The Surratt Pack

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-31T15:18:00.002-05:00

Merry Christmas to all!! What a day!! It started by everyone sleeping in! In fact, I was the first awake at 7:30! Yes, 7:30!! When your kids have gotten up at 6am for years upon years, 7:30, especially on Christmas morning, feels like noon! The kids patiently waited for daddy to make sure Santa had already left the building and then they charged! (see blurred pic below)

For the last couple years, Santa has left a little gift at each childs door in the morning - what a happy surprise! Both kids received new clothes for their build-a-bears (pjs, fluffy vest/boots and a spiderman costume).

Demo time!

Stocking time - Glue sticks!! Exactly what Riley asked for!!

Later that day everyone came over for a great dinner and much more fun!

Christmas events - 2011

2011-12-30T23:08:00.000-05:00

December has been sooo much fun and packed filled with activities and excitement! Kyle is still obsessed with football and is beyond excited about going to a VCU basketball game with Daddy next week. Riley loves school and her teacher would like her to test for GT. No matter the outcome of the tests, we think it is an honor that her teacher feels she is qualified!

The very best way to remember the month is through pictures:

Scout came back and had a blast getting into trouble and hiding from the kids but he was always watching!!

Aunt Darcy took the kids to see a VERY lit up home near their home - this one was on TLC!

Riley also finished up 10 weeks of Kids Jazzercise! She loved it and the group did a performance for us at the end of class - Adorable!!

Riley made gingerbread houses in school and Grandma and Papa send yummy cookies!!

Riley's holiday party at school in PJ's! Eric and me at the neighborhood Gala:

We also visited Santa and Mrs. Clause! Santa also came to the neighborhood on the Firetruck again. Every year, we can hear the truck and we wait and wait and wait... and it is COLD! However this year, it was beautiful out but it didn't matter b/c the Firetruck nearly started at our house therefore we almost missed him all together!

And we went Christmas Caroling in the neighborhood!

We also visiting Lewis Ginters Festival of Lights with our Daisy Troop!

Daddy and Jack took the kids down to the Richmond Christmas Parade (while I was visiting Grandma after shoulder surgery) I think I see a new tradition!! Look at Rudolf with the big band aid... in last years parade he hit a stop light and deflated!

Riley also had 2 teeth pulled and a bunch of other stuff - now she has a spacer. She was so brave!

Riley and I also had tea at Feathernesters - such a fun afternoon!

Hallow-rain

2011-11-26T20:37:00.001-05:00

Yes, it rained on our Halloween - it rained a LOT and we learned that cleat and wet driveways don't mix! However we jumped from house to house for almost an hour before the big rains started and got lots of loot! The kids had a blast (even in the rain... different story for the parents!)

Riley was a belly dancer, Lexa a pink pirate, and Kyle was Troy Polamalu - hair and all! As always, Ri hated dressing up and searched to find the most comfortable costume (this one you step right into - similar to one piece PJs!) She is already hoping for a similar costume for next year, however in the form of a bunny.

Kyle has entered a new phase of life (that I'm not sure ever ends, considering Eric is still in this phase as well!) He lives, breathes, and sleeps football! All he ever wants to do is play, watch, or discuss football. He already knows more about the game and players than I do! (ok, that probably isn't saying too much!) It is hilarious! He has also decided, that although he really liked soccer, he liked t-ball more, and he is sure he'll like football the most (once he gets to start playing on a team!)

Halloween playdate with Grace!

Another update on Riley - she got her 1st First Grade report card and received all "S's", which is as good as it gets! According to her teacher, she is above grade level and a pleasure to have in class!

We ran into Cami, the young vampire, at the neighborhood parade

Are you scared, I know I am!

Our baby girl turns 7!!

2011-11-02T21:26:00.000-04:00

It is beyond crazy to think that our baby girl is 7 already!! She amazes us every day with her amazing amount of insight and huge heart!!

This year, Ri and 8 friends (including Kyle and Lexa of course!) went to build-a-bear and then back to our house for pizza and cupcakes. Riley didn't want a cake this year - she and all the kids decorated their own cupcakes (one to eat now and one for later!) It was a fun (and loud) evening!!

We love you Riley!!

(note from Eric - the Steelers last played and beat the Patriot, with Brady playing for the Patriots, three days after Riley was born until this past weekend - 3 days after Ri's bday, the Steelers beat the Patriots!!)

Pumpkin Picking!!

2011-10-31T21:12:00.001-04:00

Year 7 at Ashland Berry Farm on Columbus Day!! and just like most pumpkin picking years, it was HOT! The kids had more fun this year than I ever remember!! They ran and picked and repicked and ran some more!! The donuts were delicious and the bee's annoying!! Love, love, love pumpkin picking day!!

Fernando, Riley, Caroline, Kyle, Lauren, & Lily! they lined up in tall to small by accident:-)

School is back IN!

2011-10-21T08:28:00.000-04:00

School is back in!! Riley is now in 1st grade and still loves school! There have been two times this year when she has asked to stay home to play... which NEVER happened in kindergarten however she has also expressed that they do more work and play less in 1st grade so thats probably the reason!

When school 1st got started both kids were sick. Kyle was snotty as usual and ended up getting a 2nd set of tubes and Ri, who is NEVER sick ended up on an antibiotic! One evening while Eric was prepping the kids for bed, Ri attemped to open a bottle of kids cough syrup. Without any luck she hands it to Eric so proceeds to easily open it, pour, and distribute. Ri was floored and asked, "Daddy, how did you do that? When I turned the top it just went 'click, click, click'!" Eric explained that the cap is child proof. Riley paused to think and then asked Eric, "But how did it know I'm a child?"
I just LOVE how this little one thinks!!

1st day of school!

This is one of the pix Ri left for us at her desk for back to school night

(yes, she finally has a desk instead of a table!! by far one of the best parts of 1st grade for Riley!!)

Kyle is now in Pre-K with Ms. Julie (same teacher Ri had) and seems to love it! He also finally started to play t-ball!!! He loves it - even more than soccer! Since he considered himself a rock start soccer player, we figured he'd have the same opinion of tball. However after the 1st game, he expressed how much fun it was but also said, "but I'm not dat good at hitting, I'll need to practice!" We are very proud of him and his desire to rock on the field!

Beach Bash

2011-09-18T20:20:00.000-04:00

Wow, what a week!! As always, our family week at the beach was a GREAT time and this year we had lots of excitement including an earth quake, birthday, wedding, and hurricane! Definitely a week to remember!! However, aside from all the unusual excitement, we also made our annual tiedyes, created HUGE bubbles, flew kites, and as always, Papa fed the kids chocolate cake for breakfast (we are ok with anything that provides a couple extra hours sleep for the parents!!)

This was right after the wedding - the surf was rough but beyond beautiful!

Crazy Hair!

The surf was rough all week but the kids loved it and had a blast playing in it (supervised of course!)

Kite flying! This year we had a much more simple kite and it went up in the air with no effort at all! Papa even bought kite string that went over 500 feet - this little kite was flying up HIGH!

We had beautiful weather - aside from Hurricane Irene on Friday - but since we got evacuated on Thursday evening, we never had to deal with her!

Don't let Grandma fly away!!

Notice this years tie dye! We are getting pretty good!!

Happy 7th Birthday Lexa Marie!

Bubble Making from Bebe's fun bubble kit!

Darcy & Justins beautiful wedding! At 2pm we found out that we had to be out of the house at 5pm... so we moved the 5pm wedding to 4pm and it was Perfect!

Most Improved

2011-08-19T20:27:00.007-04:00

We have had an amazing and super FAST summer!! The kids have grown so much in appearance as well as abilities! Just today I watched Kyle glide across the monkey bars all by himself!

The Tidal Waves took up a good 2 months of our summer - and no matter how hot it was, we still had FUN!
Most of our meets had themes - this one was hawaiian! and then it stormed... so we got kicked to the car! It stormed 5 out of 6 of our meets - that doesn't mean make up meets, it just means VERY late meets since the storms always pass!
This is Riley in clerk of courts! She loved free style and also had a good back stroke but was terrified of swimming the back stroke during the meet (more to follow on this below)....

Ri with one of her AWESOME coaches!

Ri finishing up the 25 free style!

And she won her HEAT!! She also ended up placing 2nd out of all 6 and unders!

And then there is Kyle and CarrieLyn! Sooo cute!! Kyle will be on swim team next year.

Earlier, I mentioned that Ri has had a fear of swimming the back stroke in the meet. In fact, for three meets, she breaks down in tears while in the Clerk of Courts and refuses to get in the water. I was petrified that she would fester over this fear all winter long so Coach Brandon met with her to try to get her over her fear. The fear was based on hurting her self on the lane lines.

So the last meet of the year is at hand and Ri is getting ready to swim the back stroke and startes to lost it again... Brandon to the rescue and somehow he get her to give it a shot (Eric and I tried at all the other meets with no success!) She get in, give it her all (straight as an arrow down that lane - never hitting her arm on the lane line!) and WINS her heat!! and not only that, she WINS the ENTIRE event!! It was soooo crazy exciting!

And because of that, Riley won "Most Improved Swimmer" for the 6 & under at the year end banquet!!

This is Ri accepting some of her ribbons the morning after one of the meets at "Ribbons and Donuts"

We also celebrated Lexa's 7th birthday last week. She had her party at the Y and everyone had a blast! The kids had to swim the length of the pool and then tred water for 30 sec in order to go down the slide and guess who jumped in line and succeded?? Little Man Kyle!!

Summer Fun!

2011-08-03T20:41:00.004-04:00

The week after the 4th of july, the girls stayed in NC with Grandma and Papa. It is their most favorite week of the year and next year they are excited about Kyle staying too! When we were all there, the kids had pix taken with Grandma and Papa.... soooo cute!

Once home, Riley got to go to her very first kid neighborhood pool party and swim from 8-10pm! After one of her friends spent the night and then next day she and I worked hard at a local under privileged child care center to spruce it up for the new year!

New hair cuts!

The Tomato Festival - yummo!

While Ri was away, Kyle got to play the role of 'only child'. This one particular day, we dressed like cows and had free chick-fil-a....

And bowled for the very 1st time!

Kyle also got to have a sleep over, kind of! The weather was horrible this one night - which happens (as always!) to be swim team night. Since Ri was away, we weren't going to the meet, so Ivy came over and played and slept over till about 11ish when the meet ended.

Can you tell that they are having a good time together!?!

4th of July Fun!

2011-07-25T21:02:00.003-04:00

For the 4th year in a row, we spent 4th of July weekend with Grandma and Papa in NC and what a beautiful weekend! Lots of fun on the boat, pool, and hanging with family! The fireworks were beautiful - quite the production for little Washington!

Waiting the fireworks on the boat!

playing in the water before the fireworks

They played hard and rested Harder! (look close, all 3 are in this pix!)

Everyone rested hard! LOL This is mom & dads new room - beautiful!

Fishies

2011-07-12T22:39:00.002-04:00

Everyone is now swimming and swimming well! It is amazing, I can even sit and relax while both kids are in the water! Yippee!!

Riley joined the swim team this year and is doing Great! She has place in the top 5 in the 25 Free each week and last week swam and placed in the 50 free! The backstroke has not gone so well, since she refuses to get in the water! We make it a little further each week, so we are hoping that this week will be the one where she gets over her fear! No matter what, even with storms each week (which makes for very late/long meets) she is having a blast!!

This is Ri coloring late into the evening waiting to swim her first race. Riley with Ashley and Abby

Riley with Leigh - Riley adores Leigh!

Now that we go to the 'swim team pool', the kids have discovered the diving board.
This pix is Kyles 1st time jumping off! As soon as he did it, Ri ran into line and did it as well!
A friend turned to me and said, "Kyle is Riley's test crash dummy!!"
And there goes Ri!

Kyle swimming to the stairs! Whew, he made it!

The end of Kindergarten!

