Jennifer Woodbury

2012 Photos | Week 29 | July 15-21

Italian ice in the backyard.

Probably the best decision I made this summer was to put Ella and Claire in semi-private swimming lessons together, even though they are at different skill levels. They have both improved so much already. They love their swim teacher Elizabeth (you know you are in good with Ella if she draws pictures for you) and always look forward to lessons, even on days like this when it wasn't very warm outside.

My poolside buddy.

On Wednesday I had plans to meet my sister-in-law Melissa and four nieces in Manhattan. Our husbands were both working in the city that day and we figured we could play for a bit and then meet up with the guys for dinner. The forecast called for a day of unbearable heat (hottest of the summer so far) and strong thunderstorms in the afternoon, but we knew if we tried to reschedule it would probably never end up happening so we stuck with the original plan.

Our first stop was the Central Park Zoo.

Checking out the snow monkeys. I think everybody's favorite animal was the red panda. And as a side note, if you ever want an outdoor heat index of 110 degrees to feel cool, go inside the rainforest exhibit at the Central Park Zoo. It was somehow even more hot and humid than it was outside. I am a summer-loving girl to the very core, but I won't be moving to the Amazon anytime soon.

Hot and sweaty, but still smiling (for the most part).

We saw the storms starting to roll in, so we left the zoo and headed to FAO Schwarz. We walked in the door literally 5 seconds before the heavens opened up.

We killed time waiting for the storms to pass by playing on the Big Piano and generally torturing our kids by making them spend an hour in one of the biggest toy stores in the world and not letting them buy a single thing.

We waited and waited for the rain to die down, but the troops were getting hungry and restless (and by troops, I mostly mean a certain blonde-haired two-year-old). So armed with a couple of umbrellas brought from home plus a few extra $5 street umbrellas, we headed out into the elements. I was in the back trying to push a double stroller with one hand while holding an umbrella with the other. It's not as easy as one would think.

It turns out if we had just waited an extra 10 minutes, the rain would have stopped completely. But then we wouldn't have the memory of running through the streets of New York in the rain... right?

2012 Photos | Week 28 | July 8-14

This week Ella said goodbye to tooth #3... finally. That thing has been driving me crazy hanging halfway out of her mouth for the past few weeks. Ella is saving up her tooth fairy money to buy a Tigger stuffed animal when we visit Disneyland next month.

Another toothless picture. Personally, I love her new look!

My pool buddy. I always try to convince her to come with me to the kiddie pool while Ella and Claire are having swim lessons in the bigger pool, but she refuses to leave "the guys" so we always end up just hanging out poolside together.

On Wednesday afternoon we had the chance to head into the city for a few hours to see my oldest niece Britney. She just graduated from high school (it's hard for me to even type that... she was only five when Matt and I got married!) and was in New York for one day of a whirlwind senior trip across the country. It has been close to two years since we last saw her. Needless to say, we spent part of our time together plotting to organize another Woodbury family reunion ASAP.

It was a beautiful day to walk around the city. These are just a few pictures of us hanging out on Fifth Avenue. Lucy decided this was a good opportunity to drop and do a few push-ups. I wish I could put into words what an absolute nut that girl is (in the best possible way). Maybe this video will help... have you ever seen a 2-year-old with dance moves like this?

Family portrait in the middle of Park Avenue.

2012 Photos | Week 27 | July 1-7

It doesn't get much more "quintessential American summer" than 4th of July week, even if your barbeque is broken like ours is. We kicked the week off with fireworks at the local high school. Where we live, fireworks are not just for the 4th. Each town hosts fireworks on a different night before and after the actual holiday... you could go to a different fireworks show every night of the week if you really wanted to!

