Videos of water slide

This is how big boys enjoy the waterslide, sitting on their children's inner-tubes.

W-A-T-E-R-S-L-I-D-E!!

It's officially summer since we got to put up the new water slide. These pictures are a chronicle of our past two days...I'll include captions if necessary.

Note that Addie is wearing her Minnie Mouse bathing suit here.  She actually wore 4, yes 4, in the course of the day, just because she could I suppose.


Ben sure knows how to rock a pair of goggles, right?
Water sliding is serious business.  Guppy was just the person to cuddle Ben to sleep.  Notice Guppy's awesome farmers tan!
Afterwards, we enjoyed margaritas, which Ben desperately wanted. Instead he drank crushed ice with vanilla syrup. It matched perfectly, so he was excited to partake in the beverage enjoyment.
Then he showed us how he could climb the tree. It's so cute, as he gets to the point where it's tougher, he starts chanting, "I think I can. I think I can. I think I can."
Day two started with her wearing her surfer girl swimsuit.
And Ben wearing his new surfer swim shirt and Lightening McQueen shorts.


Muddy crafted Addie a hammock to rest in. 
This picture captured Addie mid-butt drop.
I got in on the action too.

By the end of the day, she was doing all sorts of acrobatics off of the big slide.  One time she came down with her legs in a split holding one foot. 

Overall a fun filled summer weekend. Looking forward to some heat to actually get the full use of the slide since it was a little chilly for adults to play long...Addie and Ben had no problem with the cooler temps.

Videos to come.

Perspective

Last night Addie, very excitedly, called for me to come upstairs, "because something is new!!!" So I went upstairs and she was sitting on the toilet (it's ok, I promise!).  She said, "Look!" and she scooted off the toilet.  Then she scooted back on. I stood there like "Huh?" because not surprisingly it's the same toilet we've always had in that bathroom.  Then she exclaimed, "It got smaller! Look!" as she moved on and off again.  Then she used her hands to demonstrate the height change she believes she uncovered. 

I guess everything really is about perspective and point of view.  To Addie, the toilet got smaller; she hasn't gotten bigger. 

It made me think back to being a pre-adolescent and realizing I could touch the top of the refrigerator--that was a major big deal to me. 

Pictures from Guppy's Fancy iphone

Guppy's fancy schmancy iphone takes great pictures. Here's 3 from Father's Day.

This one cracks me up the most, because look at Ben's feet!

Doing his best Gene Simmons impression, licking off the frosting. Love Addie pointing and laughing!

Thanks for sending them Guppy!

Father's Day

Well another successful father's day has come to an end.  We did a low-key day, with dinner made at home.  We took Brian's parents out to breakfast, did our weekly shopping, and then just hung out at home enjoying the first break in rain in a loooong time. 

Here's some pictures of our fun. Happy Father's Day to Brian, Guppy and Bub! 

We had to beg Addie to wear this outfit that she got for her birthday...for some reason she didn't want to, but look how adorable it is! She's wearing her key necklace that goes to "Wendy's Music Box" from Tinkerbell, which we got last night.
Kim came over for dinner for the dads and brought cake for dessert.  She wanted to have Addie help her ice the cake.  When Kim mentioned that Addie needed to put a cloth over her shirt to keep it clean, Addie sprang off the chair and said, "I know!"  She returned from the playroom in her chef hat and apron.  Couldn't get much prouder, right?

Ok, I know the next set of pictures will illicit reactions like, "You did what?!?" but it was so darn fun! Might just be our new Father's Day tradition...you know Mother's Day at Chanticleer, and face in the cake Father's Day...
It all started like this-- we were enjoying the cake for dessert and Benjamin kept sticking his fingers into the frosting and licking them.  I eventually said I was going to smoosh his face in the cake if he kept it up. Muddy grabbed the camera and.... Of course Addie had to get in on the fun too. Yes, we're nuts! It was fun and not as messy as it probably appears.

We actually had several re-smooshings, as sometimes the frosting didn't stick enough/there wasn't enough on their faces!

Bowling!

Saturday night we were supposed to go to the St. Anthony's Italian Festival, but the rain just wouldn't let up.  So we offered Addie and Ben an alternative, to "go do something fun!" We met Muddy and Guppy at Olive Garden, had terribly slow service, and then went to the newly refurbished Bowlerama. This was Addie and Ben's first time bowling...not surprisingly Benjamin LOVED it. Addie, eh, not so much.

