Catchup

The twins' first time swimming in our lake!

Bonus: their swimsuits from last year still fit!!

As mentioned before, we had a busy week last week. Also thrown into the mix was the celebration of Lucas and my 6th anniversary (of which we have no pictures because Lucas didn't think we would make exciting subjects), and my birthday!!

On our anniversary, we enlisted one of the members of our church to come and listen to the monitor after the babies went to bed. They almost never wake up, and it is even more rare for both of them to wake up, so I gave her instructions just in case. We went to Ann Arbor (which was lovely because it felt, just a little, like we were in Boston again!) and had yummy Indian food, bought books at Borders, and capped the night off with ice cream! I didn't call until we were on our way home (shocking!) at which point I discovered that they had BOTH awakened and given our poor sitter a run for her money. But she had them asleep by the time I called, and they slept perfectly the rest of the night! Go figure...

The other thing I started on our anniversary? I started to officially train for a mini-triathalon!!! I've been swimming in the morning with a couple training for a half triathalon (.5 mi. swim, 14 mi. bike ride, and 2.5 mi. run). While I felt I would take the swim much more seriously if I were training, I knew that was too much for me to aim for with only a month to train! Then Lucas found a shorter one! It is a 300 yd. swim, 6 mi. bike ride, and 3 mi. run. I can already do the swim distance & the bike distance, but running is going to be a huge challenge. I'll keep you posted!

My birthday was a quiet day (which is nice!). Lucas let me sleep in. We had monkey bread for breakfast (MY birthday tradition). We had a playdate in the afternoon. And then Lucas made his homemade pizza and got me ice cream for dinner. And what did we do in the evening to cap off the day? I feel asleep around 8:45 and Lucas cleaned up! Apparently, training for a triathalon was more tiring than I realized! Some highlights from the day: Ryan running to me just to give me a hug (the first time he's ever done that! I usually have to steal them). Allie playing peekaboo all day, but only with her pink blankies! Ryan learning to take off his diaper, and me finding him bare bottomed with a wet spot on the floor! Allie playing peekaboo for everyone in the family - i.e. pulling the blanket off no matter who was hiding. Ryan dumping an entire box (3/4 full) on the floor in the living room! Allie "reading" a book to mommy. Both Ryan and Allie discovering that they think it's fun to fall off things!

The cheerio mess - AFTER many had been eaten and spread all over the living room...

A Day at the Miller Water Park

Sorry for the lack of new postings. We had a rough week last week. Not only were we trying to go down to 1 nap a day (fail), but I was getting up every morning at 5:45 am to go swimming (so tired), and we were doing serious battle with a persistent diaper rash (oh the screaming!). I just didn't have the energy to blog before I collapsed into bed. This week has been much better. We went back to 2 naps (so happy!), I'm only swimming 2-3 mornings a week (I LOVE sleep), and, while the diaper rash war still rages, we appear to be winning! The Pedi suggested that I let them go diaper free as much as possible, so I did my best to keep them in areas that would be easy to clean. Here are some pictures of our homemade water park :)

(p.s. I'm not usually one to post nakey pictures, but they literally spent the majority of their time sans clothes, so that's all I have...)

We pretended the tub was an indoor pool, and spent lots of time playing in there.

They also got to play in mommy & daddy's bathroom. We have a walkout shower, so I opened one door, turned on the shower, and let them choose between playing in the bathroom or the water.

The toilet paper roll was an exciting toy...

Ry-guy tried climbing in the cabinet under the sink...

And his sister promptly tried shutting him in (she did shut him in the closet later in the week...)

Playing with the hand-held shower sprayer was fun.

Allie cleaned her tummy.

Ryan cleaned his fish.

A few times we let them play on the tile in the kitchen & dining room.

Ryan like playing with the salad bowls (all washed before we used them again!)

Allie opened as many cabinets and drawers as she was able.

On the nice days we spent a lot of time outside in our pool.

They are fans of splashing from outside the pool rather than getting in...

Here you can see them throwing their toys out of the play yard.

Here you can see their distress when they no longer had any toys in the play yard.

Here you can see their response when I mimicked them crying over the toys!

