The Good Kind of Time-Out

Lately the twins have been bouncin’ off the walls, which has led to Andy and I climbin’ the walls. So we decided to take a time-out and go to a place where it was acceptable to do both: Kangaroo Zoo.

Brayden and Makenzie had a great time jumping on all of the inflatable toys---running over bridges and riding various animals.

Instead of hair-pulling tirades, cries of displeasure and “no-no-no’s,” we were met with hair-raising slides, squeals of delight and “yeah-yeah-yeah’s!”

The fire-breathing Mom was replaced by a fire-breathing dragon slide.

Oh, and just in case you didn’t believe me about the hair-raising slides, here is proof. Andy convinced our little dare-devil, Makenzie, to try it before we left. And as soon as Brayden saw what she was doing he decided to try it too.

I’m not sure exactly how tall the slide was, but I’m thinking it was at least 30 feet. Andy is 6’1” and look how small he is in comparison.

After the twins climbed up all those stairs all by themselves, they went down the slide on their bellies. Probably less scary that way.

As soon as Makenzie got to the bottom she exclaimed, “More! More!” and went down it two more times. Brayden had fun, going down but decided once was enough.

The Month in Review

To my loyal readers (all three of you): My apologies for not posting for a while. Things have been pretty busy around here. And between the 1st trimester fatigue and the 2nd trimester headaches my to-do list just keeps getting longer. But I’m slowly crossing things off of it now. Hooray!! Here’s a quick peek at a few of the things we’ve been up to.

Build-a-Bear

We started working on table manners with the twins a few months ago. As an incentive, we gave them a coin after each meal to put in a piggy bank if they used good manners throughout the entire meal. I told them when the piggy bank was full we would use the money to go do something really fun. It wasn’t quite full, but in July I decided it was time to take them on their reward anyway. So we took the piggy bank to a Coinstar, cashed it in and headed to Build-a-Bear.
Grandma Rhodes even came with us! Everyone had a paws-atively great time!

Camping

We haven’t been brave enough to do any overnight camping trips with the twins yet, but we have gone on a couple of day trips to Southfork and Smith & Moorehouse this summer. They are always super excited to “go, go, goooo!”

Andy with his nephew Dallin and sister, Jill, cooking hot dogs while Jenna watches.

Of course no camping trip would be complete without S’mores. We use Fudge Striped Cookies and roast coconut covered marshmallows to put in between them. All I can say is D-lish!!

I’m pretty good about rationing the amount of sweets the twins eat, but not my own. I ended up eating four S’mores, totaling approximately 900 calories. Yikes! Maybe that’s why my doctor told me that although she wasn’t worried (yet) I had gained a little more weight than she would have liked. In other words, lay off the S’mores! And brownies. And ice cream. . .

BBQ’s

Speaking of all things yummy, we’ve had a few BBQ’s with friends from out of state this summer. It’s always fun to catch up when they come back and get the little rugrats together. Here, Brayden and Makenzie are posing with Sammy T. and Brinlie. They were all born within 2 months of each other.

P.S. Shoes are sooo 5 minutes ago!

Texas

Last week I went to Texas to visit my sis. Despite the wicked heat and humidity, I had a very enjoyable time. She is an amazing person. Ember was doing great while I was down there. If it wasn’t for the bald head, you wouldn’t even know she was sick.

Levi and I hung out in the mornings while Sonya took Ember to the hospital. We had fun doing craft projects and stuff. I even played video games with him once. But oddly enough, after he saw my shoddy performance, he never asked me to play again. What can I say? X-box is far too complicated. I prefer the simplicity of Atari.

Andy Stayed in Utah and played Mr. Mom for a few days. Both sets of grandparents also helped out. Thanks everybody for making my trip possible!

Home Improvement

Our latest project is a bit of redecorating. We are moving our computer room downstairs and turning it into the twins new bedroom. I’ve been having lots of fun shopping for big-kid beds and decorations. We also decided to finish our downstairs bathroom before we start potty training the twins. I’ll post some pics when we get it all finished. Wish us luck!

Birthday Bugs

Brayden and Makenzie turned 2 on Friday. This was cause for a buggin' birthday bash!

The Invite

The Guests

All of our guests were kind enough to wear festive bug antennae party hats.

Everyone, that is, except the guests of honor. They kept taking them off and throwing them. And they really didn’t want to sit still for this photo, either. Especially Brayden. He was trying to run away. I guess they were hungry and wanted some food. Speaking of which. . .

