Father's Day

Last year on Father's Day, Justin's department had their annual family picnic. It was at Heritage Square. We didn't love the fact that it was on Father's Day, but we loved Heritage Square. It is full of amusement park rides that have been scaled down for younger kids. We left Noah at Grandma and Papa's house and had a great day.

This year, we left our day up to Justin. While the kids were napping, he decided he wanted to go back to Heritage Square. This time, Noah was big enough to enjoy it with us; he even got to go on a couple of rides! Of course, my camera battery died just after Hannah's zip line, so I didn't get any good pictures of Noah on the rides. Bummer!

The first stop was a face painting booth. Hannah decided on Spiderman, and I thought the lady did a pretty good job. However, I couldn't believe she used MAGIC MARKER for most of it! Isn't that cheating?


Next up was the Alpine Slide. Hannah and Daddy went together first. I could hear them yelling halfway down the mountain!


I didn't really feel the need to go, but Hannah wanted Mommy to go with her, so once she and Justin returned, I took her up the chair lift and back down the mountain. We had a great time. She was so cute, constantly reassuring me that I would be okay, just not to look down while we were on the lift. Apparently she is a little protective of Mommy!
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Zip Line!

After the Alpine Slide, we headed off to go find a good place to eat our picnic dinner. We stumbled across a little zip line that Hannah had seem some kids doing earlier, but totally wasn't interested. This time, there was no one else there. She said she wanted to do it, so we got her all harnessed up. She was a little nervous, so the nice kids running it helped ease her fears, and she was off!


To come back, the kids were supposed to unhook themselves and run back to the other side. Justin told them to forget that; he was going to pull her back across himself. This way, she got 6 rides instead of just 3. Way to go, Daddy. She has so much fun on the zip line and said it was her favorite part of the day. Note to self: no skirts next time we go to Heritage Square. They are not the most zip line-conducive article of clothing.

Splish Splash

After our walk to the park on Father's Day, Papa and Grandma went home, and we decided to get out our little pool for the kids Hannah has learned that she loves to go down the playground slide into the pool, so she had a great time doing that, while Noah found out how fun it is to pour water from a bucket. They played and swam for almost 2 hours, then had lunch and took some great naps!

For anyone who's ever attempted to take a baby swimming without a swim diaper, you'll appreciate the bottom picture, pun intended!

Father's Day Breakfast

We had my Dad over for Father's Day. I made up a recipe for some breakfast burritos that turned out to be quite tasty! After we ate, we walked (Hannah drove her Jeep) up to the big park in our neighborhood to play. Papa and Grandma were watching Milla and Aiden, so we were excited that they got to come as well! Papa needed a new screen saver, so we posed the kids with their grandparents and got this wonderful picture. I just love it. The kids played on the playground and had a great time, although it got really hot pretty quickly. What a great morning.

So Serious!

I just LOVE this picture of Noah. He was sitting atop our little playground in the backyard, debating sliding down into the pool that we had set up at the end. It was cold that day, but Hannah and her second cousin, Logan, were determined to swim anyway. Noah was leery of the water, since it was so cold, but still wanted to slide. He looks posed with the soccer ball, but he had just been carrying it around all day. He's going to be such a handsome guy. I'd better get a big stick to be ready to fight off all the girls.

The Mess

Hannah somehow came up with the idea of playing with all her little dolls and plastic toys on the table. Actually, I think it started because Noah was always running off with them when she played on the floor, so she figured if she moved to the table, he couldn't reach. So, for about 2 months, we lived with this mess on the table. We'd put it away, sure, but the next free minute she had, it would be right back out.

One day, Noah realized that if he asked (ie. grunted) enough, we would put him up on a chair to play with his sister. They loved it. Together they would sit and play with the little figurines (Noah, always the boy, would mostly play with the cars). My first day off for the summer, I found a cute little set of plastic chairs and a table, so their mess has been moved. The table suddenly seems huge and empty, but I can't say I miss the mess!

Henry Comes for a Visit (and brings his parents!)

Josh and Jackie came for a visit a few weeks ago. Hannah and Noah just love little Henry so much! We also couldn't get over how much alike Henry and Noah look. Noah is a GIANT, but still, they look a lot alike. Henry is such a happy baby, and we are all excited that the two cousins who are closest in age are also the two boys. They will be buddies, for sure!

Oats and Beans and Barley Grow...

I've always wanted to plant a little garden during the summer. Hannah's new found love of vegetables inspired me to finally find a good spot in the backyard to put one. The garden turned out great, and just what I'd always wanted: little! It measures a whopping 3' x 5'.