We had very few casualties - Ry-guy did manage to pee INSIDE of my hutch where I keep my nice dishes, and Allie left a poo pile in the hallway (that we didn't discover until they had been down for naps for a little while, although I thought I smelled something!). And, it was so effective at clearing up the diaper rash that I didn't even care!

Adventures with Kelsey

My best friend from growing up came to visit! Ever since I left NE to go to college, we have been trying to plan for her to come and visit, but it never worked out. And then, with about a week's planning, she was able to make it work and come. Yay!

We had many adventures while she was here - antique shopping, grocery shopping, and her and I going to see a nearby tourist area (currently abandoned) and having the car stall while we were turning around in a "Fun Center" parking lot (doesn't it just sound like the plot to a bad horror film?). But our biggest adventure was our trip to the zoo :)

I've been wanting to check out the Binder Park Zoo for a while, and thought her visit would be a good chance to go. We, honestly, didn't have high expectations because we knew it was a smaller zoo. We figured it would be a lot like Potter Park Zoo. We were amazed.

It is a smaller zoo, but they have done such an incredible job with the extra special touches that it really leaves a big impression. For example, the foliage there is amazing - tree lined paths and covered bridges. I actually didn't make the twins wear hats because it was so shaded! Another thing I liked was that their exhibits were LARGE. There was always a lot of room for the animals to roam around, and the habitats looked natural. So often (especially at smaller zoos) it feels like the wild animals are super caged, and this wasn't the case. Also, they did a lot of theme decorating (which I loved) - when you entered the hut by the snow leopard they had Mongolian prayer flags hanging around the entrance and special music playing; when you entered the swamp they had shacks, signs, and "Possum Peat;" and the Children's Zoo was filled with cartoon animal statues for kiddos pose near for pictures. But our favorite, by far, was the African excursion where they made it look like you were going through customs to an African country. In the "jungle" they had you look for signs of poachers - like their campsite or elephant bones. And all along the way they had various ranger stations or huts set up with things (like a checker board with a game in progress or water jugs) that made it so real. One of the huts (which I can attest truly looked like a hut you would find in the African bush) was open for kiddos to explore and see what living in a hut would be like! Other cool things were the train, the carosel, and the walk of Nations where there were not only dozens of flags from different countries, but maps on the posts to show you were that country is located (big for the geographically challenged, like me!).

The twins had a GREAT time. They talked to and giggled at lots of the animals. Their favorites were probably the Mongolian Horse (that we are convinced started putting on more of a show because he heard Ryan giggling), the Emu (it was biting at, and eating, bugs that were flying around and they found this hilarious), and the monkeys. The animals that LOVED them: the pigs (one came from the other side of the pen to see them), the monkey (that came and sat in the window when it saw them so they could get a good look), and the grey bird (just after I said, "lets just walk by here, birds tend to be boring," this bird flew over, stood right in front of the twins on their level, and started doing a dance. Then it proceeded to follow us as we walked by the aviary, doing the dance every time we paused! The adults even had fun (you can see us trying to do chinups to earn enough points to become park rangers in Africa - we all managed to do 1, but none of us managed to do enough to get the 5 points...). We definitely want to go again because we only left 2 1/2 hours for the trip...and we didn't get to fully do everything we wanted to (plus there is lots I want to see again because it was cool!). We loved this zoo!

My hope, as you may have guessed, is to do a tour of zoos this summer. Both Ryan and Allie love animals, but I also always really enjoyed going to the zoo. It's a fun (and educational) way to spend some time outside, while also getting some exercise. Plus, I have to scout out the zoos to see which one we will frequent next summer!

My Choice

We had a bad day. All day I kept thinking "It will get better. It has to get better. I will MAKE it better." But the bottom line is that, from beginning to end, it was a bad day. At least one of the twins was crying for most of it...and in all fairness a cried a few times too. I felt like a tremendous failure in so many of my responsibilities and various areas of my life. But most of all, it was a bad day because my babies are hurting, and this makes them cranky, and I cannot find a successful way to get rid of what's hurting them, and I feel like I should be able to soothe and heal them, and even the things I do that are (or SHOULD be) healing hurt them and make them cry, and this all makes me cry. So we had a bad day.

