Uncle Mike Visits

We had a nice surprise last weekend when Uncle Mike decided to come visit. Unfortunately, Aunt Elaine had to work and so we weren't able to visit with her, but hope to see her sometime soon. And wouldn't you know it, but I failed to take any pictures last weekend. I had promised Mike (okay, threatened...grin) to put a few pictures on the blog of him and it appears that he got out of town without having taken any. So for now he is safe, and I will just have to take twice as much next time. :)

Despite the lack of picture taking, we did have a great visit. Tyler was beyond thrilled to go pick Mike up at the airport and even took a little white truck to show him. Tyler was a little speechless when Mike finally arrived as he hadn't seen Mike in person in over a year, but within a few minutes he quickly became a chatterbox. And after a few translations, Mike started to pick up more on what Tyler was so eagerly pointing out to him.

Some of the highlights of the weekend included Tyler playing cars with Uncle Mike, dancing to the music of a new and rather noisy green car that Mike felt Tyler "HAD" to have (yes, we will get you back on that one Mike...grin), a trip to Edinborough Park, and some shopping. I wish I would have taken my camera to Edinborough as Tyler INSISTED that Uncle Mike and Adam go up in the playground with him. :) I wasn't sure who was having more fun, them or Tyler; though Tyler did last longer than them. ;) And I still don't understand what Mike and Tyler were talking about, but Tyler is still going on today about "ping ping baby steps". He put together this phrase while Mike was here and thinks that he is super funny when saying it. So throughout the day I have heard "uncle mike ping ping baby steps" and I just wonder how long this phrase will stick around.

On another note, Kevin had a doctor's appointment today to check his neck (doctor thinks that he has a case of torticolis). Kevin weighed in at 14 lbs, 2 ounces (the same weight that Tyler was at 8 weeks (Kevin is now 12) so I guess that Kevin is our peanut despite the doctor's announcement that Kevin is a big baby (68th percentile)). Kevin is still favoring his left and resisting bending his head to the right, but since he isn't developing a flat spot (probably from our constant moving him around in our attempt to avoid a him getting a helmet like Tyler had) the doctor is giving us another month of doing the physical therapy/stretches at home before recommending us to a physical therapist. Kevin did smile a lot and coo for the doctor (before the doctor examined his neck), so he met his milestones for today.

Pooh Bear also had a doctor's appointment right after Kevin. It was a good thing that we could work them in at the same time. ;) Tyler insisted this morning that we take Pooh Bear and about smothered Kevin when Tyler decided that Pooh Bear also needed to be in a car seat (and so he chose Kevin's, where Kevin was already buckled in). Once I explained that Tyler could just hold Pooh Bear (after a few tears) we headed out. Pooh Bear waited nicely at the doctor's office. He sat in a chair next to Tyler and Tyler read him books while Kevin and I watched the fish. Then Pooh Bear decided that he wanted to be weighed before Kevin. He is growing big and weighs 5 ounces and then the nurse diapered him. Then Kevin got weighed and got a new diaper on. Then Tyler sat patiently in a chair holding Pooh Bear on his lap, while I sat in another holding Kevin. Anytime I did anything with Kevin, Tyler copied (it was pretty cute to watch).

Then after the doctor examined Kevin, Tyler brought him Pooh Bear and with a little help in translation from me, Dr. Mark examined Pooh Bear. Tyler held Pooh Bear's hand while Dr. Mark listened to his heart and tummy, and then explained that Tyler needed to do sing songs and make sure that Pooh Bear gets enough tummy time. Tyler agreed and then the appointment was over, with the doctor telling me that Tyler's imaginative play (earlier in the appointment Dr. Mark asked Tyler what was in his backpack and Tyler told him coupons. I then had to explain that Tyler had put imaginary coupons he found over the weekend in his backpack this morning and that he wanted to bring them with us) is great for his age and to keep encouraging it.

Well, there is my ramble for the day. Both boys were up all night (sigh) and so I am exhausted. I would love to write more about the weekend as it was just too much fun to watch Tyler with Mike and Adam, but I am going to go lay down since both boys appear to be napping and the girls are outside. I have opened up the house and the cool breeze and noise from the neighbor mowing his lawn are just too much for my tiredness.

