Summer So Far

You had to know there was a catch up post coming up soon. It’s been weeks, more like MONTHS, since our last picture party. Far too long, if you ask me. Let’s see what we have to show you this time.

Just playing. Alex and Ruby are often cuddling together, as you can see.

I swaddled Ruby to distract her from whatever was making her whine at me, and it turned into a fun game for all.

These boys are such cute little buddies. It’s good for me to remember times like this, rather than the times when they are tackling each other, biting, and pulling hair.

This group of pictures cracks me up because of the similarities in their expression in every consecutive shot. Maybe it’s only something I notice. Love those little men.

B thought balancing Elmo on his mangos was pretty awesome.

Wheaton Park has some serious slides. Even I was nervous to go down those things. All the kids were excited when we spotted a turtle.

It’s like this park was made for us, with the four person teeter-totter thing.

Sometimes when we go to Six Flags, Alex is content to do this the whole time.

B is usually game for some rides.

As well as Ruby. But she wasn’t too thrilled about this one, as you can see. (Again, she chooses to wear that hat, and put it on backwards. There really isn’t anything I can do about it when she has it in her mind to wear that thing.)

But what that girl LOVES is the dance party they have around noon everyday. She has pretty much made friends with the staff there. The boys are afraid to dance on stage but they like to groove in the aisles.

More Six Flags fun.They let each kid have a photo-op if they want at the end. Ruby always wants to.

First time at the water park.We felt a little better after we fit them all with the life jackets provided.

Another day we went to a different part of the park. It was the most beautiful day, and we got there right when it opened. It felt like a ghost town. It was awesome.

My little ones are a just a tad nervous about rides sometimes. Elise and I take turns riding the roller coasters when there aren’t any lines. I’m getting too old for those things. We found out about a  restaurant only for season pass holders. It isn’t really advertised. The prices were pretty decent and it was a great, crowd-free place to cool off. Fun.

I’m just entertained by things in threes. What can I say. The peacocks at Watkins Park never disappoint.

It was probably a mistake to let them out to pet the sheep, since they freak out if I don’t do it every time, but they loved it, so oh well.

One of Ruby’s cute/annoying projects. She freaks out of they all won’t fit.

Sometime we adults even have kid-free fun!

We tried a concert in the park. It was fun, but we didn’t hear much of the concert. Maybe we’ll wait a while for the next one.Alex thought the man talking in the microphone was saying a prayer, and tried to sneak a bite of his granola bar during it. Of course we ended up on the playground.

We went to this park specifically to play in puddles. They didn’t waste any time, jumping in the first one they saw getting out of the car.

Our first hayride was a hit! Even though both boys ended up on my lap by the end.

Memorial day was great. We had friends over, grilled kabobs, ate crazy good food, celebrated Lili’s Birthday (her choice of cake flavor was lemon poppy seed with cream cheese frosting, which I made and layered with lemon cheesecake with lemon curd), and played in the back yard. Good times were had by all!

One day we had a “dip-it” picnic. Sometime toddlers can be so easy to please. Sometimes.

Some deliciousness we’ve been eating lately:

Spring Rolls

Broiled avocado

For a belated Father’s Day dinner (I was in Utah on the actual day), I made KC one of his faves, portabella burgers. This recipe is awesome. He was happy.Even Ruby gave it a try.The big surprise was the chocolate covered pretzel, salted caramel ice cream I made (KC loves pretzels, especially if they’re covered in chocolate), and made huge chocolate chip cookies to go with it. Overload, but it was worth it.

The first juicy peaches of the season. We are fans.

What’s a better way to celebrate your first tomatoes and fresh basil from the garden than margarita pizza?

And it just wouldn’t be summer without my favorite Key Lime Pie.

While making ridiculously rich chocolate cookies (this was only half of the chocolate the recipe called for) I was remembering when I stirred bowls of chocolate 4 times this big on a daily basis. It was great.

Okay, back to the kids. Once we were heading to Six Flags, and after seeing the crazy line to even get into the parking lot, we turned around. The kids were distraught, so we went to this place on the way home. It worked. They had a blast.

That day, we got home from our outings so late in the afternoon, we thought we’d just skip the nap, and go to bed early. We set up a little place for them to rest in the living room, and before we knew it, Alex and Ruby were sound asleep. Bennett, on the other hand, was having the time of his life playing with all the toys without any competition.Alex was one unhappy fella when I woke him up.

When I got back from Utah, there were little roadways KC’s dad made with this tape. I decided to make a (very rough) hopscotch out of it. The kids have fun daily jumping on the numbers.

Heat wave! Of course the car itself was holding some of that heat, but still!

Grilled Pizza! A summertime staple!

While at our friends’ house, ruby took full advantage of the big box of dress-ups, sometimes wearing a few at once.A never passes up a dance party.

B insisted on wearing Ruby’s little shorts over his pajamas.

He is also a fan of accessories.

I must have been really desperate to vacuum, cause I never attempt it when they are awake, for this very reason. It was funny for a minute, until it was annoying and I shooed everyone out of my way!

Wow, we made it to the end. Are you as tired as they are? I know I am. See you at the next picture party!