BUT, attitude is a choice. And when I look back on this day I DO NOT want to only remember that we had a bad day. So I am actively and persistently choosing to be positive, and to help with that, here are the things I am choosing to remember about this day:

• The fog on the lake this morning. How great it felt to start the day with a swim. The duck that swam near me.
• The amazing time I had with Kelsey (more on that to come), and the wonderful friend I have in her.
• All of Allie's cuddles. She's going through a mommy faze, and while I know teaching her independence from me is important, I also know that she won't want mommy cuddles forever, and I'm cherishing EVERY ONE.
• How much Ryan loves Baby Music Time. We've dropped the morning nap and replaced it with Baby Music Time and he laughs and giggles and plays so sweetly. I love it.
• Allie running to my arms for a hug. It's her favorite new game - stand from a distance and run, run, run for a hug - and mine :)
• Ryan waving at every car that we passed on our walk. Sure they missed the wave because he waited until they passed, but I got to see him, and it was adorable :)
• FINALLY figuring out why Ryan always points to the same house and says, "ball," when we pass by (they have one of those shiny, colorful, decorative globes in their yard).
• Allie making faces at me during bedtime. Cute, silly faces.
• Ryan kissing everything - his favorite characters in books, his giant stuffed penguin, his favorite toys....
• Allie's floor dancing - sometimes she lays on the floor and moves her arms and legs in very ballet-like poses. I swear she was born a dancer.
• The twins playing chase with each other, and giggling and falling on the ground.
• Holding both twins in my lap and having story time. I cannot get them both to sit still and share my lap long enough to get through one book unless they're feeling crummy. Today we got through 3!
• That no matter what, when I start singing "If You're Happy and You Know It" they stop whatever they're doing (even crying or throwing a tantrum) to clap their hands.
• Already prepared, frozen grilled chicken breasts to quickly microwave for our dinner guests when we had problems grilling the fresh, marinated ones we planned on having.
• A husband who sends me to the couch to rest for the evening while he cleans the kitchen.

Tomorrow is a new day - just waiting for memories to be made. I am choosing now to let the great memories of the morning swim propel me out of bed in the morning. I am choosing to hold out hope that my children will wake up tomorrow morning with perfectly healed bums, that there will be no screaming, that we will enjoy a wonderful day together, that I won't have to choose to see the positive things in the day because there won't be any negative. But I would appreciate your prayers just in case it turns out to be another day like today...

Adventures Up North: Part III

"Everyday Adventures"

Playing ball with Daddy (or "Daddy stealing Allie's Ball")

Nana's Surprise :)
Eating at the bar (notice Ryan's foot...)

How much watermelon can Allie stuff in her mouth at once?

A lot :)

Joy.

We had SO much fun up north! Thank you Nana & Poppy!!

Adventures Up North: Part II

"Fun We Had"

Playing with the big bouncy balls

Dipping their feet in Lake Huron for the first time!

Memorial Day Picnic (you can't see Allie's cheeks, but they were impressively stuffed with watermelon!)
On the bridge with daddy (who had his picture in the paper on the same bridge when he was a toddler!)

Sliding with daddy!

Climbing the steps on the playplace.

She would NOT leave a tower standing.

Nana & Poppy's schoolbus was a HUGE hit!

They loved all the "new" toys!

Adventures Up North: Part I

3 1/2 days, 474 pictures, and too many fun stories (and memories) to count later we are home after visiting Nana (and Poppy!). I cannot even begin to relate all the fun we had, so I will let the pictures do the talking (in several posts because 474 pictures don't fit in one post!). This first set of pictures could be titled "People We Saw."

Ry-guy playing chase with Great-Grandma

Allie dancing for joy with Great Grandma's TP

(note: sadly my memory card was full when Allie ate a fistful of dirt while visiting Great Grandma!)
Mr. D tries to enjoy his pie while the twins play behind him :)

Uncle Pat laughing at Ryan's antics.

Pat & Darlene stopped by and the twinners put on a show!

Poppy's boat came in while we were there and we got to see him (WE being Lucas and I...unfortunately, he was home during the night. But he DID peek in on the sleeping twinners).

This isn't ALL of the people we saw, but these were the one's we saw while I had my camera in hand :)

Highlight: seeing the town police officer and him turning the car lights on for the twins.