both girls love belting out "Mamma Mia, Mamma Mia, Mamma Mia Let me Go!." It was the only song that downloaded in an area of service in northern NY. Thankfully, I left Vermont around 9p, so the trip home was very quiet.

Hanging out in Aunt Karen's neighborhood and showing some sisterly love.

I had been trying to coordinate a day/time to meet my brother, and we ended up making last minute plans to meet on the day after we went to Vermont. Thankfully, we meet between Albany and Worcester, Massachusetts, in Springfield (well, Holyoke technically). There is a cute and inexpensive Merry-Go-Round and a Children's Museum within the same park. We hadn't been to the museum before and were skeptical, but it proved to exceed our expectations. It was perfect for my girls and the relief we needed from the heat. Did I mention we happened to be in NY for a heat wave. And, yes, we are southerners and have to deal with 80-90+ degrees regularly, but we also have a neighborhood pool and everything has central air in the south! And, we go to NY to try and escape the heat! Both girls enjoyed the carousel and the museum, and even got their face painted (Rose's was a little over the top). The best part of course, was getting to hang out with Tio Mark!

Zoe the firefighter

Passed out on the ride home from Holyoke

By Wednesday, our cousins were back and settled from their beach vacation, so we all had a fairly relaxing day at home. The girls' six-year-old cousin is great at entertaining, and Rose in particular really looks up to her. They played all day so I could do some work.k

Our day of relaxation was short and sweet, and we had big plans on Thursday. My sister-in-law drove us up to the Granby Zoo outside of Montreal, Canada! The zoo is much bigger and better than I could have imagined. In the eight-passenger Honda Pilot, we packed the three girls across the middle row and brought my 12-year-old nephew and his friend in the third row. We always take our passports when we visit as we have been known to go up to Canada on many of our trips. The drive was about 4 hours and the kids all did great. They started getting a little hangry approaching the zoo, and I was worried how Zoe would do around nap time. Once everyone was out of the car, given some snacks, and in the zoo, we were all smiles again. I was so excited that our Durham Museum membership gave us half off the zoo, and only regretted I hadn't looked into beforehand to get my niece and nephew in at that price too.

In the zoo, we saw the personalities and ages of the kids shine. The boys went off to do their own thing and the girls packed in the double-seater stroller. Zoe loved the animals in the zoo, and was in element when she got to pet goats, sheep, and pigs. Rose put on her brave face and attitude while hanging out with her older cousin and actually went on the ferris wheel with her cousin by themselves. Zoe went with me and we all really enjoyed getting to see the park from up high. The zoo is actually a zoo, small amusement park, and a water park in one. We didn't spend that much time in the amusement park and I think in another two years the girls would be able to do more things they couldn't yet do (like bumper cars). We ended our day at the waterpark, first in the lazy river and later in some of the pools. Zoe was struggling because she had skipped her nap, and the water was a little too cool/cold for me. The temps weren't quite as high that day, we were farther north, and we got to the water park late in the day. We also watched the "show" they do with the wave pool, which had this skeleton statue chant, eyes light up red, and the chanting builds up to the start of the waves and very forceful fans blowing air straight ahead. The girls were petrified and didn't want to go near it. Zoe was pretty much done with the waterpark after that, and Rose managed to stay with her cousin for another hour while I took Zoe back to ride a couple rides and see a few more animals. After she had another snack, she got a second wind and managed to finish out the day.

Renting a double stroller, which fit all three girls at the Granby Zoo near Montreal

Loving the piggy at the Granby Zoo

Zoe is in her element with the animals

Rose loved how soft the animals were

Riding the carousel in the amusement park

Zoe emerging from a dinosaur egg

The only bummer from the whole day was our adventure trying to get dinner in downtown Granby. They spoke mostly French and told us it might be a bit of a wait, but we decided to stick around anyway. We didn't realize that a bit of a wait would mean a 3-hour dinner process. It didn't take that long to sit down, but it did take a long time to order and even longer to get the food. I must have made about 5 trips to the bathrooms with the girls. Thankfully, they did well considering how long it took. They didn't each that much dinner, and unfortunately, we didn't leave Granby for our 4 hour drive home till well after 9pm!

By Friday, Colin was back from his 4-day work week and the family decided to take a day trip up to Lake George to go out on the boat. We had taken a boat ride on Lake George the first week we were there too, and we joke that Zoe is like her father, who always fell asleep on boat rides! Rose got to try (slow) tubing, and we were able to be on a boat ride while trying to bump our nephew off the tube. Our nephew and my brother-in-law also tried their hand at water skiing. Colin and I opted out, mainly because we both have had on-and-off back issues for a few years now and didn't want to mess anything up before driving back home. The one and only time I tried water skiing I did get up and got to do it a little bit, but waters in upstate NY are a bit cold for my liking. I like the NC beaches in August and September!

Zoe sleeping on the boat ride

On our last day of the trip, we did a small birthday celebration for Colin, whose birthday is July 24. Colin doesn't love celebrating his birthday, but indulges his daughters. And, with our toddlers, every birthday requires cake and balloons.

Happy Birthday to Colin!

Our trip back to North Carolina was uneventful and the girls did more sleeping because of how tired they were from the trip. We made it back in 10-11 hours and managed to get to the pool to cool off and stretch our bodies the afternoon of our arrival.

Once back, the highlight of the week was finishing out the swim team with final practices, a meet that got rained out, and the swim team banquet. I missed the meet because of work travel, but made it back in time for the awards banquet, and to see Rose get her medal that she'll keep throughout her time on the team. In addition to her 2018 pin, she also received the most improved award. While the coach said she could do freestyle in the beginning and all three strokes by the end, she actually couldn't swim without floaties before she started practicing. She was also the only true four-year-old (2014 birthday) to make the team (notice how much smaller she is than the other kids in her age group). We have been so proud of how far she has come, how much she enjoyed being on the team this year, and her constant work to improve week to week. She halved her time from time trials (50 sec freestyle down to 25sec), and demonstrated her ability to perform all three strokes as they were taught in a matter of eight weeks!

To engage Zoe, we decided to hire one of the coaches to do 30 minute lessons for the girls in August. Rose continued to practice her strokes and Zoe received a little instruction on how to swim, but with only 5-6 lessons, didn't get to swim on her own by the end of the summer. I really think the daily practice, and doing the same thing with other kids (watching others and practicing) was so helpful in getting Rose to swim on her own. Since Zoe has a September birthday, she actually has to wait two more years and will be an older four-year-old when she starts.

Rose and Coach Mary

Rose and Coach Liz

In typical Miller fashion, we celebrated Colin's birthday two more times, once with my mom (whose birthday is July 14) and again at the pool on his actual birthday. In our household, most people get 2-4 birthday celebrations!!

Happy Birthday to Colin #2!

During the rest of July and into August, we spent our weekends at the pool and occasionally trying something new. We went up to the Duke Gardens in Durham one day and I brought my nice camera to take some photos. Rose was in prime form, posing for the camera all afternoon.

Girls posing at Duke Gardens

Rose the photographer

One of Rose's many poses of the day

Zoe smelling some flowers

This year we made a second trip north in late August for a wedding. My parents flew up to join us and we rented a house near Narragansett. Unlike our trip to NY in July, the weather was not hot. We had the week between the two heat waves, which was probably a good thing since we stayed in a house that didn't have the best air conditioners. Unfortunately, it meant we didn't have idea beach days. Half the week was rainy/foggy/misty, and we did manage to have a couple sunny nice days towards the end of the week. Since we had to check out by 10a Saturday morning, we decided to drive to Albany Friday evening so there would be less for my parents to do Saturday. Of course, Saturday was a great beach day.

The wedding was the first the girls had been to, and they thoroughly enjoyed it. The did fairly well during the church service (Zoe slept through half of it), and did a lot of dancing early in the evening at the reception. The food was served fairly late and when they finally dimmed the lights and put on the dance music, the girls were pretty ready for bed.

We enjoyed spending the week with family and celebrated Zoe's birthday early with Tio Mark's birthday at the beach. Zoe had her second birthday with the Millers in Albany when we went there Saturday before driving back home. Driving to RI is so much more difficult than Albany, so it was worth it for us to make that extra stop. On the way up to RI, we decided to drive during the day so the girls would be able to play in their first soccer game of the season. Why they start the leagues in mid-late August in NC, I have no idea. It's always so hot! I wish they would start after Labor Day and go through the nice fall weekends in November. Anyhoo...the drive during the day was awful. We caught traffic in DC, which made for a long day. Leaving at noon meant we got to the beach house around 2am. It was good that the first few days were rainy so we could catch up on some sleep, but I would not have minded resting under the umbrella at the beach with warmer temperatures. I shouldn't make it sound so awful. We did get to the beach and enjoy it for 4 of the 5 weekdays. Everyone else went in the water, I'm just the one who is particular. :)

Girls in their wedding attire, ready to go to the reception

All smiles after loading up on appetizers. It was a chilly August day!

Girls Dancing and Running at Beach in RI

Our final day at the beach, and it's sunny and warm!

Birthday cupcakes at the beach, and shutting it down at 5pm!

Driving back from NY was once again uneventful, and our 2am departure made the trip home quick. Our final week in August was a big one for Colin as it was the end of a chapter for him. After 6 years at the State, he started a new job in September. Colin 2.0 has arrived and I'm glad to see the excitement and determination he's brought!

Colin 2.0 poses on his last day working for the State of NC

May and June 2018 Bring Summer Weather and Swimming!

2018-09-10T23:31:00.002-04:00

May and June brought warmer (but not too warm) days and the excitement of beach trips and the start to pool season. We have certainly received a huge return on investment related to our Homeowner's Association (HOA) dues. Our dues are among the lowest in the area, and while we don't have a fancy pool with a splash pad, slide, or kiddie pool, we do have a swim team, long pool season, snack bar, wifi, pavilion, ping pong table, and super nice lifeguards. We've been regulars at the pool since moving in June 2011, and this summer was no exception. If I had to guess at the frequency of our pool days, we've probably averaged 3-4 times per week for the entire May-September pool season per year.

This year we were super excited that Rose would have a chance to join the swim team - the Swampfoxxes! Swimmers have to be 4 years old by the start of summer to join. They had three weeks of daily (M-F) practice starting May 14 until an event called time trials. For the 6 and under age group, swimmers had to be able to swim 15 yards on their own at time trials to join the swim team. If they couldn't, they'd go on the practice squad, the Swamp Pups.

