The times they are a changin!

Last week our sweet little Eddie became a kindergartener!! He was very excited to go to school again and meet lots of new friends.Unfortunately the first day everybody brought their kids to school and we had to hike in from the road.

We finally made it to the building! Hooray!

Eddie in his new seat as an official kindergartener

Leaving my baby behind to learn new things and make new friends

Picking up Eddie after his first day of school! If you look real close, he is between the cars on the sidewalk holding hands with one of the teachers.

Excited and TIRED after his first day

Eddie really does have a love of learning, and I picked him up a science of gravity book from the library. He loves it and reads it when he comes home from school.

Nicolas is a little bored without his playmate all day

Last weekend we went to meet Uncle Eric and Aunt Chantil at the zoo. It was so important to see them since Uncle Eric is leaving on deployment in less than 2 weeks and we might be back in the NE when he comes back. :( We will be sure to visit with Aunt Chantil a few more times before we leave though!

Checking out the stinky flamingos

They were so close to the fence we could have touched them. But they were too stinky.

Eddie waiting for the penguins to pop out of their tunnel

Nicolas had a front row seat to the crazy guys! They would swim right in front of his face!

Eddie and Aunt Chantil checking out some animals

The gang looking at ??? Maybe a lion.

Looking at some rediculously loud monkey relatives

Nicolas is a body builder!

Aunt Chantil is a dinosaur!

Eddie is a scary dinosaur!

So I followed some people over a bridge that lead to the gardens, having NO idea that is was all uphill, at 85 degrees and humid. My bad. Wouldn't you know the kids only have one way up a hill- run!!

Once in the gardens we found a cozy chair

Back with the animals we found some nice big turtles to look at.

And some lizards

And a HUGE turtle!

Almost done for the day, admiring the big elephants

Group shot!

We got to walk through the kangaroo exhibit and see them up close. It was pretty cool.

After 3 hours at the zoo we had some lunch. Then we had to say goodbye. :( Hopefully it won't be too long until the next visit!

So proud of my little brother! Good luck and stay safe!

July wrap up!

It was a very busy and fun July, and we are now welcoming August and very soon the start of kindergarten for our little Eddie!
It is still pretty hot out, so we have been playing a lot indoors. Here's what we've been doing...
Nicolas decided to try out Daddy's boots- perfect fit! And after almost 2 1/2 years I finally figured out what to say to him to get him to actually smile!! No more "cheese" which results in a flat mouth, but now it's "show me your teeth!" Aw, what nice brothers

Boots are great for standing, but not for walking!

Time for Eddie to rest. For a minute.

We have a hummingbird feeder haning right outside our back window and they are now used to us standing a foot away from them. It is so cool to watch, and they are there all the time!

Another family favorite, decorate sleeping Daddy. Well, at least he WAS sleeping.

In the evenings Daddy likes to take them out back to play in the water table when it's just a tid bit cooler and the sun isn't directly overhead.

And every couple of minutes they get a mist shower, cause it's still hot!

The mister. HA!

The kids also love to read. We have had several visits to the library.

Show me your teeth!

Very anxiously waiting to Skype with Grandma, Aunt Lisa, Anthony, Iris and Maya!

Before bedtime, getting a new story

Last weekend we were back at Monkey Joe's- the kids new favorite place! It was Daddy's turn to help Nicolas and he lasted about 2 turns before he gave up!

In the special boucer for ages 3 and under, getting ready to slide

Mommy, look!

Off to tackle an obstacle on their own.

Bounce house!

Too close Nicolas!

Sunday morning it was time to start our Sea Monkey farm!

Later that day we headed to the big library that has a HUGE childrens floor with so much cool stuff. The boys put on a puppet show for us!

And Eddie read a couple books

Nicolas was so happy to be able to play with everything!

They have 3 or 4 of these really cool reading nooks with windows and bench seats.

So we had to go in and have a story. I wish this library was closer so we could visit more often!