We took the kids swimming at the Monon Aquatics Center today. It was our first visit to the outdoor aquatics center. They had such a great time! Fortunately, they were both content to stay in the toddler pool, so we stayed together as a family the entire time. I was afraid that Ben would want to do the "big-boy slide," and Brian and I would each have to take the kids to a separate pool, but he was content to do the little slide in the toddler pool over and over. Maggie could have played at the water table all day long. We took them for a little cruise down the lazy river too. Maggie sat on Brian's tummy, and Ben rode in a tube with Mommy. We loved it!

I totally love this picture of Ben and Brian pushing Maggie in the stroller. Ben can't get enough of SpiderMan these days. He doesn't even know who SpiderMan is. He has never read the comic book, seen the cartoon, or seen the movie, but for some reason, he has to have all things SpiderMan. He got this towel for his birthday, and I crack up when he walks around in it like this.

Babysitting for Becca

We babysat for Becca Howard last night. The kids came along for the adventure. It was sooooo much fun! Becca took a little while to warm up to Brian, but, before too long, she was treating him just like her own daddy. Ben was treating Becca just like his own sister (i.e. steamrolling her every chance he could get!). We wondered if that's what life would be like if Maggie had been born a twin... Although the pictures we incriminating, we allowed Cara and Bill to see that we let the kids jump on their bed while they were away. Will we ever be invited back to babysit again?

Breakfast with the Martins

The kids were just cracking me up at breakfast this morning. I had to take some pictures.

Splash Day

We had a fun day on the deck today. Ben kept calling it our "splash day." I think that's because they have splash day once a week at daycare, and last week was the kickoff week for the summer. Ben thinks anytime there is water around, we must entitle the day, "splash day." Cracks me up. Even though I hadn't added any pitchers of hot water to the mix yet, both Ben and Maggie dove right in to the freezing water straight from the hose. They had a great time! When I brought Maggie inside for a lunch break, she signed "water" over and over because she wanted to go back outside and play in the pool.

typical Maggie

I really have nothing to say about this picture except that it's just typical Maggie. She's almost always happy and smiling like this. She loves to sit at her little table and "have tea." Here, she's having tea after her nap all by herself like a big girl just waiting for Ben to wake up and Daddy to come home from work.

Tough to get a group picture!

You have to be so fast when you're trying to take a group photograph of seven babies and toddlers...

...because at least one of them is ALWAYS on the move!
Quinn & Molly, Ben & Maggie, John & Abby, Ryan & ? (not born yet!)

~Our Tuesday Play Group~

Lakes at Hazel Dell Camp-Out

Last night was our annual neighborhood camp-out. It's held on the last day of school each year. Brian took a half-day at work so we could make it down to the camping field at the beginning of all the activities. Unfortunately, our kids had other plans... They took naps well into the late afternoon/evening. But, we eventually packed up the stroller and made it down there. Good thing Mommy had already gone down earlier to set up the tent!

Ours is the smallest tent, almost directly in the middle of the picture above. (tan and blue)

Brian and Ben really intended to camp out for the night. Mother Nature didn't cooperate. Strong thunderstorms and tornadoes were predicted. Even though there was lightening flashing in the sky, the DJ continued to play until 10:00pm.

Our kids had ice cream, we bought glow-necklaces, made s'mores, and Maggie danced her heart out! Ben couldn't be found from the moment we let him out of the stroller (hence, the lack of pictures). I spent most of the evening searching for him. He was having such a great time running in and out of everyone's tents (not necessarily ours or the tents of his friends!).

Just before the major downpour struck, we located Ben and gathered up our things. We decided to abandon our tent for the night. Several families disassembled their tents and took them home. When morning came, I went out to the field to assess the damage. I wish I had taken some pictures. Our tent survived fairly well. Only a few inches of water inside, and just one corner ripped away from its tethers. The rest of it was still attached to the stakes. Evidently, another tent (one much larger than ours) ripped completely away from its stakes and landed on top of ours. Good thing no one tried to stay out there and brave the storm! Better luck next year.

Avery's visit

Maggie and Ben's friend, Avery Wall came over for a play-date yesterday. We haven't seen Avery in months! She and Maggie have changed so much. Now that they have both passed their 1st birthdays, they actually play together. And, they both eat like it's their last meal!

Memorial Day Weekend

The playhouse / swingset is finally finished! Ben and Maggie have been playing on it everyday since. We love it!

Buddies ~ May 16th

Ben and Carson are such buddies. Even though they are 6 months apart in age, that age difference has finally started to level out. They play almost every evening after dinner, as long as the weather is nice. Carson's sister, Ava, is just three weeks younger than Maggie. We have a feeling that the two of them are going to be trouble together!

Helping Daddy ~ May 13th

The kids were so much help to Daddy as he tried to work on the play-house. Ben loves to take the tape measure and just "measure" everything in sight. Java keeps watch over the lawn and Maggie.

Ben also really likes to use the hammer. This makes Daddy only slightly nervous...

Wrestlers ~ May 13th

These two are always wrestling. I am constantly concerned that Maggie is going to get hurt, but she continues to laugh, and, sometimes, she even tackles Ben. It's so funny!

Clean Popcicles? ~ May 8th

I know I'm a clean freak, but eating popcicles in the bathtub really is the best way to go. It's after dinner, and there's so much less mess! Unfortunately, now, Ben asks for popcicles every time he gets in the bathtub.

Binky is GONE! ~ May 3rd

Binky is finally gone for good! We took Ben to Costco a couple of Saturdays ago, and he "purchased" the Sunray Playset with his pacifier. In this first picture, he and Maggie are posing in front of the playset, and Ben is proudly holding up his ziploc bag of pacifiers.

In the second picture, Ben

is giving all the binkies to the sales clerk. She was so honored to be a part of his big day, and she graciously allowed us to include her in our pictures. There was only about a week of remorse over the spent-binkies. Now, Ben is a binky-free kid, and we were quite happy to make that announcement to the dentist today!

Toddler Trade-Off

My friend, Andrea, and I have agreed to do a toddler-trade on Thursdays. Every other Thursday, Ben visits their house for the day. On the Thursdays in between, his friend, John, comes to our house to play for the day. It is the best gift Andrea and I could have ever given each other. I don't know which days are better: the days that John comes over to play or the days that I get to spend alone with Maggie. These are some pictures from a day John spent with us recently. We walked to our neighborhood playground after lunch and then came home for naptime. I NEVER thought the boys would nap in the same room together, but after a full hour of giggling, they finally fell asleep for a full two hours! I took a picture just to prove that they actually napped. Oh, it's priceless!