And since I lack pictures from the weekend, I will leave you with these that I took on Friday morning.

Kevin checking out his hands.

Tyler siting still for a picture.

Yet another rare moment where Tyler is sitting still.

A BIG smile. :)

Smiling for mom. Kevin is loving being outside and seems to enjoy his Bumbo seat.

Trying to get them to both smile and look at me. After about 30 pictures of continuous shoot, I gave up. It is hard enough to get one to look at me and smile, let alone them both. This was the best I could get of them sitting near each other and looking at me. :)

Dirty baby feet. :) Kevin was jumping in the jumperoo outside and I thought that I should take a picture of the first time his feet touched the grass. And wouldn't you know it, they're dirty!

Staring me down while sitting in his Bumbo seat.

Tyler chasing the soccer ball and red ball that he just kicked. He LOVES playing outside, and I am just so glad that we have been having good weather lately so he can do it.

A Katie Story

Just a quick, heart racing moment that I wanted to share about me. It involves the realization that I no longer live in Oklahoma. :)

So while I am holding Kevin and watching Tyler play at the playground, tornado sirens go off. My heart starts racing! Although the day had warmed up, it was still breezy and I could see dark clouds off to the southwest. I quickly start to panic because Tyler is at the top of the slide waiting his turn to go down. How in the world am I going to get him down in time and then where are we going to go for shelter? I mean, obviously a bad storm is headed in our direction!

In the ten seconds that I have no mentally prepared for the worst, I realized that none of the adults around me (and the place was packed) were moving any faster than normal. A few were looking up and around, but no one was in a panic and no one was gathering up their kids. The mom I was chatting with, was still chatting on and I couldn't tell you what she was saying.

I just kept looking around and then looking at the sky. How come no one was moving? How did they know that the storm wasn't headed straight at us? As I sat there for a few more seconds other sirens kicked on in other directions, and Tyler finally slide down the slide. Should I go get him?

Rather than rush off to get him, I got brave and asked the stupid question of the day to the mom standing next to me. "Is there a storm headed this way by chance?". She just looked at me and laughed. Apparently, this is siren testing day.

Sigh. What a relief. I about started laughing in relief. I was seriously panicking in those brief seconds about how to protect the boys and do so efficiently. I had concluded in those few seconds (prior to working up the nerve to ask) that Minnesota just gets so few tornado's that these people seriously had no idea what to do. I just couldn't believe my eyes and my heart was just pounding!

So, there is my story. My heart got quite the adrenaline rush today and given how quickly my mind was racing, I thought that I would share this moment. :) It was definitely nice after-the-fact to realize how rare these storms I am terrified of truly happen up here and that yes, you can have siren testing day not on a Saturday and not at noon on a windy day with dark clouds. :)

Hope you got a little amusement out of this. :)

Two Tired Tots

Thirty minutes packing the car and bags,

Forty minutes at a meeting for a mom's group I am thinking of joining,

Ten minutes filling the car up with gas and getting a coffee for me,

Twenty minutes driving to the zoo,

Two hours walking,

Ten minutes convincing Tyler to feed a goat,

Twenty minutes watching Tyler play with "kids" at the playground,

Watching my two year old and three month old go crazy at the tropical fish exhibit. . . worth all the effort!


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Okay, I know that the above is cheesy, but that is sort of how my day went. It was a TON of work getting the car packed with everything I thought that we would need for a trip to a meeting and then to the zoo (food, extra clothes, pacifiers, hats, sunglasses, sunscreen, burp clothes, nursing cover, potty seat, diapers, etc.). But watching them both enjoy the tropical fish exhibit I realized how all that effort lead to this great moment for me! Truly a good time!

