Planes, Trains, and Tricycles

Over the last few days the kids have test driven all their vehicles.  First, it was their Jeep. Then they gave their scooters a whirl. Tonight, we made it a trio by bringing out the bicycles (or tricycles for those under 3 years old)...

Ev's feet baaaaarely reach the pedals, but he gave it all he had.

Amelia remained unphotographed because she was too fast to capture on camera. 

Tooters

Amelia and Everett went for a leisurely ride on their scooters, or "tooters", as Everett calls them...

Licensed to Drive

The kids are practicing for their driver's exams. They will be here before you know it.

Lunch Date

If you had better looking lunch dates than I did today, you'd be very lucky and I'd be very surprised...

Strawberry Patch

We had a great day at the strawberry patch. Then again, when you have funnel cakes, face painting, and frozen strawberry drinks...pretty much any day is great...

Farm Life

Just in case any of you were starting to think it was all play while on the farm....



an honest day's work.....

Kids

Two thoughts - 

1) I miss my kids far more than they miss me.

2) Anyone who doesn't have kids should borrow two kids for a week or so. That way, they will gain an appreciation for the amount of free time they have. I certainly didn't realize it before I had kids, but childless people should be able to solve all the world's problems and complete their entire bucket list over and over again. You know how you can't really appreciate food unless you've gone to bed hungry? Well, you can't really appreciate free time until tiny little people command every second of yours. 

Farm Life

It looks like it didn't take Everett long to figure out how to enjoy spending time at Grandma and Grandpa's...


Some of the popsicle even made it into his mouth....

Down on the Farm

After Easter, the kids got left behind down on the farm so they could enjoy the great outdoors with Grandma and Grandpa.  Our entire weekend was rained out, so they have to make up for lost time.  So far, it seems like they are off to a good start...

 Hanging out in the hammock...

Enjoying a late afternoon nap....

Easter Fun

Playing with Uncle Jay's new baby chicks....

 Dying Easter eggs....

Showing off his fine work...

 Enjoying the big day...

Waiter

We went to a small winery today. We ate lunch, had a little wine, and tasted a variety of sauces and jellies....but, the best part was this little guy who just wanders around as he wishes and hangs out with you at your table. I'm not sure what the health codes are, but I think every restaurant should have dog waiters...

Buddy

Things change every day, but one thing that will always remain is I love hanging out with my original Little Buddy...

Pictures

This picture pretty much exemplifies what is like for me when I try to get a picture of my kids. Both children were standing in the kitchen looking sweet when I said "Let me take your picture". Instead of just simply looking at the camera and smiling, Amelia leaned against the wall in her best attempt to look cool, Everett almost choked on his muffin laughing so hard, and out of nowhere Sophie strolled into frame with no idea anything was going on around her...

Relaxing

I'm glad my kids have gotten to the point where they are each other's snuggle partners...you know, for the times I'm just too busy to strip down, spread out on the couch, and watch Frozen for the 100th time....

Easter Spirit

I'm happy to see that the same little boy who went all Braveheart when he thought he found an Easter egg last year.....

....still takes his Easter Egg hunting seriously enough to wrestle to the death if need be.....

Boys

These are what the legs of a two year-old boy look like....a two year-old that has had no recent major incidents.  Somehow, he just wrestles, climbs, and rough houses so constantly that he is continually scraped from stem to stern...

Easter Eggs

Some eggs started the day very plain and boring and ended the day in an array of colors....

Yard Work

Everett and I took advantage of the beautiful weather today by doing some work in the lawn.  With a helper as great as him, it only takes me 20 times longer to do everything...efficiency at its best...

Amelia

I have heard from a few people recently that the blog is a little Everett heavy these days. Rest assured, there is never rhyme or reason as to who gets on the blog. It just so happens that I've had more pics and stories of him this week. Meanwhile, Amelia is still being her adorable, funny, smart, sweet, loving self...

Teacher

Amelia is a great, great teacher. In fact, she deserves credit for many of the things Everett can do. Sometimes, her teaching is active such as when she shows him how to play the IPad. Other times, her teaching is passive like when he brushes his teeth because she brushes hers. Usually, we are very thankful we can use his desire to be like her and her desire to be a good big sister to get what we want. However, with Everett's ever growing ability to talk, this whole teaching thing isn't all it's cracked up to be. Nobody needs a 2 year-old running around talking above his age. Sure, it's adorable when Let It Go comes on Frozen and he says "Hey guys, it's my favorite song!". However, it is far less desirable when he now calls us "mom" and "dad" instead of mommy and daddy. I'm waiting for him to go ahead and jump to Mother and Father any day. That said, it is even worse when he is telling everyone in PetSmart that "the kitty shaking his butt!" at the top of his lungs or yelling out "the doggie pooping" as we went for a walk in the neighborhood tonight. Somehow, I need Amelia to learn to be a nasty little 5 year-old a little more quietly.

Bedtime Ninja

Is there even a need for me anymore at bedtime? I mean, once you have a Ninja Turtle that reads bedtime stories to his big sister, there's really little room left for improvement...

Go With What You Like

This is how Ev spends his weekends....

Wearing his favorite hat, baggy shorts, monkey pajama shirt, Elmo socks, red Crocs and chugging apple juice. Sometimes I think two year-olds might have it all figured out....

A Different Approach

When Amelia sees a bee of any kind, she screams at the top of her lungs and sprints away leaving a roadrunner style cloud of dust in her wake. Apparently, Everett takes a different approach.  He grabs his bat and starts trying to go Babe Ruth on them....

Winning

I'm not going to mention any names here because I don't want to make anyone feel bad, but let's just say that someone is very jealous because a certain little guy keeps saying "I love you, Daddy" over and over again as they drive away in the morning, but has never said "I love you, mommy".  Yeah, it feels good (even if I know he'd throw me in front of a bus for her any day).

Out

He might be able to go strong when it comes to rocking his favorite hat, but he can't hang when it comes to running around town with Dad all day....