June

Literally the day after we got back from NE, less than 24 hours after we drove into our driveway, we were repacked and on our way to the Lake House up North.  We were looking forward to this week away, if nothing else to replace some of the negative memories from last year.  However, we walked into the house to find it exceptionally sauna-like.  After some investigating, I found this:

I'm not sure if you can tell that the rug is floating, but it was.  Their whole basement was full of scalding hot water.  After figuring out the problem and stopping the water (with the help of a neighbor), Lucas and I were up to the wee hours of the morning attempting to clean out their basement.  We dried out all of the standing water, left some fans to dry it all out more, and went up to take showers before crawling into bed...only to discover that, in the process of turning off the scalding hot water flowing out of their pipes, we had turned off the hot water heater.  Long story short, neither we nor the homeowners could figure out how to turn the water heater back on.  So there were no hot showers during our week there (we boiled water to add to the cold to do baths for the twins).  We also had let a million mosquitoes into the house in the process of removing their soaked carpet, and while we slept the mosquitoes bit us like crazy.  So 48 hours after arrival we left for a short trip to Nana & Poppy's tired, needing baths, covered in mosquito bites, and wondering if the lake house was rejecting us, yet again.

At Nana's we met up with ALL the cousins!  And got a few pictures of the whole gang together.

 We were there to celebrate H's birthday.

 They had light-up balloons and I took the kids all to the basement to get some fun pictures in the dark.

We ended up spending a couple days at Nana & Poppy's hanging out with the cousins before we went back to the Lake House.  It was exactly what was needed to reset the trip.  When we returned, the mosquitoes had all died, the basement was still dry, and we were well-rested and ready to try again.  The rest of our time there was practically perfect.  It would have been perfectly perfect if there had been hot water.

We went into town one morning and saw a parade of these.  They drove on the railroad.  They were amazing.  Does anyone know what they are?

 We took the kids to the park to get our annual pictures.  They were somewhat less cooperative this year...These were the best I could get!

 In addition to our usual swimming, hiking, and playing we did a few extra things this year.  Like fishing.

 We caught tons of fish.  Even I caught one!  Next year, the twins want to have a night where we eat what we catch.

 We also had a bonfire and roasted marshmallows for s'mores.

 A few days after we returned, Ryan had surgery to put tubes in his ears and remove his adenoids.  Since the fall, I had been noticing that he wasn't hearing things.  It never was a problem at school since everything they did with teachers was one-on-one and everything else was independent.  The teachers told me he had remarkable focus and was never distracted by noisy students in other parts of the classroom.  Then I realized it was because he didn't hear them!  After months of doctor appointments and treatment for an incessant ear infection, we were referred to an ENT, who immediately confirmed that 1) he DID have marked hearing impairment in both ears 2) his ears were full of fluid but it wasn't infected 3) his adenoids needed to be removed (he had been snoring, loudly).  We got it on the books, and showed up for the surgery bright and early.

Seeing him in his surgery gown, with his hospital bracelet, in the hospital bed almost makes me cry every time.

He was very brave.  Just as they were taking us back, they were also wheeling a screaming toddler to the O.R.  The sight was a little jarring, and when we were alone in the bathroom (changing into the hospital gown), he started to cry because he was scared.  This, of course, made me cry.  We stayed in there and I held him until he had calmed down.  After that, he didn't cry again.  I might have.  Something about watching them wheel my baby away just made me choke up.  I waited until he couldn't see me though.  If you asked him now, it was an amazing adventure that was kind of fun.  Maybe because he got all kinds of cool get well presents.

The "recovery" set up in our living room.  A cozy place to rest, unlimited Popsicles, and a constant source of fluids.

 Once it was over (the surgery went perfectly), I was looking forward to the recovery.  They said he would recover quickly, but I was still imagining a few days of snuggling and watching movies.  Instead I got about an hour before he was begging to be up and playing.  I never really got him to snuggle with me again, and people who stopped by all remarked that he looked as though nothing had happened.

Which was great because it wasn't long before we were off again.  This time to Chicago!

While we were there, we went with my family (my entire family except Lucas) to the Brookfield Zoo.

 My brother and his wife know one of the dolphin trainers there, so it was a must to see the dolphin show.  Sadly, their friend didn't do the show we saw, but we were able to go back and visit with him after his show.  My kids thought that was pretty amazing.  Allie is also obsessed with the fact that one of the dolphins was also named Allie.

While in Chicago, we also had a ball (dance) at Nic & Ariel's apartment.  I wish I had videos - especially of the new hit dance "The Dolphin!" 

The main reason we went was for Ariel's grad school graduation.  My children are fairly convinced that a graduation and wedding are pretty much the same thing...maybe because of the number of pictures we took...

We spent the rest of June resting up and getting ready for the rest of our summer travels in July!

May

In May I took a lot more pictures.  Partially because there were more special events that prompted me.  Partly because all of the events prompted me to charge my camera battery/remember to bring my camera places.

Having learned about the Leaning Tower of Pisa in school, they decided to make one of their own with couch cushions and throw pillows!

Have I mentioned that, at the twins' preschool, they also have a bit of a farm?  They have a barn, 7 sheep (more now because the sheep had babies - 2 of whom the kids got to go out and see minutes after they had been born), some goats, chickens, ducks.  It is amazing.  AMAZING.  I love their preschool.  Anyway...at the end of the year they had these special sheep days.  They got to actively participate in the process from shearing the sheep to knitting with the yarn - washing and drying the wool, carding the wool, spinning it into yarn (with a real spinning wheel), the whole process.  It was awesome.  And I got to go and take pictures.  Here is the only picture I got of the twinners outside with the preschool director explaining to them how to wash the wool (the barn and pasture are behind them).

