Cramming in the Fun!

This week the boys have been on spring break. And I have LOVED having them around. I miss them while they are at school. I miss having them around all the time. I need a job. :) But that is a whole different post!

I think I get SO excited to have them around that I make us rush around like crazy people doing one fun event after another. Wednesday was their first day off. We all slept in and stayed in our jammies until almost lunch time. HEAVEN! After lunch Josh had a play date with a friend so Alex, Zach and I met our awesome neighbor Tara and her son Sam at a park to play. It was wonderful!! Minus the cold drizzle and Sam spinning himself sick. Other than that it was great!

Thursday we went on a picnic lunch. We got our favorite fast food (Jimmy John's for Zach, Josh and I- Burger King for Alex) and took it to a park. Zorinsky if you are wondering.
It was awesome!! I don't know why I don't take the boys on picnics more.
After lunch we played at the park for awhile. This park had a cool scoop and pour sand thing-a- ma-bob. And yes that is the technical term for that! :) It was fun. I even got to scoop too!!
We also played on the other equipment and then went to swing for a while. Zach LOVES tire swings. He has talked about the tire swing at his school and was super excited to see one at this park too!
I have to admit- I kind of feel like I have come full circle!! I remember a few years ago I would push the boys on the swing for what felt like hours-days-weeks-months on end!! Now the boys can push ME!! NICE!!
After our picnic and playing at the park for a while, we went to paint pottery.
I was especially happy about this day because not only can the boys push me on the swing, I can paint pottery WITH THEM now!! All the other times I have had to manage them. This time it was something we truly did together. And it was AWESOME!! They each got to chose what they wanted to paint. And they all chose to paint a plate.
Alex painted a batman plate!
Josh and Zach both painted a plants vs. zombies plate.
My kids crack me up!! I, of course, did another dottery mug.
I can't wait to see the finished products!!

After painting we were in need of some sort of treat. So we went to Eileen's Cookies- of course!! Best cookies!! And what's even more exciting we got to see Drew!! It was the frosting on our cookie! :)
After our delicious cookie, we went to play tennis.
It was fun. I would say a really great day!!

Friday Matt took the day off! WOOT! We decided to go to Henry Doorly Zoo. The zoo remodeled the aquarium and we all wanted to see the new and improved exhibit. Plus, there were baby giraffes there too!! And new monkeys!!

Yeah....IT WAS INSANE THERE!! I think everyone on the planet had the same idea as we did. I have NEVER seen the lines so long!! Not even on membership days!! Matt and I HATE crowds, especially when the boys are with us!! Needless to say- I didn't take many pictures. I was too concerned making sure I didn't loose one of my kids! This picture I took because Josh begged me to take a picture of this snake. Ewe! So I made him get in it too!
This one I took because I wanted one of the boys all together in it. :) And it's horrible.

And this one I took because Josh was super excited to see ORANGE JELLYFISH!! They were awesome!!
The aquarium was pretty cool. They had some new exhibits. But after going through the desert dome and the aquarium and fighting the crowds the whole way, we were done after that. So we never saw any of the baby giraffes or new monkeys. Oh well, it's not like we wont go again!

On the way home we got ice cream. Ice cream always calms my nerves! :) Then that evening we went to the new family fun center. They moved from 72 and Dodge to 108 and L. I have to sat it was disappointing. They didn't have many games at all and it still had the run down feeling. Oh well. The boys had fun and that is what matters right? After that lame experience we all went out to dinner at Romeos. I hadn't eaten there in years!!

After dinner, we came home to decorate Easter cupcakes. I don't dye Easter eggs anymore for quite a few reasons. The boys don't like eggs. And to have triplets dye Easter eggs you have to boil or blow out a LOT of eggs. The last time we did it the boys didn't get into it. They were finished before they started. Plus they stink. Not really worth it. So we decorated (we meaning Josh, Zach and I- not Alex's thing) Easter cupcakes. They are cute!! And we will all eat those! :)

Whew!! It is only Friday night and we are all exhausted!! :) But I really don't think any of us would change a thing!! The next two days will be celebrating Easter and Larry's birthday!! So the fun is not over yet!! WOOT!!