At the point that the mom's group ended, I was about ready to just head home and call it a day. But as we started driving, Tyler said something to the effect of "yea, Tyler zoo and kids slide".
So, I realized that although it was effort and took time to get there, I was already packed and this is one of the reasons I am staying home with them . . . to be able to spend time with them. So, rather than heading home to our usual routine (where I would likely get sidetracked cleaning and not spending enough time with them outside on this gorgeous day), we filled the car up with gas and drove to the zoo. And for the second time, I found myself tearing up as we approached the zoo turnoff (where it has all the signs for the zoo). Yes, I admit that I am overly-emotional at times, but something about being able to take my kids to the zoo is just awesome. It isn't that I am taking them during the week versus the weekend or anything like that, but just being able to spend time watching them "see animals" (in Tyler's words) moves me. Time just flies, and I am in awe that we are starting to get into the "stage" of being able to show them things (okay, Tyler since Kevin really doesn't get much yet) and watch them experience new things. Once again, cheesy, but it was a big moment for me so I am sharing. :)


Anyways, so the zoo was a blast. It was windy and cold when we got there and I was worried that it wasn't going to be sunny and 82 like I had read this morning. So when we first got there we started with an indoor exhibit (fish) and Tyler had fun. He saw (in his words) a "kevin fish" (an itty bitty fish) and a "papa fish" (a shark). ;) He didn't really want to do much else in that part and insisted on his hat and sunglasses with a very determined "tyler feed goat potty treats". ;) So we headed out. He must have known because during the 15 minutes we spent watching the fish, the sun had come out and the weather was beautiful.


We took the "long" way to the goats and enjoyed some bears playing in water, prairie dogs, and the takin. Tyler had a blast and walked the entire path. He did get lost of a family of 7 kids and they seemed to enjoy having him in their "pack". We ran into them at the takin. It was a single mom with seven kids aged five and under! I was just in shock! She had three sets of twins, and then a one year old (who was a twin but her brother died shortly after birth). I can't imagine that many kids that young! She looked wiped out, and while her kids and Tyler all ran in circles, we chatted.

Anyways, so that was interesting. We finally made it to the goats and Tyler had a HUGE chat with a big white goat. He was just chatting away, asking questions such as "Hi goat, how are you?", and "goat go potty, get potty treat?". It was super cute and he LOVED seeing all the goats. I had taken $2 so that we could spend more time feeding the goats, but Tyler wanted NOTHING to do with feeding this time. So I only ended up spending fifty cents and I got to feed the goats all by myself. It did take a LOT though to peel Tyler away from his conversation with the goats, and after twenty minutes of chatting with them, he finally agreed to go visit the cows.

He said hi to each cow and was then done. So we went to see the pigs. He wanted nothing to do with the pigs and just wanted to play with a little door in the pig barn. So we spent ten minutes playing with the door. Opening and closing over and over. Normally, I don't have patience, but I just kept reminding myself that this is for him as much as the outing is for me. . .so I practiced patience. ;) We then headed over to his FAVORITE part of the farm exhibit . . . a big green tractor. We checked out the "big, heavy wheels" and looked everything over. Had to be super cool from his perspective give how big it was. :)

After that, we headed to the playground of course! It was packed. I feared for Tyler being able to hold his own since there were a lot of big kids, but he did well. He even did things I thought that he was too young for and was ready to pull him off of. But something told me just to watch, and sure enough he could do them. When did he get so big? He had a BLAST playing with kids.

I ended up eating my lunch there while he played and even had time to nurse Kevin. I sat there nursing Kevin and listened to two VERY pregnant women talk about nursing. One mom already had a little girl and was trying to convince the other lady to try it. The other lady just said loudly "no way, I will never be able to be humiliated. . . look at her". I glanced at them, and sure enough they were looking at me! Yikes. I was embarrassed! I didn't realize that I was offending anyone since I had a huge nursing cover on and well, it is just normal for me now after nursing Tyler and now Kevin. I think that I turned three shades of red, and if it wasn't for the other mom laughing that comment off, I probably would have started crying.

I guess that my perception of what is normal has changed from how it was pre-kids (since I never would have imagined being able to nurse in public). So while Tyler played, I then had time to reflect how much my life has changed since the boys have entered it and how things that I once vowed never to do (nursing, diapers, snotty noses, screaming kids, having someone clap for me as I potty, etc.) are now just a normal part of my day. Anyways, just an interesting "perspective" moment for me.

Tyler played at the park forever and finally ran over to me and asked to use the potty. This was one of the first times he has done this, so you know that I JUMPED when he asked. We were quickly in the bathroom going potty. :) Just so proud of him! Slowly making progress.