In fact, she didn't like it so much that she decided to instead be the photographer for the frames she wasn't bowling. You'll see some of her work below.

An Addie original.
Those look very much like 4 year old feet.
Guppy and Ben were bowling pals.
Addie chose a pink ball, big shocker.
Feeling good after her first throw.
Could he be any cuter or prouder? 
Keeping their eyes on the ball

He really understood the concept.  And he had no problem picking up a 13 pound ball and tossing it.  There was that one time he kicked the ball, but that was it!
Pretty good form, right?!?

Overall, it was a successful trip.  Ben had to be carried out, literally, kicking and screaming. He kept yelling, "But I want to have fun!!!!"  I think we'll go back sometime.

Oh and Addie's self-photo was from this bowling trip too. 

Who you looking at?

A self-photo by Miss Adelaide Joan.

Surprise pictures on my camera

I love uploading pictures from my camera to find some that were taken when I was at work. 

Here's my surprise from this week. ..

According to Muddy, they were all playing outside and Ben said he wanted some chocolate milk. Muddy told him she would get him some soon.  Next thing she knows, he was walking into the house. A few minutes later, this is what she found. He said, "But I love to." when asked what/why he was doing.

I think his expressions say it best, "awww, crap I got caught." 

Sprinkler

We had the chance to play in the sprinkler this past weekend.  I believe this is the first time our front side yard is being shown on my blog. We don't use it so much, but it's the best grass on our property and was a perfect location for sprinkler fun.


In between turns of Brian holding each of them and running through, Benjamin returned to his spot, nicely nestled in the tree trunk. Here's my vantage point of him.
You know you have a cool Daddy when he'll jump through the sprinkler in his regular clothes.  Addie and Ben thought that was hysterical.

I had to join in too.
Finally, I think Addie may soon declare that her career ambition has been added on to, yet again. I believe she may now become "a songwriter, storyteller, princess, Cirque du Soleil acrobat."  She's happiest spinning around, upside down.  

Words

Before I forget, I wanted to make a list of words that Addie and Benjamin say incorrectly. It's not like a mispronunciation; they actually just don't hear the word correctly.  And honestly, they're young and it's cute, so I don't correct them.  I don't think they'll be 2nd graders talking like this.

soya sauce- soy sauce

swontons- wonton noodles

cheer-liter (like a liter of soda)- cheerleader

tabtoo- tatoo

There are more...I just have to remember to write them here!

My guys

Love them. Love this picture!

A boy and his dog

Dogs

We will never own a dog. Both Brian and I have zero interest in owning a live dog. Biscuit is enough for us. With that being said, we have a new nightly ritual:
Each night after dinner the three (or four, depending on if Brian is home) of us take a walk to "go see Uncle Rob and Aunt Erin's house," which is four and a half blocks away. Honestly, Addie and Ben couldn't care less about seeing their house. They're actually interested in walking one block up and stopping at Cooper's house.
Cooper is a little 15 month old Pekinese/Shih Tzu looking pup. He's very cute, and loves Addie and Ben. And much to my chagrin, Benjamin LOVES Cooper. I mean, L-O-V-E-S him. Like sit down on the ground and let this little dog jump and lick all over him. He's gentle with Cooper and just doesn't want to let him alone.
Addie, on the other hand, likes to look at Cooper from a distance and thinks it's cool to get close to Cooper, as long as Cooper doesn't move towards her. If he does, she does her high pitched squeal of half-excitement half-fear and sort of runs away...which prompts Cooper to chase her.
I thought maybe Cooper was an anomaly with Ben. This weekend I got a chance to test my theory, because Miss Nay graduated with her Masters degree and had a party. At her party were Tasha and Cocoa. Tasha is Miss Nay's dog and Cocoa is her sister's dog. Ben immediately went to them and was quite happy to stay there with them the whole time.
My bet is that he's a dog person. Too bad he was born into a family that does not have dog parents! :-) Maybe there's a good excuse for a certain little bug-eyed dog to visit us...
Meanwhile, we'll play with Cooper each night. I think Ben may start dog-sitting Coop as soon as he's old enough.