We had to celebrate our last day of carpooling with C.  He has traveled with us to and from preschool many a day this past year - and spent many an afternoon in town with us when we had to wait for Lucas.  He has become the twinners' best friend, practically family, and we are sad to not spend so many days with him.  Our last afternoon together was spent eating pizza at a nearby park and going out for special ice cream.

Sadly, May meant their last day of school.  Remember the first day?  It went so fast.  Sigh.

They were in a super hammy mood when we were taking these pictures.  Partly because they were all excited about the end of school picnic.  Partly because they were all excited about the road trip we were starting the minute we left the end of school picnic.  Mostly because they didn't realize the last day of school meant no more school.  They were pretty bummed when they realized that.  They loved their preschool too.

As previously mentioned, we (the twins and I) literally left for Nebraska from their school parking lot.  We spent the night with a cousin in Iowa, and then met up with my parents at the Strategic Air & Space Museum

We had a blast looking at all of the different air and space craft they have there - even though my weary road-travelers started to fade at the end (we knew they were tired when Allie suddenly wanted to watch the same WWII movie over and over and over...just because she could sit on the bench and not move!).

The only way to get Allie to, kind of, look normal was for me to hold her.  It's a goofy picture age, my friends.

Doesn't it look real?  I think I might have it framed for his astronaut graduation someday (or whatever the astronaut equivalent is of a graduation).

We also had many other fun adventures at Papa & Gigi's.  

Like making chocolate chip cookies with Gigi,

Flying kites with Papa,

 Getting the most amazing face painting dinosaurs at Uncle Matt's church (yes, at church!)

 Going to a nearby dinosaur museum.  The dinosaur museum also had the most amazing mirror maze I have ever been inside.  I literally ran into a mirror more than once.  Once we conquered it once, we went through dozens of times.  It was amazing.  But, somehow I didn't remember to send the picture of the maze from my mom's phone...so you'll just have to imagine.

 Visiting Papa's work and driving their newest giant vehicle.

 with uncle Matt!

 Visiting the park I played in as a kid, but with brand new (absolutely awesome) playground equipment.  For the record, the infamous Hike & Bike was one of the fundraisers behind this new park.  It was great to see and enjoy the community's gain from my pain :)

Allie and I in the view from the top.

 Papa and Gigi bravely climbed to the top (I was up there for about 5 seconds before I found an excuse to go down).  They took a picture to commemorate the moment.

 And ending our days with story times with Papa.

As you can see, our May was bittersweet - the end of our time at a school that we LOVED, but filled with so many adventures.  And it was just the beginning of a summer full of adventures!

April

In April, I once again forgot to teach my children about the wonders of April Fool's Day.  I miss that holiday every year, and I could do so much with it!  However, in the very beginning of April (according to the date stamp on the picture), the children put together a wedding parade for one of their stuffed animals.  Can you tell what they used as a model of organization for the parade?  I was most impressed that the colors are in the correct order.  I taught them ROY G BIV early on...

 With April came Easter, and our annual egg dying party at the church...which means Allie's traditional dyed hands...

 It also means the annual egg hunt at the nearby campground, and we were joined again this year by the Beauties!  Love our time with the cousins.

Ryan and the ladies.

 Being 5, our kids were moved up to the next oldest group for the egg hunt...which means way more cut-throat.  Which also means that I didn't get a single picture of the hunting because I was too busy trying to keep track of my children in the mob.  But I did manage to capture the kids combing through the loot.

 They also had an egg hunt at our house with Nana!

Easter morning, I managed to get the traditional picture together (which I completely forgot last year, so score 1 for this year's picture taking!).  Yes, my children are wearing light-up sandals with their beautiful Easter finery.  It went like this.  I needed sandals for Allie and the light-up princess sandals matched beautifully (except for the lights...).  But I couldn't just get Allie awesome light-up sandals and Ryan nothing, so I decided to get them both light-up sandals (Cars for him) for their Easter baskets.  And then prepared myself for the inevitable, "If Allie is wearing hers, why can't I wear mine?"  And I decided he could.  Because he's a kid.  And what is more important, that he be picture perfect with no tacky, light-up, character shoes on Easter, or that he head to Easter service with joy in his heart because he is proudly wearing his new favorite thing on earth?  Granted, the joy is NOT reflected in the pictures...

 And the traditional egg hunt.  I like this action shot of Allie.

Meanwhile, Ryan seems content to hang back and let others get the eggs...

Also, in April we upgraded the twins to larger bikes.  Finally able to pedal comfortably again, going for bike rides became a new favorite activity.  We would go to nearby trails (where I didn't have to worry about cars or intersections), and had made it up to riding 5 miles...then it warmed up and my children melt in the heat.  Suddenly, we could only make it 1/2 mile before we would hear "I'm so hot!  I'm so tired!  Are we almost done?" in the whiniest voices.  So much for making it up to 100 miles (their initial goal).

We also made the goal of ditching the training wheels by the end of the summer...a goal that, as I write this with more than half of our summer gone, has not yet been achieved...

And these are all the pictures I took in April.  I told you this would go fast!  I'm sure many other amazing things happened, but without pictures as memory prompts, I have temporarily forgotten them!  Oh, well...on to May!