First ever swim practice

I worried about the daily practices that were required to be on the swim team and thought we might want Rose to be on the Pups. But, sure enough, Rose was the standout 4-year-old who made it the 15 yards on her own on June 5! Watching was among the most stressful 51 seconds of my parenting life. Within a week, she had shaved 10 seconds off her time, and she reached a personal best of 24 seconds at the end of the season.

First Swim Meet - a 41 second finish

Our small, but mighty swimmer

I was so glad she made the team. The daily practice really did drastically improve her abilities. In addition to becoming a faster freestyle swimmer, she also managed to compete in the backstroke and breaststroke by the final meet in mid July. Her accolades will be saved for the next post!

First backstroke event

Unfortunately, Zoe couldn't be on the team, but she enjoyed doing the warmups before practices and meets. We are disappointed she has a September birthday. It means she won't get to swim next year yet either. This year she was still okay hanging out in the shallow end with her floaties (or eating) while her sister practiced. But, meets were a little more challenging for her.

Rose and Zoe doing swim team warm-ups

The only other downside to so much pool time was that it seemed to wreck havoc on Rose's skin. We went through a rough patch for about a month where she seemed to get prickly heat rashes and bug bites all over her back, legs, and even her head. We made several visits to the doctor, which ruled out the more serious possibilities like shingles. Some visits the new rashes or bites looked like poison ivy and other times we thought they might be spider or other insect bites. Rose's scratching was so bad, it became infected and we had to give her the first course of antibiotics this year. The medicine helped clear up the rashes and bites, and we managed to prevent a relapse with a trip to New York (and no pool time for two weeks). I was so worried about the bites and rash I brought in a bed bug exterminator to be sure we didn't have bed bugs. Thankfully, we didn't. But, we never figured out the source of the problem. Poor Rose has been left with some scars this summer, but I'm glad the symptoms resolved.

Finishing a great soccer season

We had a nice transition to swim team from soccer this spring. Rose had her last soccer game on May 12 and started swim team on May 14. It really was good timing. We want to be very careful not to over-schedule the girls. They already go to school full time and have pretty exhausting days of playing and learning. Soccer was on Saturday mornings and the nice thing about swim team was that all the meets and practices were weekdays. It was somewhat stressful to get them to practice every day, but we had the option of a 4:45 or a 5:45p practice, so that was more manageable. It was nice having completely free weekends to do whatever we wanted.

This year was also the World Cup. While we didn't get the result we wanted for any of our teams, we had fun cheering on our favorites - Portugal and Brazil. The girls loved getting to wear their Portugal gear to school when the team was playing. Their teachers, all Latinas and mostly from South or Central America, also were in the spirit wearing their team colors.

Go Portugal!!

One of the events I look forward to in the spring is going on the annual Piedmont Farm Tour. Carolina Farm Stewardship Association puts together the event in partnership with many farmers in the region. There is a minimal cost to visit the farms, and many offer self-guided or guided tours. At one of the farms, we were able to pet baby goats and baby chicks. At another farm, we harvested our own eggs from the mobiles. I want the girls to know where their food comes from. While they don't quite fully understand it yet, each of these visits provides us with some teachable moments.

Playing on the tractor at the farm

What girls doesn't wear a princess dress to a farm

Collecting eggs on the farm

Rose is much less into her princess and fairy dresses these days, but sometimes she wants to do what Zoe does, and Zoe is in the prime of her princess dress days!

Our princess at the playground

The girls have been really into doing puzzles since late spring. Rose, in her typical smarty-pants fashion mastered puzzles I bought her within a day or two and moved on to more complex puzzles quickly. Zoe, at only 2 and half, has done really well putting them together. She usually gets the puzzle 50-70% finished and then Rose likes to jump in and help complete them. We've noticed them working together as a team much more lately. I hope that pattern continues.

Showing off our "ram sam sam" skills at the beach house Memorial Day weekend

A non-princess dress day still requires a dress.
Surprisingly she also managed to let someone put her hair up!

One of the many trips to the pool for swim practice.
Here, with a tiara made at school

With our event-free weekends, we alternated between trips to the pool and trips to the beach. We started the month with a trip to the beach in Wilmington. It was May 4th and the girls had no problem playing in the shallow pools of water. It was still too cold for me!

Fort Fisher, NC May 4, 2018

Our Memorial Day weekend trip to Myrtle Beach was a little more my style. Nice, beachfront hotel with pools, and ocean temperatures that were quite nice. We had a beautiful weekend with warm days and comfortable nights. It was nice spending time with the Clemente family.

Nice beachfront hotel Memorial Day weekend in Myrtle Beach

Zoe is a good beach napper (and eater!)

Colin's newest toy - the mighty max can carry up to 450 lbs
Guess how many times I've heard that?!!

March and April 2018 Updates

2018-06-24T23:23:00.001-04:00

This year, spring was very welcome, except for a few hiccups we had along the way. We started off the month checking out the kite festival in the park by our house. I rode both kids down to the park in the bike trailer, still feeling pretty good after a winter of consistent running. I had also been going to physical therapy regularly for about a month at that point, working on some core strength that was still weak thanks to the diastasis recti I had throughout two pregnancies and post partum. I was getting stronger, but still feeling lower back pain (more about that later). My family visited in March to celebrate my birthday, and we got to see some North Carolina Courage (professional) women's soccer in a few exhibition games against division 1 college squads. Since Rose has pretty much stopped napping, I took her to an afternoon game again Tennessee (go Vols!). Most of March was spent grant writing for me, and with an injury (more below), Colin stepped up to take the girls to things I didn't need to attend (like school friend's birthday parties). Easter was April 1st this year, so we obviously had some Easter Egg hunts in these two months, and a trip to South Carolina for Easter this year. Other exciting events included first haircuts for the girls, Rose getting really good at the Strider/balance bike, the spring projects display at the girls school, and trips to our favorite museum and parks.

Rose trying to fly a kite at the Bond Park Kite Festival March 3

I had decided not to play outdoor soccer this spring, wanting to keep my weekends free to hang out with the family. But, after going to some of the college/professional games, I was itching to get on the field. I felt stronger (except for that nagging back), and decided to join a few weeks into the season. Of course, all it took was the first game to put me back out of commission. It certainly didn't help that my first game back was after a week of travel to/from Asheville, later in the day after carrying Rose about half a mile on the walk (with a back that was already feeling pretty stiff), and playing a full 90 minute game down a player (10v11) in 40 degree rainy conditions. I played on a Sunday, sat at a computer working on a grant all day Monday (our March snow day), and woke up unable to move on Tuesday. I tried to do physical therapy for the rest of March and April, but finally decided to get a MRI. The results ... three bulging discs. I remained optimistic. Bulging discs are better than herniated discs and I left my "pelvic" physical therapy practice for a "spinal" physical therapist and that has made a huge difference. Did you know you can do exercises to "push" the bulge back in? I've been working with my new physical therapist to figure out the right angle for the exercises since May. It's the end of June now, and I am much better, but not healed. It's a long road to recovery and I'm not sure my back will ever be 100%.

Spring brought on Rose's soccer league. Her first game was mid-March and she had a wonderful season which wrapped up on May 12. It was noticeable that she was one of the more experienced kids on the field, and she was now 4 whereas some others were only 3. Zoe's been ready to play. We hope to sign her up in the fall even though she doesn't turn 3 until a few weeks into the season. The season was so fun because Rose had two of her classmates on her team - Lucas and Nathan. The two girls and their two friends would often sit together after the games enjoying their post-game snacks.

Rose and Zoe ready for Rose's first Spring 2019 game on March 17

Zoe with her gear on at Rose's soccer game

Our first Easter Egg Hunt of the year was at Bond Park. Even though the park is basically in our back yard, this is the first year we actually went. Rose had a soccer game in the morning and we managed to squeeze it in before Zoe's nap and before the rain started. It was a last-minute decision, so we weren't completely prepared for it. We had walked to the park and had to move quickly to get back home as it started sprinkling when we finished collecting the eggs.

Zoe collecting Easter Eggs

Zoe had also been dying to get her haircut for weeks. There is a kid's haircutting place next door to the wine shop where we pick up our weekly Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share. She saw kids come of the salon with balloons one time and every week would ask to get her haircut. Since Rose has never gotten her hair cut, and Zoe's hair has gotten long fast, we scheduled it for one weekend in late March. Both girls got to watch Paw Patrol while they got their cuts. I wasn't overly impressed with the cuts, but we were in and out quickly since both girls were sufficiently distracted. And, they were both so excited to get their balloons!

Rose made sure we scheduled the haircut the night before

Zoe ready for her hair cut, Rose will be next

Two happy girls with new hair do's and balloons

Easter weekend we made the trip out to the Greenville, South Carolina area where my parents live. My back was still feeling bad (before I had the MRI, while I was still doing the pelvic PT which made symptoms worse, and while I was still pretty stressed with grant writing). I made the 4-hour trip laying on my bac, across the second row each way. We loaded up a few things in the passenger seat and on the floor of the second row, and put the girl's car seats in the third row. Darwin stayed home (which he prefers to the car rides), so that made it easier. With a back that wasn't hurting too bad (thanks to laying down), I was able to mostly enjoy the weekend with the family. We explored Greenville on a beautiful spring day, came upon an Easter Egg Hunt when we were going to a park between Greenville and my parent's house, and had a very nice Easter morning/day with my parents at their house. The weather was amazing all weekend.

Rose and Zoe enjoying the Greenville, SC downtown park

Picture with the Easter Bunny at the Egg Hunt we stumbled upon in Greer, SC

Rose and Zoe in their matching Easter dresses, ready to hunt for eggs at their Avos house

Sipping hot chocolate in the nice warm South Carolin sunshine

Cheers to a wonderful Easter weekend!

In April, Bond Park started their "First Friday Bands, Bites, and Boats" event, which includes a performance on a small stage by a musician, a food truck, and boat rentals. We decided to check the first one out. Both girls wanted to dress as princesses. We brought our own dinner to the park, went out on a boat ride, and the girls practiced riding their balance bikes before going home.