Kudos to my continuously wonderful hubby, who spent one incredibly hot afternoon building it for me. Hannah and I then had the fun job; planting the little plants and a few seeds. Then we got all the glory by having our picture taken with it, and being able to call it "our garden". In no time at all, we will be able to enjoy homegrown tomatoes, broccoli, strawberries, zuchinni, green beans, and cilantro. YUM!


Here is our cute little garden on the day we built it. The open spot in the bottom right corner is now all filled it with green bean plants and cilantro.

All Boy!

After we built our little garden in the backyard, Justin moved some sprinklers around so that it would get plenty of water. To test out our new set-up, he turned on the sprinkler zone that waters the side of our house, including the garden.


Noah had been playing in the main part of the yard, but he heard the sprinklers come on, and he just came running right over. He LOVED playing in the water, and it was no concern of his that he was totally dressed, shoes and all. He played for about 15 minutes in the water before a cloud covered up the sun and a breeze started. Then he must have realized how cold he was, because he stopped playing and starting crying instead. Still, he had fun and it made for some cute pictures!

Skater Girl

One of Hannah's Christmas gifts was a pair of roller skates. She had seen them at Target one day while we were shopping, and loved that they came with knee pads and elbow pads. Not to mention the fact that the were PRINCESS skates! We slid them into our cart, and they made a nice present from Noah. I took her up to the basketball court in our neighborhood to try them out the first warm evening that we had.

SURPRISE! They were too small. Apparently "ages 3-6" only counts if you don't have your Daddy's ginormous feet! Hannah was so bummed, I let her go in just her socks, instead of trying to cram her feet in while she was wearing shoes, like you're supposed to.

She skated around for 20 minutes or so, holding my hand the entire time. "Whoa!" became the word of the day. She still had a blast, though, so now skates that fit are on her birthday wish list!

Backyard

When we first bought our house, we moved in the middle of March. Having absolutely no clue what the yard would look like, we were incredibly pleasantly surprised come Spring when everything started to bloom. The people who lived at our house before us had done professional landscaping, and all we could say was "Wow!"




Once Hannah was born, I was a little sad to see our gorgeous yard begin filling up with brightly colored, distracting kids' toys.




Now, the backyard is once again my favorite part of our house. Full of toys? Yes. Still beautiful? Yes!

Now that our kids are big enough to love being out there, we spend more time than I could have ever thought enjoying the yard and all those yucky looking toys!

Noah especially loves the yard, and refuses to come in unless food is involved. Good luck to you if you bring him in for a different reason!

Noah's New 'Do

Noah's hair was getting really long. In fact, we are pretty sure that he's got some of those Sevy curls goin' on. It was so long on top that Justin started saying that he had a mop on his head.

So, off to Snip-its we went. I love his new short hair! He looks like such a little man now. No more baby hair!

I was so excited this year for Take Your Child to Work Day. What other job could I have that would be better suited for kids?! Hannah was anticipating the day so much that we made her little countdown rings that she could tear off each night to see how many days were left until she got to come to work with Mommy.

She ate her breakfast in the car, "just like Mommy does" and then our day began. She loved writing on the board, and hanging out with the kids. I realized how much respect I have for Kindergarten teachers, because when I was trying to actually teach, she would randomly interrupt and just blurt things out. It was hard to remember she has never really been school-trained, so she had no idea that that wasn't okay.



At lunch time, Papa and Milla came to make the switch. There was no way Hannah would have made it all day long with no nap. Since my little niece is starting Kindergarten in the fall and is a little nervous about it, I invited her to spend the afternoon with me. Papa ate lunch with us in the cafeteria, and then he took Hannah back to Grandma Diane's for her nap.
Milla and I spent the rest of the day together, reading books, doing some fun math, and making Native American art with my class. She said she had a great time, and I did too! We went down the hall during recess to check out the Kindie rooms, and she looked around in amazement.


My class loved having both girls at school that day, and so did I. I can't wait until next year, when I can take Hannah again. Milla will be in Kindergarten!

Easter

Easter was a blast for the kids. Yet another year where the Easter Bunny had to hide our eggs inside the house, but still fun. Noah loved looking for eggs and putting them in his Big Bird basket.
Hannah loved dying eggs. She proudly displayed them Saturday night, along with carrots, a glass of milk, and a note. She couldn't wait to wake up and see what he had eaten.

Our favorite little farmer's market grocery store, Sprouts, had an egg hunt the week before Easter. Hannah and Noah each ended up with a huge basket full of chocolate, and Hannah even got to pose with the Easter Bunny. She was thrilled!

Little Man Sings

Noah has become pretty vocal these days. This video was taken over a month ago, but I have been slacking big time on the blog. School ends Tuesday, so then I'll be back on it, don't worry! Anyway, he loves to sing, and Old MacDonald has become one of his favorites. Check it out!