Camping

We decided to go camping a couple weeks ago. It was the first time we ever took both of the kids. They did really well. We went to McCormicks Creek. It verged on being too cold, but with a heater in the tent at night we did ok.

The kids rode their bikes and played at the playground. Belle even made some friends and played soccer with them. The kids were such troopers on the hikes. Although the last day we found ourselves on a really steep trail. Nic and I were having a hard enough time climbing the trail ourselves and we weren't about to carry any kids. So we ended up bribing the kids with cookies to get to the top. It worked. Poor little Ethan with the shortest legs did awesome.

Jam packed weekend

Man we crammed a lot into this weekend. First we started off at Appleworks. This has been an annual trip. It was sooo busy, but atleast the kids were in a picture taking mood. We were able to ride the tractor back to the pumpkin patch and pick out a pumpkin each.

We ran into our friend Kelly and her family. Once Belle and Michaela saw each other they were inseparable.

Afterwards we came home and let Ethan take a nap while Belle and I made stops to get her hair cut and too the toy store.

We actually managed to get a family picture.


Ethan got to ride the train this year.


Getting Bigger. Check out last year's post to see how much they've grown.










Once it started getting dark, we headed to Kelsay Farms and the kids played in the kiddie hay maze and rolled around in the corn. The kids could've probably played in the corn for hours. Then we took our flashlights and went through the big corn maze. I was surprised, Belle was a little scared, but not enough to stop. But Ethan, I think he could've gone on by himself and not cared where we were. He was loving it.

Then as if that was enough to put in a weekend, we decided to go to the Children's museum. That was sort of crazy going by yourself with two kids. Actually more than 2 kids, Jamie and Ariel came with us along with their kiddos.





The boys would've stood there all day I think.


Sliding on their bellies like penquins


Belle and Olivia at the Barbie exhibit

Ethan is 2!!

Ethan turned two last weekend. Its hard to believe but I definitely don't have a baby in the house anymore. I took him to his two year check up and when we got back in the room I started taking his clothes off to be weighed. Only to find out that he didn't have to get on the baby scale anymore. Ethan did a great job standing on the scale and then stood perfectly up against the wall to have his height measured.

His party was last Saturday. I was going to have the party at the park like last year, but it turned out to be a cold and rainy day. So we had the party at the house.



I'm so bummed that I didn't get a group shot of the kids like last year.




Brody figured out what he wants Santa to bring this year.




Ethan didn't get a nap the whole day. So after the last person left and we came back in the house, this is what we found.

Tap

I was able to video Belle's tap class for the first time tonight. She's taking the class with a friend of ours, Olivia. All the girls were acting really hyper and crazy, but I think Belle did pretty good for the most part. I think the routine will be cute by the end of the year. I'm already wondering what the costumes will look like. Little Sailor outfits maybe?



About halfway through this video you'll see a little girl try to take Olivia's square. It was pretty funny to watch Olivia fight over her personal space.

The cat is out of the bag

Well a couple weeks ago I saw some free kittens at a garage sale around the corner. That was Thursday and for some reason I could not stop thinking about these darn cats so we drove back by on Saturday and sure enough there were still two left. Two gray tabby cats, one boy and one girl. The boy jumped right out and was friendly while the girl had to be pulled out for us to see. Nic didn't particularly want a boy, but we took him.

Now some of you may remember our last cat incident. Well I feel fairly confident that this cat will NOT be like Kiki. The poor thing lets the kids drag him around like a doll and he always wants to snuggle. Unfortunately sometimes its snuggling with my face at 5am.

Meet Remy

My little addict

Belle seriously has a candy problem. Everyday, I mean EVERYDAY, Belle asks for candy. And by candy she means anything sweet. A popsicle, cookie, whatever.

Today her argument was that "mom, I'm a candy girl and that is the way God made me. Just the way I am". Oh geez, life is going to be tough with this one. God help me when she becomes a teenager.

Is there some sort of kiddie rehab I can send her for her candy addiction?