Heading out on our boat ride

Rose zooms too fast for the camera

Zoe's still not sure about the balance bike

I know I've posted about it before, but we love where our girls go to school. The Reggio Emilia inspired Spanish languge immersion school really excels as the projects they do with the kids. They have tons of outdoor time, get fed good meals and snacks, work on themed projects every month (or a little longer), offer semi-annual parent-teacher conferences, and have semi-annual festivals to display the class projects. Rose was excited to show off her "transportation" projects and Zoe loved showing us her music displays.

As the weather warmed up in April, Rose really excelled in soccer. While she wasn't always scoring in the correct goal, she was working hard on the field, getting involved in the play, not getting frustrated when others pushed/knocked her down, and just really wanting to be on the field. She's a very good listener, paying attention and implementing what she learns. We are so proud of her.

Rose lined up for soccer drills at practice before the game

And, I have a feeling Zoe won't be left behind. I don't know if I've posted before that Zoe has always been a little pigeon-toed. We brought it up with the pediatrician a few times when she was young. He told us most of the best athletes are a little pigeon-toed. Not sure if there's any evidence of that, but I will say Zoe does act really athletic. She's got great ball control already and can move pretty quick. I hope we'll find out how she does with team sports in the fall. This video doesn't do her skills justice, but it is the best at capturing the games this spring.

School friends enjoying the post-game snack

A family selfie in April 2018

Rose enjoying the carousel at Pullen Park

Some museums and things we do are regular events in our household so I don't share details about them every time. As I often post, we are huge fans of both the Durham Museum of Life and Sciences (and their train, bears, wolves, lemurs, farm animals, butterfly house, music and treehouse exhibits) and Pullen Park (and their train, carousel, and paddle boats). In the spring, summer, and fall there are often events going on in Bond Park as well, like the Bonds, Bites, and Boats First Friday evenings. The park also hosts concerts at the amphitheatre, Arts festivals, kits festivals, dog festivals, etc.

Stay tuned for more posts on our May and June adventures, which include lots of pool time. If you've followed me for awhile, you know we spend a lot of time at our neighborhood pool. This year we've already gone to the pool a whole summer's worth of times thanks to a certain 4 year old now being old enough for the swim team. You'll have to wait to hear more about that!

January and February 2018 Updates

2018-05-17T22:58:00.001-04:00

2018 started off with a bang. If you recall from the previous post, both girls got sick in the first few days of the year when we were in upstate New York. We arrived back in North Carolina on January 3rd with a double ear infection (Rose) and RSV (Zoe) and rushed to get back before we got our first few inches of snow in North Carolina. We had experienced about 10 days of single digit (ie -freezing!) temperatures, and unfortunately brought some of that cold weather back to North Carolina with us. January 2018 was the coldest January I've experienced since moving south, and we had a handful of snow days, one of which included the most snow accumulation I've ever seen at our house. Cold is a relative term and it being "cold" in North Carolina is much more manageable than "cold" in New York. We could actually be outside enjoying the snow for an hour or two, with temperatures near the freezing mark (~30 degrees F).

Most snow we've ever had on our deck in the 6 years we've been here

The day after January 17, 2018 snowstorm

Sledding and building snowmen at the neighbor's house

The entire month wasn't freezing or snowy. We had two "snow storms." The first produced only a few inches that mostly melted the next day. The second big storm mostly melted within two days. That is why I love North Carolina.

During the month of January we also went to our beloved Museum of Life & Sciences in Durham, went to the bounce house, found kid play areas in new places (like Home Depot), and celebrated Rose's 4th birthday a little early with a few friends who had January birthdays. I celebrated Zoe mostly being potty trained (and the end of cloth diapers) by buying a new washer and dryer. I also decided that 2018 was going to be the year to really work on "fixing" my back. I started back up with a physical therapist to work on strengthening the core.

Painting at Home Depot

Rose and Landon's 4th Birthday and Liv's first!

Celebrating the birthday girl with her friends from school

The month of February always goes by so quickly. It's a short month and we celebrate Rose's birthday several times, including the day of her birth. We like to celebrate her birthday with the other February birthdays in the family - Rose's aunt and grandmother (Colin's sister and mother). That means we usually take a trip up to New York. This year we drove up and I spent the week with the girls. Thankfully the weather wasn't nearly as cold as it was in December/January. We actually had a warm spell and went to a snow tubing park where most of the snow had melted. Thankfully, we came back to North Carolina without illnesses the second time around.

Even for her birthday, Rose isn't quick to wake up

Dancing to end her birthday (and use up the cupcake sugar!)

Driving the 12 hours to New York

Lots of bilingual singing in the car on this trip!

Zoe now loves smiling for the camera for selfies (when she's in the mood)

We checked out some programs at the Music School in Albany - both girls had a blast!

Sledding with cousin Isabella

This year, February was even busier because of a grant application I wasn't prepared for. Over the past few years, I've had to write some federal grants that bring in significant funds for the state to offer health programs, but they've been written to the same funder each spring. My agency (and by "my agency" I mean "I") was asked to take the lead on a big, competitive CDC grant. It involved collaborating with a lot of internal and external partners, creating a complex plan for meeting very ambitious outcomes, and figuring out how to detail it all in a narrative and workplan with page restrictions. It also came at a time when I knew we'd be applying for another federal grant soon after (likely to overlap), and while my office was/is short-staffed at leadership and project management levels. It is really difficult to find the work-life balance when work is over-the-top stressful. I tried to engage with the girls and Colin during "family time," and to keep work separate, but the mental and emotional fatigue and stresses are harder to separate. I struggle daily with patience, and really had to work on it the past few months through the writing of two big grants from February through May.

Stay tuned for updates from March and April. There was an unfortunate injury in there for me, but spring and nicer weather mean we had a lot of fun outdoor activities start back up.

A recap of December 2017

2018-04-08T22:47:00.000-04:00

Thanksgiving to Christmas is always a whirlwind. Add some traveling in there, and it went by in a blink. As the girls get older, I find it more difficult to take pictures and videos. Bringing out the cell phone means the girls want to play with it, and they now always want to see the pictures after we take them. Since I use my phone much more for work than Colin does, he's been the one taking pictures and videos on his phone so that mine has less chances of being dropped and cracked or broken.

One event in December I always look forward to is the Pullen Park Express. It's a really inexpensive holiday event where the park is only open to ticket holders from 5-9p for about 6-8 days in December. The ticket allows you entry into the park and a train ride around the park. This year, tickets for the event sold out in less than 30 minutes when they went on sale in July. I wasn't getting my hopes up to go, but was checking to see if people were selling theirs on Facebook. I did get lucky to find someone who was selling tickets at face value (instead of the price gouging lots of others were doing), but the unfortunate part was that it was for a day when I was going to be in Asheville for work. Colin ended up taking the girls, and they had a good time despite the freezing cold night (one of the few during the month).

Enjoying bike riding after school
Rose has started practicing riding on her pedal-less Strider (balance bike)

The girls and daddy on the Pullen Park Express train ride

We found lots of holiday events to attend wherever we were. In Cary/Morrisville there was a train ride around the shopping plaza with a light show to Christmas music on the movie theatre. On that trip we enjoyed some hot chocolate. During a trip to Charlotte to meet up with my parents and brother for our Christmas gift exchange, we found another shopping plaza with a train ride, face painting, and reindeer ears.

Enjoying holiday festivities in Charlotte, with a train ride, face painting, and reindeer ears

At school, the girls had some fun events leading up to their big holiday lunch including holiday pajama day and crazy hat day. The only time we tried meeting and getting a picture with Santa was at the neighborhood holiday party where there were no crowds and after we got to hang out for an hour or so in the same room with Santa. Even then, Zoe didn't want to sit with him so mommy had to be in the picture. Since we were going to be traveling for Christmas, we decided to put up our fake tree instead of getting a real one. The girls were engaged for an hour at most and then Colin took them outside to play while I finished putting the branches on. Our tree is fairly large and looks amazing when it's up, but it does take a long time.

Excited about their Holiday gear

Our picture with the Oxxford Hunt Santa

A holiday tradition we started last year includes creating and decorating gingerbread houses. Last year Colin built them all from graham crackers and a frosting recipe he found online. This year we opted for the kits. The kits made the process so much easier and allowed us to spend more time creating with the girls instead of prepping on our own. Our houses came out great and both girls enjoyed eating treats during the process. Rose is our chocolate girl and Zoe likes any of the sugar-sweetened candies.

Building one of our two gingerbread houses

One of our amazing gingerbread creations

Since the girls' school closes for an extended break at Christmas, I decided to take the two days off from work to spend with them before we traveled to New York. During one of the days, we had a lovely outing at the Museum of Life & Sciences in Durham. It's one of our favorite places to go and we always try to see the zoo animals, the wolves, the bears, the lemurs, and ride the train. Lately, the girls have also been into seeing the butterflies. After we have lunch, we usually make our way to the awesome treehouse area so the girls can climb a bit before we go. Most times we have to play a little music, go down a few more slides, and run around in the soundscape exhibit before we can actually leave. Naptime is always late for Zoe when we go!

Enjoying a beautiful late December day at the Museum

Our trip to New York has become routine and the girls are proving to be good travelers. Now that they can both face forward, I can more easily help pass them food, toys, drinks, etc. We still usually have our morning break to stretch our legs and get the girls out of their PJs, and we try to have a longer play time right before or after lunch before finishing the final few hours.

In New York, we didn't realize it, but we have also started a tradition of going to the NY State Museum on Christmas Eve. The carousel there is free and we just made the last ride of the day on our trip this year. Last year it was just the four of us, but this year we brought Aunt Karen along for the excitement.

The girls are posing for Aunt Karen at the NY State Museum

This year was the first time I can remember waking up to a White Christmas. I don't love snow, but there is something special about the anticipation of snow on Christmas morning. The girls were excited to wear their pretty dresses, and they managed to sit through the Christmas morning church service. We haven't made a big deal about Santa, so there wasn't a rush to open presents Christmas morning, but the girls did enjoy opening their presents mid-late morning.

