All Aboard

Campbell turned 2 this week and he invited the kids to his party at the Trinity Train Station.  Why have I never taken the kids here??  It was the perfect place for a party... we ate at a pavilion in the park and then rode the train.  Reese told me all morning that she wasn't going to ride, but I bribed her with popcorn and she ended up loving it. She was so relaxed that she fell asleep about 10 minutes from the end.  Tucker of course loved it... and his conductors cap that Campbell gave him too! 

Look at the cute b-day boy.  Happy Birthday Campbell!  Thanks for inviting us to your party.

Big Boy Cut

Tucker had his first real haircut today... on his second birthday!  I've just been sort of trimming it now for months, but it's been looking pretty crazy lately.  It was time for a big boy cut...

He was really cooperative and had fun driving the taxi and watching Bob the Builder while she worked.        

We went short for the summer with some spike on the top... too cute. He looks like such a big boy now. 

Slow down... you're growing up way too fast!  That's right, the kids are 2 years old today.  Stay tuned for pictures from their birthday party later this week.

Play-Doh to the Rescue

It was too hot to play outside yesterday and I was too lazy to take everyone to the pool, so it was a very long day.  The kids were like caged animals. I'm pretty sure Reese asked to go outside 15 times. And by 4:00 I was on the verge of a breakdown... the crying, the fighting, the whining, oh the misery. Please tell me this isn't what I have to look forward to this summer. 

I finally gave in and busted out the Play-Doh... something I've been trying to put off for a very long time.  What a mess... but I didn't even care.  Anything for a few minutes of peace and quiet.... 

Thank you Play-Doh.  You saved my sanity. 

Duck. Duck. Duck. Goose

We spent the morning at the duck pond on Saturday.  I thought for sure the kids would run the other way when the ducks jumped out of the water and waddled towards us.  Surprisingly, they weren't afraid and got right in the middle to feed them. 

                            

Tucker played the whole "one for you, one for me" game.  He may have eaten more bread than he threw to the ducks. 

 

Reese said "eat it" after she threw each piece.  So funny.... she's even bossy when she feeds the ducks.

The kids can get me up early every Saturday morning to do stuff like this.

Stupid Sony Camera

Chris took his high school band to Hurricane Harbor today, so the kids and I decided to tag along.  It was their first water park experience, and overall a success.  We spent the day in Pirate's Cove where they could run and splash and play on a few small slides.  Tucker absolutely loved it... we knew he would. He's a fish.  Reese was content to run and play on the water's edge most of the day.  She would barely put her big toe in the water.  In her defense, it was C-O-L-D.  I guess she's going to be a "lay by the pool" kind of gal like her mom.  It pretty much has to feel like bath water for me to venture in. 

We had a few minor injuries which is not at all surprising.  Tucker has spent the last few weeks with some kind of scab on his face.  Just when it starts to heal and go away, he gets another one.  Today, the giant bucket of water that dumps thousands of gallons of water every 15 minutes almost drowned us all.  The bell that normally sounds to warn you that it's about to dump wasn't working so we had no warning at all.  It knocked both the kids over and Tucker came up bleeding... from his face again.  He now has a huge scrape across his chin to go with the one on his cheek. I'm gonna have to get this kid a helmet. 

I took at least 100 pictures of the kids today and when I got home, realized that my camera is done for it.  It's been acting funny since I dropped it and broke the screen.  Instead of adorable images of the kids playing in the water, I have 100 or so blank squares.  I didn't get a single shot.  So sad.  We're going back in a couple weeks though, so I guess I'll try again.  

Until then, I leave you with this...  

A totally unrelated, random picture of Tucker. I just love this boy. 

Shiner

It's usually not good when Nana Cheryl calls me at work, so I was nervous right away when she called at lunch time on Friday.  Sure enough, she was calling to report an accident.  Tucker fell, hit the coffee table, and busted his eye open.  She put a steri-strip on it and didn't think he needed stitches but wanted me to come look just in case.  I usually err on the side of "he's okay... no big deal" because he so tough but since he had a 1/2 inch gash on his eyelid, I was a little hesitant to tell him to just rub some dirt on it.  I totally didn't want to sit in the ER for 3 hours just to have them put Neosporin on it and send us on our way either though. 