2011-07-11T21:08:00.004-04:00

It is amazing, Riley's first year of Kindergarten is over!! What a year! She has loved every minute and learned soooo much! She is an excellent student and looking forward to her 1st grade year! We are so lucky to have had Mrs. Sullivan this year and thank her for ALL her hard effort and patience (which you need to have a lot of when you teach 22 5 and 6 year olds!)!

Riley and buddy Marissa

Riley with Mrs. Sullivan
Singing for the parents

Our class gift for Mrs. Sullivan - sailing into Summer

USA Day (aka Field day)

The kids also sang Wonderful World and had drawn pix of various images in the song.

(which happens to be the song we danced to at our wedding!)

DelFest 2011

2011-07-11T21:00:00.004-04:00

As always, I'm BEHIND so the next few entries are my catch up on all our summer fun!!
The summer kicks off with DelFest as it has for the past 3 years and every year it gets better and better! The kids are wonderful little music lovin hippies and suck up the heat and mud with the best of them! All three are becoming excellent hoopers as well!!

This is the first time Riley has ever touched a worm!

Hanging at camp!

This pix is of Riley watching a solo, up close and personal banjo performance from one of our tent neighbors - she is in awe!

LOTS of mud this year!!

Sports & Critters

2011-05-26T21:50:00.006-04:00

We have had a full couple weeks of sports and critters!
Below is just a cute playgroup pix! We've been meeting with some of these kids for over 4 years on a weekly basis - sooo fun!!
This is Kyle on his new spiderman bike behind the super cool gate Grandma and Papa got! However the most exciting news is that we took off the training wheels of his old, 12 inch bike, threw him on... and get this... he can ride (I'm amazed b/c Ri was 6 when she learned and Kyle just turned 4 less than a month ago)! 1st try the kiddo just took off! Kyle also learned how to hula hoop this week - but I'm sure there will be plenty of pix of hoopin after Delfest!

I mentioned critters... this is what I found in the garage when I got home from work the other day! When kids got off the bus, they went crazy over this little guy (now named Boo-boo!) they loved and hugged him till I thought he'd pop! Boo-boo is now back in the wild! We also found a chipmunk (still alive!) when getting our camping gear down in the garage. I think Taz is getting old - he bring them in and then they get away! (whew!) Our baby birds have also flown the coop - I hope thats what happened anyway!

Ri's tennis just ended and look at this rainbow! However swim team has begun and she LOVES it! This summer is going to be fun!

We also participated in the Dolphin Dash - a one mile fun run.

Riley and Marissa held hands nearly the entire mile:-)

We are excited about this summer - however Riley will miss school and Mrs. Sullivan a LOT! I got an email from the other day from Mrs. Sullivan - "How cute is Riley's giggle...when she really gets giggling:-) She has had a case of the giggles for the past few weeks. It makes me so happy to hear her fantastic laugh!" We love Mrs. Sullivan!

After the dolphin dash, the kids had a Wii Just Dance party in the gym:

May Catch up!

2011-05-11T21:20:00.000-04:00

Playing catch up... in no particular order, the last month of Riley and Kyle:

Soccer: Kyle loves it! He would much rather play the game than practice

(which happens to be the absolute opposite of Riley!)

We have baby birds in a bush right off the deck! Spring is here!

We have all loved watching them grow! What a great experience!

This is a GIANT ball you roll inside of! Thanks Aunt Darcy!

On Kyles actual bday, we went to a May Day festival in Bebe's neighborhood. Below is a series of pix of Kyle dancing... he was nuts!

Below is Riley and Lexa doing the sack race!

Moon bounce!

Easter!

For Kyle's 4th bday party, we went to Jump Zone - insanity!

Batman cake! Kyle is not 36.5 pounds and 41.5 inches

He had soooo much fun!

Spring break was in the past month as well. We took the kids up to DC for the day:

The Butterfly exhibit at the Natural History Museum

The Washington Monument

The best part - the metro ride!

The ride there (they were up EARLY because they were so excited!)

random cute pix from church!

Such a cutie - enjoying a beautiful spring night!

Bring on Spring!

2011-04-10T22:06:00.006-04:00

Wow, what a week - planting, egg hunting, and art! The weather seems to have gotten warm again...for now and we are loving it! Below is Riley working at the Ronald McDonald House with her fellow Daisy's. She has officially been slated to help with mulch next week! The girls helped create this beautiful planter - great job kiddos!!

In the early fall, we received a note home that Riley's Sock Eyed Salmon would be in the county wide Arts and Science Festival, which was held this past weekend. Below is her work:

Kyle started soccer and loves it just as much as he did last fall! And the shirts are his favorite color this year, jail-house Orange!!

Today was our 3rd annual Grace Easter Egg Hunt. We had a BEAUTIFUL day and about 70 kids. Since Kyle is now over napping, I now had Eric and the kids for set up and clean up duty! I love my bunch!! Overall, the hunt was a great success including face painting, tattoos, desserts, and family pix!

Kyle, Nate, and Izzy playing - I see trouble with these three for years to come!

Historically, Riley has NOT been a fan of face painting - however after giving it a shot last October fest with one of her buddies, now she is Down with face painting - well, painting all over!

We made the big kids hunt more challenging by hiding the eggs in the woods and making the kids find a eggs with individual letters on them spelling EASTER.

Happy Spring!

More catching up!

2011-04-05T21:43:00.007-04:00

I was way to far behind on the last entry to fully catch up so here is more! Over all, everyone has been relatively healthy... Ri got the stomach bug and was out of school for 3 days - it almost killed her (being out of school, not the actual vomiting!) Kyle also had the stomach bug a few weeks earlier and after covering his room in vomit, he was so proud to then catch it all in the puke bowl! Kyle also had some respiratory issues recently, but is in much better shape now. We spent some time with the doc but as it turns out, it had been 10 months since his last sick appointment - I think he is finally outgrowing it!

Poor little sick Ri!

As I mentioned, Riley still loves school! She can read anything and so far, excelling in all areas! Each grading period, a child from every class is given an award. Riley received the "Responsibility" award recently and we all got to attend an assembly to watch her receive it.

waiting to be called up on stage... a little nervous!

I received an email from Ri's teacher recently - I was out of town so I instantly expected the worst. This is what it said, "Riley has had 2 marriage proposals today. Both children are fueding over who will get to marry her! So cute!"

Below is an example of her school work - love that kid!! Her teacher is wonderful and on valentines day, she gave the kids an icecream party (which was really a lesson in money! how cool!) I was able to go into class and help scoop - Kindergarten is FUN!

Kyle has had a couple parties too! His new teacher is by far the most creative person I've ever met! Our kids really have it good!!

Our Daisy troop has also been very active. We've attended World Thinking Day, renovated the garden at the Ronald McDonald house, and visited a nursing home.

There have also been a lot of fun parties - swimming, jumping, and pizza!

Riley's award said that she was being recognized for showing responsibility when, "she follows school expectations, completes work, and shows kindness to her peers each day. She also helps others whenever she gets a chance" (written by Mrs. Sullivan)

This is Riley receiving her award!

Catching up - Family update

2011-03-18T08:19:00.006-04:00

I have plenty of excuses, including business and loss of pix due to my phone being flushed (again) but I won't bore you with the details and instead I'll do a quick update since out last post at the end of January! We have been having lots of fun and trying to enjoy the sporadic nice weather! The annual Irish fest in the neighborhood was as fun as always! Below is Kyle enjoying cake! At one point during the event, Kyle ran up to me with his knuckles all bloody and scrapped up. He was just showing me, not fussing about it. All I had to clean him up was a baby wipe, which typically hurts an open wound so every time I'd touch his boo-boo, I'd ask him if it hurt. Each time, he'd respond very simply, "no". Finally, he got fed up with my constant question, and said, "Nothin Huts Me!!" (you need to say that with a slight Arnold Schwarzenegger accent) He is so funny!! We have also enjoyed a bunch of fun birthday parties!

and fun times with our neighbors!

In late February, Kyle and Eric went to the Monster Truck Jam and Riley and I went to see a movie! Check out her little shoulder turn for the 3-D glasses pix!

Below is a pix of the kids playing together at a Grace playdate. They are so cute right now - they just love playing with each other so much and typically play exclusively together when we are out with a bunch of friends. I imagine there is a bit of a security there and it won't last for ever, but it is cute for now!

And of course, happy birthday to Daddy!! We had a bunch of celebrations for Eric, including a fun night out (not with the kiddos) to see a local band!

Riley has also been working hard to earn her fit for life miles! She and I run/walk a few miles each week and she has already finished her "marathon". Below is a bunch of kids from the neighborhood after running about 2 miles!

and it wouldn't be right for me to not mention the super sad loss of both the Steelers in the super bowl (pix below) and the VCU Rams loss in the final 4 championship! Go Team(s)!!

BURRRRR!!!

2011-01-24T21:59:00.003-05:00

No mild winters here any more!! It has been COLD!! This morning the temp read 14 when I got up... we all wished we were still in bed... but as always, there is too much going on for sleep!

1st, Happy Birthday GRANDMA! What a fun visit we had with Grandma and Papa after their trips to Tenn, Tx, and then Cancun! We celebrated with the whole family at our house and feasted on mexican and gourmet cup cakes!

The past two weeks have also been HUGE for the Steelers, so obviously our household is pretty happy! Below is a pix of Riley on Spirit day - the friday before the Championship win! Today (monday after the win) she wore her black Steelers jersey to school! Speaking of school, in an email recently, her teacher said, "Riley has the wonderful gift of picking up on whatever's being taught. She's a great listener and retains information very well." My thoughts on that, "Yippee!!" One last thought on Riley - she is selling GIRL SCOUT COOKIES!!! Let me know if you are interested in buying a box! She is a first year daisy, so we are going easy on sales, however she is enjoying the sales part a lot more than I am!! (I'll try to post a Daisy pix soon!)

My Steelers Crew!
Justin got the kids Aqua Sand for xmas and they've been LOVING it! Look at crazy eyes below! LOL

Gymnastics is over for now - Riley enjoyed it but decided to take a break for a while.

She has the pink pants on (the gym is COLD)

Kyle is still our little sweetie - however starting to get more and more... personality! The other day we were all at the store and he was acting crazy. I got down on his level and told him that he was not behaving and needed to pull it together. His response, "I don't want to behave... I punch you!" With that he gently put his fist to my arm and then looked like he was going to bust out crying. We dealt with his attitude appropriately, however only after we pulled ourselves together so that he couldn't see us laughing our butts off!

Unfortunately, K started puking this past Thursday - all evening! After covering his entire room in vomit, I got him the blue bowl - around here it is known as the puke bowl. The next few times he threw up, it landed only in the bowl and he was soooo proud of himself! The Surratt family cherish the little things:-)

Welcome to 2011!!

2011-01-11T20:35:00.006-05:00

Happy New Year!!

2011 came in with a blast! We had some friends over to help ring in the new year and at 8pm we counted down for the kids. The plan was to let them celebrate at 8pm, then tuck them into the bonus room for movies and hopefully sleep... however as suspected, they were all up till midnight to help the adults ring in the new year!

This is the 8pm count down complete with poppers and bubble wrap to run around on!

The adults still had a great time - we went old school and played some great beer pong... however my once sharp skills have gotten super rusty!

Bev gave Jen and I matching beautiful wine bottles (they were huge and delicious!)

And 2011 is here!

On new years day, I took the kids to see Tangled - what a cute movie and that just may be Kyle's first movie theater experience.

The kids are still loving the Wii and are looking forward to Grandma and Papa's arrival in the coming days so they can get some good competition on!

Riley has one last gymnastics class this session (hopefully I'll remember to get pix) She has enjoyed it, but an hour and a half is a lot after a full day of school. In addition, I'm exhausted trying to keep Kyle entertained as we wait... below he is chilling on the gym mat playing his leapster - this lasted about 5 minutes of the 90 we were there.