A white Christmas in New York for 2017

Dressed up at church

Opening Christmas presents

The whole week we were in New York it was freezing. It was literally in the negative and single digits in degrees farenheit! That was the major bummer for us Southerners. We had to find museums and indoor activities for the girls for the whole week. We took a trip to the Boston Children's Museum one day, the Saratoga Children's Museum another day, made a couple trips to the YMCA so the girls could go swimming and so we adults could do some exercise, and had moving night at Aunt Karen's. With all the indoor activities, we were waiting for the illnesses and sure enough Zoe spiked a fever two nights before we left, and Rose was screaming with ear pain the night we were planning to drive back. We called the doctor during the drive home and managed to get one of the latest appointments of the day. Zoe's diagnosis was RSV and Rose had a double ear infection.

Consistent morning temperatures all week in New York

Movie night at Aunt Karen's

Serving food at the Saratoga Children's Museum

Colin and I did enjoy a late night out for New Year's Eve, our first in a very long time. The girls did great going to bed for Grandma and we got to celebrate Colin's friend's wedding with his closest friends in Lake George. It was a bummer that the weather was so cold. They had planned a bonfire, which was canceled. We still had a great time and stayed warm indoors and on the dance floor! I'm pretty sure Colin danced the most I have ever seen in our 16 years together.

Celebrating a New Year's wedding in Lake George

Starting off the New Year with celebrations and dancing is always good. It was too bad our girls started off the year sick. Thankfully, they both quickly recovered and we got back to enjoying the outdoors before long.

Fall Activities and Start to the Holidays in November 2017

2018-03-10T21:47:00.000-05:00

November was filled with lots of varied adventures. The weather is usually still nice but the days are fairly short. It feels like we cram a lot into the day. Coming off our October travel to New York, it felt like we were back on the road again in November. We took a quick trip to the beach and spent Thanksgiving with my parents in South Carolina.

This was the first year it didn't feel like we visited many farms in the area during the fall season. We visited one during our trip to New York and two in the Raleigh/Cary area. While the month of November was relatively nice, it seemed like we had colder weather during the weekends. On our farm trip, it was a bit damp. We all enjoyed ourselves, just with some warm layers and raincoats on.

Taking a family tractor ride at Phillips Farm in Cary

Hello Kitty face paint at the farm

Zoe displaying her arm painting

Since we usually have a 3-day weekend for Veteran's Day, we made plans to visit Myrtle Beach. While the sun was shining all weekend, the weekend temperatures were the coldest days of the month. I had found a hotel with an indoor water park. The area was enclosed, had heaters and the water was warm, but I thought you could still feel the cold air when you weren't directly under the heater or in the water. There were large water slides where the entrances were partially exposed to the outdoor air. I made one run and that was it for me. I spent most of my time with the girls in the smaller water features and we all enjoyed the outdoor heated pools and hot tubs. There were few people at the beach, which is how we like it. Even though we had to bundle up a bit, we still enjoyed playing in the sand.

Zoe enjoying Myrtle Beach

Rose enjoying Myrtle Beach

Towards the middle of the month we started engaging in holiday festivities. One of the local shopping plazas had a holiday train, Christmas music display on the movie theatre, and visits with Santa. We missed the vist with the big guy, but did ride the train, watch the light/music show, and sip some hot chocolate. With both girls entering into the ages where they understand and enjoy what's happening, it was a fun start to the holiday season.

Riding the holiday train in Morrisville, NC

I've probably mentioned some of the amazing features of the girls' school before. They are fed amazing meals daily, with a lunch prepared daily and two snacks. The menu rotates, but every holiday they have a traditional holiday meal. Their Thanksgiving lunch sounded just as good, if not better, than our own Thanksgiving day meal. Both girls let me help them dress up for their Thanksgiving Day meal day.

Rose and Zoe before school the day before Thanksgiving

Girls are ready for school in their Thanksgiving outfits

For Thanksgiving this year, we made the driving trip west to spend it with my parents in their new house near Greenville, South Carolina. Colin had a bachelor party to go to in New York and found a decent flight deal out of Atlanta, so we did a fair amount of driving that weekend. We basically drove 4-6 hours every other day for 5 days, from Raleigh to Greenville on Wednesday, roundtrip from Greenville to Atlanta on Friday, and back to Raleigh on Sunday. The drive back to Raleigh Sunday evening was the difficult one for me because it was just me, Darwin, and the girls. We picked Colin up at the Raleigh airport around midnight. I had to be careful not to drink too much so I wouldn't have to stop to use the bathroom! The girls slept most of the way, and the last hour of the trip was a struggle for me.

Our Thanksgiving was lovely, with amazing food and weather. The girls enjoyed playing at my parent's house and my mom's cooking is always so delicious.

Zoe enjoying my parent's yard

Rose loves running at my parent's house

To break up the driving to and from Atlanta, we decided to go to the Atlanta Zoo after dropping Colin off for his morning flight. We spent a few hours seeing the animals, having lunch, and playing on the playground. Both girls took a good afternoon nap during our drive back to my parent's house.

Zoe at the Atlanta Zoo.
Our day adventure to split up the driving to the Atlanta airport

Rose at the Atlanta Zoo

Rose and Zoe enjoying the playground before leaving the Atlanta Zoo

During our non-driving and non-holiday day, we explored the area where my parents live. Campbell's Covered Bridge is a tourist attraction as it is South Carolina's only remaining covered bridge. We got there before the crowds (ie- family and/or engagement photographers) took over, and decided to hike/walk around once the bridge filled with the photoshoots. We managed a few cute photos of our own, but my favorites were not of or near the covered bridge.

Rose and Zoe posing at Campbell's Covered Bridge

On Saturday afternoon, we helped my parents cut down their Christmas tree. It was a first for all of us and fun to find the perfect tree. Rose really enjoyed getting to decorate it once it was set up.

We found my parents the perfect Christmas tree at Christmas Hill Tree Farm

Stay tuned for December adventures!

Fall Fun in NY and NC in October 2017

2018-02-06T23:57:00.001-05:00

We drove up to New York for a long weekend to kick off the month of October and ended the month with lots of Halloween festivities.

Rose's selfie October 2017 at 3.5 years

Farm visit in upstate NY October 2017

Girls on the bus at the farm

Indoor playground fun in NY

Because we dove back on a weekday, we came upon a lot of traffic in DC. Normally, when we travel on Sundays we leave NY between 1-2 am and get around DC by 8am. This time, the traffic started around Baltimore and we were bumper to bumper by 7am. Instead of staying in the car, we decided to drive into the city for the morning and check out the National Mall. It was a warm October day and the girls alternated between the stroller and running around.

They passed out before we could get lunch, so we took food to go and got home in time for dinner.

Walking around the National Mall on a nice October day

Girls passed out in the stroller as we order Shake Shack to go

In October, the girls' school had their semi-annual picnic. We look forward to the potluck lunch where the classrooms display the children's projects. Rose had a huge portfolio of 6 months of work. They had done lessons on the body, planets, super heroes, and so much more. Zoe's projects were also displayed, but because she had transitioned to her new class that month, she didn't have as much to show.

Rose and Zoe showing Rose's display at school

In October, Rose finished out her soccer season. After her amazing debut the first week, she struggled a little bit with getting involved in the game. There was one team in particular that had a few boys who were pretty aggressive. Rose ran off the field crying in her second game and it took a few more games for her to get back in the action. She was wonderful at participating in the practice and did a good job running around during the games. She just wasn't that into pushing her way through to get the ball. The final game included a celebration at the end to recognize each child's participation and a potluck lunch.

Rose celebrating the end of the season with her team

The second half of October was all about Halloween. We painted pumpkins, carved pumpkins, attended some Halloween parties, read Halloween stories, and went trick or treating. The final weekend of the month I was lucky enough to be asked to present at a conference at the Great Wolf Lodge in Charlotte. Colin and the girls came with me and we all enjoyed the waterpark (as much as two parents can while somewhat tethered to two toddlers) during the evening of the first day. There was a trick-or-treating event at the lodge that evening, so the girls wore their costumes and got candy along a set of stations. While I presented at the conference, Colin took the girls back to the water park, and after we had lunch we went back for a little more fun. It was enjoyable, but we were all a bit limited in what we could do. I think we'd all have a little more fun in a few more years when we could ride the bigger slides together.

Painting mini pumpkins

Rose and Zoe's painted pumpkin creations

Arriving at the Great Wolf Lodge in October 2017

Rose in her peaock costume at Great Wolf Lodge

Zoe having her snack at the Great Wolf Lodge waterpark

Enjoying our stay at Great Wolf Lodge

Carving our 2017 pumpkins

Our creations L-R are Colin, Rose, Zoe, and Nicolle

Smiling for the camera after the Halloween walk at school

Zoe reading 5 Little Pumpkins

Ready to go trick or treating

Rose reads 5 Little Pumpkins

Zoe helping to read 5 Little Pumpkins

September Updates

2018-01-19T00:12:00.000-05:00

I have so many pictures and videos on my phone from the past few months that these updates are going to be my photo and video dumps.

On September 9, 2017 Miss Zoe turned 2. In regular Miller fashion, we celebrated on her birthday at the pool with cake, and then again a week later with her grandparents at the pool with cake again, and then a few weeks later in New York with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, with a cupcake. Zoe was a trooper celebrating her big day by going to Rose's soccer game and then mommy's soccer game. She seemed to enjoy herself at both games, and we celebrated by going out to lunch and having cake at the pool after naps.

Happy 2nd Birthday to Miss Zoe!

Rose and Zoe posing on Zoe's 2nd Birthday

Birthday cake at the pool on Zoe's actual birthday

Rose continued with her soccer league. The first week was here shining game of the season. Unfortunately, week 2 she played a team where aggressive boys knocked her down. She did an excellent job participating in the 30 minute practice before the games, but it took most of the season for her to get back to participating in the game. I don't think she scored any more goals, but she and Zoe both enjoyed our Saturday morning routine of going to Rose's soccer game. On a few occasions I would help out if there was only one coach, taking the players who were not in the game to the side to play sharks and minnows.

Arriving at Rose's soccer game

One of the weeks mommy helped coach

Team photo day

This year, September was fairly warm. We managed a beach trip when it didn't interfere with Rose's or my soccer games, enjoyed the Durham Museum, started our Sunday morning walks to the playground, and enjoyed every last little bit of the pool we could. After Labor Day, the pool was only open on weekends, and we made sure to go if the weather cooperated.