After that we headed to the indoor exhibits. Last time we didn't go to them, so this time I thought that they would be fun. Tyler still seemed to be going strong and Kevin had just woken up so I though that he would appreciate not going back into his carseat for the long drive home. So, in we went, and I am glad that we did. This was by far the best. At this point, I was almost sweating. I am a hot weather wimp now! Granted, I had been pushing a packed stroller with two kids all morning, but still. I realized that 80 is about my limit. Sad, I know. At least it is my limit for pushing two kids and walking for hours on end. :)

So in we went and saw turtles, birds, and the best part of the whole day . . . the tropical fish exhibit (different from the first fish exhibit we saw). There was hardly anyone there so Tyler was able to run right up to this big wall of fish and just check them all out. I pushed Kevin right up as well and sat him up in the stroller. Tyler went nuts seeing "hawkeye fish" (yellow and black neon fish), "an ellie fish" (just a random fish) and "papa fish" (sharks and eels). He was so loud and having so much fun. He kept pointing things out to Kevin too. Kevin was having a BLAST. He was clearly tracking fish and kicking his legs like a wild man. He even had lots of coo's and aaah's, that taunted me into getting him up and holding him close to the glass for further inspection. Kevin was really enjoying himself. Eventually, a group of older kids came up and were looking for "Nemo". Tyler had no idea who "Nemo" is but insisted on looking too and was delighted to have other kids there. We never did find the big Nemo for the thirty minutes we stood there (the zoo lady said that there was a bigger one), but we did see a baby Nemo that Tyler just loved as it was so little, and orange and white as he pointed out.

When we were done with the fish, we slowly made our way out of the indoor exhibits and headed out to the car. Tyler recapped that his favorite part of the day included "feeding goats" (he didn't though), "playing kids", and "seeing Nemo". ;) We got to the car in one piece and after a quick side trip for a big Diet Coke for me and water for Tyler, we headed home. Kevin napped, and Tyler just talked about the cars and random excerpts from our zoo trip.

We got home in one piece and Tyler helped me get the recycling to the curb, carrying some cardboard for me. Then we opened to the door to the house, and our great day broke down. Tyler immediately started crying for more recycling. Kevin who was peacefully sleeping woke up in a foul mood thanks to Ellie's barking, and Ellie and Carlie were going NUTS. So I took some deep breaths, and started to work on everyone's "needs" (I sorta felt like I was playing Sims for anyone that knows that game). I got the dogs outside, and sent Tyler to the bathroom to potty and wash his face/hands. I then grabbed my camera and snapped two quick pictures. Then I got Kevin up and changed him, got him some new clothes, and fed him. Then I got Tyler into some new clothes (since he was playing in a dirty playground) and a book to take a nap with. So with both boys calmer, I let the dogs in and fed them, and then both headed back outside to sunbake and both boys went down for naps.

And then I sat down to enjoy my pop, and catch up on a few household things (scheduling city inspection for new air conditioner, etc.) and just unwind until it is time to magically come up with something for dinner (seriously, I am still thinking about it as nothing sounds good). So, in an attempt to just unwind, I have been typing up a storm (hence this LONG blog). Sorry for the novel, but I needed to write. :) We had a great day, that I am very thankful to have had, and hope that you are at least not too bored reading about.

And for those that are curious. . .I actually did not take my camera today. I soooooo wanted to, but ultimately decided to just go and enjoy the moments as much as possible. So now pictures of the zoo. I did however take two pictures of the crying, tired tots (since I didn't really want to savor that moment....grin) and it is those two pictures that I am sharing. :)

Tyler's "dinosaur movie"

Well, after Tyler's nap he insisted on making his "dinosaur movie". ;) Here it is!

And, on a quick side note I am glad that Mary got me thinking about how little I know about my camera. I finally sat down last weekend and read through the manuals and have been brave enough to experiment with pictures (yes, I am experimenting with the manual settings . . . yikes, I know). I just can't believe it has taken me over a year and watching Mary play around with my camera, to get up the nerve to learn about it.

I feel like my picture taking is slowly improving and am grateful to have such cute subjects to practice with! And of course, I love my editing software which helps make up for my errors. Without my adorable family and my computer, my pictures would be horrible. :) So thanks Mary for helping me work up the nerves to play with the settings, and thank goodness for the reset button! :)

251st Post

I just saw that this will be my 251st post. I thought that that was neat, and can't believe I have posted so much. Well, I can to some degree (only because Adam or I seem to be always taking pictures), but to have already done 250 sure seems like a lot. Anyways, so this is my 251st post!


