Makenzie is the “Pleaser.” She wants nothing more than to make Mom and Dad happy. She does not like turmoil or chaos in her world—the sweet girl cries when Brayden pees on the carpet. We affectionately refer to her as “The Hall Monitor” because she is constantly telling us what her mischievous brother is up to: dumping shampoo on the floor, flushing an entire box of Kleenex down the toilet, hitting her in the face with a book, etc. This is not to say that she is perfect, by any means. But when she does something she knows she shouldn’t be doing, she gives herself away by frequently peeking around the corner checking on our whereabouts.
Brayden, on the other hand, is our own miniature “Caesar.” He seems to think that he is the emperor of the Rhodes’ Kingdom. He is a dictator; everything has to be on his terms. There are constant power struggles between Brayden and the true rulers of the kingdom, his parents. And the boy likes to start wars. For example, one day when I stepped away from the lunch table to tend to Lexi, he opened up his PBJ, smeared peanut butter all over his hands, grabbed his twin sister’s hair and started smearing and pulling.
Some days they play together so cute. On others, all they do is fight and I wonder if they really love each other. Just yesterday, Brayden wanted to hold hands with Makenzie as we were walking into the library, but she refused. (Very loudly, I might add.) I can’t remember why she was mad at him. Maybe it was because he got to use the green spoon at breakfast. Or maybe she was still holding a grudge because he put her beloved stuffed elephant, Ellie, in the sink the day before and got her all wet. All I know is that it made me sad.
And then, someone like Sasha comes along and restores my faith in their twinship bond. Sasha was the “Teaser” who sat next to Brayden at Story Time. For some reason, this little girl was enamored/obsessed with my little boy. She kept looking at him with her big, doe eyes and touching his arm, much to his dismay. He would pull away and whi-i-i-ine. That made her mad! So then she started hitting his arm instead. Her mother took her aside and talked to her, but as soon as Sasha sat back down she started touching him again. At that moment, Makenzie put her arm around Brayden from the other side, pulled him closer and gave him a kiss on the cheek. My mommy heart grew three sizes right then and there.
The rest of the afternoon the twins had so much fun playing together. And I was a happy "Ole Geezer."
As many of you may remember, that is our family motto. Although we haven't been able to do as much hiking as we would have liked this year, we still managed to get in quite a few despite a new baby and Andy's hectic summer schedule.
Their little legs will carry them about two miles (with allotted breaks for snacks, throwing rocks in water, juice, and throwing more rocks in water). We started hiking in May with a couple of easy hikes in the Ogden foothills. 
We also braved a longer hike (about 6.5 miles) to Lake Ibantic in the Uintas with Uncle Brad and Grandma Rhodes. 
This chipmunk REALLY enjoyed the Rice Krispie Treat that Brayden dropped.
