Birthday Boys

Well, our boys turned 2. I'm not sure how it happened really. It seems that just a moment ago they were tiny, little babies. Now they're kids. Kids! We had their birthday party at the Children's Museum. They LOVE that place so it was perfect. Trina meticulously planned every detail and hand made almost everything. It took weeks of diligent crafting. The actual party was over in a flash. My memory of it is a blur of primary colors, laughing, running, crying, playing children. Adults scattered about, trying to corral or herd various children and then poof, it was over. I don't remember a single conversation I had with anyone. I'm told people had a good time, so that's nice. I didn't think the boys had enough time to play, but when we were leaving, none of them cried. They always cry when we leave so I know they didn't share my same disappointment. They had a great time and really, that's the only thing that matters to me. 

I took off their nice shirts so they wouldn't be stained. I actually brought specific "cupcake eating shirts" but decided naked cupcake eating was fine. We don't stand on ceremony around here. Simon and Dexter dug right in. Linus touched his once, realized it was messy and started wiping his hands and yelling for a spoon. 

Mmmmm, ice cream. Not sure where Dex ran off to...

I love the look on Linus and Dexter's faces in this pic. Linus is driving like a mad man and Dexter looks terrified. 

Dexter had fun spinning these flower shaped sun catchers.

Simon sliding all by himself. I remember when I'd have to hold him upright so he didn't fall back and hit his head.

Linus putting balls in the holes and watching them bounce around as they fall to the bottom.

Wouldn't you know the only thing they all wanted to play with was a little baby toy. All 3 of them sat still for like 15 minutes with this thing. I may need to buy one...

Linus having a solo tea party. he ket stirring the tea, taking a sip and saying "Mmmmm."

Dexter and Linus took turns driving the truck while Simon loaded the bed.

Big cheese from Dexter. 

PT is definitely paying off. Linus can take the stairs like a champ!

Simon has a little stuffed panda that he is VERY attached to. He wanted to bring it along, but I wouldn't let him for fear that he'd get lost and Simon would be heartbroken. Well, Simon found a big stuffed panda at the museum and he was ecstatic! He was yelling "Pah!" and signing panda over and over. He carried it around the whole time we were there. I started getting scared that he would be sad to leave this surrogate panda behind. Luckily I was able to distract him as we left. Whew, crisis averted.

Linus in awe of the giant bubble tube. He kept signing "ball" and "bubble."

Simon was digging the cow in a major way. Here he's saying & signing cow.

Driving around in the choo choo wagon playing with water.

Three very sleepy boys after a long, fun day.

Cheerio Fiasco

On the mornings that I am in charge of the boys, I have a basic routine. This routine involves me serving the boys breakfast at their table then going to pick out their clothes for the day and grabbing diapers and such. That way I can change and dress them as I clean them up from breakfast. Apparently during the 3-4 minutes I was gone they decided that they needed more cereal. Being the independent, helpful boys that they are, they got it themselves. Looks like it may be time to change my routine...

Dexter was picking each piece of cereal up and putting it back in the box, Simon was shoveling the evidence into his mouth by the double fist fulls and Linus fled the scene of the crime.

 Dexter: "1, 2, 3, 4..."

Simon; "Ooh, look, a hat!"

Linus: "What cereal? I'm just over here eating yogurt like a good boy."

 I'm *that* mom, so I made them help me clean up. 

Them swinging the brooms like golf clubs was *extra* helpful. How else could I have gotten all that cereal under the fridge and the stove?

Linus: "Ooh, look, a hat!

Vacation!

As I mentioned in my last post, we took our first family vacation last month. It was kind of a nightmare navigating an airport, getting through security and boarding a plane with 3 toddlers, but all in all, we had a great time. The boys got to hang out with lots of family members, played in amazingly soft green grass, ate heavenly Amish doughnuts, took their first boat ride and even went to a water park. On the downside Simon face planted on the concrete not once, but twice. The first time he scuffed his forehead, the second time he scraped and busted his lip. Linus banged his head on a table, bashed it really good on a door and busted his nose by running face first into a wall. This resulted in a really really bruised forehead, a bloody nose and 2 black eyes. Dexter gets the prize for being the least clumsy and only scraped a knee. It was like all that fresh air and exercise made them forget how to walk or something!

Our 3 boys, 3 strollers, 3 carseats, 3 carry ons and 2 suitcases before boarding.

Playing with the water fountains while waiting for the flight was super fun.

Checking out the seats. No we did not let them sit together like this. I took Simon & Linus in my row and Trina had Dexter with her.

Enjoying some pre-flight milk.

"So let me get this straight. What you're saying is the plane is going fly? In the air??"

Glorious in-fight napping.

Looking a little rough after the flight.

Dexter playing with the pay phones while waiting for his aunt, uncle & cousin's flight to come in.

Simon had a LOT of energy to run off while waiting.

Linus's first taste of soft grass. He loved it!

Amelia, Linus & Dexter playing with blocks. OK, Linus is actually playing with a remote, but whatever.

Drinking water can be dangerous so  you have to use personal safety equipment at all times! 

He looks like a minion. :)

Simon running off more energy. This kid is go go go.

Watching movies on Grandma's giant high def TV. They were in awe. Nothing like our teeny pixilated set at home!

Mmmm, strawberries. Speaking of, you can see Simon's scuffed head in this shot.

Trina and the boys playing in the fabulously large yard meticulously kept by Grampa Kip.

More running for Simon. See a pattern here?

Linus running his hands through the grass.

Dexter doing some *ahem* gardening...

The boys taking in the view of the river.

They were SO excited about putting on life vests for the boat ride...

See the excitement? :)

 

Luckily they *did* calm down once the boat was in motion.

Linus and Tanya looking at the water.

Dexter was not a big fan of the wind in his face.

Linus hanging out in the back of the boat with Mommy watching his cousins on the tube.

Grandma and Dexter splashing around.

Simon wasn't having it at first,

but then he decided splashing *was* kind of fun after all.

Simon is kind of OCD about buckles. He had to clasp all of these immediately after it was taken off of his brother.

Playing in the drive with assorted family and friends. 

Simon riding a rooster at the water park. He loved this thing!

Cousin Braden, Aunt Tiana, Uncle Clyne and Simon in tubes on the lazy river. You can see Mommy and Dexter in the top right corner.

Linus was in love with this horse. He made Grandma take him to see it over and over again.

Mommy, Simon & Dexer playing at Splash Universe.

That is one BIG drinking fountain.

Linus sat in here for a very long time playing with the water. You can see how bruised his head was getting. A few more days and it covered his whole forehead! 

See how Dexter is walking away while Mommy is focused on Simon?

I looked over and he was already about 20 feet up this net walkway!

This is the last picture because as I was going up to rescue my fearless child, a several hundred gallon bucket of water rained down on us effectively drowning my camera. :)