Gran's House

This past weekend, we all went down to Fayetteville to spend the weekend with my mom. We were spoiled with lots of great cooking, and we even made homemade ice cream! Kaitlyn was SO excited to see the ice cream being made...and even more excited about eating it! In the picture below, she is watching the canister spin while munching on homegrown cherry tomatoes. Summer doesn't get much better than this!

My mom has a large yard compared to ours, so the kids had a blast exploring outside (when it wasn't unbearably hot!). Ethan kept making a beeline for the road, so he kept us on our toes at all times. Kaitlyn picked little green apples and peaches from mom's trees, and we watched a praying mantis on a tree for a long time (those things look weird!!). Kaitlyn spent some time riding my old tricycle. Apparently, it's more fun to ride the tricycle in the grass instead of on the driveway. Thanks for a great weekend, mom!

Kids and Dishwashers

What is it about kids and dishwashers? Or maybe it's just MY kids and dishwashers.

Here's Ethan at 16 months (with drool and unruly, curly hair).

And Kaitlyn at 14 months (no drool and neat hair).

Dragons and Stroller Races

Now for some random things in my quest to catch up on my posts...

We recently went to a local park known for its big blue mosaic dragon. Kaitlyn thought it was the coolest thing in the world to play on a dragon. This thing just begs to be climbed on, and she was brave enough to try a small section, as long as I was holding her hand.

One night after dinner, the kids started playfully chasing each other around the house. Ethan was pushing his teddy bear around in Kaitlyn's pink doll stroller, and Kaitlyn had a couple of animals in the shopping cart. They were doing laps through the house--sometimes Kaitlyn would be in the "lead" and other times it would be Ethan. They chased each other back and forth around the house for a good 15 minutes, nonstop. Laughter and giggles filled our house, and I had to stop what I was doing and snap a few pictures. When many days are filled with Kaitlyn screaming "No, Ethan! Don't touch that!!!" and Ethan saying "EEEEEEHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!" when Kaitlyn has something that he wants, I like to know that there are some moments when they seem to like each other :)

Ethan rounding the corner, checking out his "competition"

Kaitlyn coming up on the inside

I have no idea where the finish line is, but...

...it looks like we have a winner! Love that smile!

4th of July

Our patriotic kids before the fireworks display on the 4th.

Contrary to what it looks like in the picture below, Kaitlyn actually loved the fireworks. She kept her fingers in her ears the whole time in case they got too loud, but she had a lot of fun. Ethan was moderately interested in the fireworks...as long as we kept him supplied with snacks.

June Fun

June was a super-busy month for me, hence the lag in blog posts. But now that my summer course is over, I finally have time to upload some pictures from the last few weeks.

When it's not unbearably hot, Kaitlyn loves to be outside in our backyard. I think she could entertain herself out there for hours. It's amazing how interesting a backyard becomes through the eyes of a child. It's been a long time since I stopped and watched a snail creep along the ground, but it's a source of wonder and amazement for her. I also never noticed how many spider webs get built on a daily basis, but Kaitlyn notices every one and points them out with glee. Below is a picture with Kasha, her play mate.

Ethan also loves to go outside, but he requires a lot more supervision, so he doesn't get to out as much as Kaitlyn does. When he wants to go outside, he brings me his "outside shoes" and grunts loudly until I put them on and take him outside. And once outside, he wants to explore everywhere and cries when I take him back inside! He truly is a little boy in every way!

One night, we made our annual trip to the downtown area to watch the sunset. The kids, of course, had no desire to "sit and watch" the sunset--not that we expected them to at all. They (especially Ethan) were much more interested in running, exploring, squirming, and generally doing everything except staying in one place. So Jeff and I employed the time-honored method of "divide and conquer." Our "family outing" mainly consisted of Jeff supervising one child while I supervised the other in a different area. I try to remind myself that there will be plenty of time later in life for watching the sunset without kids. We pretty much just have to go with the flow these days and adjust our expectations of a family outing. It much less nerve-wracking and ultimately more fun that way. Just don't get me started on the "eating out" experience with a 3 year old and a 16 month old!

We (naively) attempted to get some pictures of the two kids smiling together in the warm, soft light of sunset--a nearly impossible task. Here are some of our outtakes.