Zoe playing in the water at the Durham Museum

Rose climbing the rocks at the Durham Museum

It's difficult to capture videos now that Zoe has entered the age where she wants to hold the phones and becomes obsessed with technology. Rose went through a similar phase and seems to have outgrown it. If you don't know "Zoe-speak" at 20 seconds in, she says "Zoe broke it" referring to the ripped pages.

Our Sunday walks to the park are about a mile each way on a paved greenway and trail. We usually bring both backpack carriers, for the occasional times the girls want to be carried. Here's a snapshot of a typical walk with Zoe wanting to hold Darwin's leash.

Rose resting on a tree stump during our walk

Girls posing on our walk

Being silly for a photo

Our two year old swinging before going down the slide at the playground

August and September were also filled with birthday parties for Rose and Zoe's classmates. We enjoyed spending time with their friend's families, and the girls especially enjoyed Miss Olivia's 4th fairy birthday party. The girls got faces painted by a fairy at the party and enjoyed lots of indoor and outdoor toys while wearing their fairy dresses

Posing with the fairy face-painter

Zoe loved the bubble wand, which ended up all over her dress

Rose is loving her friend's 4th birthday party

You can expect more photo and video dumps for October - January with fall activities transitioning to holiday activities and lots of snow during the start of 2018!!

End of Summer 2017 Adventures and an Eclipse

2017-11-12T22:32:00.001-05:00

During the month of August, we continued with our weekend and weekday trips to the pool. There were a few weekends that were not unbearably hot and we spent a day at a park or museum. We also made it to a concert in the park that's adjacent to our neighborhood. The big event and travel for us in August was taking a long weekend to go see the eclipse of 2017 in Greenville, SC! Rose also started soccer in August. Rose turned 3.5 in August and Zoe approached her 2nd birthday. Both girls grew like weeds all summer and it's been fun to have them be more self-sufficient and be able to communicate.

Zoe's eating her favorite peanut butter crackers at the pool

Zoe smiles when she wants to.
She loves to see the camera herself.

Rose and Zoe are running in Bond Park.

One of the many concerts we have listened to at the ampitheatre in the park

Lunch time at Pullen Park in Raleigh,
after going on the carousel and train and before heading home.

The first of back-to-back birthday parties at an indoor playground.

To see the Eclipse in Greenville, we spent the weekend at my parent's place in the mountains of Western NC. On Saturday we made our way to a Renaissance Festival at a farm after going to a farmers' market. The girls enjoyed getting their face (Rose) and arm (Zoe) painted, seeing the costumes, and playing on the slides and in the creek. Rose also enjoyed feeding some goats. We spent the middle part of the day driving the Blue Ridge Parkway while the girls napped and ended our day with dinner and music in Asheville.

Rose's Hello Kitty face paint

Zoe getting her arm painted

On Sunday, we made our way to Charlotte (2 hours away) to get my brother at the airport. Instead of going straight back to the cabin after lunch, we decided to walk around a small museum, called Discovery Place Nature for a little bit. The exhibits were just right for the girls and it was nice to be in a small museum with the short amount of time we had before the girls would need a nap.

Spending a few hours at a museum in Charlotte where Zoe's a bug:

Monday was Eclipse day! I was really nervous about finding a place to go to see the eclipse, especially as we left Tryon for Greenville around mid-day. We had to pack everything (including Darwin) and it was a hot August Day. I was cranky with the heat and with the stress of packing what we needed to be accessible. Thankfully, we found a science/technology elementary school that was hosting a watching party through Facebook. We headed straight there and found some shade by 1p or so. In the hour or two before complete darkness, the girls enjoyed the splash pad, we ate some moon pies, we watched the moon change through our viewing glasses and through a shadow box, and we listened to some of the music from the DJ. I was most grateful for shade and bathrooms. Even just sitting in the shade I was sweating!

Rose was really into the Eclipse, which made it more exciting for us. She did a great job looking through her glasses - which were ridiculously hard to purchase before the event. I was grateful for a friend who got some in the week leading up to our trip. The elementary school staff were giving them out at the viewing party, but we would have waited in a long line in the heat to get them.

Rose and Zoe had learned about the eclipse at school, and Rose kept giving us updates on what she saw. Zoe was more interested in maintaining her schedule, which should have included lunch and a nap. She managed to stay engaged with all the excitement despite being a bit "hangry".

The full eclipse was pretty amazing. In the few minutes just before it turned to dusk, our surroundings looked "chalky" with a tinge of almost grey. The temperature was noticeably cooler for the few minutes of complete elipse and for some of the minutes before and after. During the total eclipse, the stars came out, we could see the ring around the moon, we could hear crickets, and it looked like dusk at 2:30pm. It was so cool and an experience I hope to never forget. As we left Greenville for Raleigh, we started making plans to visit upstate NY/Burlington for the 2024 eclipse!

Because we hadn't eaten a good lunch and we didn't really know where to go in Greenville, post-eclipse was a bit of a disaster. We waited too long to be seated at a restaurant and ultimately gave up after almost 45 minutes because the girls were getting too cranky. We knew it would take a long time to get home as well. We had enough snacks that held everyone over as we slowly made our way home, and the girls napped. The four-hour trip took about 6-7 hours with a stop for dinner near Charlotte. It was close to midnight before we arrived home. Thankfully, the girls slept for most of the ride after dinner.

Finding food and shade at an Elementary school Eclipse viewing party in Greenville, SC

Rose would check on the sun's progress often during the hour we watched

It was difficult to capture the eclipse in a camera. I didn't bother trying to get the ring.

A glimpse of the total eclipse from Greenville, SC on August 21, 2017

Because we traveled to see the Eclipse, Rose missed the first soccer game of her career. While soccer runs in our veins, an eclipse is a pretty rare and memorable event worth missing soccer to see. Rose made up for it by being an attentive participant in the practice and scoring two goals in her game that followed the practice session. That first game we attended was pretty chaotic. Kids were picking up the ball all the time and clearly didn't know what to do. We were proud of Rose's ability to pay attention and participate. There were a few games after that first one where the other team was aggressive and we struggled through those with Rose. I'll admit, it is challenging to tell your child not to take things from people or push or hit and then try to teach them to be aggressive in sports.

Rose's first soccer practice, held for 30 minutes before her first 30 minute game.
We missed the first week because of the Eclipse, so she had to wait for a shirt.

Rose scores a goal in her first soccer game

I finally captured some video footage of Zoe talking and singing. If she notices she's being recorded, she immediately runs to grab the camera. I'm surprised she let me take video of her singing. We did have a few outtakes before capturing this longer video. The teachers at Zoe's school say that her Spanish is very good. It's amazing to me that she can switch between English and Spanish so easily. I love getting to learn the songs she sings at school and I'm also glad that Rose is my translator. While I can speak and understand Spanish, understanding toddler Spanish without context is sometimes difficult. Rose often translates for us because she knows the songs, expressions, and/or words that Zoe has picked up at school.

Lots of singing at bedtime

Stay tuned for Miss Zoe's 2nd Birthday and more September updates!

July Adventures

2017-10-26T00:41:00.001-04:00

July in North Carolina is dog-breath weather, so we try to plan a trip north during the month. This year, we made our way up to upstate New York to visit family for July 4th week. The girls had a great time playing with their cousins, especially Isabella who is just about 3 years older than Rose. Rose adores her cousin and Zoe wants to be part of the action too.

As usual, we left overnight, between 1-2am. This time we decided to pop into NYC to visit with friends who were about to move to California. We made such good time that we were in Manhattan by 9-9:30am. With time to kill, Colin walked around the highline with the girls and we found a playground for the girls to stretch their legs. I'll admit it wasn't the best experience for me. Darwin wasn't allowed on the highline or in the playground, so one of us had to hang out with him. It wasn't too hot, but it was humid and we didn't want to leave him in the car.

On the Highline before Darwin and I got kicked out

Girls playing in lower Manhattan

After a somewhat chaotic lunch, we made our way upstate to the Albany area. The girls took their much-needed naps and I drove part of the way so Colin could rest. We are always pretty tired when we arrive on these 12 hour driving trips. We don't want to just drive through on the way up and often make a stop or two to stretch our legs and/or explore.

After a good night's sleep, we were ready for the week's adventures. We started the week off with a trip to Lake George on Colin's parent's boat. The girls enjoyed it except when Isabella and Rose bumped heads. Thankfully, that was towards the end of the day. Zoe in her usual fashion took a nice nap on the boat after lunch. The day was beautiful and we enjoyed some lunch and swimming off the docks of one of the islands in the lake.

A couple days later, we were back at the lake with the whole family to enjoy July 4th. We spent a few hours at the "beach." Maybe I'm spoiled having grown up in RI, but most of the beaches I've been to on lakes are just not really my kind of beaches. I enjoy taking the boat on the lake, anchoring, and swimming in the lake. But, there is something about walking into the lake from the beach that just doesn't appeal to me. The girls had fun swimming in the lake on July 4th and I enjoyed taking a kayak out on the water.

Because the fireworks are always late and we didn't really know the set up for viewing them in person, we decided to let Rose stay up to watch them on the TV. She seemed to enjoy watching them and we didn't have to worry about traffic, parking, and how loud they might be.

Lunch spot on one of the islands in Lake George, NY

The three Miller girl cousins in their July 4th attire at Lake George

The other highlights of the week included a cousins trip to the town pool and the girl cousins having a movie night at Aunt Karen's house. The weather was very nice most of the week, but the pool was a bit too cold for me. Even the girls didn't last too long in the water. Everyone was pretty excited when the ice cream truck came.

Zoe is our very messy eater

You can tell Rose loved her ice cream

The Miller ladies making silly faces

We all enjoyed movie night at Aunt Karen's house. The girls had a nice set up on the papasan cushion with some snacks. At one point they were all on the cushion, but I think they lost interest in the movie towards the end. I can't remember now, but I think they watched Frozen, which they've seen too many times. We decided we'd have to watch Moana the next time. I got to go "shopping" in Aunt Karen's closet and found almost a whole new wardrobe. Woohoo! Thanks Aunt Karen!!

