Nana, Papa and Fireworks

This week Nana and Papa came to visit and help us to fix our deck. Those of you who have been here know that there was a hot tub there when we moved in and we sold it last fall. Since then there has just been a huge hole. Rob took Friday off and he and Papa fixed the hole. It looks great. (Of course I haven't taken a picture of the completed deck yet.)Thank you Papa for all your help. While they were fixing the deck up, Nana and I took the kids(with our friends Donna and Addy) to a local indoor playplace. It is called Funtastic Play Center. Of course I tried to take pictures but the camera died when I got there. Next time. It is a fun place with a small climbing play area(like McDonalds) with slides at the end. And a lot of large foam shapes and it is all safe for the kids to climb all over. Perfect for a rainy day when they are driving mommy crazy.On Friday evening our city had fireworks. We decided to take the kids to see what they would think. It is walking distance from our house. Since I was having camera issues this week, my battery died there as well. I managed to get a couple of pics before it died. This is Reid not wanting to sit on Nana's knee. He was having too much fun running around.
This is us watching the fireworks. I especially like Elsie's expression. They really did like them and weren't scared at all. Reid actually enjoyed pointing out airplanes that were going overhead as much as the fireworks. I never realized how many planes there were until he points out every single one that flies over.
Elsie and Reid watching the fireworks.
One of the pretty ones.

Fathers Day, Trains and Pools

Elsie and Reid got their daddy an indoor/outdoor thermometer for Fathers Day. Daddy made his famous pancakes(ok, don't know if they're famous, but its the only think he cooks and he does a good job)and then we headed out to Cabela's to shop. We actually came home empty handed. Then we stopped at a park on the way home and had some lunch there and let the kids play. We ended the day with Jets Pizza. I offered to cook whatever he wanted and he wanted pizza(his kind with pepperoni and sausage, no veggies allowed this day) and Jets bread. One of Reids favorite things these days is trains. Everytime he hears one he pumps his arm and says choo, choo. I have driven past this park a lot and always see the signs saying train rides the third weekend of every month, so this weekend we finally checked it out.

Elsie and I took a ride too, but we let Reid and daddy go a 2nd time so we could get some pics. It is run by the Kiwanis Club. They just take donations. You get a ride twice around the park each time you go.
Reid really had fun. In this pic they are the 5th couple on the train, just before the tree. He was waving at people and saying hi as they went by. He wasn't scared at all.
Today I finally got out the little pool. Reid loved it. I am a mean mom and won't let him splash in the bathtub, so as you can see, he went crazy today.
Elsie was just busy trying to keep the water from Reid's splashing out of her eyes. I eventually put the slide from out little swing set in the pool, so they were sliding down into the pool but I didn't get any pics because I was too busy helping them. They have no fear sometimes and scare me. Rob is picking up a little slide he bought off of Craigs List so I can use it in the pool. It will be better than what we have, so I will get more pics. I'm sure we'll be in the little pool a lot this summer.
I know Elsie's hat is too small. Its her hat from last year. I didn't want to get the one we wear every day wet. I have more, I just didn't feel like looking for them. It served its purpose to keep the sun off of her head. Not her face very well, but at least her head was shaded.

Slacker

Wow, has it been 2 weeks since I last posted?? I don't have any good excuses for not posting sooner. I will just use the nice weather. The kids hate to be inside and all the fresh air has us going to bed early. The kids are both doing great. Reid is talking a ton. He is really good at repeating things you ask him to. Elsie is slowly increasing her vocabulary. She's a sly one. You don't think she knows any of the words and then she just quietly says it. Reid is just loud and vocal. Reids favorite things these days are trucks and tractors. He is all boy. I can't wait to bring him home to Huron County in a couple of weeks to take him to a farm. Elsie is definately all girl, whining over every little thing that Reid does to her. He steals every toy that she picks up and I know it is on purpose half of the time to make her scream. She lost her 2nd bottom tooth and now has a really cute little toothless grin. She is having a hard time eating corn on the cob. Nothing to rip the corn kernels off with. They are on the go from the time they wake up until we go to bed at night.
These are a few of my favorite pictures from over the past 2 weeks.

Today we went to the Detroit Science Center with Phia, Megan, Nicholas, Matthew and Donna and Addy(I didn't really get any good pics of my kids with Addy) This pic cracks me up. I thought I would get a pic of the boys since they all looked cute in their blue striped shirts. Apparently Matthew didn't think it was a good idea. Thats Nicholas holding Reid with his devilish grin, getting ready to take off. Here are Nicholas, Megan and Matthew on the forklift with Reid and Elsie.
Megan with Reid and Elsie.
Elsie playing in the ball pit and looking pretty cute with her little piggie tails. She actually kept them in all day right up until bedtime.
Reid just being Reid.Cute all the time.
This was our first attempt at piggie tails. I didn't post the first pic of the tears, and then the pics with the blankies to help soothe the tears and then finally this pic, lounging in her chair watching Elmo.
A favorite pastime these days, wearing mommy and daddy's shoes.
And last but not least. The Red Wings winning the Stanley Cup!!!!!!!! These are a couple of pics from the 2nd last game. Our neighbour hooked up his projection tv so we could all watch it together on his garage. The first period was rough since it was still too light outside, but once it got dark, it looked great. We all brought lawn chairs and hung out. I was able to stay out with everyone until the 2nd OT period when one of the kids woke up. Unfortunately Rob was out of town for the winning game and I had to work that night. Rob's mom was here and said it looked like a great party again and they set off fireworks when they won.
A bunch of neighbours intently watching the game.

