Staycation Report Two

The boys are loving all the attention and action this week!  I'm afraid they'll be bored out of their skulls next week when we're back to the ol' grind, but until then, let the good times roll!

Like I said, the boys and I opted out of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts/Punch Pizza/Downtown Tour on Wednesday, so I don't have any great pics of that adventure for you.  You all want to see the boys, anyhow, so we'll move on to Thursday, Staycation Day Four.

Thursday is ECFE for us, so we took special guest, Grandma, to class with us!

I caught Nathan kissing himself in the mirror!

Just had to snap this cute shot of little girl friend A, Nathan, and Matthew all dressed in green stripes and playing with the green balls in the green bucket.  Too cute!

Here we are at our favorite restaurant, Teresa's, celebrating Grandma and Grandpa's 32nd wedding anniversary.  The boys are sitting in big boy chairs like the pros they are!

Aunt L and I made their anniversary cake from scratch: Silver White Cake with Lemon Filling and Fluffy White Frosting.  It tasted delicious and was worth the humongous mess we made in the kitchen.

Here's where I would add the family photos we took that evening at a local portrait studio, but the proofs aren't yet online as of this writing.  But I can tell you they look great!  Aunt L gave me the salon treatment before we left so my hair and makeup looks incredible!  Oh, and everyone else looks good too! The boys behaved well and Matthew was smiling like crazy, so we got some beautiful shots.  Nathan refused to give us his million-dollar smile in the studio, though.  He reserved it for the car rides there and back, of course.  But no fear, we got some good shots of him, too.  I'm glad to finally make it into a family portrait!

Then we sent Grandma and Grandpa on a surprise anniversary date complete with prime rib and roses.  They seem to have had a good time.   Daddy and Uncle A were in charge of the baths last night, and they did a great job because the fellas conked out and we didn't hear a peep until 7 am this morning.  The rest of us who weren't on a date or sleeping played Wii bowling all night.  Unfortunately, I'm out of practice and lost my pro status (Boo!), but developed an interesting running-at-the-tv technique that scored me 4 strikes in a row!  So maybe I can earn my pro status back tonight!

We're off to Waterpark of America right after morning nap, so stay tuned for some cuter-than-cute baby swimsuit shots at our next update!

Staycation Report One

Whew!  Finally, a break in the action to fill my clamoring audience in on the details of our family "staycation!"  Steve's siblings are on Spring Break this week, so his family came out to the Twin Cities to spend some time with us and the babes.  We're having a blast and keeping busy showing them around some of our favorite spots in the area.

Here's me, Matthew, and Nathan at the beginning of our day at the Mall of America, visiting Nickelodeon Universe where Uncles D & A are about to spend many hours fighting G-forces.

 Uncle D, Me, Uncle A, and Aunt L: I conceded to riding ONE roller coaster of their choice - The Fairly Odd Coaster.  I found it fairly odd that the thrill wasn't quite the same as it was more than half a decade ago, when I last rode a coaster.

At the Rainforest Cafe, Nathan and Matthew tried out the "big boy" restaurant high chairs for the first time.  They sat and ate very well, but seemed a little leery of the big yellow Moray eel staring at us and the gorillas beating their chests overhead.

 Here we are in in the "Tropics Trail" at the Minnesota Zoo on Staycation Day Two!  We saw monkeys, turtles, flamingos, and a Malayan tapir in there!

We took the monorail around the zoo to see bears, bison, tigers and allegedly, moose.

Aunt L and Uncle A enjoyed Discovery Bay, where kids big and small are allowed to touch the starfish.

Days One and Two wiped the boys out, so I'm home with them this afternoon to rest while the others galavant around the Minneapolis Art Institute, Punch Pizza, and heaven only knows where else!  Stay tuned for more Staycation reports!

9 Months Old!

Finally, they've been alive longer than I was pregnant! If pregnancy was the longest 9 months of my life (ok, mine was 8, but who's counting?) then the last 9 months have been the fastest!  Yesterday we took the boys to their well-baby appointment for the big weigh-in.  The results?

 

Ever the clown, Nathan won't lie still on the scale.  He's a big, healthy 18 lbs, 10 oz and has stretched 3 inches in 3 months to 27 1/2 inches!

So serious!  Matthew lies still to make sure the weight is done correctly because he wants to be sure he's the "big" brother again.  And he is at 18 lbs, 11oz!  He's the "shortie" this month, though, at just 27 inches.  

Both boys received passing grades - they're hanging in there at the 20th percentile for weight, which is excellent because they started below the 5th percentile at birth!  Way to go, fellas!

We received all kinds of paperwork at the appointment, so I was reading it last night.  One suggestion was to give baby a spoon to play with during feeding.  Genius!  Maybe that will keep them from swinging at the spoon while I feed them!  

Lesson One: This Is A Spoon

Tomorrow, Lesson Two: This Is The Business End

Thursday Morning Snapshots

 

Who's that handsome guy?

  

Mom, stop with the pictures!  Can't you see I'm busy?

  

Nathan was tentative about the tunnel and the Big Red Dog.

  

Exploring, exploring, exploring - here's Matthew discovering shelves of toys

  

 Ha ha!  We're in here with all the toys and you're out there with none!

  

I love you!

  

 Super Nathan!

Spring Has Sprung!

At least it feels like it.  Yesterday the Twin Cities hit a high temp we haven't seen in 3 months: 42 degrees!  I was so excited, I piled the guys in the stroller and we took a spin around the neighborhood.

 

The sunshine makes Matthew smile and squint

 

This is Nathan's "riding the bus" pose: he rips the toy off the rings and hold onto them while we ride. 

 

There's still some snow, but if the temps keep rising like this, it won't be around long.

Come on, spring!

Little Olympians

I think the boys are disappointed that the Olympics are over and have decided to start training for the 2026 Olympic Games (they have to be 16 compete, right?). 

Here's Nathan practicing for the skeleton this morning - all on his own, mind you. 

 

  

 

Or maybe they're thinking the two-man bobsled?  Just don't go down headfirst!
This looks like the men's parallel bars, so perhaps they're going to compete in the Summer Games.  

 

What a proud mama I'd be having both sons competing in the Olympics.

Too bad this was morning naptime.

Baby Storytime Again!

Is it still baby storytime if you get there so late that you missed the story?  I guess so, because I don't know what else to call it.  The fellas still enjoyed themselves because I let them play with the other free range chickens - I mean, babies. 

 

Like this, bro.  Press the blue one!

Baby storytime is just once a month at our library and I love it because only a few people show up.  It's held in a big room where the chickens can roam free but not escape.  We read a couple of board books, sing songs (enter me, pushing the fellas in giganto-stroller), then the best part - PLAY WITH TOYS.

 

Hello?  This baby Nathan is taking my toy!

 

Mommy's camera!  It's better than any toy I've seen today!

 

Look, Mom, I dove headfirst into the toy basket and our nice librarian saved me!

That's nice, Nathan.  Now let's go return our books and get some new ones.

Then go home and take a nap because you guys wipe me out.

Oh,and read a book, since we obviously didn't do that at the library.