What's New?

We have a new obsession in this house. Blocks! This is just a small selection of what we have. I found a huge bag of pink blocks for Brileigh at a garage sale for $3! They will sit for hours and play. Rylan especially loves to stack them as tall as he can get them and then carry them around. Brett however loves to knock them down.

We have had a bit of an issue lately with trying to crawl out of our cribs. They are great at climbing up, the getting down, not so much. There is a thud then a cryyyy. This mama is so not ready for toddler beds. The thought of them being able to get out and about any time they want. Yuck! They are so monkey see, monkey do, if one would get up the other two would follow. So I ordered crib tents.

Brileigh waited anxiously for the boxes to arrive. Doesn't she look so grown up with her hair back!

Once the boxes came she was ready to open them up and see what was inside.

Good thing the boxes weren't sealed very good, so she could dive right in.

Rylan checks in to see what new...

Oh boy instructions!

We had better read them them carefully!

Brett helps get everything out of the box.

 

And just like that! They are up and installed!

They have been a HUGE hit! As soon as I got them put on, the kids demanded to be put in their cribs so they could see what they are all about. They love them! It is nice to know they can't get out. After putting them on, one night Brett got up and needed a little back rubbing to fall back asleep. I unzipped the window just enough to get my hand in. When he was asleep I didn't dare zip it back up in case I would wake him. So that is one draw back. But overall they have been wonderful!

What have we been up to?

I think I have come to the realization that the terrible twos start when your children hit the 20 months! I don't know what it is about the word NO, but when I say it to one child because they are getting in to something, or being naughty, the other two come running and to the same thing! There is no way only one child can get in trouble in our house. They just wont have it! I've finally given up trying to keep them out of their dresser drawers. Today safety latches got installed:

We have been getting outside a little more, which really helps wear us out! Our town's festivals were a couple weekends ago. We made it to the parade in the morning and then back downtown for supper.

Daddy was cooking brisket and Brileigh thoroughly enjoyed herself. BBQ sauce all over!

 Can't you see how excited we were with the parade!

This last week we had our first summer colds. They usually only last a couple of days, but when I am up all night with kids, it seems like months! You can tell Brileigh is a little worse for wear in this picture!

I think we are about all healed up. The kids have been running around like crazy today, so all's back to normal!

Vacation

Last week the kids, my parents and I headed to Arkansas on vacation. We have relation down there and decided it was time my mom's uncle got to meet the kids. We took off last Sunday morning and after a couple stops along the way (lunch, supper, winery...) we made it to Bella Vista by dark. I was so worried the kids would sleep the whole way and stay up all night, but thankfully that didn't happen. They actually slept the whole night! Monday we filled out day by visiting Uncle Carl and having lunch with him. After the kids nap we headed into Bentonville to the Walmart museum. We then checked out their awesome park/hike/bike trail Crystal Bridges. It was quite a challenge to get the kids picture, they were tied into a carseat or stroller so much that when they could run, they did!



Tuesday we stopped in to see Uncle Carl one more time before taking off for Silver Dollar City. We drove the scenic route through Eureka Springs. We couldn't get out and site see there. With no parking and lots of stairs, it's hard to get 3 kids around. We decided to set up camp in Branson for the night. After getting a hotel room, we left the boys there with my dad and the girls went shopping! Wednesday morning I got on my computer to find out what time Silver Dollar City opened, only to find out it was closed for the day. Seriously?! Well it's not like the kids were hyped up about it, so I guess we'll just have to have fun in Branson, aka shop some more! We headed downtown to the old part of town and then the river walk. In the afternoon we took off towards home, only to stop at every antique store on the way. I think we made it about 40 miles that whole day. My dad the trooper took care of the kids while mom and I shopped.

The look on Rylan's face seems to be saying, Mom if you and nana stop at ONE more antique store I'm going to scream!



Good thing we had lots of stuff to keep us busy in the car!



We played peek-a-boo a lot!



This restaurant in Branson had paper on the tables for coloring on. We really got the hang of coloring and pretty much expected crayons everywhere we ate!





Rylan fell asleep and missed out on a car ride. Brileigh wasn't really a fan, but Brett was NOT happy when the ride was over.



Thursday we pretty much hit the road the whole day. We got home exhausted about 10 that night. We had so much fun, I can only image what trips like this will be like the older they get!

Fun at the Park

The heat has finally broke here, slightly. I decided one morning I was going to try out our new "jogging"stroller. Every one was buckled in and we took off. It actually wasn't that bad pushing 3 toddlers. Mind you, the stroller is awesome, I can push it with one finger. We jogged around town for awhile and then ended up at the park. We were the only ones there so we could really explore the huge jungle gym. I was okay with them climbing the stairs and going down the smallest slide, but once they got a little more daring and tried to go to the top, I had to put a stop to that! The sun was shining bright and we got a lot of great photos!

Rylan:

Show off!




Brileigh:




Brett:

A few photos...

So we have been keeping really busy this summer. I can't believe that it is August already! The days just pass us by and we try our best to have as much fun as we can.

Daily we drag all of our toys out of the playroom. They play pretty good together, but there is always the casual argument over toys.

Rylan

Brett loves Brileigh's pink wagon. He can be seen dragging it around all day long.



We played outside the other day. It's been so humid and hot lately that we've been held up inside. The heat broke one day, I think it was in the low 90's so we headed out!



So much for mom relaxing on her hammock now that the kids are big enough to crawl up on it themselves! I don't know if you noticed from the photo's but the boys are infatuated with their golf clubs.



We've recently discovered the art of making faces. The kiddos think they are pretty funny.



And last, we had our picture snapped at the funeral last weekend. I think my days of holding two at a time are about over!

It's been a long long week..

This picture pretty much sums up our week. Monday I headed with the kids to York to see my grandpa. And per my previous post, we were in Omaha on Tuesday having fun at the Children's museum. After a long drive home that night we were all burned out. We woke Wed. morning to find out my Grandpa had passed away.

So we headed back to York for family time and to say goodbye one last time. After a weekend of church services and the funeral we were all pooped. We made it home Sunday afternoon with sketchy naps here and there. We are ALL ready to get back into our routines.

Omaha Children's Museum

Early last week we took a mini vacation. My brother's 4 kids were staying at my mom's so we all headed to Omaha to the Children's museum. For the most part it was fun. My dad took charge of the 4 older kids and we didn't see them until we were ready to leave. Mom and I had our hands full with my 3. Being it was 100° outside I think about every kid in Omaha was at the museum that day. It was so crazy, it was hard to keep my kids around us.

Some of our favorite things:

The boys had fun "driving" the John Deere tractor.



Just like the Kearney museum, the water table is a HUGE hit!
(Yes I had my kids on leashes, go ahead judge me!)



Rylan really got the hang of the slide. Waiting his turn to go down? Not so much...



Our first experience with sand. Junior Archeologists:





We headed to the Pizza Machine after the museum for lunch. My kids were too little to enjoy any of the rides there, but my brothers kids had a blast. We all slept well when we got back to Kearney that night!