Since the last 2 days of school were snowed out before the holidays, we had a make up 'winter party' in Ri's kindergarten class after the 2 week break. I'm room mom this year and am happy this party is over (however I'm pretty sure the party was a success) The kids rotated through 4 stations (finger print art on a winter/kindergarten poem, decorate cookies & make home made applesauce, make pine cone bird feeders, and make an icicle ornament) Below is Ri with the finger print poem craft. She just LOVES school, her classmates, and her teacher. She already has all her sight words mastered and is reading at a 1st grade level.... we hope this love of school continues for a long time!

Kyle on the other hand would rather play with his cars! But, he does like school and is extremely well behaved for his teachers and catches on very quickly. No matter how you look at it, he'd still rather be kicking a ball! Last week Kyle asked me the following, "Mommy, did you know that both Santa and Jesus can see me all of the time?" I just love these thoughtful 3 year old questions! My response should have been, "better believe it buster, so watch out!" but instead all I could do was smile and praise him for such a thoughtful question:-)

The only other event of the week was our first call from Nurse Amy to come get Riley from school this past Friday. The poor little thing had a 101 temp and it kept her down all weekend:-( fortunately, nothing ever came of the fever and she was fever free on Sunday and back to school on Monday!

As mentioned above, Ri just loves school so I'm going to try to remember to take pix of her art work and school work more often (especially since I'm known to pitch anything in my line of sight when I want things clean!) Below is a free writing assignment they did in school (sorry for the lousy color - the paper is white, not brown!)

White Christmas

2010-12-28T21:06:00.009-05:00

Merry Christmas!! Wow, what a week! The kids were snowed out of school the last two days before their 2 week vacation and then we got even more snow on Christmas day! So far, these snows have not been like last years snow, but still fun!

The 2 week break has been a blast! We have had playdates everyday, sometimes 2 in a day! And today Riley joined Addie at the movies to see Yogi Bear! However, Riley tells me everyday how much she misses school but she has had a lot of fun seeing her old friends from preschool this week!

We spent Christmas eve at Darcy's house feasting on Chinese food and opening presents with Grandma and Papa! We are now proud owners of our first gaming system, the Wii, and Kyle is OBSESSED!!! Riley is a great bowler and her over all goal is to beat Papa next time he is in town!

Eric tried to get a pix of the kids first view of the tree after Santa visited, however Kyle was moving way to fast and we only got a shot of Riley!

Look at the excitement!! And this is just over ear muffs!
This is Christmas Eve at Darcy's - Kyle makes a great "baby" for the girls.

Kyle is rockin out on Christmas eve with the new guitar that Lexa gave him!

Christmas morning (our kids never got dressed!) Grandma, Riley, and Bebe

Grandma got Taz a fake mouse (that looks very real!!) and he loves it!

Buster loved his new HUGE bone, but it was too big for one sitting so he brought it out back and buried it... right before it snowed 6 inches!

Kyle LOVES his new turtle pillow pet - good job Santa!

The Groovy Girl that Riley is holding is dressed as a Girl Scout and her name is, "Responsible Rilee"!! Sooo cute!! (Thanks Becky - great call!)

Riley loves her new Horse - she named her Cherry!! Thank you Bebe!

Kyle not only loves the Wii, he also loves his leapster - thanks Santa!

Santa also brought Kerplunk and Kyle and Papa had some serious games going on!

Tracy and Eric - very full from a Great Christmas Dinner at our house!

Holiday Houpla

2010-12-24T14:41:00.005-05:00

The Surratt kids are loving the holiday season and with the big day upon us, I figured I should run though the last couple weeks of fun!

Riley got to make gingerbread houses in kindergarten right before the snow came in! What fun!! They used milk cartons and Ri, as always, was very meticulous and her house was beautiful! I got to go in and help the kids out and it was a blast. Ri's classmates are so cute and Mrs. Sullivan is wonderful! This was the second time I've gone into the class room (I was mystery reader before Thanksgiving - we read "The Ugly Pumpkin") and I'm officially, Ms. Riley's Mom. LOL

Santa came driving through the neighborhood Late one night on a fire truck again this year! Kyle is at the age where this experience just may be better than Christmas day itself! He spent 30 minutes running to the front door in anticipation and then was in awe when Santa final drove by! Notice below, the kids are both in "feetie" pjs... this is a requirement lately - feeties or bust!

Again feeties

Here is the monkey in a bucket - often, I just don't ask why:-)
Again this year, we went on our own tacky lights tour with hot chocolate and santa hats!

We also had a Mom's club holiday party - below is 'baby' Ben and Kyle. Can you see how filthy Kyle is? All from a single candy cane - it is amazing!

The Holidays are Here!

2010-12-13T21:16:00.003-05:00

The house is decorated, presents purchased (and some even wrapped!) and Scout, our Christmas Elf is back! The kids wake up every morning ready to look for Scout and he is in a new and fun spot every day! And to top of the holiday season, now Santa has been seen as well! We attempted to go to Bass Pro, but Santa had not yet arrived and the wait was already 2 hours! Instead we tracked him down at Va Center and the kids had a nice long chat with Old St. Nick about how good they've been. Ri asked for new markers and Kyle would like more cars!

Last weekend we went to see a great production of the Velveteen Rabbit - the kids loved it (as did I!) You can see the set behind the kids below - beautiful show!

We have also been getting into the holiday spirit by making lots of goodies to share with our friends as well as cinnamon ornaments, which the kids are decorating below.

Riley is still loving gymnastics and Daisys! She looks forward to each weekly - and our group of Daisy's are wonderful! This past week we began our partnership with the Richmond Ronald McDonald House. A few of us moms had already visited to determine the best way our girls could help. This 1st visit for the girls consisted of a tour and a better understanding of what the RM House is there for, deliver of some of the RM House 'wish list' items, dumping of all the Pop Tops we've collected so far (please collect for us - the girls are soooo thrilled to bring as many as possible!) and a craft to leave at the house to help decorate the house for the holidays!

Our craft (finger print trees)!

We hope everyone is enjoying the season!

Thanksgiving Feast of Fun

2010-11-29T14:27:00.005-05:00

Riley and Kyle want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving (a little late!)!
We had a wonderful day at Bebe's house and have tons to be thankful for, especially our wonderful families!

The kindergarten classes at Cool Spring celebrated Thanksgiving through various performances and then a thanksgiving feast! At a typical dinner, Riley is known to goggle up turkey, rolls, etc (NOT!), but it must have been the 9am feast that threw here and all she ate was pop corn! She may not have been a huge fan of the feast but she did GREAT in her performance! Riley had the "Mercy Me!" part and performed it in a huge way!

Below Riley is standing with 2 of her best buds - Addison also had the "mercy me" part and Carter got to yell "Freedom"! Too cute (I attempted to upload a video at the bottom of this entry... however our computer is on its last leg, so who knows... I've put in my plea to Santa...) Kyle also had his Thanksgiving Feast! Below he is sitting with Jacob and Madeline.

Riley had early release that day, so she and Addie came with Eric and I to Kyle's party!

Theres the boy sitting nicely on his circle:-) He LOVES his teachers (as to we!) And as always, after shopping bright and early, we decorated for xmas on Black Friday! Kyle was chompin at the bit all day to decorate the tree - this season is going to be a blast!

We also attempted Christmas card pix - this one got cut!

Riley's kindergarten thanksgiving day performance:

Great Wolf bound

2010-11-21T20:37:00.004-05:00

We've had a busy and exciting couple weeks! This year we gave Ri the choice of a birthday party or Great Wolf Lodge and she picked a fun, fun time at Great Wolf!! Riley also lost her 1st legit tooth (meaning she didn't knock this one out accidentally!)! The tooth fairy left her a gold coin and fairy dust all over (her favorite part!)

We got to GW before dinner on Friday and played for a few hours in the water and then ate dinner in the room:

After dinner, we went to the lobby for story time, a magic show, and the big clock tower show:

Sooo tired, but still they stayed up till 10:30pm!

The next morning we were back at the park by 9am and stayed until nearly 3pm! The kids loved every minute! Riley couldn't get enough of all the water slide, Lexa loved the wave pool and the big water bucket, and Kyle loved it all (however after going down the big slides once each, he was done with the big slides!)

The big bucket - the girs are under all that water!

Riley is still loving school. Her teacher is wonderful and Ri looks forward to going to school each and every day! Her first report card was great and she is reading above expectations - every day we see huge leaps in what she is capable of reading - it is amazing! We've also gotten to know a bunch of the older kids that live near us b/c of the bus stop. Riley and Kyle both love the big kids and have a blast playing with them daily! Riley is now crossing the monkey bars easily and Kyle can pump his legs on the swing.

At the playground!

Happy 6th Birthday Riley!!

2010-10-31T21:21:00.005-04:00

October is always such a fun and exciting month!! Not only do we get dressed up often for halloween, it is also our baby girls birthday!! Riley turned 6 this week and what an amazing week it was! She was so spoiled with fabulous thoughtful gifts and almost tolerated all the attention!! Seeing that Ri does NOT like to be center of attention (or even dress up) birthday/Halloween time is an emotional week for her:-) She has been having mini melt downs lately - they typically result after dropping a pencil or not being able to get her shoes on fast enough - you know, important things! But they don't last long and she is always so apologetic for losing it:-) This past weekend Grandma and Papa watched the kids while we went to see SCI for a couple shows. Riley had one little melt down on Grandma and while crying she said, "This keeps happening to me!!" (meaning the melt downs! LOL) She is sooo cute and quite wise! We are hoping patience and more sleep helps!

Kyle got Riley Steelers Scrubs/PJs for her bday
This year Riley wanted cupcakes with sugar toppers - easy!

YUMM!

Ri had a fun and exciting birthday - got her nails painted at the salon, out to dinner at Red Robin, and hot her EARS Pierced!!! She picked Hello Kitty earrings and they are adorable! She was such a trooper and didn't even shed a tear! The night after her bday the entire family came over for cupcakes and dinner - fun times!!
Halloween!! Here we have Little Red Ridding hood and the scariest Big Bad Wolf ever!

Look at the beautiful and sparkly angel!

This is Rileys buddy Addie. When I asked Ri earlier in the day what Addie was dressing as, she told me a Leprechaun:-) (LOL she is a Leopard! too funny!)

The loot!

Pumpkin Everything!!

2010-10-23T22:47:00.005-04:00

October has been sooo much fun!! We've visited the pumpkin patch 2 times, continued with soccer and tennis in beautiful weather, hosted our annual chili party, visited the police station for a tour, attended Octoberfest in the neighborhood, and visited Grandma and Papa in NC!
and just think, the coming week holds even more fun!!

Our annual trip to Ashland Berry Farm for pumpkin picking was a blast, although HOT! This was our 6th year going with the Lamberts and every year is more fun as the kids get bigger and more independent!

Kyle trying to pick up a HUGE pumpkin!

Our little toothless wonder! Ri is still loving school, however finally had her first color change (which means she was not behaving) however she still managed to come home with only green (obviously the best color!) Riley continues to be hard core 'type A' so we find it amusing at this point that she was finally repremanded in school, whereas all her best buds have color changes nearly daily. It was such a big deal that Ri's color was moved, her friends told their moms, and they told me - however Ri had already filled me in (tears included!) The great part about Riley is that she never had to tell us... by the end of the day, she was back to green so her color change was more of a warning and her teacher doesn't pass those on to the parents!

Eric carried 12 pumpkins this year!

Riley's favorite thing to do during soccer is to play with her buddie Elena but since Elena was prepping for her super fun pump it up party the kids went to today, Riley spent the morning taking pix of Kyle with my phone!

Kyle's last soccer practice was today:-( He has LOVED playing and is looking forward to the spring! Last week he dominated and scored 5 goals. Today there were only 2 or 3 but he was a little lost... off in space a little! He is still a super sweet and affectionate kid however testing us somewhat lately!!

Riley is loving Daisy's! We held the investiture ceremony last week and the girls got their pins and first patches! We had a great group of super sweet girls!

Our second trip to the pumpkin patch had a sand box full of corn!! So much fun!

Riley has continued to enjoy tennis and so has Kyle - his favorite thing to do is watch high school foot ball players finish up practice during Rileys tennis practice!