Bald Eagle Time

Last weekend the weather was beautiful. Too beautiful to sit at home inside. So Matt suggested we go to Desoto Bend to see the bald eagles.
The boys had lots of fun being silly in the visitors center.

We enjoyed "listening" to the "computer" on the phone. They thought corded phones were crazy weird.



We drove around and hiked a little and saw lots of cool things.

Like these white birds. I am not sure what kind they are.

And lots of turkeys.

But sadly I don't have a fancy camera to show you the dozens and dozens of eagles we saw.


I assure you there were about 10 flying in the sky in this picture and about a dozen sitting in the far away trees to the left. And zooming in on the picture doesn't help either. Boo! I guess you either have to take my word for it or travel out to Desoto to see for yourself.

Half the park was still closed due to the flooding this past summer.

But the part we were able to be in was awesome!
It was a great way to spend the afternoon!

A Magnificent Time in Minneapolis

Last weekend we went to visit Andy, Marcie and Mason (Matt's brother and family). And we had an AWESOME time! We always do when we are with them. They are fantastic hosts! I wanted to blog about our wonderful time, and since a picture is worth a thousand words I thought I would slap up some cute photos and let them do the talking...mostly anyway. :)
The weather was fantastic so we spent lots of time outside playing!
One afternoon we went to a lake to swim. Alex was excited because he tried to flip off the edge of the dock. My heart stopped each time, but he was getting the hang of it....until the life guard put a stop to it. :) Josh and Zach LOVED watching the fish swim.

One morning we went bowling. It was Mason's first time! He almost beat me!
Mostly we were just silly together!
One morning we went to the tramps. Yup, we took our kids to the tramps. IT WAS AWESOME!! Trampolines EVERYWHERE! Even up the walls. Andy and I jumped too. Andy may have gotten stuck in the foam pit and I may have fallen on my face needing a glasses adjustment....but it was a sweaty good time!!





Aren't these the CUTEST kids ever?!?!? I just love these guys!

July Catch Up

Wow! I haven't blogged much at all this summer. I have been having so much fun with the boys! :) It really has been a nice summer. So I will try and do a quick catch up for the month of July....
Well the biggest event of the month was that the boys turned SEVEN!! Wow! I can't believe I am writing that...seven! I really went from praying to make it through the day to now praying for the days to slow down! :) Life is funny that way I guess.

This year we let the boys have their very FIRST friend party. They chose Bounce U and I couldn't have been happier!
They each got to invite 7 kids and then bounced the evening away! It was great!
Afterwards they all had pizza and cake.
And the best part was I didn't have to cook, clean or organize a thing! It was fabulous!! I got to sit back and enjoy the party! I would highly recommend it!

We also had our traditional family party....which I seemed to lack taking pictures of....
They each chose their own cake/theme...so we had a Batman, Star Wars and Wall-E party. Wall-E was chosen not because Josh likes Wall-E but because it had the MOST orange in it. We ate pizza and shrimp (at the boys request). It was great.
Let's see...what else...oh! The boys also went "real" golfing for the very first time! They have had lessons and been to the driving range, but we had never taken them to play an actual game.
It was SO HOT that day....this whole summer has been REALLY HOT....so we only made it through 4 holes....but I think that is great for the first time! They did pretty good too! Still have some things to learn...but really in golf isn't that how it goes?
Andy, Marcie and Mason also came for a visit!! It is always fun to spend time with them. And I really do have the cutest nephew EVER!!
While they were here we hung out,
went to a splash park,
and the zoo.
It was fun like always!!

Matt and I also went to see Daniel Tosh....
Who I find completely and inappropriately HILARIOUS! Lots of laughing!!
Plus, a night out without kids is fun!

Other highlights...I took the boys to a public pool BY MYSELF! That was huge for me! No pictures here for obvious reasons.
We still love our rats....
We found a baby birds nest in our bushes....
And because it's been SO HOT we tried to make snow out of ice cubes and hammers.....
that may not have been my best parenting idea, but they had a good time.

To sum up....July was just plain awesome!!