Girls watching Frozen during movie night at Aunt Karen's

I addition to visiting family, we wated to take a family trip somewhere we've never been. We decided to head up to Quebec City for a night towards the end of the week in NY. I really wanted to go for 2 nights, but it just would have been too much. We left the house around 4am Thursday morning and arrived in Quebec City by 8am (after a stop or two). It was too early to check in to the hotel, but they did let us park the car in the garage so we didn't have to worry about meters or parking. I usually spend lots of time researching places we are going, but I hadn't had time to look into Quebec City beyond asking people for suggestions and researching a hotel. I knew a few main tourist sights to see, but figured we could just walk around and explore.

We really struggled navigating the city on that first day. Yelp was our go-to for food and the first place we went didn't accept credit cards so we had to move on. We found another pastry shop and had our first chocolate filled danish of the two days. As we walked towards the more downtown area, we also managed to get cash from an ATM so we could be prepared for another cash-only food venue. Our biggest mistake came when I thought we should explore the touristy hotel Chateau Frontenac. Navigating narrow streets with a double stroller was a challenge and it was uphill the entire way. We also happened to be there during the start of a 10-day music festival, so some areas were blocked off. And, to top it off, there was a lot of construction. When we finally made it close to the top of the hill (the Chateau), Zoe had fallen asleep and Rose was getting pretty cranky. I can't even remember what we had for lunch - it obviously was not nearly as memorable as the hills and frustrating construction detours. As we walked from the Chateau up the hill to the Citadel, Rose also fell asleep. Poor Colin pushed both sleeping girls (think "dead weight") up the grassy hill because we couldn't find any paved paths, only to find the Citadel blocked off for construction (which we didn't realize at the time).

This was the tipping point for us both. It was after lunch at this point so we decided to make our way back to the hotel so we could check in, ditch the stroller, get some quality maps, and try exploring again. Going back to the hotel was so much easier because it was downhill and we went directly back (instead of trying to find sites to see along the way). As we arrived the girls woke up and we got checked in. While the morning had been tiring for us, it was good the girls slept because they were in much better spirits for the afternoon.

After walking uphill for what felt like hours, we reached the top.

Rose and Zoe enjoyed riding uphill. I guess it was comfortable enough for them.

We set out again, this time with the two backpack carriers and a small bag with diapers and a few changes of clothes for the girls. We decided to take the bus to the lower downtown area. Though the bus also had issues getting us to the destination, we weren't hot, sweaty, and tired during the process. Since we were having a relatively early dinner, we made our way to Cochon Dingue Champlain, a restaurant that came highly reviewed by Yelp and a Canadian friend. The food was just okay, but perhaps we didn't order the best items on the menu. We did get to sit outside and enjoy the evening.

After dinner, we took a boat ride across the St. Lawrence River to Levis on the commuter ferry. I accidentally gave the operator my roundtrip tickets and we had to get assistance from the staff before we got off to be sure we could get back on to come back. Thankfully we did get on the return boat and arrived safely back in Quebec. From the boat we could see this elevator car that traveled from the lower part of the city to the upper part. We made our way over to the elevator, called the Funiculare, and decided to take a ride up to where whe had been earlier.

The Chateau Frontenac and Quebec City from the St. Lawrence River

Trying to get a picture of the girls on the boat

We made our way back to the hotel from the upper city at a more leisurely pace and both girls eventually ended up in the backpacks. We came across a couple of the concert stages as we walked back and got to hear some of the music. If we had not been up since 4am, I might have considered staying out a little longer, but we were all pretty tired.

Thankfully, both girls fell asleep pretty easily. I had requested a room with 2 beds, but they only had a room with one bed and a pack n play. I was surprised at how excited Rose was to sleep in the pack and pay we brought and it was good that each girl slept well in their respective cribs.

The second day in Quebec City was overcast and raining early in the day. With a better idea of the city's layout, we set out on foot again without the stroller after breakfast in the hotel. We made our way first to the Citadel, which we found out was completely closed for renovations. From this area we were able to walk along the extension areas of the Citadel - first to the riverview and then along the giant wall. The girls enjoyed checking out all the "tunnels," the cannons, and all the sights that interest toddlers.

Trying to get a family photo with Rose not wanting to cooperate

A sweet photo of the girls exploring Quebec City

Checking out the cannons and the wall leading to the Citdel

We left Quebec City after lunch so the girls could nap on the drive back to the US and made our way to the Vermont border to cross. We had planned to meet up with some of my college friends before we got stuck at the border for almost 2 hours. The girls woke up near the start of those two hours and I was grateful we had brought pastries from Quebec back with us. Even before we dug into the pastries, the girls were doing surprisingly well for how long they were confined in their seats. We managed to get to Burlington, Vermont much later than planned. Colin grabbed burritos at the food truck next door to the brewery where we met my friends. The girls preferred eating the popcorn at the brewery. We just had to go with the flow. When you have toddlers who are going to be out past their bedtime and are eating way later than their dinner should have been after they just had some pastries at dinner time, you do whatever you can to maintain peace including allowing the watching of electronic devices. It obviously ended up being a very quick and rushed get-together, but it was still nice to see my friends. We got the girls in their pajamas and drove the two hours back to New York, arriving after midnight.

We basically just had one day (Saturday) to recover before driving back home, and of course I/we planned a birthday gathering for Colin on that final day. I surprised Colin by inviting his friends and was glad that a few were able to come. Colin's not a big fan of celebrating his birthday, but I know he enjoyed getting to see some friends. When we visit family, it's always difficult to fit in some time with others. We did plan the birthday early enough so we could try to get to bed at a reasonable time. Of course we can never get to bed before 10p, which makes 1am come too quickly.

Somehow we usually manage to have a good ride home. Our goal is to get south of DC before our first stop. On the ideal trip, we make it to Richmond, VA where there is a Whole Foods in a residential/commercial mixed complex. We have breakfast, change the girls out of pajamas, and go play on the playground for a little bit before getting back in the car to drive the 3 hours home. We've made it home by 1-2p before even with the stop. On the way home, the girls are so tired from all the fun that they usually will sleep most of the mid-late morning.

Girls are passed out in their carseats during the drive home to NC

While the end of the trip was busy and hectic, the first half was relatively relaxing. Overall, we had a nice time with our friends and family and enjoyed exploring a new city. The girls did get a stamp on their passport thanks to the border patrol agent at the New York crossing going to Quebec. The Vermont agent said they don't stamp the passport for land crossings, so they only got one.

The rest of July was relatively uneventful. We spent most of our weekends going to the pool to stay cool. We also celebrated two birthdays - my mom's mid-month and Colin's towards the end of the month.

Colin gets serenaded by his ladies for his birthday

Stay tuned for August updates, which included lots more trips to the pool and going to school birthday parties.

June 2017 Update

2017-09-05T23:20:00.000-04:00

It seems unbelievable that the summer has come and gone. In reviewing the pictures and videos from June, July and August, I'd have to say that I see such big changes in Zoe. She has fully transformed to a toddler this summer. In looking at some of these pictures and videos from early June, she is so much older and more mature just 3 months later.

Zoe at 21 months

I'll start with a brief recap of June. During the month, the weather was relatively cool for that time of year. We were able to enjoy a lot of time outdoors before the oppressive heat of summer. The pool was delayed a few weeks in opening, so we had to wait until June to start our weekends of swimming. This year, both Rose and Zoe could play in the water with minimal assistance. Without a floatie, Zoe could touch the kiddie area of the pool only near the steps. Thankfully, she would keep her floatie on most of the time.

Thursday nights in June were all about listening to live music at one of the outdoor shopping plazas/movie theater. The area would be blocked off to cars and they would often have a "bounce house," face painting, bubbles, cotton candy, and sometimes popcorn. What more could a kid ask for? On one occasion, a chiropractor advertising his business brought dress-up props. Rose was in her element.

Rose with her face painted and props 3 yrs 4 months

We managed a trip to the beach in June before the pool opened. My favorite part of the day is around dinner, when everyone leaves and you have the beach mostly to yourselves.

With the nice weather, we made our usual day trips to either Pullen Park or the Durham Museum of Life & Sciences. With the Durham museum now open Sunday mornings, it's a great time to go with not many crowds. We've been going about once a month all summer, mainly because I'm obsessed with seeing the 4 wolf pups (born in April) grow. We've been lucky to catch a glimpse of them every time we go, though they aren't the easiest to catch on video or pictures. The museum has hired a biologist to talk about the wolves, and they do an amazing job providing updates on their blog and Facebook page.

Girls swinging at Pullen Park with daddy

To wrap up the month and as part of a visit with my parents, we drove about an hour west of the Raleigh area to check out a berry festival at a farm the last weekend of the month. We picked blackberries and blueberries, got to enjoy some sweet ice cream treats, rode the tractor, and had a nice outing with my parents. It was a very nice wrap up to a month filled with many local activities, and in preparation for a long week of travel to start the month of July.

Family picture at Millstone Creek Orchard

Rose rocking on the porch at Millstone Creek Orchard

May Adventures

2017-07-23T22:50:00.000-04:00

Perhaps doing a monthly post of pictures will get me closer to catching up. May can be categorized by grant writing for me and several weekend and day trips for us all.

Thankfully, the girls are mostly agreeable during car rides.

Not to mention they are stylish

May started out like a lion and ended like a lamb for me. The first two weeks I did a lot of travel for work and my "volunteerism" as new President of the Raleigh Dietetic Association. These trips also fell in the last two weeks of writing a fairly large federal grant.

I did my usual Monday-Thursday trip to Asheville the first week of the month, and had about 24 hours to unpack, work a full day, and pack for the family to head back west. Saturday was a transition meeting of the Dietetics board in Charlotte, and we decided to bring the girls so they could see my parent's new place about 1.5 hours west of Charlotte. While Colin drove the 4 hours west (past Charlotte), I worked on writing a grant. When I drove the 1.5 hours back east to Charlotte myself Saturday morning, I used speech-to-text to continue putting ideas on paper for the grant. I couldn't muster any more energy on the grant driving back to my parent's Saturday night, but did get up early Sunday to work while the girls slept in. I used the 4 hour drive back to work once again. It turned out to be a productive weekend, and I was grateful my family was willing to all help me multi-task. We also did spend a nice Sunday together between breakfast and traveling back home after dinner.

Rose running at the Carl Sandburg Home Historic Site, Flat Rock, NC

A typical sight of Zoe chewing her left middle finger

Rose and Zoe playing in the water at Dupont State Forest, NC

Since the grant was due mid-May, we just did a quick day-trip to the beach for Mother's Day.