Golf-widows Weekend

2010-09-28T21:45:00.005-04:00

As the majority of fall weeks go, ours was packed full of fun!
Before the rain came in this week, we spent a lot of time outside! Eric left for a golf trip on Thursday so it was all about me and the kids and we did everything we could to keep it fun! Friday night was a social event for Kyle's school. The event was at Crump Park and Johnathan the Juggler (Ri's Favorite guy!) and the hot dog guy were there and the kids played hard with their school friends and teachers! After Crump park, we dropped Riley off for a sleep over with Lexa at Uncle Mikes house and Nate came over to play with Kyle - it was a fun and late night!

Riley and Kyle playing at Crump Park

I get dizzy looking at this pix!
Kyle is LOVING soccer - he still thinks he rocks at the game and honestly, he is getting better and better each week.

Down he goes in this pix - this happens often! He really throws himself into the game!

Look at his face - so intense! Grayson is the boy in yellow with the ball - he is one of K's best buds from school.

The boy in blue is really good - I over head him tell his dad that he was "giving the other kids a chance" once when his dad questioned why he wasn't in the mix at that moment. But look at Kyle, trying hard!

Kyle with his two Buds, Grayson and Nate.

That afternoon, we crashed the backyard of the Scholtens - There were 6 of the 8 golf widows and a couple other friends - I think it totalled 19 kids!

This pix is Riley and one of Jill and Byrons beautiful girls chillin out!

Falling into Fall

2010-09-19T22:17:00.006-04:00

Kyle continues to LOVE soccer - week two was a huge success and he proceeded to tell us on the way home that he "is really good at soccer" and "knows everything about soccer". We hope his skills some day measure up to his confidence:-)

Riley had another great week at school - still all Green (relating to their behavior chart). She has the schedule down pat due to the daily songs she sings with her class about the various activities they are doing. There is a lot of singing, which Ri loves! She has not been willing to buy lunch yet, but did buy icecream the past 2 tuesday's (with our permission - she is our rule abider!)

We spent a good amount of time at the park and ran into 2 of Ri's classmates this weekend and had a great dinner with the Berniers. Hannah may have her 1st crush and Kyle was a complete gentleman - even when Hannah wouldn't let him go outside b/c she wanted him to stay in and play with her! Sooo cute!!

Riley holding baby Sean

Riley, Hanna, and Kyle at dinner
Daisy's started this week and we have a great group of girls! None are in Riley's kindergarten class so this is another great way to get to know more girls in the area! Ri was crazy at our first meeting - wild, silly, and outgoing - Daisy's may be her thing!

Silly Faces!!

We also started a new playgroup on Wednesdays and next week have another Tuesday after school playgroup starting up again too! No rest for the weary!

But the most fun of the week for us was back to school night! Riley's teacher, Mrs. Sullivan, seems wonderful and we are all excited about the year!

Kindergarten here we come!

2010-09-13T13:59:00.010-04:00

WOW! What a week of FIRSTS!! Kindergarten, pre-school, biking, bubbles, and soccer! Fall is in the air and the kids are loving every moment!

Riley started Kindergarten on September 7th - also Darcy's birthday! Happy Birthday Aunt Darcy!!! The morning was surprisingly relaxing and everyone was just chilling... we had about 10 min or so and we headed outside to take some pix and stand at the corner to wait for the bus... as we began to take a pix, what rolls on by... yes, our BUS!! Well, we made it on the bus, but no time for tears, fears... or even pix!

Riley's first day was fabulous! She loves her teacher and knows of a couple kids in her class. None of the kids she regularly plays with are in her class but this will be a great way of getting to know more kids! Her teacher is super sweet and has already begun sending us daily 'snap shots' of the day which explain everything the kids did during the day. We are all sure it is going to be a great year!

Breakfast on the first morning of Kindergarten and preschool! The only pix I got that morning!

I may have missed the getting on the bus pix, but I didn't miss the getting off! Ri and I spent quite a while chatting about the day and having a snack. She had so much to say - I know this is going to be a great year for her!

Kyle has an exciting day too - his first day of preschool with a new class and teacher. His teacher seems Great and he is already super happy to have moved to Ms. Katy's class!

This is our do-over pix day! day 2 of kindergarten - still all smiles!

They really do love each other!!

Not only is Riley in kindergarten now, she also can blow bubbles (she is obsessed with gum) and ride her bike with no training wheels!!! We bribed her to try riding with 2 packs of gum... we never claimed to be above bribery!

Kyle also had some first this week - he is now playing soccer with Strikers and LOVES it!

Look at that smile!

He really seems to pay attention and want to play and do well.
Riley enjoyed hanging and will enjoy next week even more when one of her buddies, Elena, is there to play with (sister of K's buddy Grayson)

Score!
I love this shot - it looks like such good form, but really he missed the ball:-)

Bush Gardens & Birthdays

2010-08-30T12:56:00.004-04:00

The crazy heat has finally broke (for a couple days anyway!) however that didn't happen before we hit Bush Gardens for the day! I had surgery on both feet a couple weeks ago so before I had to be off my feet and school started, the 4 of us spent an ENTIRE day playing at Bush Gardens (9:30am-9:30pm) and man did we have fun (even in the heat!)

We started off riding all the rides in the Sesame Street area (which you can probably tell b/c we aren't covered in sweat yet in the early pix!) - the kids had fun but were ready for more so we took on the rest of the park!

I remember the ropes from when I was a kid - they weren't as scary now... for me! Riley and Kyle took them on with force and only lost a shoe through the ropes a couple times:-)

The swings are the only thing I can't stomach but both kids needed an adult rider, so off we went - this pix was the only time I opened my eyes through the entire ride. The kids Loved it (however I'm not going back on!)

This pix is on the sky ride - we left the stroller in the car till nearly 4pm and took the sky ride and the train all over the park. After we grabbed the stroller, we headed to Germany and enjoyed some pudding (and beer) in the A/C and watched the German show. Riley and Kyle were asked to dance but didn't want to go - then later someone in the show asked me to dance, which I did - this gave Ri the confidence she needed and in the next number, she was asked to dance again and performed the chicken dance like a master:-)

Before Germany, we headed back to see Elmo and cool off in the water - our kids danced like no one was watching:-) We even hung out to see the fireworks - they were GREAT! However, we watched them from our car and then bolted on home! Such a great day!!

This past week little Lexa turned SIX years old! She had a pool party which was so much fun on Saturday and got her ears pierced earlier in the week!
Lexa did such a great job introducing her cousins to all her friends and everyone played so well together (however, these three still love playing together more than with anyone else!) Some of Lexa's friends will be going to Riley's school in September so it was great to meet some more girls and hopefully that will be more familiar faces for Ri! Our next post will include First day of School pictures!!!

Beach Babes

2010-08-12T10:08:00.005-04:00

I swear the beach and the weather at the beach gets better every year!! We spent the last week of July at Emerald Isle Beach and what a week! The kids had a room full of bunk beds and learned early in the week to go wake up a grand parent at 6:30 instead of a parent - good kids, smart kids!! In fact, when Papa was the one woken up, he gave the kids chocolate cake for breakfast! Yumm:-)

Everyone had a blast! Wonderful dinners, tons of sun, loads of relaxing and even a couple of rounds of golf for some (Grandma, Papa, Eric, and Justin). Darcy, Bebe, the kids and me chilled on the beach instead of golf and everyone was Happy!

The kids loved playing in the waves and sand and especially loved the sand bar! No signs of sharks this year (thank God!) and the water was perfect temp for swimming! Enjoy the pix...

Daddy and his baby girl

Little beach babes

Only one tooth missing... for now - but the dentist said many are getting ready to come out!

Doesn't the background look fake??

Tracy and her monkeys

This truck was the biggest hit on the beach - aside from the putter that the O'Sullivans gave Kyle. He actually dug little holes in the sand to put into!!

Our 1st boogie board experience

Grandma and Papa brought this game (can't recall what it is called) The kids loved it! Kyle amazed us with his arm - -hope this continues as he grows up! Justin also bring the Wii to play. This was my kids 1st exposure to the Wii... they just may be asking Santa for the Wii this year!

RUNNING like always!!

Look Mom, No teeth!

Riding the waves - All the kids loved the water, but I think Kyle wanted in the most and the longest

My beautiful baby girl!

Dog Days!

2010-07-28T18:49:00.003-04:00

With temperature has being over 100, we've spent a lot of time at the pool lately! Both kids have become great swimmers! Riley is now swimming the length of the pool and she has decided to join the swim team next year! (if next summer is this hot, Eric and I are going to be miserable at the meets!!) Kyle is officially swimming - last week he rescued a toy dinosaur, tread water to give the toy to a friend, and then swam back to the wall. The first time he lifted his head for a breath and swam a substantial distance, he exclaimed, "Am I FIVE now??!!" As it turns out, only 5 year olds can swim on their own!

We had a great visit with the Grinnells last week as well - however I remembered to bring my camera down stairs but forgot to take an pix! Drew and Kyle got along great and Sam is such a cutie!!

The kids have loved growing our 1st garden ever and can get enough of our fresh cucumbers!! (they still won't eat the squash or tomatoes but we have hope!) The corn turned our pretty good too and are cantaloupe are coming along nicely!

Riley and Kyle also enjoyed a great week of Backyard Bible Camp (Kids Give Back)! I'm going to attempt to upload a video:-) We have tons of beach pix to come soon!!

Summer Fun!

2010-07-07T19:51:00.007-04:00

July! It is already JULY!! We have had such a fun and exhausting summer so far - and the best way to tell the summer to date is through pix!

We started our adventures in Vermont! Cousin Danny got married to adorable Tori and the wedding was beautiful!! Aunt Rita and Uncle Vin really know how to throw a party and as always, the views of Vermont were amazing! Such a perfect setting for a beautiful wedding! The kids were GREAT in the car! Who knew that all we needed were old school CD walkmen to keep everyone happy and chill for a 10 hour ride!

We all loved seeing all the cousins too! Since the last time we have all been together, FOUR baby boys (including Kyle!) have been born. Kyle and James hit it off within minutes! They ran and played so hard that Kyle puked! but kept on running! Kyle still asks to play with James! Too cute!

James and Kyle in Aunt Rita's yard

Look at that setting behind Riley - wow!

The week following Vermont we headed down to NC to see Grandma and Papa for the annual Member/Guest tournament! I didn't take pix but the kids had a blast swimming in the pool and biking all over the neighborhood! Riley has improved her swimming so much and Kyle is a little fish in his own right - too bad he can't pull his head out of the water - he'd be on swim team! The guys didn't win but played really good golf!

The following weekend we were actually in town! It is a good thing too, b/c we finally got to join in on all the fun of one of Aidens birthday's! Happy 6 birthday big guy! The party was at a Mad Science Lab and the kids had a GREAT time. Below, Ri is floating on a disk and twirling all around the room!

And of course this past weekend was the 4th of July! We had so much fun on Papa's boat, in the pool, and watching the fireworks over the water on the boat!

snuggle time with papa!

Matching suits:-)

Swimming in the Bay

Tubing! Kyle was the first to give it a shot but Riley loved it most of all! Where as Kyle and Lexa cried at the first big bump, Riley yelled "yippee!!"

Grandma had a super idea this year... we boated out to watch the fireworks and after, Papa dropped us off at the pre-parked car. The ladies drove the kids home and Papa, Eric, and Justin drove the boat home in the pitch black night:-) We all made it home safe!

Grandma and the kiddos!

Kyle's first Flying Squirrell game! smushed between 2 doll babies, Ruthie and Cerys!

Riley at the game - the kids hung out happy till the game ended (10:30 - not bad!) Cotton candy and icecream helped!

Nutzy!

Riley stayed with Lexa down in NC this week so Kyle has been an only child... it is a good thing he has a sibling b/c he definitely needs someone to talk to! He has been a non stop chatter box since we got home and has been cracking us up. Here he got into Riley hello kitty stamps and made himself "look like Morris' daddy" (a friend from school) "who has lots of tattoos"!! (update: I saw Morris' daddy this morning and Kyle's tattoo's below don't even come close to the ink this guy has on him:-) LOL!)