Luckily, we have a great athletic trainer at my school who was more than willing to take a look at it for me.  We headed out to the field house where he was worked up just like one of our state champion football players.  Coach has seen his share of cuts, breaks, tears, etc. so I was confident he'd know what we'd need to do.  Thank goodness he said a trip to the ER wasn't necessary.  He cleaned it up and put some derma-bond on it... what he said they would if we went to the hospital. 

Yesterday morning, the cut was almost completely closed up... but he did have a pretty nice little shiner.  Poor Tuck...

He's as Crazy as He Looks

Okay, so this picture has nothing to do with this post... but it is pretty stinkin' funny, isn't it? We have Aunt Amber to thank for this one.

So... I went to get the kids up this morning and I heard Tucker yelling "Mommy... Daddy" as I approached their room. As I got closer, I realized that someone was banging on the door trying to get out. Of course, I was totally confused because they still sleep in cribs and I couldn't imagine who might be trying to get out of their room. Yep, it was him... our little monkey, Tucker. Books were thrown about, Reese's hair bows everywhere, and he was just standing there smiling... like he'd really accomplished something. Please, oh please, let this be a one-time event. I'm totally not ready for toddler beds.

Go Fly a Kite

After the Easter egg hunt last Saturday, we packed a picnic and went out to the land to fly kites and enjoy the spring weather. Man will it be nice when we can just go in our back yard to do this instead of driving an hour. Pray that our house sells SOON!

I just love introducing the kids to new things... it gives me a whole new appreciation for the simple things in life...

Okay... he looks way to grown up in this picture. Really... old enough to do it by yourself? Stop growing!

Love it that the sun was in his eyes and he just couldn't keep them open. It didn't matter... he was "watching" the kite anyway.

Spring is here people and I'm stinkin' excited!

The Dallas Aquarium

Okay, so it's totally worth the money and the drive. We went to the Dallas Aquarium with my mom, Amber, Dana and her kids yesterday. It's way more than fish and a must see!!! I think the kids loved it almost as much as I did...

Spring break is almost over and I'm really sad. This week made me wish I could stay home with the kids. But at least we'll have the summer... and it can't get here quick enough.

REALLY Bad Idea??

Spring Break finally arrived and I was really excited about getting out and doing some fun things as a family. Grammy and Grandpa came in town and I thought it would be fun for all of us to go to the new Children's Museum. When we pulled up on Tuesday and the line was wrapped around the building, I'm sure they were thinking, "This was a REALLY bad idea!"

If you are thinking of going to the museum, here are some tips I WISH someone would have given me:

1. Do NOT go on a rainy day... everyone else has the same idea as you.

2. Do NOT listen to your husband when he says we don't need the umbrella strollers.

3. Do NOT go in the middle of the day.

4. DO buy your tickets ahead of time so you don't have to wait in line.

5. DO take tons of hand sanitizer... I wanted to bathe my kids in it after they played in everything.
6. DO NOT GO ON SPRING BREAK IF YOU CAN HELP IT!!

Despite the crazy lines, the kids had fun and we'll definitely go back. I'll just be smarter about it next time. See... even grown ups can learn something at the Children's Museum.

Grammy and Tucker checking out the cool bubbles.

Tucker loved driving the ambulance. The poor kid standing next to him had to wait forever for a turn.

Tucker wasn't sure what to think of the giant turtle.

There were tons of things to look at. I just wondered what was going on in those little minds of theirs.

Reese was pretty amazed at all the spinning tops... "How do these things work?"

They were both little monkeys... trying to climb and balance on everything. Tucker might be a pretty good snowboarder some day.

I think I can, I think I can...

The grocery store was the cutest thing ever...

They loved pushing and filling their carts.

Daddy helped Reese check out... of course he footed the bill.

Tucker had to weigh his produce, just to make sure he wasn't spending too much.

The Dino Dig was closed, but we did get to check out a few dinosaurs...

The kids tried to piece together a dino puzzle.

And Tucker checked out a dinosaur footprint first hand.

There were several rooms and an outdoor water play area that we didn't get to. So... we'll head back this summer when its NOT SO CROWDED!