Summer Vaca '08

We're back. A great vacation was had by all. Now the countdown until Florida begins. Two weeks until we move...yikes/yay! Some cute photos. More photos here.

Grandma A and Elsa on the girls' first fair ride.


Grandpa pulled the girls in Highland's 4th of July kiddie parade.


Spent the 4th on Uncle Mark's sailboat up in Chicago. Uncle Erik, Lily, Elsa and Emily.


And I turned 30 with much hoopla! Opening a gift from Grandma A. I forgot to take pictures at my bday party. So please send me photos!


And off to Columbus where we spent 3 days playing with the cousins. Here are all the Panning Grandkids being cute in the tree. Leah, Lily, Kaitlin, Elsa, Haley and Brian. What a beautiful crew!

Singin' in the rain

Coming soon to a place near you, the Pannings are hitting the road. I think we're about to see a good portion of our readership in the next couple weeks. Can't wait! Meanwhile, some serious cute while you wait. The girls think it is hysterical when Daddy makes it rain with the garden hose. Lily's in pink and Elsa's in turquoise.

Camp Grandma and Grandpa

It has been a very eventful week for the Pannings. While Mark and I went on a trip to Florida, Grandma and Grandpa Panning came all the way from Indiana to stay with the girls. Although, Mark and I have taken many trips individually since they've been born, this was the longest we've both left them at the same time. But, I shouldn't have been worried because they had the best time with their grandparents. Grandma's strategy was to keep them busy. And it certainly worked! Over the course of five days, they went to a concert, two libraries, chuckie cheeses, a bunch of parks, swimming, a farm and out for lots of treats. Every time we called, the girls sounded so happy and told me how much fun they were having. And somehow, Grandma and Grandpa even got them to sleep. On a typical night, the girls are up a couple times and up for the day by 7a. Grandma and Grandpa had them sleeping through the night and sleeping in until past 8a. Wow!

A sweet picture of the girls and Grandpa walking through a local farm.


Meanwhile, Mark was at the University of Florida wrestling alligators. That's a hazing ritual for all the new assistant professors down there. :)Just kidding! We had a very productive trip and are looking forward to making Gainesville our new home. I think it will be our kind of place. A nice big college town with lots of good restaurants and fun things to do. The cost of living is amazing compared with the last two places we've lived. And it seems to have a laidback and healthy atmosphere. We were excited by all the bike paths and bike lanes and lots of little parks. Fortunately with 100F temperatures in NJ as we left, the 90F weather of summertime Florida seemed downright pleasant. Mark's new department seems very friendly and nice, one of his future coworkers even invited us for a night on the town. And there are other young faculty with small children. We toured the girls new preschool which seems wonderful. And after 4 days of trudging through houses, we finally found a rental that seems just right.




I love this picture Grandma took of the girls at Whole Foods. (E,L) The girls inherited their Grandparents love of grocery shopping. And look, they both got to ride in their own cart!


Double hugs as we arrived at the train station after our flight. Grandma and Grandpa had the girls dressed in matching "Daddy's Little Princess" shirts in honor of Father's Day.



Father and Son each wore new Gator's caps for Father's Day 2.

And the girls with Grandma and Grandpa on the swing on their last day in Princeton. It is not often that we get Grandma on the other side of the camera! Thank you both so much for spending the week at our house. You took such amazing care of all of us. We love you!
XO

Party on...

Have I mentioned how much the girls love the party circuit? Every weekend, they want to know what kind of parties are on the agenda. Then, they spend some time picking out their "party dresses" and figuring out which friends will be there. This weekend they went to a party at Daddy's office, a birthday party of their school friend and a bon voyage party for one of their neighborhood friends. They seem to have inherited none of their mother's shyness, because they'll run right over looking for the little people their age. So cute! They are two little social butterflies. You never have to ask them twice to go do something. They are always ready for an adventure.


The highlight of this weekend was the birthday party with the jumping castle. They stayed in it for almost two solid hours. It was so fun to jump with all their preschool friends. Their class is the nicest group of little kids. We're going to miss them so much. I feel so fortunate that their first experience with school has been so positive. Miss Lily bouncing away.


And Elsa with her hair flying in the wind. Poor Elsa, at exactly 1pm the company deflated the jumping castle and she burst into tears. She was very sad to see it put away.


It was Reunion weekend, so we participated in some of the Princeton hoopla. Did you know Princeton has the best attended reunions in the world. It is simply amazing. Downtown becomes of sea of orange and black and really expensive cars (even more than usual). Mark and I have never experienced a university that loves itself so much. It can get to be a bit "much", but it is hard not to get caught up in the excitement. The picture above is the "old guard" leading the P-rade. The oldest living alumni in attendance is honored with a silver cane. The crowd goes nuts. The oldest class was from 1925. And there were plenty of groups from the 1930's, too. It was really exciting.

Memorial Day Weekend 08

We had a lovely Memorial Day weekend visiting with our good friends Olivia and John who came to visit all the way from Chicago. We had delightful weather and spent the entire weekend outside. We even got a grownup day in NYC courtesy of our neighbor Jessica who volunteered to take Lily and Elsa so we could go out. The girls loved Olivia and John and were very sad when they went home. It is so cool to see our daughters bond with our special people.


Kind of a strange picture, but L,E,O and J at President Grover Cleveland's gravesite. John's a history buff, so we took a tour of the Princeton Cemetery on Sunday. There are many old tombstones from as far back as the 1740's. Aaron Burr is buried there, too.


My former roommate Olivia with my current roommate Elsa


Enjoying an icecream treat on Palmer Square. (E,L)

Family Portrait

by Elsa Panning 5/08
Elsa, Mommy, Lily, Daddy

It has been a happy spring here in NJ. Our little crew has been really enjoying the spring weather and getting together with friends. Lily and Elsa have turned into complete social butterflies. They are constantly with their little buddies having fun. As soon as they get home from school, they want to go outside and play.

We also have really good news on the job front. But, I don't want to jinx anything until everything is wrapped up.

Let's just say
Go Gators!

Mother's Day 2008

Grandma and Grandpa A surprised us with a last minute Mother's Day trip! Lots of pictures here. We had a great weekend. We spent Mother's Day at Central Park which is just the best place to bring kids. We went on the Carousel, played at the playground, climbed some rocks and flew kites. There was also lots of fun people watching. We saw an impromptu roller rink, several weddings and lots of street musicians and performers.


Mom and I on the Bow Bridge. This is the first mother's day that we've been together in a very long time.


All of us at Bethesda Fountain.


Elsa with Grandma and Grandpa on the train. Elsa was the biggest chatterbox this visit. I'm pretty sure she didn't stop talking the entire time Grandma and Grandpa were here.


3 Generations sitting on my new swing (my mother's day present from Mark). E,L