The end to many things...

2010-06-10T21:58:00.004-04:00

It may be the beginning of the summer, but this week was PACKED with the end of many things/events/times for the Surratt Pack! The rush of summer is on and I think the best way of explaining our week is through pix... enjoy...

Here is Kyle - our little fish! He is nearly a danger to himself in the pool... we really need to get this kid into swim lessons - he is FEARLESS! We spent the afternoon at Bebe's house saying goodbye to her amazing house and pool! We have had soooo many great times there and will always have those memories. Most importantly, we'll have tons of new memories now that Bebe will live so close to us!!Riley graduated from Preschool! Her school put on a GREAT show at Cool Spring Elementary and Riley walked across stage on her own and sang beautifully!
Ri and her man, Conner. Conner is the cutie who gave Riley a monster solid chocolate kiss for valentines day... we are keeping on eye on this one:-) He is moving too fast for our taste:-)

Riley and 3 other girls had a little solo where they waved rainbows in front of the stage while singing a rainbow song!
Kyle and his buddy Grayson from school

The rest of the weekend was spent at 2 birthday parties and watching Lexa perform in her gymnastics recital. She is such a GREAT gymnast!

A lot of babies were born recently as well and we brought meals to 4 of them this weekend. Luckily we were able to spend a little time with Berkeley and her crew! The girls loved holding baby David!

Berk, Grant, and baby David - soooo cute!!

We also had our last tennis class for the season. As it turns out, both girls are pretty good and really enjoy tennis! Yippee!!

Kyle at tennis - he can't wait till he is old enough to jump into the action! soon, very soon!

Riley also got to get all dressed up for pix day at dance class, therefore also her last dance class!

She is going to miss the recital but I got some video of the girls during practice this night (not the official dress rehearsal, we miss that too) and I'll try to post those later.

The best part of dance for Riley is definitely being able to wear make up for these pix!!

DelFest 2010

2010-06-01T22:26:00.005-04:00

Year two - DelFest, Awesome! We had such a great time again this year and even though I was skeptical of the rain, I'm in again for next year! When we 1st pulled up, the skies opened...

This is us sitting in the car, praying the rain would stop so the next 4 days wouldn't be miserable! See the rain behind us... there was LOTS!

The rain died down for a moment, so the adult jumped out and attempted to put tents up and got very wet! The kids played in the tents for a while till another storm came through and Riley had a spell of PTSD as a result of last years storm!! She got through it and below is a pix of the girls after the storm blew through and music was on! (They are dancing and shaking their booties!)

Eric and Justin out at Music Meadow (Lexa and Kyle in the left corner playing)

We got Riley and Lexa their own hoops this year - they are definitely future hoop dancers!
Cool man Kyle at the side stage taking in some bluegrass!

The kids played soooo well and loved the music and tent living!

Our hooping queens! Aside from the hooping, Riley favorite part of the trip was the cotton candy they had the last night we were there.

This is Riley late night (nearly 10pm! Unheard of back home!) She also slept till 9am every day - also unheard of back home!

E & K chillin!

Ya-Mon!

2010-05-28T08:29:00.004-04:00

We are literally heading out the door in an hour for our next adventure, so I thought I'd better tell this adventure before we leave!!

This past week Grandma came and hung with the kids while we were in Jamaica with a bunch of great friends! The kids were wonderful and LOVED having Grandma watch them (and missed Papa so much - who is in Albany with FEMA) Grandma spoiled them rotten, including throwing them their very own tiki party (see pix below). They walked and hit the park daily, went to Red Robin (with Bebe too! what a treat!) and McDonald's and even got to watch the Squequal again! (Alvin and the Chipmunks for those of you who aren't up on kids films!)

The BEST part about this trip (aside from the TONS of fun we had), we didn't have to worry at all and knew they were loving every moment of time with Grandma!!
Enjoy the pix - since we were away, I only have one of the kids that was sent to me on my phone while we were away!!

Tiki Party!

Last day at the resort

Our view from our room - YES, this is what our patio looked at all day, every day!
Also our view!

The last evening - thank you Stephanie for all the great dresses!! This was my fav!

Day one at the resort - on our patio

Again, our view -

however if you look close, you can see Eric having a drink on the floaty thing in the middle!

The entire group - SOOOO much fun! time to plan the next trip -

anyone interested in joining us??

Oh how they grow!

2010-05-12T20:03:00.006-04:00

We have had all sorts of bunny commotion... but those pix won't load, so that story will have to wait till another time when the computer doesn't want to hate me!

However, I realized after my last post that Kyle had a complete update, but I haven't discussed all of Riley's growth and new discoveries in the past 4 months!

She, like Kyle, has shot right up! I'm not sure how much she has grown, but everything is way too short and our rolly-polly little girl is no where to be found. Riley has discovered that she loves to bike (with training wheels still, but not for long!) roller skate, jump rope, and play tennis! She is still taking dance class and loves it but misses gymnastics more (so we'll be back at the gym come the fall). She is also reading, adding and subtracting proficiently, can tie bows, and work the seat belt (finally!). She is still super sweet and nearly too compassionate and is the mother hen to both Kyle and Lexa as always!

We had kindergarten registration recently and Riley (and me!) are soooo excited about going to school! She loves the idea that school is 5 days a week instead of her current 2!

My favorite Riley quote of late: I was taking her temp - she had a quick virus, nothing to worry about. When I looked at the thermometer, Ri said, "Does it say I'm not going anywhere?!" She cracks us up!

Riley at the strawberry patch

Riley and Kyle at 3 Lakes Park

Ready for a ride (this was back in February - look how cute they are with teeth... I'll get to that story some time!)

Monkey!
at the strawberry patch

Costumes came in today! Riley still doesn't enjoy play dress up, so as you can tell, this is very much a forced smile! We are very excited about cousin Danny getting married this summer in Vermont! however the wedding is the same day as the recital, so this may be Ri's only costume wear (which she is totally fine with!!)

Happy 3rd Birthday Monkey-man!!

2010-05-10T20:16:00.005-04:00

The Surratt Pack is BACK! After a 4 month break we have decided to come back... I'm not sure what happened... I got busy, got bored, got sidetracked... but either way, I was tired of detailing out the craziness of our weeks. We stay busy. That is a fact and I got tired of writing the blow by blow of our weeks when really, what I should be doing is detailing out all the GREAT stuff the kids do and say - so they can come back to this some day (or I can!) and remember all the super sweet moments of their little lives. Which is why we are BACK! I went looking for a specific pix the other day on this blog and got sucked in on all the memories... the kids have grown soooo much even since we started this blog and thats what this blog is all about - watching Riley and Kyle grow and turn into amazing people!

So... Happy Third Birthday little man!! We can't belive you are THREE!!! You are amazing! Fearless (which is why you have no teeth, I'll get back to that story!), loving, sweet, compassionate, and sooo full of life!

Kyle is now in the 75th % for height (38.25 inches) and 50th % in weight (33 lbs). I was worried about this balance (Kyle falls ALOT - also back to the teeth story, which I'll get to in the coming days!) so I asked Dr. Chun about it. The Doc had kyle do a bunch of tests (jumping, balancing etc) As it turns out, Kyle is more agile and more daring than he should be for his age (and THAT was the diagnosis!) Kyle is also speaking beyond his age and his comprehension is excellent (we, the parents, are not sure we believe that one... his listening skills with us is not where we'd like it!) Not long ago, Darcy asked Kyle, "do you ever have a thought you DON'T say out loud?" Kyle paused, shook his head and replied, "nope!" and kept on running!

All in all, K is a love bug and we are not sure how we got soooo lucky!!

K looking oh so serious!

Pinata - remind in future years NOT to get a pinata!
Kyle sporting his new CARs shirt!
Kyle and the Lightning McQueen cake

The CAKE! Months back, I helped organize the Thumbs Up Ball in honor/memory of CJ Reynolds, a 4 year old little girl in our area who lost her battle with cancer. At the Ball, we had a GREAT silent auction. And as we all know, Grandma LOVES silent auctions. Grandma bid on and won a cake (an expensive cake!) from Cakes by Favi and this is what we asked her to make! It definitely surpasses the racetrack sheet cake I was going to make but thats what is coming next year:-) Thanks Grandma!!

We had a little close friends/family party for Kyle. It was hot so there was lots of water play, pizza, icecream sundaes and of course cake!

Here comes the slip-n-slide! Lexa and Aiden were CRAZY on this thing!

Look at where Ri is... beyond the slide... Look at Lexa's face... we ALL know Riley being covered in mud and wet grass is NOT going to go over well:-)

Post party play!

Happy 2010!!!

2010-01-06T21:01:00.005-05:00

Riley and Kyle want to wish everyone a very Happy New Year!!

Christmas and the new years celebrations were great around here! Christmas was spent with our wonderful family, kicking back and enjoying great food, tons of wonderful and thoughtful gifts, and lots of fun!

Grandma and Papa came to town and spent the week between us and Darcy's house and volunteered to hang with the kids while the adults went off to see Dark Star Orchestra in Baltimore. The kids had a blast - ate pizza and ice cream sundaes and watched Alvin and the Chipmunks (the 1st on DVD, however the grandparents took them to the 2nd as well - it rated high by young and old!)

Hopefully this new year will everyone happiness and joy (and help me get caught up on the blog)

New Years Celebration!

Happy 2010 - look at those little booties shake! Who is that guy?? Kyle, Bebe, & Riley on Christmas The new art desk - xmas morning The new bike!Race time! Christmas Eve
This is Scout! Our scout elf that keeps track of the kids during the holidays and reports back to Santa each night. Finding Scouts new location every morning is the highlight of the kids day!

Waiting for Santa to drive through on the fire truck

Let It SNOW!!

2009-12-20T08:21:00.005-05:00

13 plus inches! Yup, you got it, Richmond finally was hit with some REAL snow! For the first time since the little Surratts have been around and they are LOVING it! Riley, as we discovered last year at the Wintergreen snow park, is a Dare Devil and Loves the hill in our back yard and Kyle has jumped on board this year as well... however that was no surprise since he copies EVERYTHING Ri does right now! In fact, we have forbid Ri from claiming 'not to like' any type of food because when she does, Kyle decides he doesn't like that food either, even when it is his Favorite item!! The kids have had a blast with friends in the neighborhood and Eric and Tracy have as well. The Surratt Pack has checked out from real life and has enjoyed being snowed in:-)

I'm not sure how this many weeks has passed without blogging... I'm going to blame it on the virus that we caught. Not the one that make Riley puke the other night (she was so cautious of vomiting only in the blue puke bowl!) but the virus that our computer caught - it was a week long of cleaning and ultimately reformatting!

In the past month we have had a wonderful Thanksgiving at Bebe's with fabulous friends and of course amazing family, we have had a school thanksgiving celebration that first showed the newly terrifying stage fright that Ri has discovered, many playgroups, the jingle bell jamboree, a couple b-day parties, a couple illnesses, our neighborhood holiday party, a mini dance recital, and soooo much more! I hope it can all be detailed with pix, b/c it would take pages to detail!! Over all, the holiday season is fully with us and there is lots of love to go around!

We were not as on top of sending xmas cards this year, so if you didn't get one - here it is (taken by Gil Hires!!):

To the Core

2009-11-23T19:50:00.004-05:00

As always, the Surratt Pack has been busy! Last week, we had our first teacher/parent conferences at the new school. Riley was described by her teacher as "extremely sweet and respectful", "above average", having "great penmanship", "loved by everyone in the class", and a "giggle bunny". Over all, it was a great meeting:-) Kyle's was also glowing. His teachers adore him and find him to be super sweet and listen very well (we are not sure why that doesn't occur at home!) He is ready to move up to the next class and should do just as well with the bigger kids.