I wanted to share a quick story about Sunday morning. Adam got up first (love him for that since it means that I got to sleep in just a little longer) and went in to get Tyler. Of course, Tyler was already up. Not sure what time Tyler gets up since he is always up before us and just plays quietly in his room. Anyways, so Adam goes in and it is still dark outside (and therefore in his room too). And what does he find? Tyler sitting in his room playing with his Little People with light from his toy flashlight. I guess that Tyler had placed his flashlight on the ground facing his "people" so he could see. It shocked Adam that Tyler was playing like this (in that it was cute) and we are left to wonder whether he consciously got his flash light for light, or whether he was just playing with his flash light and forgot to turn it off. :)


And now a quick story about Sunday evening. I need to run out and return some movies that we rented. I had asked Tyler if he wanted to go with me and he told me no because he was playing with this big blue car. Adam and I both told him that he could take the car with him (thinking that Tyler might like a car trip and to get him out of the house for a bit). Well, Tyler once again told us no, and so I got ready to head out. As I was walking out the door Tyler came RUNNING with his lunchbox (what we sometimes use to take toys with us places) announcing that he was ready to go (he had his shoes on and everything). I look in the lunchbox, and sure enough he had shoved his blue car into his lunchbox and was ready to head out. :) I guess that he changed his mind and decided to take us up on the offer to take a toy in the car (something we have started to limit since the car seems to get filled up with toys if we don't).


And now some pictures from yesterday. :) I ended up getting sidetracked yesterday deleting pictures. I discovered that we had over 2600 pictures on the computer just this year! This was shocking since it meant that we were averaging around 23 pictures a day! Yikes. So I spent two hours looking at pictures and managed to get down to 634. Obviously, we still need to cut more and apparently I need to look at 2008 as well, but for now, I am pleased with the reduction.

So, now I am posting the pictures I took yesterday. We may take some today. Tyler has a dinosaur shirt on and keeps asking to "make dinosaur movie" so he may be up for pictures later on. :)


Kevin!!!

Smiling Kevin!

Tyler's step stool. I HAD to take a picture of this because the step stool has become Tyler's side kick yesterday. He has discovered that if he stands on it, he can do a lot of new things like turn lights off and on, get in and out of the bathtub, wash his hands by himself, and look on the kitchen counter. Sometimes, he needs it for things where it is unncessary, like going down the stairs or reading a book. We seem to always here "Tyler step stool" as he is running to get it to do whatever he needs to do, and once he finds it we hear the constant "real heavy" as he is carrying it. Just too cute (and sometimes stressful) that he has figured this out.

Tyler laughing in his room. He thought that he was really funny because I told him I wanted to take a picture of his step stool and to please move away from it. He just kept telling me no and was GLUED to the stepstool. So I kept pretending that I wanted him away from it and he kept laughing. So I snapped a few pictures! :)

I found him reading a book in his room on his stepstool. Just too cute. Tyler is all about books and letters. I just hope that this keeps up!

Kevin and the Blue Frog

I think that I have mentioned this before, but Kevin LOVES his Jumperoo. His favorite toy is a blue frog in a plastic oval that you spin and there are little balls inside that make noise as you do. It gets annoying (since it is loud) when it is constantly being spun, but right now Kevin has just learned how to get it to move (so it is still in the cute stage). He had lots of smiles today while he played and it was actually me that went to move him (rather than him fussing to get out) which was a first today.

Tyler enjoyed getting to sit and ask Kevin lots of questions too. I was talking to Kevin and asking what he was going to do for work when he grew up (he is still undecided) and Tyler thought that it would be fun to join in. So Tyler came over and started saying "Kevin trumpet?" then looking at me and Kevin and saying "nooooooooo" while shaking his head and laughing. Tyler went through Kevin playing the oboe, drums, trumpet, computer, choo-choo, and airplane before Tyler gave up on the game. Kevin enjoyed it a lot though and seemed open (via lots of smiles) to some of Tyler's suggestions.