Kaitlyn "leading" Ethan down the path


Ethan getting tired of Kaitlyn holding his hand.


One child smiling...


Both kids crying...


The other child smiling...

It's much easier to take nice photos of one child at a time. They're so much more cooperative.

And just for the sake of history, we took the required "family" pictures. At this point, Ethan was done! He desperately wanted to get down so that he could explore the world on his own terms. I did manage to get a couple of glimpses of the sun before it set behind the hills :)

And just for fun, here are some other pictures from past downtown sunsets.

Jeff with Ethan in 2009 (3 months old)


Kaitlyn learning to walk in 2008 (14 months)

Kara with Kaitlyn in 2007 (6 weeks old)

May Fun

In May, Kaitlyn finished up her first year of preschool. I can't believe how quickly the time went. She learned so many things and matured SO much during her time there. We are very thankful for her wonderful teachers. To celebrate the last day of school, her class had a popsicle party. Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate that day, and they had to have the party inside. But the kids didn't seem to mind one bit.

On Memorial Day weekend, we enjoyed a visit from the Mullers. Jeff and Dave have been best friends since they were kids, and it's so much fun to see all of our kids (5 total) play together. We enjoyed some polka music at Gerst House, a walk downtown on the Shelby Street Bridge, frisbee in Bicentennial Park and lots of water fun in our backyard. We had so much fun together and were sad to see them go! For those who are interested in seeing more pictures of the Mullers, click on "Photos" on the left for a picture album. Here are a few pics below:

Ethan in Bicentennial Park--walking everywhere!


Kaitlyn trying to learn how to use a water gun--Ethan was unimpressed


Ethan preferred to splash/crawl in the sprinkler-created mud


The Muller kids + Kaitlyn (Alexis, Hayden and Meredith)

Now for some random May pictures:

Jeff and Kaitlyn making "music" together

Ethan getting in on the music-making fun

A rare moment of sibling fun and harmony...

New Jersey Trip

Last month, we went to New Jersey for a few days to see Jeff's parents. Jeff and I were able to get away for a couple of days by ourselves while the kids stayed with Mimi and Papa. We went to Long Island, NY and spent some time exploring the beaches of Montauk and the Hamptons. We love traveling without our kids from time to time!! Thanks, Mimi and Papa!

While we were in NJ, we took the kids to the Jersey shore. On our way to Ocean City, we stopped to see "Lucy the Elephant," this enormous elephant statue where you can pay money to climb to the top. We skipped the tour and just took the picture. Little kids seem to think she's cool...otherwise, I'm not sure I really see the point of an elephant statue on the beach. But maybe that's just me. However, we did come away with a nifty wind-up elephant toy that Kaitlyn loves.

After our visit with Lucy, we went to Ocean City to explore the boardwalk and the beach. We found a place with rides, and Kaitlyn was in heaven. For the first time, she rode some of the kiddie rides by herself and was quite proud of herself too!

Some rides are just more fun with other people. Like this cool Thomas the Train ride that went over and around the whole amusement park. I think Papa liked it too.

Kaitlyn had been looking forward to going to the beach all day. But when we finally got there, she wasn't so sure about the sand and water. The only way she would get close at first is to be held.

Ethan looking super hip in his shades :)

We tried to cajole Kaitlyn to dip her feet in the water. Then we tried to lead her there by her hand. You can see how well that went! She was having NONE of it!

The ocean in New Jersey wasn't exactly warm in early May. In fact, it was so cold that it made your feet hurt after a while. Ethan wasn't quite sure what to make of all the new sensations. But as always, he just went with the flow.

Mommy and Ethan.

Finally toward the end, she got brave and went close to the water. But only because she thought it was fun to scoop up a shovel of sand and dump it into the ocean. Notice that she's careful not to get in the water.

And sweet little Ethan was so exhausted after our day of fun that he instantly fell asleep on top of his teddy bear when we got back to Mimi and Papa's house.

We were excited that we were going to be in NJ on a Sunday so that we could go to the church where Jeff grew up. After church, some of Jeff's longtime friends (and their families) came over for lunch. It was pretty crazy with all the kids, but lots of fun too! We had a blast catching up with people that we don't see very often.

Somehow we ended up with lots of pictures from the beach, but not so many pictures of the kids just hanging out with the grandparents and great-grandparents. We'll do a better job next time!