In the past couple weeks we have stayed busy. Eric cooked his annual massive batch of chili for a bunch of our friends and we had a fun afternoon/evening at the house catching up with old friends. Tracy helped plan and coordinate "Kids Give Back II" which was held this past weekend. The kids made Angels to put on their xmas trees (b/c they have been angels all year helping others) and also made a ton of wreaths to deliver to Ashland Convalescent Center.

Over all the weather has been so-so, but we have spend many days on the playground soaking up the last bit of decent weather. Riley is also still enjoying dance class and Kyle Romp-n-roll and both playgroup. Enjoy the pix and Happy Thanksgiving (early!)!!

Riley, Kyle, and Lexa at the Childrens Museum hunting for bones

Kyle dressed as a clown at the museum's stage
The Museum is all decked out for the holiday already including this cool sleigh

Baby Ben, Ri, and Ruthie playing in the leaves after delivering the wreaths

Riley playing in the leaves

Riley and Laura waiting to deliver the wreaths (didn't they come out great!?)

Riley all ready for the holidays!

Kyle putting his new Cars underwear on his head.... I stopped asking 'why' a long time ago!

Autumn leaves

2009-11-08T21:42:00.004-05:00

Our baby girl is FIVE!! It has been the fastest and best 5 years of our lives because of the joy she (and Kyle!) bring every day! I tend to drone on about the activities the kids have been up to however in celebration of our little girls 5th year, it is important to mention what an amazing person Riley is turning into. Aside from being smart and adorable, she is compassionate and caring and way too insightful for her age! We are so lucky to have such an outstanding little girl and are looking forward to the coming years to see what an amazing young lady she turns into!

And back to the last couple weeks... Halloween monopolized out lives for a week! We had the neighborhood halloween parade, a halloween party with the moms club, dance class, and Grace and then topped the week off with a visit to Ashland Convalescent Center for one last Halloween parade. And then of course was the big night! The kids had a blast - there is no stopping the girls and Kyle did his best to keep up!

Riley has had 2 more fun birthday parties for friends and also had her last couple tball games. It was a fun ride, but she plans to take a couple seasons off to explore her love of gymnastics, tennis, and dance;-) Choices have to be made, but hopefully she'll play again later in life!

Riley also had her 5 year check up. We get to have another appointment with the peds eye doctor in a few weeks... between Tracy and Eric, it is inevitable that the kids will wear glasses at some point! Other than that, all is great. She is 43 inches tall and 44 pounds. This puts her well above 50% on both parts.

Kyle is as sweet as ever! He hangs tough with the big kids, but is beyond excited to have a new buddy his age who just moved in across the street! Kyle fought some sort of stomach bug for a few days and then ended up with a nasty ear infection in the middle of the week... but nothing that would keep him down! Kyle also started a Romp-n-roll class and much to Tracy's surprise, can follow directions very well (when it is not Tracy giving the direction!!).

And most importantly, Happy Birthday Bebe!! Today is Bebe's 73 birthday! We love you!
Enjoy the pix:

Calebs birthday party (Nike shirt) - Ri is on the right

Caleb was one of the 1st kids who befriended Ri at her new school and they adore each other.

The Yankees! The Yankees! Coach Charlie and his assistants, Brad Best and Eric (daddy) were the best!Riley FINALLY started running for real by the end of the season!

Up at bat and all pink!

Riley at Laurens bday party

Lauren is the other friend Riley had instantly at the new school and they too adore each other!

Kyle (frog) sorting through his loot. We told them they could pick 1 item to eat and they were cool with that... strange... never thought that would work!

Ri (bride) and her loot!

Riley & Kyle with the Red Robin on Riley's 5th birthday!

The bride and wonder woman!

Riley, Emma, Lexa, Kyle, and Ruthie

The Frog in the bounce house

The bride in the bounce house

It's not easy being green.

Jumpin into 5!

2009-10-24T21:12:00.005-04:00

What a week!! Our baby girl is about to turn FIVE!! On Saturday we celebrated Riley's birthday at All Smiles - All American Gymnastics with a ton of her friends! Riley surprised us all by enjoying being the center of attention and doing everything asked of her on all the gymnastics equipment! She had a blast, as did all of her friends and brother! Riley received sooo many wonderful gifts and loved spending time with Grandma, Papa, Bebe, and Aunt Becky. Thank you Everyone for making her birthday so special!

We are now in Halloween mode and will have tons of pix of our little Bride and Frog!!

Birthday beginnings

2009-10-21T21:19:00.006-04:00

The birthday frenzy continues! Riley had a blast at Pump It Up again on Saturday and Kyle had just as much fun at a separate birthday party at Romp N Roll too! Unfortunately, was cold and wet all weekend so t-ball was cancelled, but that gave Riley even more time to enjoy with Bebe and Eric as they shopped Toy-R-Us for Ri's 5th birthday and had a nice dinner out together!

Kyle had a fun play date with his buddy, Cerys on Sunday while Tracy and Riley shopped for a new leotard to get ready for Riley's gymnastics birthday party this Saturday!!

The weather has finally cleared up and the kids enjoyed playing tennis today - we hope there are a few more nice afternoons for biking and tennis still before the real winter comes in!! Between Halloween events and Riley's birthday party events, we will have TONs of pix coming soon!

Riley at dance with her teacher, Ms. Amy.

Ms. Amy commented this week how impressed she is with how much Riley retains!

We've always said, she has the mind of an elephant!

Kyle under the parachute at Romp-n-roll

The following are beach pix from our vacation to Emerald Isle in September... it took me this long to get them off my camera and organize them!

You're My Hugabuga!

2009-10-12T20:58:00.004-04:00

Fall is officially here and it began with our annual trip to the Ashland Berry Farm to pick pumpkins! For the 1st time in 5 years, the weather was perfect for pumpkin picking and fresh donuts! The Lamberts and O'Sullivans joined us and we had a great morning on the tractor, in the fields and running through the maze/obstacle course!

The week was a busy one! Riley is loving dance and tball is still... fun! Actually, her shyness is getting better and she is starting to really nail the ball. Kyle is still upset at every practice and game b/c he doesn't get to play, but a Cars sticker book seems to have distracted him pretty well.

On Friday we visited the local airport to watch the planes come in... however due to wind, we only saw one plane take off. None the less, the kids had a blast and we had time to catch up with old friends. That afternoon we celebrated Emory's 4th birthday with the Sprouls! Saturday was the neighborhood yard sale and we are now free of all baby items!! Riley also had the 1st of a month and a half string of Saturday b-day parties! Pump It Up was as much fun as always and then she headed off to tball. After church on Sunday, Tracy, Ri, & Kyle headed up to Kings Dominion while Eric watched the Steelers WIN!! Go Steelers!

Needless to say, the week before was just as busy but we also took a trip up to Arlington Cemetery, plus Tracy was out of town the entire week. Wait, the most exciting news - we can officially say that Kyle is potty trained! He requires very few reminders and loves his Cars big boy pants! ok, ok, enough - on to the good stuff... pix!

Riley, year 5, at the pumpkin patch - to check out the past 4 years:

http://thesurrattpack.blogspot.com/2008_10_01_archive.html

Riley and Eric on the tractor
Kyle with his Women, Ivy and Cerys

Kyle doing a happy dance!

Riley and Aiden (courtesy of Amanda!)

Tracy, Eric, Riley, Lexa and Kyle

The annual pix at Ashland Berry Farm

Ri playing ball in front of our house

At Arlington Cemetery

Play Ball!

2009-09-29T09:28:00.005-04:00

Still behind, busy, but happy! Tracy is heading out of town for work this morning so Eric is on his own as Mr. Mom!!
Here are a few pix until there is more time to catch up on all the fun!

Riley and Lexa have begun to play t-ball! They are too cute, but have the attention span of nats!

They are also the only girls on the team

Kyle cries at the beginning of each game and practice b/c he wants so desperately to play!

Pink, pink, pink! Riley seems to have a bit of stage fright - after hitting, she kind of shuffles to base instead of running... it is extremely frustrating to Tracy... however, Tracy is working on being a better mom and just laughing like everyone else:-)

Kyle has a lot of buddies out at the field. John, Duffy, and Aiden are on the same team as the girls so Ruthie, Ben, Kate, and Ivy are out at the games and practice.

They look like they are concentrating... but normally they are playing in the dirt or twirling!

childrens museum with Mommy, Daddy, Ri, and the O'Sullivans

Ri making a masterpiece at CmOR

Beach Bums

2009-09-23T20:10:00.004-04:00

No excuses, no excuses... I'm just behind! However, so much has been going on in the last few weeks, I'll probably have to post pix and stories every couple days to catch up!
Our first adventure was down to Emerald Isle for the week of Labor day and Darcy's Birthday! Happy Birthday Aunt Darcy!!! We had some beautiful days, a couple over cast and one that poored cats and dogs all day! The kids had a blast - even on the rainy day and the adults did as well! We had a FABULOUS vacation and all three kids loved the sand and water (however Darcy & Tracy are still petrified of sharks and we did see a couple!)

Enjoy the pix - courtesy of Aunt Darcy - I still haven't downloaded my pix!!

Ri & Lexa on Papa's boat in the OCEAN on the way to Cape Lookout

Tracy & Kyle on the boat

Loads of sand play!

We docked the boat in the middle of the ocean and collected seashells!

MonkeyMan!

Kyle loved the beach more this year than ever!

Lexa played so well with Kyle!!

Lexa and Ri - topless!

Oh such summer fun...

2009-09-02T21:29:00.005-04:00

The summer days are nearly over and we have been so busy, I've had no time to post pix! The last few weeks have been filled with trips to Kings Dominion and visits to the pool! Playing with Bebe, Grandma, Papa, and loads of friends! Most importantly, little Lexa Marie tured FIVE!! Happy Birthday Lexa! We had tons of fun at Lexa's pool party and had another birthday party at Pump it Up the same day. Looks like birthday season has arrived!

Through all the fun, we have also had a couple doctor visits - for Kyle of course! These visits included swimmers ear and a nasty cold and then just this week he was diagnosed with Celulitis and is on an intense antibiotic... if there is something to catch, Kyle will find it! He is more or less healthy now and more or less Potty Trained! Eric and Tracy rotated shifts at home with his this past weekend and sure enough, he's got it! He just LOVES his big boy pants - especially "race car" and "pablo" (say that with lots of extra p's and b's - hilarious!) He has also enjoyed the M&M's and candy corns that come along with going potty in the big potty. But never fear, if Kyle forgets the candy, Riley will be first to remind everyone that if you do the potty dance, you get candy! There has been loads of potty dancing going on in our house!

Next week is the BEACH!! enjoy the pix -

Riley, Lexa and Kyle running through the water spritzer at KD

Lexa, Riley, Kyle, and Cerys waiting patiently for a ride
Ri & K sporting super cool glasses they made at Lexa's party

Gabe (Lexa's future husband), Lexa and Ri after swimming at Lexa's bday party

Birthday Girl!

Chillin out back!

At romp-n-roll with Caroline

Kyle and Kate taking a drive at KD

Kyle at the Dr. - his left eye is all swollen from a bug bite/celulitis

the girls playing nicely as we wait... for the doctor... again...

Safety Check

2009-08-12T20:06:00.009-04:00

The summer is going by much to fast but Tracy and Kyle got to take a couple days off from it all and sit around the house... Kyle spent the last part of the weekend and the first part of this week fighting another virus... he is doing great now, but struggled with a high temp and sore legs. It was strange, he would complain of his legs hurting when he first woke up, but after a hour or so, he was running around as fast as ever. The sore legs went away with the fever and all are healthy at the Surratt household! During all of this, Kyle discovered the movie "Cars" and now asks 3000 times a day to watch, "race cars on TV"!

On Friday, we spent the morning with Cerys and then off to playgroup at Duffy & Kates house. The kids had a blast - in fact they had so much fun, they both napped! Which was great b/c after naps we went to the inflatable palace for some jumping birthday fun for Ruthie and Madeline! To top off the night, Bebe came over to hang with the kids while Eric, Tracy, and Darcy went to see the Wailers - fun night for everyone!

Saturday was just as much fun beginning with a family pool outing and then over to the O'Sullivans for dinner. Enjoy the pix!