That final week of grant writing meant very little sleep, and once everything was turned in, it meant catching up on rest and neglected work and home life, and cleaning/organizing my home and home office. Our neighborhood pool took a long time to open due to new permitting requirements put in place by the county, so we enjoyed our hikes to the playground and listening to live music that was available often. Once I was able to pay attention, I noticed how much Zoe grew during the month. She has completely transformed to a toddler and has developed her vocabulary in both English and Spanish. We dealt with some food allergy issues at school in April and May and had to go for testing in June (more about that later). She had done so well without major reactions from October to April.

Zoe has completely transformed from a baby to a toddler

Zoe singing the alphabet

Zoe talking and counting. Video was cut off before fighting began.

I think we were all very grateful for a long weekend of rest and relaxation for the Memorial Day holiday. We were able to join my parents and brother for a trip to Myrtle Beach and stayed in a resort that had a shuttle to the beach and nice outdoor pools, a lazy river, and a splash pad. The weather was amazing all weekend and we couldn't have asked for a better trip.

Daddy has a lot of patience with Rose playing paddleball

Zoe works on her soccer skills at the beach with her uncle

All in all, we had an enjoyable month (mostly the second half for me) with two trips to the beach, one to the mountains, and many trips to the parks and outdoor music venues all month. Stay tuned for a recap of June, which offered some nice weather for going to the beach and the opening of the pool!

April 2017 Fun

2017-06-02T23:21:00.000-04:00

Wow, the girls are growing so fast and I can't keep up with documenting it all. April came and went, and writing a federal grant meant mommy didn't have much of a work-life balance for most of April and May. We did manage quite a few outings in April during the early part of grant writing. Zoe's now a talking machine, and it seemed like both girls grew a lot physically and developmentally in the past few weeks.

During our weekends in April, we visited a farm, went to the local parks and museums, had some Easter fun, and managed a couple of beach trips.

I'll let photos and videos share many of our adventures.

Hiking from home to the Bond Park Playground in early April

Enjoying a school picnic and display of art projects

Zoe yelling to the ducks at Pullen Park in Raleigh

Zoe at 19.5 Months

Zoe brushing her teeth before heading off to school

Rose at 3 years, 2.5 months

One of Rose's favorite dresses to wear to school

Playing in the water at the Durham Museum of Life and Sciences

Zoe yelling to the pigs ("piggies!") at Reverence Farms in Saxapahaw, NC
our 2017 Piedmont Farm Tour highlight

Hayride through Reverence Farms on the Piedmont Farm Tour

Taking a break from farm tour activities to swing

Our friends and neighbors hosted an Easter egg hunt in their yard, and it was so nice to walk up the street and have the neighborhood kids find Easter eggs. Some eggs had chocolate, which was very exciting for Rose. Zoe enjoyed opening the eggs and finding out what was inside each one.

Easter weekend we rented a condo in Myrtle Beach with my parents. It was nice to spend the weekend at the pool and the beach. The weather was mid-upper 70s, but the ocean was still a little cool. The girls enjoyed floating in the lazy river, and playing in the shallow pool in the condo complex. We had another egg hunt in the condo. Zoe was more interested in seeing what was in each egg rather than collecting a bunch of eggs.

Rose enjoying the beach part 1

Rose enjoying the beach part 2

Floating in the lazy river in Myrtle Beach, SC

Easter egg hunt in Myrtle Beach, SC

Zoe opening her Easter eggs

Fun in the rain after school

Fun at home, dressing up and singing "Let it Go"

First Fort Fisher beach trip of the year

Taking the Ft. Fisher ferry to get some ice cream

Stay tuned for our May update with more pictures and videos. I'm particularly fond of one with Zoe singing the alphabet.

Zoe is 18 Months...Well Technically She's 19 Months

2017-04-08T01:09:00.000-04:00

We've certainly hit a sweet spot in our lives with Miss Zoe reaching 18 months. Her vocabulary is picking up by the day, and even if she doesn't have the words to tell you want she wants, she can generally communicate very well. Because she speaks English and home and Spanish at school, she often alternates between the two languages. I often know what she is saying (yesterday she told me we were putting on her "zapatos" or shoes), but sometimes she will point to something outside and say what she's pointing at and I have no idea (is it a tree, a bird, the deck, the weather, the sun, and is it in English or Spanish?). She loves singing the songs we used to sing at storytime with Mr. Keith when she was a baby, and also loves the songs they sing in Spanish at school. She has the sweetest little voice and she continues to be a little shy. She loves saying "dada," "mama," "Rose," and "ra-ra" (for Darwin and any dog she sees). She also loves pointing to the pictures of children in her class and telling me their names, but she refuses to say "Zoe." When she points at her picture, she usually says "dada" or "Rose" and starts laughing, knowing she is refusing to say her name.

Our sweet beautiful Zoe at

Zoe loves wearing sunglasses

She's also started talking in short sentences. It started with commands like, "dada, sit, dada, sit" or "mama, ouch, mama, ouch" (when I comb her hair), but she'll often say things like "I don't know," and "dada/mama/etc at home." The "h" is a bit difficult to say, it's more like "ome" instead of home.

Running and yelling at the ducks

The other really amazing thing Zoe started doing at 18 months is putting her coat on by herself. She definitely learned how to put her arms into the holes in her jacket when it's laid properly for her and flip the jacket over her head from older kids (and her sister) at school. She's proving to be very independent and always wants to put on her own coat. She tries to put on her own shoes, but still needs a bit of help. If only we could get her to help put a diaper on, and not try to peel it off all the time we'll be all set.

This mild winter meant lots of outdoor play.
Here at the neighborhood playground in

Zoe doing exercise

On the topic of diapers, Zoe has also started showing interest in sitting on the potty. I don't have any expectation that she will start using it soon or that she'll be potty trained quickly. Rose always sits on the potty before taking a bath and Zoe likes to do the same. She will sit there for a bit, sometimes she'll pee, most times she won't. Her favorite thing to do is to wipe herself with toilet paper, put the paper in the toilet, and flush. I'm following her lead with the potty and supporting her interest by explaining how we go potty in the toilet (and dogs go on the grass) when those opportunities present themselves. We continue to cloth diaper at all times except for a disposable at night. While I don't want to rush Zoe, I will certainly celebrate when we no longer have to wash, dry, stuff, and put away diapers twice a week.

Zoe sitting on the potty

Rose and Zoe jumping on the couch

At this stage of toddler-hood, we are starting to see a lot of Zoe's personality show. She's extremely independent and can play by herself for fairly long lengths of time as long as a caregiver is not too far away. She occasionally will need a hug, or check in break from play, but often goes back to her activities. Some of her favorite things to do include: taking apart and putting together puzzles, stacking blocks and cups, pushing the stroller or shopping cart around the house, and playing in the toy kitchen areas. She's still a little young to play pretend with Rose, and most times Rose takes dolls away from Zoe, but Zoe does like to care for her babies when she's free to do so. Zoe also loves to dance. She's got some amazing dance moves - check out the videos!

Zoe's got killer moves

More dance moves, brushing teeth, and "all done"

Zoe's a very agreeable child for the most part. She finds it fun to pull of the snaps or velcro on her diapers, but does help me put the diaper back on sometimes when I ask. She likes to play when getting dressed, and toddlers don't ever care if you are in a rush. The one major struggle we have at this age, which we also experienced with Rose, is her refusal to sit in her car seat. I often have to try and make it a game. When that doesn't work, bribery usually does. Sometimes I can bribe with a book, or her pacifier, and if neither of those work, food is always a good motivator.

When mommy's away for work, daddy recruits sparring partners

I had wanted to start decreasing Zoe's reliance on a pacifier for naps and bedtime, but most of her teeth are finally starting to come in. She has 4 prominent teeth (top two and bottom two center) and she has a top and bottom molar that are both mostly out on her left side. In the past week or two, I've noticed a top and bottom molar on her right side coming in, and some whites of the teeth under her gums starting to show towards the front of her mouth. I'd say she probably has 9 teeth that are exposed, with at least another 2-3 coming in. The doctor keeps telling us that having teeth come in late is a good thing. Zoe's teacher mentioned that teeth that come in later tend to be stronger. I don't know if that's an old wives tale, but I hope Zoe gets most of her teeth quickly so we can get over teething and have her better able to eat the foods we eat.

Zoe fearlessly touching the horse

I can't really complain about Zoe's eating. She loves having half a banana every morning right when she wakes up and doesn't like waiting too long for breakfast. She almost always eats well at school, and does a good job eating at home. We've offered much more juice with Zoe than we did with Rose, but thankfully they both still drink kefir milk without problems. At school, they have two good snacks and a healthy cooked from fresh foods lunch every day, so it's nice that we only have to cook meals for everyone for dinner. The girls both often have yogurt with granola before bed. Sometimes if dinner is late, and/or if they ate really well, we skip yogurt. But, when we have more time, they rarely refuse the pre-bed snack. During yogurt time, we read a few books. When the yogurt is done, the girls brush their teeth and go to bed. Zoe would prefer to go to bed between 7-7:30, but we are often keeping her up until 7:30-8 because of how long it takes to complete the evening routine. Many times we will take Zoe to bed and finish yogurt and/or books with Rose.

Zoe's first flight. Visiting family in NY in February

Zoe is the queen of beauty sleep. She basically tells us she wants to go to bed around 7pm each night. Most times she goes to bed at 7:45, and we often have to wake her up at 7am for school. I think she wakes up before that, but puts the pacifier in her mouth and goes back to sleep. At school, Zoe only takes a nap from 1-3pm. With this Monday-Friday routine, she starts showing how tired she is by the end of the week. On the weekends she wants a morning nap by 9 or 10am that typically lasts about an hour, and then still takes a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoons. Even if she sleeps 4 hours on a Saturday, and gets up from her nap at 5pm, she's still ready to go back to bed by 7:30pm. Last week she was more tired than usual a few days after her doctor's wellness visit. It could have been lingering symptoms from a vaccine, or perhaps a result of so many new teeth coming in. She was so tired at school that they had to put her down for a nap at 10am and she slept in the room while all the children played. After a two hour nap, she had lunch, played a little bit, and then still took another 2 hour nap in the afternoon.