No pictures of Tyler today as he has been busy cleaning, working on his computer, and reading books. I even went to take a picture of him (because I gave him his summer haircut last night) and thought that you might all want to see it, and he told me "no mama kevin cheese". So, Tyler has said no to pictures today, but hopefully he will be up to more soon.

Kevin playing with his blue frog.









Little feet!

Kevin starting to look so grown up!

Staring down his blue frog while chewing on his seat cover.


A smiley, drooly picture. :)

Still staring down the frog! I have tried turning him to other "activities" but for now this is his favorite.

All done with the jumperoo and having some tummy time with mommy. He tolerates being on his tummy for several minutes but definitely prefers laying on his back. This afternoon he was all about working out his legs while laying on his back. He would just smile and coo while kicking and bending his legs. It looked like quite the leg/ab workout to me! It was fun getting down on the ground with him though and having some time alone with him (since Tyler was busy working on his letters on his computer). Normally, the instant I get on the floor Tyler is all over me ready to wrestle, so this was a very special moment for Kevin and I.

Wednesday

Today, we spent most of the afternoon out in the backyard. Kevin slept, the dogs ran around, and Tyler made sure that we were all having fun.

This has been a semi-lazy day as we had a big day yesterday. We ran errands in the morning and then went to Edinborough Park to play in the afternoon (a BIG indoor play place). We then ate some dinner that I packed for us there before watching Adam's concert with the Golden Valley Orchestra. It was the first time I could go watch Adam play with this group, and I enjoyed it a lot. It was also the boys first concert ever. They both were amazing.

Kevin stayed awake up until part way through their last piece and managed to not fuss at all when falling asleep (a feat for him). And Tyler did great sitting next to me. He would get distracted when the music slowed or got quieter and would start playing (making faces) with the teenagers behind us. But when the music would pick back up (i.e. the brass instruments really started playing) noise-wise or the tempo would get quicker, Tyler would start focusing again and just watch.

When it was all said and done, Tyler clapped like crazy and kept saying "thank you trumpet daddy" over and over until Adam came up to join us. Tyler was talking about it again this morning, so I think that it definitely made an impression as he was telling me that he saw an oboe, guitar (really a cello), trumpets, and a flute!

Tyler just ran over to Carlie to tell her to stop digging. He took a snowman dog toy with him in an attempt to get her to play.

Showing the snowman that he found in the yard. Oh, how excited he was to find it!



The "big" find of the day. He just kept telling me "cool mama, cooooool" and/or "big tyler stick, real heavy".



Showing the size of what he found in comparison to his fire truck. This was a BIG stick.

Bringing it over finally to me repeating "real heavy" over and over and over.

Trying to get Carlie to leave his big stick alone (he brought her a tiny stick to chew on). That was the theme of the day. Tyler was gathering sticks up in the yard to put in the back of his fire truck or tricycle and that task was proving difficult as the dogs just wanted to eat the sticks. So we had some stealing out of the truck/tricycle and even out of Tyler's hand (each of the girls did it once), which usually brought tears from Tyler as he yelled "no no (insert dog's name), leave it (insert dog's name), tyler's stick" over and over until I could find another to give to the dogs and get his stick back.

Kevin sleeping through it all. He definitely was not as excited to be going outside as Tyler was and managed to get a great nap in.

Tyler playing on his slide and me messing with the manual settings on the camera. I know that it would be easier to just read the manual, but I have been too lazy to get it out. Instead, I just sat outside and messed with things in hopes of figuring it all out. Since this was one I remembered to focus and is in decent shape, I am posting it. :)

A balloon from Kevin's birth escaped our porch and Tyler was running to get it. I never would have guessed that a balloon could bring so much joy to a little boy! Tyler has played with this thing every chance he could get, and is probably why (besides laziness) that it is still around. Way to go Angela for getting it for him! ;) It has brought Tyler a lot of fun!

Easter Weekend

Here are a few pictures from the hundreds (yikes) that we took over last weekend. We went to Iowa for the weekend, and had a great time. It was a lot of fun seeing everyone, and also a ton of fun to watch Tyler play with his cousins. We had been talking about this trip all week, and so he was super excited to get to go play with all of the "kids". We didn't see much of Tyler throughout the weekend as he always seemed to have a buddy or two to play with. Just weird to think that he is now old enough to play with them since he hasn't really been able to do that other times that we have visited.