The GrubIn keeping with the bug theme, we grilled up some hamburgers and served them with:

• Fried Worms (French fried onions)
• Ants on a Log (celery w/peanut butter and raisins)
• Worms by the Inch (grapes on toothpicks w/carrots)
• Bumblebee Parts (olives and cheddar cheese leftover from the bumblebees adorning the salad)
• Butterfly Wings (Doritos)
• Chips with Cricket Dust (sour cream & onion chips)
• Ladybug Blood (raspberry lemonade)
• Beetle Juice (limeade)

The food was a lot of fun, but also a lot of work. Note to self: next year keep it simple!!

Instead of birthday cake, I made birthday cupcakes for each of the twins. Makenzie got ladybugs marching to make the number 2.

Brayden’s were crafted to look like a caterpillar. They both had candles for antennae.

The HaulAndy and I gave the twins their presents as soon as they woke up. They each got their very own car! Note to everyone: this will not happen on their 16th birthday! They were both very excited. So excited that Elmo ended up face first on the floor, which is unheard of!

In fact, Brayden was so happy that he didn’t even care that I took a picture of him sporting some pretty crazy bed head.

After breakfast, we took them outside and let them play with their cars. They had a hard time “driving” them Flintstone style, however. They could go backwards but not really forward. So they ended up getting out and pushing their cars quite a bit. And Mommy pushed them. And Daddy pushed them. They even pushed each other a little bit.

The kids made quite the haul at their birthday party. They are definitely spoiled by everyone. Here are a few pics of them opening presents.

The After-PartyAfter the festivities were over everyone kept on partying. There was running, jumping, swinging, digging and sliding. There was even a little badminton action.

All in all, it was a fun day. I can’t believe my “babies” are now two-year-olds! Thanks to everyone who helped make the twins birthday a very special day!

Lagoon!

Yesterday, Grandma & Grandpa Rhodes took all of their grandkids to Lagoon. Brayden & Makenzie had a ball riding the rides with their cousin Kara. They don't get to see her much since she lives in Colorado.

After lunch, we met up with the older kids and went on the two rides that everyone could ride: Rattlesnake Rapids and the Log Flume. The line for the Log Flume was soooo slow. Brayden actually fell asleep in my arms while we were waiting to get on. I was debating whether or not to hop out of line and let him sleep or just get on the ride and see if he woke up. I decided to get on the ride. Brayden slept the entire time. . .he didn't even flinch when we went down the big hill and got splashed with water! He was one tired boy. When we got off our log boat, we walked back to the kiddie rides. He woke up as we were getting in line. I asked him if he wanted to go on a ride with Makenzie and he excitedly shook his head yes and started chanting, "Ride, ride!" His power nap was over and he was ready to go.

The first thing Makenzie spotted when we walked into the park was a giant Elmo that you could win by trying to throuw darts. Andy announced he was going to win it for her. Well, $5 and 3 darts later, he didn't even pop one baloon! I decided to try while the kids were finishing up their afternoon snack. And guess what? I didn't win the giant Elmo, but I did win them a small one! As I walked back to the food court, Makenzie saw him and got very excited. "Melmo!" she yelled. Yay for Mommy!

Before we went home, we took the kids on Puff the Magic Dragon one last time. Jessica was kind enough to ride with with Makenzie since neither she nor Brayden are big enough to ride it by themselves yet and I am not supposed to ride roller coasters of any kind. Andy & Brayden got the front, Jenna was next, followed by Jess and Kenzie.

What a fun day! Thanks Dan & Lois!

Summer Fun

After what felt like 926 days of rain in a row, it has been great to get outside and have some fun. The twins have had a ball playing in the sprinklers. . .

And the irrigation. . .

And throwing rocks in the ditch. . .

And of course, no summer day would be complete without a snack from Grandpa's garden. Here they are enjoying some fresh peas right out of the pod.

Round and Round They Go!

My Dad decided he wanted to build the grandkids a merry-go-round. So he got himself some scrap metal, pulled out the welder, and went to work. A few coats of paint and it was almost ready to go. He recruited my brother to help him put it together.

Since the other grandkids live in Texas, Brayden and Makenzie were the first to try it out. They gave two enthusiastic smiles and four thumbs up. I'm sure that they will have fun on this for years to come. Thanks, Dad!!!

2 Year Pics

Just a few more weeks and our "babies" will turn two! I can't believe how fast they grow up.