Jump Zone!!!

The kids had a blast tonight at Jump Zone. We have never ventured out to a place like this with all the blow up jumpers and playlands before. It is quite the work out while you are jumping and chasing the kids around (very cool!). Ramona and I enjoyed jumping and sliding with Rachel while keeping a close eye on the boys as well. Noah's favorites? The Superman slide, the Tyranusaurus Rex Jungle and the Titanic slide. Rachel enjoyed the the simple jumpers and all the slides. It was a great night full of action for all of us!

Playdates

We've been getting together for lots of playdates with Ramona and Braxton this week - the boys always have a lot of fun together. The Mahr's will be moving to Georgia soon and we have been trying to let the boys play (and also get the us moms together) as much as we can. The bottom photos are something that just doesn't happen very often. Ramona grabbed the camera the other night before the kids went to bed and snapped a few quick ones of me and Rachel. Love that. I don't have many photos of myself with the kids so I was tickled to get these quick shots. Thanks Ramona! =)

1st Day of Preschool

Noah's Pre-K class started today. He was so excited to go and he had no trouble with us leaving him and starting his day. I was happy that he had such an easy time - although, Rachel wasn't quite so happy. She was very sad that 'Wo-wah' had to stay at school and miss out on playing with her at home. She cried for him all the way out of the building and half way home. I know she will miss him while he is at school. Noah had a great day though - He even got to pick one of the books at circle time (a train book, ofcourse). He said he had fun playing with Brodie and saw a few of his other little friends from last year outside on the playground. I'm so glad those kids were there too to help him feel more comfortable. Over all he had a really great day - He's growing up so fast!!!

They love the water...

These two love to play in the water. I am interested to see what they think of the ocean and the waves next month when we go on our beach trip. Rachel could not love to get dunked into the water more. She goes under smiling and comes out smiling and spitting out the water. Check out the grin on her face as she is going under!!! It's amazing to us how she reacts to being dunked under. Noah likes to go under and put his nose on the bottom of the pool. In the pictures here at the bottom, he told me he was 'diving' under the water and swimming under the top of the water. I love that they love the water so much.

Back 2 School

Yesterday we went and met Noah's new preschool teacher. Her name is Miss Stacey and she is very nice. She spent a few years teaching elementary school before she had her own children and now that they are starting school she is teaching at our preschool. Noah got along well with her and I really liked how the room was set up for the kids. After working in childcare for so long I appreciate when I see a well set up class room and I am excited for Noah to spend time there playing and learning with his friends. There are three kids in his class that he attended with last year, so he will have some friends already when he starts this year. We think that will make it an easier transition. There are 6 boys and 5 girls in his class this year (Yay! Last year there were only 2 boys in a class of 10) so we are excited about that too.
Rachel has a new love - Elmo. She still calls him La-La most of the time, but she can say Melmo if prompted and we have been trying to teach her that that is his name. I think it's kind of cute though that she calls him La-La. I think this came about from hearing "Elmo's Song" in the car. Like Noah did when he was her age, she loves to hear the 1st Birthday cd while in the car.

Love Sandwiches

Love sandwiches. Many days when Doug comes home from work we'll gather in our room and play on our bed with the kids - usually wrestling, tickling, having fun. We make love sandwiches (pile ons). Noah likes to say that he and daddy are the bread, I'm the love and Rachel is the pickle. It's cute. It's funny. I love it.
Yesterday was a fun day. We had a busy day filled with lots of playing. We got Noah signed up for Fall Soccer and had to go buy a soccer ball and shin guards. After dinner we went for our walk and it was so darn hot that when we got home we all piled into our little pool! The kids had a ball with Mommy and Daddy in the pool with them. It was fun and with just a little daylight left we headed out to Coldstone for some icecream.
Rachel also went potty on her little potty chair for the first time yesterday. She's been telling me when she goes occasionally and wants to be changed right away, so I took her in the bathroom and she was so excited that she did it - standing up and clapping after she had gone. I'm in no big rush to start the whole potty training process (ugh), but atleast I know she's got the idea! Exciting stuff. :)

Happy Birthday Chloe & David!

Popsicles!

What makes over 100 degree weather a little less brutal? Popsicles, ofcourse! ;) Noah and Rachel can't get enough popsicles right now... can you blame them? It's freakin' hot! Love these popsicle faces. =)

He knows he's cool... ;)

I've been wearing the kids out in the evenings going for our walk. Lucky Rachel gets to ride in the stroller, but Noah has to ride his bike to keep up with me. Poor kid- He's getting really, really good at riding that bike. ;) Right now the hard part is that it is so darn hot. We do over a mile and it's at a fast pace. The kids love it though. Plus it wears them out and they're more than ready for a bath when we get home.

Who knew?

...brushing your teeth could be so entertaining?

This was just one of those times when I was watching the kids and couldn't help but just smile and be so very happy that these two little rug-rats are ours. We had the normal Monday night at our house. The *Shhhhhh, Daddy's sleeping because he has to work* kind of night, and sometimes it's a lot to ask of these two little monkeys... We did our evening walk and came home for a bath, books and teethbrushing... then a little bit of playing before bed. I love watching them. Especially when they are together and happy. Makes me happy. =)

What girl doesn't love a bubble bath?

We met up with Ramona and Braxton yesterday for a day of hard playing and the kids had fun in the tub last night getting clean. It isn't very often they get a bubble bath (in fact, this might be one of Rachel's first ones...) and they loved it! Rachel smiled the entire time she was in the tub.