Handy Helper

This past weekend, we decided it was finally time to take down two of our five baby gates.  Calder was SO eager to help daddy!  I love the look of concentration on his face as he worked with the screwdriver.  He truly was daddy's little helper!

Reading is FUNdamental!

I love that my babies love to read!

Little Momma

Although you can still find Miss T frequently playing with cars, trucks and trains...she's finally starting to take an interest in baby dolls.  This morning, she was making the rounds with the bottle.  First, baby:

Then Lucky:  (side note:  how can you not LOVE that little dimple on her right cheek!!?)

And she saved a little for herself (but only after she offered some to Mommy)!

She may be playing the part of momma, but she's still the baby in our house...

Night Night, Little T!

Sweet.

Look who Little Miss T has been carrying around with her lately...

She LOVES this picture.  I had to move it to a lower shelf because she would just stand by the bookshelf and beg for it.  She'll pick it up, bring it over to me, plop down in my lap and wait for me to say each of their names.  Once I'm done, she looks up and says "More! More!" signaling for me to do it again.  Repeat about 4 or 5 times before she's satisfied.  She tries to repeat each name, but it's nothing too recognizable at this point. 

Transform!

I scored these Transformer Underoos at Kohl's on clearance for about $2.  I do love a good deal, but nothing compares to how thrilled Calder was with his new pj's!

Spray Park

One of the things on my summer to-do list was to take the kids to a local spray park.  Calder loved it last year, and this year was no different.  It took Tessa a little while to work up the nerve to get wet, but once she did she was a big fan!  Every time the water would shoot up, she would gasp in surprise, and then giggle and run away.  Fun!

So, apparently, I didn't get any pictures of Calder playing.  Probably because he was always right in the middle of the fountain with the big kids, and I was very busy chasing after Tessa to make sure she didn't run OUT of the play area (which she really, really, really wanted to do...)

Sprinkler

 This little girl LOVES water.  She had the time of her life playing in the front yard sprinkler this weekend!

Big brother had fun too!

Family Fun at the Pool

The next day, we met up with more cousins in Maryland for more family fun!  We had a delicious brunch and then they took us to their awesome community pool!  We had a blast!

Tourists in our own town

We were so happy to have Dave's Aunt Bonne and cousin Bakura come to visit for a few days.  Since we rarely go into the city anymore, it was a good excuse to take the kids on a tourist adventure!

Calder became instant friends with Bakura.  She made him feel so special, and he totally loved her. 

 Testing out those newly acquired walking skills on the open road!

Calder LOVED looking at the map.  A boy after my own heart!!!

Passed out on the metro ride home. 

Body Parts

Body Parts from courtney on Vimeo.

Who, What, Where, Why and When?

Although we still get a thousand "Whys?" a day, Calder's line of questioning has really started to go into the realm of the Whos, Whats, Wheres and Whens.  (And don't forget the Hows.)  And it's getting pretty deep, folks... 

How does pee get made?

How does poop get made?

What does 'dead' mean?

What are vampires?

And little Miss T?  Her vocab is really expanding as well.  She's starting to repeat words after us, and seems to say something new every other day.   She recently said her first 2 word phrase ("Not nice!") followed by her first 3 word phrases: "Momma not nice!" and "Not nice, Lucky".   Not like it's a pattern or anything... 

I'm waaaay waaaay behind on blogging.  I have tons of beach photos to share as well as some pictures from back in April!  I'll catch up someday... 

Pen Pals in Baltimore

When I was young, I had tons of pen pals, but my favorite was always Amy.  Since she lived just outside of Chicago, we even had the opportunity to meet a few times.  I think we were probably about 12 or 13 when we first started writing to each other, and we continued to write even through college.  And although we don't write 'real' letters anymore, we still keep in touch with Christmas cards and the occasional email.  So, I was very excited when she emailed me to let me know that her family would be vacationing in the Hershey, PA area and she wanted to know if we could meet up with them in Baltimore!  I jumped at the chance, and packed up the kids one Tuesday and headed to the Baltimore Aquarium.  Amy's son, Aaron, is just a few months older than Calder, so it was a lot of fun to watch them together.  They hit it off right away, and enjoyed keeping their parents running after them through a crowded aquarium! 

Tessa really enjoyed watching this turtle eat his blueberry salad!

A few photo ops before we go!  Kevin, Amy & Aaron.  This was taken by Calder...luckily I was able to  crop his finger out of the frame. :)

The pen pals and their boys!  Someone was only in the mood to take the pictures....

Thanks for working us into your vacation, Amy!  It was so great to see you and finally meet your fam! :)