Check out this song. It sounds like Belle.

Sneaky

I took like an hour nap today. Not long enough though. I thought Belle was watching a movie. She gave herself away though when I came to my laptop to find a million programs open and just as many pictures just like this one.

She's getting way too computer literate.

First Day of PreK

Belle had a great day at PreK. Her teacher's name this year is Miss Mary. When the teacher brought Belle out at the end of the day she said that Belle did perfect and did everything that was asked of her. It's hard to believe she might go to Kindergarten next year.





Here is Belle's picture from last year. She's grown up so much!

Tea Party Time Again!

The time came again for my friend Kelly's summer tea party. Its been a great time to reconnect with friends Sarah and Kelly from college. And well, Belle is always up for a party and to meet new friends.

Kelly always plans this so cute down to the littlest detail. And it just keeps getting bigger. There were about 20 girls there. The smallest being about 18 mos maybe up to 8-10ish.









The girls played games and did crafts. Kelly's sister-in-law Erica even did a hilarious skit that later tied into a game they played.









We wrapped up the night with a dress up contest and a movie before bedtime. This was Belle's first time to sleepover and it went great. I stayed with her and I'm still recovering from sleeping on the floor. We stayed up til 1am and I'm pretty sure Belle could've kept going til dawn.





I'm glad Kelly does this every year. It's fun to get together with friends I don't get to see and it's a blast for Belle as well.



And to make this a really long post. Here are a couple photos from the last two parties. Here are the posts for the first and second parties.

Characters

I thought it would be fun to update every now and then on the kids personalities and their likes and dislikes.

Belle - 4 years
• You are a CHARACTER. You will never go unnoticed if you can help it.
• You're extremely outgoing and have no problem going up to kids and saying "Hi, my name is Belle, whats your name?".
• You constantly embarrass your parents by telling every single person at Walmart "hi". Once I asked you why you feel the need to say hi to everyone, your response "because they look my in my eye".
• You wake up every morning asking for candy. For you candy can mean anything from gum to chocolate to a popsicle. You are a junk food junkie like your mother.
• You love school although you DO NOT want to work on any school stuff with mom at home.
• You love horses. You have a ton of toy horses.
• Your favorite shows are Ruff Ruffman and Caliou.
• Your favorite movie is The My Little Pony movie.
• This summer you love going swimming and taking "nature walks" with daddy (walks along the high school cross country trail).

Ethan - almost 2 years
• Like your sister you are pretty outgoing. Although it's yet to be seen if you are just copying your sister.
• You love your sissy and want to do EVERYTHING your sissy does.
• You are a daredevil. You've scared us all to death, jumping from crazy heights or diving into the pool head first. There is no physical obstacle that you'll let stand in your way.
• You are becoming a picky eater, but I'm beginning to think it's only when you want to be. You've been known to out of the blue try new things and eat them no problem.
• You are starting to put words together pretty well. My favorite is "thank you mama" or "mama cere-all?" (when you are asking to share my breakfast)
• You are starting to like trains and cars a lot more. You'll lay in bed and drive a car around while you go to sleep.
• Your favorite shows are Sid the Science Kid and the movie Cars.

Daredevil

I put the little stinker down for his nap today, handed him a car and went on my way. I was downstairs cutting onions when I heard Ethan start to cry. I figured he just didn't want to sleep. If he was still crying by the time I got done I'd go up there. Well by the time I was done, he was hysterical. Imagine my surprise when I walked in and saw this. He had gotten up, but couldn't get down.


And being the wonderful mother that I am, I quickly saved my precious angel from that dangerous situation. Nope, grabbed my phone, turned on the light and snapped a picture. I figure he's lucky I didn't run downstairs for the Nikon. =)

I think he must of been after the other car I sat on top of the dresser (he has it in his hand in the picture). I've seen him stretch from his bed to the dresser before to get his cup, but never get on top. That would've been interesting to see.

Never a dull day with this kid. I see stitches or something getting broken in his future.