Cerys, Kyle, Riley, Kaitlyn, and Caleb watching... you guessed it, CARS!

Kyle and Cerys enjoying a beer, I mean dessert!

Some of us found the accidental placement of the empties amusing:-)
Ri working on a master piece on her new whiteboard
The final product - the Birthday Girls!

Kyle hanging with an orange fish

Crazy face! She had soooo much fun at the Inflatable Palace and wants to have her birthday party there as well.

Josh, Kyle, and Riley - these three had to have gone down the slide together 20 times!

Up, Up, Up he goes!

Helping Hands

2009-08-05T21:18:00.003-04:00

Such a fun week again! Aside from Riley getting her "very first splinter" tonight, the week has been great! First, we got an unexpected visit from Papa as he set off for his first disaster with FEMA! But when we left off last week, we were in the middle of "kids give back" week with our church.... Riley had a blast all week at VBS and playing with Caroline in the morning and going back to school with Cerys in the afternoon. Tracy is very thankful to her wonderful friends for helping ship Ri around for the three days Tracy was at work - Ri would have missed out on a lot of fun without all of them!! On friday Tracy, Kyle, and Riley joined the entire "kids give back group" at Ashland Convalescent Home to deliver their wonderful hand print paintings and sing songs. After visiting, which all the kids really enjoyed, we had a fun picnic at a playground near by.

The day wasn't over...after naps we went to the Childrens Museum with the Bests! On Saturday the kids hit the pool with Eric and then Riley, Tracy, Darcy, and Lexa spent the afternoon at Kings Dominion riding the "big rides"! The girls LOVE the Flying Eagle and the ScoobyDoo! That night Darcy and Lexa spent the night and hung out with our kids while we went to the neighborhood adult pool party!

We also visited Eric at work and had lunch with him and swung by Tracy's office to say Hi too! Loads of fun, but not many pix...

Kyle and his buddy Ruthie at CMoR

Riley hatching from an egg
Little Butt!

Dog Days of Summer

2009-07-29T21:20:00.004-04:00

We are loving the dog days of summer! The kids still can't get enough of the pool or Kings Dominion! This week we played with our friends in the Gills back yard as well as in our back yard with slip-n-slides, baby pools, sand boxes, and swing sets. We also visited our pool and Bebe's pool and the park.

Also, this week is Grace's vacation bible school and the theme is "Kids Give Back". Kyle, Riley and Tracy attended on Monday and only Riley though the rest of the week and she has had a blast! Aside from fun activities including coloring, singing, dancing, obstacle courses, bubbles, painting, and of course bible stories, each day the kids do a project to help someone else (the American troops, Ashland Convalescent Home, Kids Community Outreach group, the Food Bank) Great Job Ladies!
Enjoy the pix:

Riley rollerskating in the garage

painting rocks outside

TAZ!! Every one's favorite cat

Kyle loved the slip-n-slide but his pants wouldn't stay up!

Riley is over her fear of the water and even loves the slip-n-slide

(that fear was sooo last year!)

Riley dancing at "kids give back"

(notice: no dress... I got her to wear shorts all week since

the kids run around outside for 2 hours!)

The entire KGB crew! excluding all the amazing organizers and Hank the Handyman

Kyle getting his groove on:

Splishin-n-splashin

2009-07-21T20:22:00.006-04:00

I should have learned my lesson already, but once again I'm behind by a couple weeks and they have been FUN weeks! We have gone to Kings Dominion a few times - once with Darcy and Lexa, once on our own, and once with the Best's and Haley's and had TONs of fun each time! Kyle talks about roller coasters constantly and both kids have gotten crazy in the water!

We have also frequented our pool and Bebe's pool - both kids are little fish and love jumping in. We also visited our friend Caroline's pool and volunteered with the MOM's club to work our won Anthem Lemon-Aid stand at the club house. Riley loved getting "customers" and our club raised over $200!

Of course we also had playgroup a couple times with all our buddies and had playdates at our house with a few different friends and Lexa. Riley also had a pool birthday party, we had our friends the O'Sullians over for dinner, and we all visited Lewis Ginter with the Sproulls to see the butterflies! But all of this can better be told in pix! Enjoy!

Lexa, Kyle, & Riley in the wave pool

Riley at the water area of Lewis Ginter

Riley, Molly, and Kyle at LG

Riley and Molly exploring the gardens at LG

Kyle checking out all the butter flies at Lewis Ginter

Riley checking out a butterfly!

Jeffery, Molly, Emory, Kyle (with football) and Riley at LG

Kyle at KD - Kyle hung with Tracy and the babies (Ben 9months and Jake 1.5 years) while the "big kids" rode the flume ride with all the other moms and dads.

Kyle, Eric, and Riley

Ri is up front with her hands up - Kyle (also hands up)

and Eric in the next row and Julie and Ruthie behind them!

This is Cerys holding her Kyle manikin doll... LOL!!

Kyle, Ivy, Riley, and Aiden working the Anthem Lemon-Aid stand

Ivy and Kyle on the see-saw out back

Kyle and Riley finally got that plane in the air!!

On the Eiffel Tower

Cerys and Kyle being silly

One more time!

2009-07-06T19:49:00.005-04:00

Happy Birthday America! The Surratt's had a great weekend in NC with Grandma, Papa, Darcy, and Lexa. We took the boat out several times, spent hours at the pool, ate great food, saw wonderful fireworks, and even did some tubing! The girls loved to tube and can't wait to go back for some more!

Aside from a great weekend in NC, we also went to Kings Dominion with some friends last week and had swim lessons all of last week. Riley is totally smitten with her swim instructor, Zach, and is willing to do anything swim related once Zach is present or we threaten that he is watching. Her crush is a glimpse into the future, and we aren't sure how much we are going to enjoy the teen years:-) Riley continues to love wearing dresses and requests to wear a dress DAILY and now loves to have her hair french braided. Again, a bit of a look into the future...

Kyle is nearly healthy and has continued to love the water. His skin rebelled last week and he was covered in eczema but is nearly back to normal now. Today at the pool he stepped on a bee (possibly a hornet) and got a nasty sting. He hung strong and was quickly back in the water acting like a mad man!
Enjoy the pix!

The Surratts on Papa's boat waiting for the fireworks display

Grandma and the kids

Papa and Kyle

The trio before the fireworks

Kyle in his never ending desire to fly!

Riley snuggling with Grandma!

Riley on the tube with Tracy

Uncle Mike playing with Kyle at the pool

Riley and Lexa paying close attention to their swim instructor, Zach.

Little Fish!

2009-06-28T19:35:00.010-04:00

Ugh! I'm not sure where to begin... the last 2 1/2 weeks have been packed with fun! We spent last weekend in NC with Grandma and Papa for Eric to play with Papa in his Member/Guest tournament. Their three year run of victory ended this year, but they still had fun! Golf is definitely a humbling game:-) The kids had a blast playing in the pool and going to Music in the Streets and Riley and Lexa stayed for the rest of the week!

This was Riley's first adventure away from home (5 days!) and she had a BLAST! They played at the pool for hours each day, went on the boat daily and ate lots of icecream! They played at Deadwood (dinner/park for kids) and even dug for fossils in Aurora. Each night we spoke to our little adult on the phone and she'd happily tell us the daily adventures. It was all very surreal for Eric and Tracy... it seems like yesterday that she was just learning to talk! And according to Ri, "Grandma and Papa even let me (her) have soda... twice!" It was a VERY exciting week!

During this time, E & T relaxed with only one child back home... however, as always, Kyle came down with croup! He is better now, just fighting a secondary cold from the croup:-(

During all this time, both kids have become water bugs!! They have spent countless hours at the pool and are both swimming! Riley really has it down and Kyle, just keeps on trying - which impresses us to no end considering he just turned 2 and has had not lessons.

We have also had a couple of great dinners with great friends, visited Bebe (our fabulous patient!), gone to Kings Dominion several times, and had playgroup several times!
The kids LOVE school and are enjoying all the summer fun, including splash day. Kyle's teaches continue to crack us up... they claim that they want an entire class room of "Kyles"! They say his vocab is fabulous and that he is adorable and funny... we want to know which child they are sending home with us then - since once home he is a tiny terror! Just kidding, he is a sweetheart (with a little devil in him) and we are so happy his teachers love him as much as we do! OK, enough kid love... on to the pix!

Lexa and Ri waiting for adult swim to end... look at those little bottoms!

Cerys, Riley, and Kyle enjoying Diamond Castle (for the hundredth time)
Kings Dominion!

Kyle at the golf Tournament (in grandmas glasses)

Ri & Lexa in matching suits from Bebe

swim bugs

Ri feeding the turtles during her NC adventure

Chillin with lunch during the NC adventure

On the ferry with Papa ("even CARS go on this boat", per Riley)

Digging with Grandma - Ri found a little sharks tooth in her shoe!

Riley and her favorite past-time

Lexa, Ri, and Papa at Deadwood

Eric and Tracy at the Member/Guest dinner

Grandma and Papa's view

Grandma & Kyle sharing icecream that ended in LOTs of giggles!

Crazy Kid!

The trio!

Riley has learned to swim!!!

Kyle and Papa playing during their last visit to Richmond

Kyle swimming:

Pool time!!

2009-06-09T20:55:00.005-04:00

We have had a busy and fun couple weeks – a great kick off to the summer! Riley and Kyle have gotten reacquainted with the pool and are enjoying being outside and barefoot as much as possible. They are also no longer fearful of thunder storms (we thank DelFest for that) and we have had a couple doozies lately producing hail and flooding!
We spent a fun day at Kings Dominion with the Lamberts last week. It was perfect weather and not crowded at all - we rode nearly every ride in the kids section and still had time for the water park. The lazy river was a huge hit and we are looking forward to going back soon. We also spent a day at CMoR with the Lamberts and got to visit briefly with the Grinnells from Atlanta! It is so much fun seeing Drew and Kyle together since they are nearly the same age and we wish they lived closer!
We have also gone down to see Bebe twice in the last couple weeks. Bebe’s arm is getting better and better every day and she is an excellent patient, doing everythink asked of her by her PT! For some strange reason, I think she actually misses diaper duty;-) We also attended the Strawberry Festival AND the Greek Festival in the past couple weeks. And had a great dinner with the O’Sullivans this past weekend! Riley and Kyle had tons of fun playing with Cerys and taking over her house!!
The kids began a new school last week as well. Since Bebe is out of commission, they are going to school three days a week for awhile. They both appear to really love their new classes and Riley has found two new best buddies right away. Riley has officially finished soccer and is ready for gymnastics again. Although she definitely has the skill for soccer, she doesn’t have the competitiveness just yet, so we are going to take a soccer break. Riley is entering a new stage where she has lots of opinions and they are normally opposite of what Tracy & Eric want! Although she is still a very sweet, compassionate, and smart little girl, she enjoying telling us “no” way too much… we are working on that however it has given us a glimpse into our teen age years with Riley:-)
Kyle was given a clean bill of health this past week – his ears look great! They are no longer “puking goo” anymore, as Riley would put it. He is a crazy boy as always and has begun eating us out of house and home! Dinner earlier this week consisted of THREE entire tacos! He may have eaten more than Tracy or Eric. He seems to love his new school and reportedly sang in his sleep so clearly the first day that the little girl next to him, who was not sleeping, joined in!
On to the pix!

Riley snacking at the pool

Kyle (aka White Boy!) at the pool

Lexa lounging at the pool
The trio!

Last soccer practice! Goals are being scored and participation is occuring!

Riley, Ivy, and Drew at CMoR

Kyle, Ivy, & Riley at CMoR

Kyle, Riley, and Aiden on the dino at CMoR

Riley and Kyle destroying Cerys' toys!

(yes, Kyle has on a princess dress! He didn't want Cerys to be the only one dressing up!)

Del YEAH, Hail NO!

