Old Macdonald had a farm....

Evie and I were singing "Old Macdonald had a Farm" just a little while ago. As is customary in our home, I added my own lyric, "Old Macdonald had an Evie....with a hee hee hee..." When I was finished, Evie didn't miss a beat. She chimed in with "Old Macdonald had a mommy with a tickle tickle" as she began tickling me.

I wish she could stay like this forever...well, maybe just another year or so! :)

The things kids hear....and REPEAT!

Yesterday while playing Mario Kart, I overheard Jared say, "that was just wrong," a phrase often heard by Daddy when an injustice has occurred. It was cute to hear Jared repeating it in the appropriate context.

Just a few minutes ago, I overheard Jared repeating another Scottism, "that's gonna leave a mark."

At least he's repeating non-embarrassing comments! :)

Weekend in Howell, MI

We drove a few hours north early on Saturday morning and spent the weekend with our friends the Smiths--Todd, Renee and Alex. The boys had a blast with some silly string and digging in the dirt. We ended Saturday with a pleasant walk downtown to Dairy Queen. After bath, the boys played on the Wii for a little while.

On Sunday we headed outdoors again---for some water balloon fun.
We had a great weekend and are already looking forward to seeing our friends again! (Thanks, Renee, for the photos).

Note: Yes, Evie was there with us, too! :)

Goofing around outside

Me and the kiddos played on the deck yesterday afternoon. My favorite picture is the action pic of Evie.....mostly because I really dig her new shoes!

Future blackmail baby pictures

I took several pictures of Madison the other night; I couldn't resist posting a few!

Water Balloons

We took the kids outside for some water balloon fun this past weekend. As you can tell from the pictures, Jared had a blast and Evie was beside herself....she kept saying "I don't want to get wet" and crying to go back inside. I finally let her go inside by herself and she just stood at the kitchen window, staring at us and continuing to cry.

Madison really enjoyed holding her own balloon. I would have never let Jared (or Evie) have a balloon at this age, but I didn't think it would really hurt her with all of us right there. In the end, I reached over and popped the balloon while she was holding it----she really liked getting splashed.

What's in my lettuce and what is he doing???

I knew my lettuce wasn't growing like it was supposed to be and I had caught the squirrel nibbling in the box----but he was standing on the railing that time! This was more than I could handle. I started banging on the window and he just looked around....didn't seem even a little bothered by the banging....banging that quickly turned into yelling. He just sat up and started cleaning his tail. Are you kidding me?? Needless to say, my salad will continue to come from the store, where the squirrels may still have sat in it, but I didn't see it happen!

Oh yeah, and Evie got to pick some tomatoes, too.

Tomato Picking

We put a cherry tomato plant on the back deck this Spring. Last week Jared picked our first tomato. It was little, but I managed to cut it four ways so Daddy, Mommy, Jared and Evie got a little taste. Yummo! :)

Blowing Bubbles on the Deck

I took the kids out on the back deck yesterday afternoon for some bubble fun.

Evie could handle pushing the button, while Jared did better blowing the Gymboree bubbles.

Madison did not enjoying facing away from the action. Silly mommy...what was I thinking?

Last roadtrip with the Snyders (for 2008, anyway)

We started off the day in Mansfield with lunch at the Coney Island Diner. Cheap and yummy! The best part was the icecream---caramel peanut butter cookie dough. Of course it was even better with the requested hot fudge on top! :)
Our second stop was at a little kids shop called Mod Tots. Evie enjoyed playing while I bought her FOUR pairs of shoes (two for now and two for next year)....hard to pass up clearance footwear. Jared scored a couple of retro tee shirts, too.

All but Scott rode the carrousel....which was the nicest I've ever been on. It was very cool. Evie was only mad because I carried her up onto the platform... "I want to do it by myself" was all I kept hearing. Once the carrousel was in motion, she stopped crying.

Miscellaneous Pics

Madison was fond of James and Charity's suitcase (and REALLY fond of James' cellphone).




















We took a quick trip downtown. The park area we walked through had some brass footprints embedded in the concrete---which explains the super-cute pic of Jared's tennis shoes.

Day at the Waterpark

Yes, we went to the zoo first! The zoo opens at 9 and the attached waterpark opens at 10:30....no pics from the actual waterpark. Also, "a day at the waterpark" is a stretch....Me and the girls left after about 2 hours---Madison enjoyed the water immensely (splashing in the 3 inch deep area) and Evie sat on a lawn chair for an hour and 15 minutes. It took that long to convince Evie to get her feet wet. Maybe we'll try again next year.

Cave of the Winds

This was by far the coolest thing we found to do in Niagara Falls. I can't even express how cool the whole adventure was...

From the get-go, Evie wasn't happy about getting wet. She was most unhappy about her poncho-style garbage bag.


Unlike Evie, Madison was completely content with her water experience. Jared also had a good time walking around the decks and getting wet.