Lucy waiting for fireworks to start. We use this quilt a lot in the summer and it is perfect for 4th of July festivities. Matt and I acquired this quilt just after we were married. We were returning a few wedding gifts at Macy's just before getting ready to drive across the country to start our lives together in New York City. We ended up with a small credit that for some reason we needed to use right then and there, so we quickly scanned the store and randomly decided on the first thing that caught our eye... this Americana quilt. I never would have guessed that 13 years later it would be such an integral part of our summer celebrations.

The fireworks show did not disappoint. Lucy was scared of the fireworks last year but loved them this time around. "I like fireworks. I have fun!" she kept saying afterward. I think Claire may be the only person on earth ever to fall asleep in the middle of a fireworks show (and again on the way home). When that poor girl is tired, she really can fall asleep anywhere.

On the morning of the 4th, we participated in our town parade. I say it every year, but it is absolutely one of my favorite events. Just like last year, Claire and Lucy rode in the wagon and Ella rode her bike, but this time it was without training wheels!

After the parade we settled in for music in the park (with the quilt, of course).

As usual, Ella was enthralled with the band.

It took a while for her to warm up but eventually she was dancing onstage. When the band starting playing a cover of "Dynamite," she really went crazy. 

We had some visitors join us this year. Baby Lily was here from London...

... with her parents: Ashley (Matt's sister, pictured above with Claire) and Anthony. What made the day extra exciting was finding out that Ashley & Anthony had decided to buy a house in our town when they move back to the US next month. We thought we had lost them to our neighboring rival town, but were thrilled to find out they will be so close. We haven't lived near family for so long that my girls can't even imagine what it will be like to have five cousins just minutes away.

Later on that night we let the girls stay up late for sparklers in the backyard. The sparklers we bought turned out to be pretty lame, but thankfully the girls didn't notice the difference since they had never tried them before.

Claire was done after her first one. A thrill-seeker she is not.

We had 8 boxes of sparklers (they were sold in a large pack), so Matt and I had plenty of opportunities to perfect our sparkler shapes.

The day after the 4th, we all hopped in the car and drove two hours south to spend a long weekend with the New Jersey Woodburys, or simply "the cousins," as the girls call them. It was hot, as July tends to be, so we basically spent two straight days at their pool.

Claire and Alex. Alex called Claire "Claire Bear" all weekend long.

While we were there, Ella found the courage not only to go off the regular diving board for the first time, but the high dive as well. "It's not even scary," she said nonchalantly after her first jump, as we were all wildly clapping for her from the pool deck. She had refused to go off the diving board at our pool because she felt like the water was too deep. She kept claiming, "I can only swim in 4 feet." Attempts to explain that swimming in 4 feet deep water is the same thing as swimming in 11 feet deep water were in vain. But seeing her cousins do something and not wanting to be left out sure made Ella brave in a hurry.

Let's hear it for cousins, and for a little bit of positive peer pressure.

2012 Photos | Week 26 | Jun 24-30

The week before the 4th of July was one of those wonderful, low-key summer weeks (as opposed to the week of the 4th, which was one of those wonderful, action-packed summer weeks).

There was a lot of time spent hanging out in the backyard:

Swinging.

Reading.

Ella's summer uniform: bicycle t-shirt, patchwork madras shorts, Crocs. She likes to get the maximum wear out of this outfit so she only wears it on days when we don't go to the pool.

When we weren't in the backyard we were at the pool, where Lucy fell into a summer routine of naptime in the stroller.

One of the nice things about having a "slow" photo week was that it reminded me to take some more everyday life shots, like these nighttime photos that illustrate Ella and Claire's unique sleeping styles. (Thank you super high ISO on my new camera!)

Ella always has her covers on and is scrunched up to the edge of her bed to make room for all of the stuffed animals she sleeps with. You can also see the folded up blanket on one side of her bed which is there to prevent the stuffed animals from falling off.

Claire never has any covers on and is usually sprawled out in the middle of her bed. She sleeps with stuffed animals too, but they are much more haphazardly placed. Note Piglet facing the wrong way.

And to wrap up the week, a family portrait by Claire (in which Matt appears to be just another one of the girls).