2009-05-25T20:25:00.009-04:00

By far the best way to tell the tale of DelFest is though pictures... so let the tales begin!
This past Memorial Day weekend we drove up to Cumberland, MD so we could enjoy our first festival as a family! The kids had never been camping and we had not been to a festival since they were born. DelFest is extremely family friendly, with projects, events, and crafts for the kids all day long and great music for everyone! Our friends, Robin, Mark, and Cerys O'Sullivan joined us and we met up with Jack, Howard, Penny, Liz, and Carter when we got there. We were ready for good time!

Our Caravan arrived before noon on Saturday eager to set up camp! Our camp was perfect - two huge tents, 2 canopy's, plenty of extra chairs and tables, and more food and drinks than we could consume! Our neighbors were super sweet and Jack and his crew were right across the way.

Riley, Cerys, & Kyle settling in....

We walked over to the "late night venue" because it had A/C, listened to some tunes and headed back to camp for the kido's to nap.

Kyle napping - so sweet!

After naps, the kids had a bite to eat and a bit of rain started to come down. No prob - rain would cool the place off. Notice below, the rain behind Kyle... it started to come down harder, and harder....

Luckily, Robin was super smart and laid her water proof blanket over all our dry goods (eventually, the green canopy in the pix below collapsed on top of the black blanket below, keeping all the food dry. We were obviously no under the canopy any more).

Robin, Riley and Eric looking at the rain coming even harder...

Eventually we all headed to our respective tents to wait out the rain (see video below)... the rain kept coming, the winds whipped harder (I'm still waiting hear just how hard), and soon the 1st round of golf ball hail began... We have a nice size tent, so luckily, I was able to push a lot of stuff to the center to keep it and us some what dry. I held on to the kids and one wall of the tent, while Eric stood in the middle and held on to our ceiling - for nearly an HOUR and 2 rounds of fierce hail. If I had known any better, I would have thought it was a tornado - luckily it was not, but the environment was pretty darn close!

Riley had a rough time through the storm - crying "this rain is trying to ruin all the fun" and Kyle held on tight with a very serious, stone face on. I kept saying to Eric, "5 more minutes, right?" We've been though some camping storms, but nothing like this and NOT with our babies!

When the storm somewhat broke, we threw the kids in the van and began salvaging everything we could...

Both of our canopies were 6 plus camps away and our tents were full of wet nastiness. The kids were holding up well, but ultimately, we decided to try for a hotel for the night, dry out, and survey in the morning. And the morning looked great! While we were gone, the storm fairies (Liz and Penny!) came and layed out all our blankets, sleeping bags etc, to dry and when we got back, we sham-wowed our puddles away and set out for a great day of music!

Day 2 - back at camp - the kids playing. The green tent pictured here was deserted right after the eye of the Storm and filled with a foot of water.

Riley loved every minute of the hippy life - here she is washing her feel in storm water.Kyle in our tent. Our tent held up REALLY well though the storm... especially since we ended up buying it right before we left and never water proofed it! thank goodness we were not in our old tent during this storm -we wouldn't have been back to rally the next day!
My hippy girl and daddy! Peace, love and cheese!
Eric cooking for camp - yummmm burgers!

Kyle and his girl Cerys eating blackberries. Kyle loved Cerys but Cerys preferred to play with Riley most the time! totally understandable - girls need to stick together!
After the blackberries (it looks like he ate a live animal!)
heading down to the meadow for some music! The music meadow is at the base of a huge cliff (see behind pix) That evening, we could see mountain goats at the very edge of the cliff - super cool!
The mountain that probably caused all the crazy weather! We talked to one guy at the festival who had lived in cumberland for 30 years. He said that he had NEVER seen such weather.

The canopy/tent aftermath - sooo many tents and vendors were destroyed. No one was seriously hurt (possibly 4 lightening hits but no serious injuries)

Vendor alley - this pix was not taken by me b/c I was hiding in my tent.

Also, pix not taken by me! This was the beginning of the storm.

With exclusion of the storm, we had a great time and the kids loved camping! We hope in future years, we get less rain, more music, and no antibiotics (I've avoided mentioning Kyles diapers though this entire weekend, due to the repulsiveness of antibiotics not mixing well with this tummy!) We are so thankful that our families stayed safe, that no one was hurt at the festival and for all the wonderful people we met. Although the storm was horrible, the community that grows out of this type of destruction is beautiful! We are so happy the O'Sullivans joined us and hope we can convince them and other to join us next year, because we WILL be back!!

In the tent, before things turned super ugly - can you hear how hard the rain is coming down?

Day 2 - another threat of serious rain - we hid out inside and listened to music. We never had another serious storm, thank God!

Ponies, Priests, & Pipers

2009-05-21T20:19:00.003-04:00

With as few pix that were taken, you'd never believe what a busy week we had! To start, Bev's surgery went very well and she is doing GREAT! She now has a new ball in her elbow and will have a few more weeks of recovery but she is rebounding like a champ!

The weather has been beautiful and the kids have spent several afternoons at the new park across the street and on the back deck with Lexa's water table! Grandma and Papa came for a quick visit and Grandma got to witness both girls score at least 5 goals each at soccer!! Look out the window now... pigs may be flying!

On Sunday, the kids and Eric went to see our favorite patient, Bebe, while Tracy walked a half marathon with Julie and Becky. The kids had a hard time staying off Bebe's bad arm and Tracy and the girls walked 12 min 41 sec miles!

Kyle officially came though his bought with croup like a champ as well, however on Monday his ear drum ruptured! The poor kid never really complained and can't seem to catch a break! While driving to his doctors appointment after a few sleepless nights, Riley whispered to Tracy, "Mommy, why does Kyle have goo in his ear?" Ugh!! He was feeling much better by Wednesday and joined Tracy and Riley for her last field trip at her current school. We spent the day at the zoo and had a great time! And to top out the week before our fun camping trip, we spent the evening at the childrens museum and got soaked in the water features outside!

Grandma and her kids!

Kyle getting ready for the camp out - the kids are obsessed with their new sleeping bags. Riley has slept every night and nap in hers since we purchased it!
First glimpse at giraffes

at the zoo

Giraffe - up close and personal!

Julie, Becky, and Tracy - After 13.1 miles!

Fire, Fire!

2009-05-13T21:20:00.004-04:00

Wow, what a week!! On Thursday, we spent a fun evening at the childrens museum for a members only night. Riley and Kyle had the run of the place and had a blast! Friday morning was Kyle's 2 year appointment. Riley spent the morning with her buddies, John and Ruthie while Kyle tried to wait patiently to see the doc! He was healthy as a horse and unlike Riley at that age, he is still on the smaller side (34 1/2 inches and 28 pounds). The doctor said he was right where he should be in all areas of learning and looked great! After the doc we spent the rest of the morning at the park with our playgroup friends. That evening all four of us met some friends down at Friday Cheers to hear the Jerry Garcia Band. It was a beautiful evening, the kids ran free, and had a blast (which is a really good sign considering we are doing the same thing in a couple weeks for 3 straight days!)

Saturday started off with Soccer - Riley even kicked the ball a couple times in game! Progress!! That afternoon we went to Caleb and Josh's 3rd birthday. The kids got to climb all over a fire truck and even sprayed the hose. Riley now knows the importance of 911 and when it should and shouldn't be used. I have a feeling we'll be back to the fire house for one of Kyle's birthdays in the future. That evening, Darcy and Lexa came over for a sleep over and Tracy and Eric went to Kings Dominion with the Bests. KD w/o kids is an entirely different park! The rain sailed right over us without even a drop and we rode 5 coasters in about 2 hours!

Of course the next day was Mothers Day! Happy MOMs day to all the moms out there! The weather was perfect!! We played out side and had a nice dinner out. Unfortunately, Kyle started to run a high temp that afternoon and the seal bark began... It was a rough night and there was no doubt in Tracy's mind that we were dealing with a bad case of croup. We even had to spend some time in the steamy shower to get Kyle breathing again... needless to say, the doc saw him again and started him on a steroid right there in the office. He is doing MUCH better now and will be returning to school tomorrow.

Speaking of, the kids will be moving schools soon - we are so sad to leave our current school, but proximity is key and it is time to move. In addition, the kids will start going to school for 3 days instead of 2 for the next month or so. While Bebe was visiting family in Atlanta, she fell and broke her elbow:-( Between Uncle Bill, Aunt Karen, and Eric, we got her safely home, but surgery is scheduled for tomorrow and there will be no diaper changing in her near future (lucky lady!) As much as she loves her day with the kids, her recovery is the most important thing and we'll make sure she still gets her fill of Riley and Kyle!
well, the camera didn't come out nearly as often as it should have this week - enjoy!

Soccer practice

Riley driving the fire truck

The birthday crew

on the back of the truck

Riley with the fire hose

Kyle with the fire hose

Out like a Rock

2009-05-06T20:33:00.007-04:00

Rain, Rain, go away! We are ready for the sunshine to come back!
The kids had a fun week again! On Friday, we hosted playgroup and had cupcakes in celebration of Kyle's 2nd birthday! Our baby boy is officially 2!! Later that afternoon we met up with Aunt Darcy and Lexa for some fun at the Childrens Museum and then off to dinner!

Saturday started with soccer. Riley was very proud of herself for not fussing during practice - she did a great job with everything the coaches asked her to do, but still no interest in playing in the actual games! After soccer, Lexa came home with us to play and we had a great time playing all afternoon - especially when we went over to the new playground across the street!

We also visited the new school that the kids are going to be moving to shortly. Both kids seems to really like it, so we are off to the right start!

2 for Kyle has come like a storm! He has taken on a new attitude which is testing Tracy & Eric to no end! Tracy even had to walk out of a store on Monday with Kyle kicking and screaming under her arm!! In 4 1/2 years of parenting, Tracy has NEVER dealt with that situation! He is still a huge sweetheart, however he is just a devil!! Wish us luck in the coming years!

Riley at CMoR

Kyle playing in the water at CMoR

Riding the dino at CMoR

Dessert on Kyles bday
John and Riley playing with baby Ben

Birthday boy!

some day Kyle is going to hate me for this...

The kids are screaming "Echo" in this video (because they are echoing!)

Soccer practice

Birthdays, Baptisms, and more!

2009-04-28T21:48:00.003-04:00

What a week!! The weather has been beautiful and the kids have been on the go non-stop! Riley's new favorite song is "Ring of Fire" (remade by SCI) and loves dancing as a family to it over and over every afternoon. We aren't sure it is the best song for a 4 year old, but we have had our fill of Laurie Berkner! Kyle is speaking in sentences now and has out grown every pair of shoes he owns! He continues to be a little devil, however he is the cutest devil we've ever seen!

Tracy joined Riley on her field trip to the park this week. Riley loved having her mommy with her and Tracy is enjoying these days that Riley loves having her around (the teen years will come to fast!). Riley's teacher told Tracy that Riley is one of 5 "good kids" in the class of 25 and having her in class is a joy!

The weekend was packed! Tracy and the kids spent friday morning at Maymont feeding the animals and having a picnic lunch with friends. On friday night Bebe came over to play with the kids while Tracy and Eric went out to a local vineyard with friends. On Saturday, Riley played soccer and had much more fun than last week! Kyle had a blast too and already loves kicking the ball as much as Riley. Saturday evening Grandma and Papa came to town and Darcy and Lexa came over to play. E & T ventured out again on their own to celebrate their 6th year of marriage!!

Sunday was even more fun! Kyle was Baptized and after church we had friends over to celebrate his 2nd birthday!! Kyle LOVES all his gifts (and so does Riley!) Thank you everyone!
And to top off the week, Tracy and the kids spent Monday morning at the Childrens Museum with friends having a great time! Maybe May will slow down a bit... Enjoy the pix!

Kyle eating his birthday cake!

Time to blow out the candles on Blue! Baby Hanna is in the background - what a cutie!!

Riley, Taz, and Kyle

t-ball - thank you Bebe
Riley on her field trip

on the field trip

gearing up for soccer

Riley and Kate at Maymont

Kyle feeding the goats

Riley, Kyle, and Duffy at C-Mor

Kyle T'ing it up!