Tyler had a blast on Easter morning because the Easter Bunny did manage to find him at his grandma's house. When he found his easter basket he started saying "easter bunny find me grandma's house" and look so excited. And once he realized that there were eggs to find, he was beside himself! He would yell "egg" most times or "tyler find them egg" as he would locate his. Then he would show off his found egg to whomever was around him. We weren't sure if Tyler was old enough to find eggs, but I guess that the Easter Bunny knew better since there were eggs for Tyler and he ended up having a blast.

Kevin did well on the trip too. He slept a TON, but that worked out since we had some long hours to put in the car. But once we got there he was spoiled and just took turns sleeping in people's arms. :)

Well, here are a few pictures that we took from the weekend.








Cousins post-church. They were all looking into the sun and getting tired at this point, but hey, we got them all to sit in the same spot!!! :)

Tyler with an egg.



Tyler posing for a quick picture.

Tyler and Clarissa hanging out before church.

Tyler checking out his Easter basket with Kevin.

Finding eggs!

Mr. Kevin

Kevin and me

Cousins!!! (Less Kevin who was sleeping soundly).

Two Year Old Style

But first, Kevin has found his thumb! :)





Tyler dressed himself today. I put "outfits" together on a hanger to make things easier on me (since Tyler's sense of fashion tends not to mesh with mine). Every morning (or whenever we need a new outfit) Tyler will pick out his clothes while telling me (in a very determined voice) "Tyler do it". Then he picks out his own socks and usually wants a hat. Today, he has decided that he also needs shoes (and has agreed to stay in the kitchen so that he can wear them. . . granted at the time I took pictures he came running at me into the living room to see).

Anyways, his sense of style is pretty creative and so I am sharing.

Babies, Babies, and More Babies

Tyler, Kevin, and I headed to the zoo today since the weather was supposed to be great! Turns out that the weather was absolutely perfect, not too cold, not windy, and very sunshiney. ;) Today's theme with the zoo was babies. Almost every exhibit seemed to have a baby in it and Tyler loved saying hi to the mom, dad, and baby at each stopping point. I thought that Tyler was a blast to take to the zoo last year, but he was even more fun this year. He got great joys out of seeing the animals, walking all by himself, and even petting the animals at the Farm exhibit. He even got a part of a cookie when the day was all said and done because (and I will stop talking about his potty training soon on the blog I hope) he stayed dry the ENTIRE time. He managed not to have a single accident all day and even asked at one point (this has never happened) to go to the restroom. I am super proud of him for that and so I gave him a cookie I had packed in our lunches for being such a "big boy"!

Kevin seemed to really enjoy the outing as well. He did sleep for about 95 percent of the time, but when he was awake he was filled with smiles.

Because Kevin is starting to fuss himself back awake, here are pictures in reverse order (don't have the time to put them in the right order).

Kevin after a day of walking around the zoo.

Obviously, seeing animals wasn't a huge thing for him.

Tyler playing with "kids" as he says. :)

Checking out the baby pigs.

Riding a pig.

Petting a cow!

Saying "hi mama, how are you?" to the goat, who did have babies behind her who were sleeping. Tyler LOVED the goats and got so close to them that I thought that htey might eat his hat!

Talking to a different goat.

Feeding a crazy goat that would headbutt every other goat out of the way! This goat was all business about treats. Tyler did tell me on the way home that "fed goats treats" was his favorite part of the day. I will have to remember to take more quarters with me next time. I only had enough for one handful of "treats" and this was not enough for Tyler. He kept looking for more and at one point he went up to a teenage girl to watch her feed the goats and said "cool". She laughed at his cuteness and gave him some of her treats to feed the goats. I about died!!!! He did say thank you unprompted to her, and was ready to just follow her around afterwards. Fortunately, she and her friend got a kick out of him and I am just glad that they were nice about it. But, definitely taking more money next time so my toddler doesn't have to beg for more goat treats! :)

Watching an airplane on a top of a hill tha the ran up.

Running down the hill! This was a HUGE hit with him and we did it over and over and over again..... :)

At the top of the hill.

Tyler with a leopard.

Checking out a wolf. This was his favorite thing last summer.

Kevin ready to go to the zoo!!! He was soooo happy this morning!

Another smiling Kevin picture!