Petting Zoo

The kids and I joined a group of friends and went to the petting zoo in Door County last week. We had a ton of fun feeding the goats and ducks, petting the cows and cats, and watching the newborn piglets. We enjoyed a picnic lunch and then went to a dairy farm to watch the cows being milked and had home made ice cream at the dairy for dessert. Jack had fun playing on the old tractor, and even commented on the fact that it wasn't a GREEN one like farm papa's.
A picture that warms every mama's heart

Silly girl

I was trying to get a nice picture of Elizabeth wearing the dress that a friend of mine made (adorable dress, isn't it?). However, I think she knew what I wanted and decided instead to be a silly girl during my impromptu photo shoot. There was no way she was going to stand still so I could take a good picture of her. She was having so much fun running, climbing the stairs and spitting. Boy, did she think she was funny. I agree, it was funny to watch her being so silly.

Playhouse

After a year of having the playhouse sit in our garage collecting dirt and dust, Matt cleaned and assembled it in the basement last weekend. Elizabeth loves her new house and Jack, at times, will play in it with his sister. It is a hit with the kids that come over to play as well. I know it will get a lot of use this winter and I'm so glad to have it out of the garage.

Waiting for a "neno"

"Neno" -definition: cuddling at bedtime. Invented by Jack when he was just learning how to talk.

I love his made up word and that he still loves to "neno" with his mommy before bed. He now thinks it is funny to hide from me while he is waiting for his neno. Last night I was out watering when Matt put him to bed. I came inside to neno and got distracted when I was telling Matt about one of the houses in our neighborhood going to auction next week (yes, our neighborhood is a perfect example of the housing crisis in the US). When I finally went upstairs to neno Jack he wasn't in his bed. I found him sound asleep on the floor "hiding from me". It was too cute of a moment not to capture with a picture and a good reminder to me how much this little guy looks forward to his neno from mommy and that I should neno first before I get distracted and he falls asleep waiting.

Pucker up

This is Elizabeth "puckering up" right before she gave me a kiss. Who could resist a kiss from her?

What was I thinking?

What was I thinking when I thought I could give Jack a fudgesicle this afternoon and not give one to Elizabeth? That thought obviously didn't go over very well with Elizabeth and so after watching her stomp her feet and scream about the injustice, I caved in and gave her "a brown, sloppy mess on a stick". The amount of time I must now spend in the laundry room trying to remove the chocolate stains on her shirt and skirt are worth the entertainment I got from watching her devour her summer treat.

4th of July

Since Matt was on call for 96 hours (no, the 96 hours is NOT a typo) over the holiday weekend, I decided to take the kids to Iowa to spend the weekend with my parents. Both of my sisters and their families were also there so we enjoyed seeing everyone. Jack and Elizabeth loved playing with their flags, unfortunately, despite my super fast camera, I could not get a decent picture of them together waving their flags. My parents and aunt took Jack to the parade since it was cold and raining and I didn't want Elizabeth to get soaked. Jack had a great time running into the street to get candy thrown from the floats. He came home with a bag full of soaking wet candy and was just thrilled. I left the candy bag in Iowa and am now just waiting for his reaction when he asks for it! Later in the morning, we went to the park and participated in more of the festivities when the rain cleared (more pictures to come from my other camera).