Playgrounds and More Twins

The big highlight of our days right now is deciding which playground to go to if the weather is nice out. We are fotunate enough to have 2 playgrounds in our subdivision that are nice enough for the kids to play in(after a visit to city hall by Rob to complain). Also the kids are getting big enough that they can climb by themselves.
Elsie is still a little cautious and crawls on her hands and knees sometimes.
This past Thursday we were able to visit with another set of twins that I met online. Shannon and Dana and Brynn. They are 17 months old right now, so just a little bit younger. They live in SanDiego, but they came home to MI for a wedding. This is a picture of most of the kids looking in the window at a cat.
Dawn with Max and Anna, Shannon with Dana and Brynn and Me with Elsie and Reid.
Elsie and Reid just hanging out.

Aunt Michelle and Uncle Rick's Wedding

Grandma doing a reading during the ceremony.
Michelle and Rick
Dancing
Elsie in her cute little dress(thank you Erlinda) and Reid looking very handsome.
Elsie with cousin Katie waiting to catch the bouquet.
Of course we didn't get any family pics, and not any good ones of daddy,so here he is with Uncle Randy. I think they were trying to make Reid laugh or something. This is the only picture I have of myself. We were sitting in the garden with GG after the ceremony.
Reid and Elsie starting to boogie. They really enjoyed the music and the lights.
This was just a really cute picture of Reid and cousin Christopher.

Last week we went on our first big family trip. We headed to the Atlanta area for Uncle Rick and Aunt Michelle's wedding. We had a great time. The kids were troopers and made it through until 10PM. The were getting a bit crabby until the music started and then found a 2nd wind. We survived 4 nights sleeping in a hotel but still aren't back to sleeping well at home here. I think they got used to sleeping with mommy and daddy in the big beds.

Reid went and sat with Grandma during the ceremony and I only got to stay until Michelle and her dad walked down the aisle. Then Miss Elsie and I had to go for a little walk. I usually have a ton of cool pics from weddings. This is my first wedding with kids, so unfortunately, not too many pics.

The whole wedding was held at Kimball Hall in Roswell GA.

Ruby Falls/Georgia Aquarium

This is us standing in front of Ruby Falls.

Last Wednesday morning we started out on our trip to Atlanta for Rob's brothers wedding. Overall the trip went really well. The kids did extremely well in the car. We made it to Chattanooga TN on the first day. We had to find a mall on the way down to let the kids get out of the car and run around in the play area because it rained the whole way down there. We were hoping for nice weather the next day so we could go to the Chattanooga Zoo, but unfortunately it was raining again when we woke up. So we chose to go to Ruby Falls. The worlds tallest underground waterfall. We weren't sure about taking 2-20 month old kids there, but we asked when we arrived and the lady said it wouldn't be a problem. Well little did we know that we would have to carry(yes you read right)carry the kids the entire time. We took an elevator down into the cave and then had to walk with the kids to the falls.(about a 1/2 mile) It just wasn't safe enough to let the kids down to walk. They did ok with the whole thing because there was enough to look at. Once we got to the Falls it really was pretty. The picture doesn't do it justice. I couldn't take too many pictures because I was carrying a squirmy kid.
We met up with Rob's family who were on their way down from Indiana and made our way to Marietta, GA. We had lunch together and then went to see Rick and Michelle's new house. On Friday we(Grandma, Great Grandma, Uncle Randy, Rob and I and kids)went to the Georgia Aquarium. The kids tried to have a good time but were pretty crabby when we were there. The seals were probably their favorite thing. They sat at the window for a while and watched them swim back and forth in front of the window.

I actually caught Elsie laughing at the seals.
Reid was pretty excited about all of the big fish in the giant aquarium.

Bleeding Heart/Eating Dirt

So I went to the computer today to upload pics to post a blog and realized that I had only taken 5 pics this week. So this is a pic of the bleeding heart that is in my backyard. I so don't have a green thumb. Everything that is there came with the house. It is all green except for this one little plant that has one strand of flowers. It is just so pretty.
And then there is Reid. He decided one day that he would try to eat the dirt. He looks like such a little devil with a whole face full of dirt.
We are going to Rick and Michelle's wedding this week, so we will have a lot of good pics for next week. I hope everyone had a good Mothers Day.