Zoe cuddling with her new fofinho (fluffy) at grandma's house

At her 18.5 month wellness visit, Zoe checked in at 31.5 inches tall and 23 lbs, 12.8 ounces. She's right about the 40th percentile for height and for weight. Her noggin measured 48.5 cm, which is the 92nd percentile. She's got a growing brain that needs to be accommodated! Actually, Zoe fussed for the height and head circumference measurements, so I can't really trust the numbers this time around. I will say that she can still barely fit into 18 month clothes. The 18-24 month clothes fit pretty well and she's also fitting some 24 month clothes well. I don't think she's tall, but I don't think she's very short either. Zoe's eyes remain blue, her hair brown with blond highlights, and her skin fair (and still a bit sensitive). Cold, dry air seems to make her a little rashy, and we still occasionally notice her skin react to various sensitivities. She seems to get red with a lot of dairy, and if food sits on her skin for a bit. If she scratches at area, it also gets red and rashy. It's rare for the rashes to appear anywhere but her face and neck.

This age (18-19 months) is one of my favorites, and I'm trying to enjoy as much of it as I can. I'm glad the weather is turning to spring so we can take more hikes around the lake and to the playground. Both girls can walk most of the way, and occasionally want to be carried in the backpack. It's a slow, leisure walk, but it is among my favorite weekend morning activities. We get to check out the boats, ducks, fish, etc. in the water. Occasionally there are dogs retrieving in the water too. There are often people playing or kite/drone flying in the open field. The girls enjoy picking up sticks and rocks, and stepping in puddles or rustling leaves. The morning outing allows me to slow down, which has become so important for me recently.

Hiking around the lake with our walking sticks

Happy 3rd Birthday to Miss Rose

2017-02-07T22:24:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday to our curious, intelligent, caring, beautiful daughter Rose Estelle Miller.

Rose loves being a ham

At 3 years old, she far exceeds her milestones. She can "read" many books on her own (including telling us the author), knows her colors, can identify many numbers and letters, knows so many songs in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, can dress herself (including putting on her own coat), and has fantastic coordination. She knows what she wants and has a difficult time if she's not allowed to have what she wants (mostly when she's tired or hungry). She has started showing us more affection towards Zoe, and continues to improve at being patient when asking Zoe to share. The past few weeks have felt like Rose is passing out of the "terrible 2's." I hear there are "frustrating 3's" but we have hit a smooth spot right now. Our morning routine has been better since I've started easing up on rushing everyone out the door. Rose cannot be rushed. On the days she needs a little more time, Colin takes Zoe to school and I work a little bit until Rose is ready to go. It works out much better for us all. When we have a break in our routine, day care drop offs revert back to Rose clinging to mommy. But for the past few weeks, our routine has been consistent and Rose has been happy to say goodbye.

We haven't been to Rose's 3 year doctor's appointment yet, but everyone who sees us tells us they notice how she has slimmed out and gotten taller. Her 2.5 month appointment ended up being just before Christmas (closer to 3 than 2.5) and she has jumped to the 40th percentile for height and 47th percentile for weight (up from the 15-20th percentile).

Rose's wingspan is that of a crow (at NC Zoo in January)

Here is a little more about Miss Rose on her 3rd birthday:
1. Her favorite movie is Frozen and she loves Elsa and Anna, though she recognizes that Elsa is not being very nice during several parts of the movie.
2. She loves having her nails painted and loves many accessories. She's currently not into wearing a watch, but does like her necklace and bracelet. Sometimes she wants a ponytail (totozinho) and a headband, other times she wants her hair down.
3. She continues to be a very good eater and could eat anything Avo makes every day (especially soup and cod).
4. While we had her carseat forward facing for awhile, she's back to wanting her seat facing the same way that Zoe's faces. We often notice that she lets Zoe take the lead in play and follows what Zoe does.
5. We mostly get glowing reports that Rose is well behaved at school. We occasionally have a rough week where she struggles with following the routine and listening. A group of 4 children just moved up to the 3 year old classroom, and she seems more calm, a better sleeper, and better listener as the oldest child that remained in the 2.5-3 year old group. There are 7 children in her class, and two others will turn 3 in March. I expect she will move up with these two other children closer to April.
6. Her best friend at school seems to be Violet, but she seems to like all the children in her class. For her birthday party, she created her guest list of about 9 children from school and three from our neighborhood.
7. If given a cell phone, Rose usually finds videos of children playing with dolls on YouTube. She has about 5-6 dolls at home and is very good at playing pretend with them. If left to play independently, she could spend hours changing her babies, feeding them, putting them to bed, etc.

Having fun with friends at her birthday party at the bounce house

While some days (or times within the day) at this age can be difficult, I love to see Rose develop into a confident and mature toddler. I recognize some of the challenges come when I get frustrated or when I'm in a rush, and I work to be a patient parent.

A Christmas Holiday Recap

2017-01-16T21:23:00.001-05:00

When I arrived back home from my January work trip last week, I was tired. It was late, I had a few long days with productive, but exhausting meetings, my to-do list in several areas of my life was too long, Colin kept the girls up so they could see me before they went to bed, and Zoe had a bad rash that was going to need medical attention in the morning. After a good night's sleep and recovering (to some extent) from the most recent trip, I realized that feeling so drained may have been a result of so much travel over the past 10 weeks. I'm still feeling a little drained after a 3-day weekend, but it was good to get more things checked off the to-do list.

Between November 7 and January 11, I've spent almost 6500 miles in the car. The bulk of those miles came from trips up to the northeast for both Thanksgiving and Christmas/New Years. And while sitting or driving the car is one aspect of travel that can be difficult, I find the packing, unpacking, and recovering from the trips to be the hardest. My monthly travel for work is the easy packing since it is just me. But trips up north require thoughts about the weather, holiday outfits, activities we might do, and making sure things like clothes, diapers, snacks, food, beverages, and activities are available for the 12 hour trip. Most of that planning and packing falls to me since I get to rest in the car (or entertain in the backseat) while Colin does the bulk of the driving.

In between all these trips, which took place just about every other week, we tried enjoying some holiday events in or around home. We enjoyed a holiday potluck with Portuguese friends, gingerbread house making with our friends and neighbors, tried making Aunt June's famous cookies as a family of 4, and checked out a few holiday light displays and shows. We capped off our holiday fun with the annual Pullen Park Express, which is a fun evening of endless rides on the carousel, holiday crafts, a train ride around the park, and the girl's first (and only) time meeting Santa.

All dressed up for a holiday dinner

Girls enjoying their fancy, sparkly silver shoes

Scheduling and actually doing activities with two toddlers is no easy feat. They did surprisingly well in their holiday outfits, but we spent more time entertaining them and chasing them around the holiday dinner than talking to anyone. Colin spent a long time building gingerbread houses, only to have Zoe eat part of one and Darwin completely demolish (ie - eat) our neighbor's house. The clean up for any food activity is always a challenge and I wonder if it is worth it. But, I know it is. While Zoe is still too young to follow some of the rules, I see Rose focus and take pride in her work. And watching Zoe naively eat a gingerbread house is endearing. I sometimes catch myself all wound up in a type A personality, and it seems we all have different triggers. I am constantly grateful for a husband who is much more relaxed and doesn't seem to mind spending an entire afternoon putting together gingerbread houses that will all be demolished either during decoration, or shortly thereafter.

Gingerbread house decorating (or eating if you are Zoe)

Rose likes to organize mommy's cookies - perhaps picking up on some type A organizing skills

I've never been too eager to have the girls meet Santa. It seems cruel to force kids to sit on the lap of a stranger so we adults can take a picture. We gave Rose the option to meet him and she said she wanted to, so we went for it. She was completely into it this year, but we made the mistake of trying to have Zoe sit with Mrs. Claus for the picture, an experience that petrified her. When we got to Santa we didn't bother trying to see if Zoe wanted to sit with him. Even Rose was a little reluctant to sit on his lap, until they got to talking about the movie Frozen.

Our friend Lucas and his family joined us at the Pullen Park Express

Rose hamming it up on the carousel

Zoe enjoying her ride on the carousel with mommy

Ready for the train ride

First time meeting Santa

While traveling 12 hours is not ideal, we continue to make it bearable by leaving between 1-2am after a few hours of sleep. It helps if we can have the car packed early so we can go to bed shortly after the girls do. They typically sleep for the first 5-6 hours, and are fairly content in the car for most of the morning. We have been able to make pretty good time on our recent trips. Unfortunately, during the Christmas trip, I battled a sore lower back, which has been hurting on an off since starting the trip.

Rose alternates between sleeping and playing in the car

Zoe could sleep for most of the drive

While visiting family, we were able to engage in some new and some regular activities. There was some snow on the ground in New York, so the girls got to try sledding down Colin's parent's front lawn on Christmas Day. We also checked out a museum in Albany that has a free carousel. We rode it about 3 times. In Rhode Island, we checked out the awesome Boston Children's Museum and managed to make a trip down to the beach. It was a little too cold for me, but Rose enjoyed playing in the sand.

All smiles waiting for the carousel ride in NY

The girls loved spending time with their entire family over the Christmas-New Year's trip. Rose looks up to her 6-year-old cousin Isabella, and is exhausted after a day of playing together. Both Rose and Zoe love the attention from their aunts, uncles, and grandparents. I always feel like I've gained 10 pounds when we get back, but there is so much comfort in being surrounded by family and food during the holidays. I also like getting a quick glimpse of winter and then heading back to our warmer weather. Though Colin and Zoe managed to catch a bug during the week, it was short-lived for both of them. My back was (and continues to be) a major bummer, though I hope some rehab and massages (Merry Christmas to me!) will be the fix I need.

Opening presents in New York on Christmas Eve

Rose posing with presents on Christmas morning

Girls opening presents on Christmas morning

I'm glad we were able to enjoy some holiday fun and visit with family to celebrate the season, but I'll admit that I am very grateful to have a few weeks with minimal travel and scheduled events on my calendar. It felt good to take down the tree and Christmas decorations this year. For me, it was the promise of a less hectic schedule ahead. We've started to get back on track with our diet (except for a few lingering sweets). Now, I'm hoping the weather can cooperate so we can enjoy some walks to the park as a family on the weekends and I can get back to some regular exercise.

I hope you were all able to enjoy the comfort and joy in your family/friends this holiday season and that your New Year is off to a tremendous start.