Chopsticks

Gabriel and I went to lunch with Daddy today. He took us to The Vietnamese Kitchen. Gabriel and I split a meal, and it was Yum-Yum-Yummy. Gabriel had his first try at using chopsticks.

Lapping Park

After dinner last night, we went to Lapping Park to enjoy the beautiful weather. Grace decided that she was NOT going to let me take her picture while we were at the park. Gabriel, on the other hand, was quite the little ham for the camera. I got some cute pictures of Gabriel. All of the pictures of Grace are of her in motion. It's okay, though, because getting her picture became a game for us.

Field Trip Summary

Gabriel said that his field trip yesterday was "good." His teacher reported that he was so worn out after the field trip that he actually slept at nap time --- that is unusual for him. I asked him if anything exciting happened while they were on the trip, and the only thing he would tell me was that one of the girls pooped her pants. Haha! Gabriel can work poop into any conversation!

Wednesday when I picked Gabriel up from preschool, we started to discuss what he wanted to pack in his sack lunch. A fellow teacher whose daughter is in Gabriel's class heard our debate over chips (Gabe's choice) versus Goldfish (my choice), and she volunteered to pack a bag of cheese balls for Gabriel in Ruby's lunch. Gabriel was pumped! At home while packing his lunch, Gabriel and I decided to pack a little treat for Ruby too --- an extra pack of fruit snacks. When Gabriel and I were talking about how his field trip went, he told me that Ruby gave him some cheese balls. I asked if she was surprised about the fruit snacks, and he informed me that he "changed his mind." He ate BOTH packs of fruit snacks and did not share with Ruby! That snot! I guess Ruby won't share with him in the future!

Field Trip

Gabriel is going on a field trip Thursday to a park with his class at preschool. (Yes, I am intentionally leaving the name of the school and the name of the park off of this post. I don't know what kind of crazy people may read it.) It just occurred to me tonight that I am going to be packing him his first sack lunch for a field trip tomorrow night. In a way, I feel a little giddy about it. That's silly, I know, but I can't help it. My little boy is slowly --- No, quickly --- growing up before my eyes. His first field trip is this week!

Splashing in Puddles --- Gone Bad

This afternoon after going to the grocery store, the kids wanted to splash in puddles on the driveway.
I saw no harm in that, so I let them splash away for a few minutes.
When the groceries were all put away, Dan told the kids to take their splashing to the backyard so we wouldn't be needed out front to supervise them.
They gladly moved their splashing and giggling to the backyard.
Little did I know, that my darling angels were lifting their feet up and "splashing" in the flower pots.
They had black potting soil up to their knees. Splashed on their faces and all over their shirts and jackets.
Their tennis shoes were full of muddy black soil and sand. Their FEET were black and their waists were black. I wasn't sure I'd EVER get them cleaned up.
The picture of this child cannot do the mess justice. I ran their clothes through two wash cycles AND an extra rinse. I'm pretty sure Grace's cute pink shirt will forever be black-ish. Her shoes were brand-new-out-of-the-box YESTERDAY. I haven't even thought about what it will take to clean the potting soil off of the concrete and the door when the weather dries.

For those of you thinking that all of this is really my own fault because my children were not being well supervised, Yes, you are correct. However, this entire mess happened in a matter of minutes. They were not in the backyard five minutes without an adult checking on them. Whew! The joys of parenthood are endless!

Poop!

We went to Great Gramma's house last night after dinner to visit with Grampy and Great Gramma. While we were there, Gabriel went to the bathroom. Grace insisted that she wanted to go too. I took her to the bathroom, and after a moment, she had pooped in the toilet! It surprised her and me too. Go, Gracie! Go, Gracie!

Crazy Girl

Grace picked out her own clothes yesterday morning. I had already laid out a red Nike sweatsuit for her to wear. Then she spotted her red (Ho-Ho-Ho, as she calls it) Elmo vest in the closet and insisted on wearing it over her sweatsuit. She looked like such a goofball!
As you can tell, she is not my morning kiddo. She tends to be a bit cranky in the morning.

Target Dollar Spot, I Love You!

I always seem to find the coolest stuff in the Target Dollar Spot. Maybe it's because I shop there so often? Maybe I'm just lucky? Maybe I'm a truly skilled bargain shopper? Whatever the reason . . . I think I found a treasure today!
I bought each of the kids a magnifying glass and these cool bug jars. The bug jars have magnifying glasses on the side and in the bottom. They are so cool! Even Daddy enjoyed them!
We dug in the stump in the backyard and found this salamander.
See the view from the bottom magnifying glass!
Grace was had a worm in her bug jar.
Gabriel was getting a little science lesson from Daddy about salamanders.

Surprise Visit

We had a wonderful surprise yesterday afternoon! Uncle Ed and Aunt Stacey came from Indy to spend Thunder Day with us. The kids were so excited to play with their aunt and uncle!
Gabriel and Grace LOVE to tease with Uncle Ed. He is the biggest tease in the world!
After dinner and Grandma and Papaw's house, Grandma served ice cream with chocolate sauce. Grace was a huge mess . . . no surprise there.
She thought it was so funny to look at her messy self in the mirror.
While Grace took a bath, Gabriel played his CARS game on the Wii.

Shooting Water

Grandma and Papaw's neighbor gave the kids water guns. We filled them tonight and let the kids shoot it out.
Gabriel got a little impatient with his sister because she wasn't squirting him, so he decided to squirt himself.
They had fun from the time dinner ended until baths with their water guns.

My Little Gardeners

Daddy let the kids help him water the plants in the front yard tonight. Gabriel walked pretty slowly behind Daddy and Grace so that the water wouldn't splash out of his bucket.
Daddy showed the kids exactly where to pour the water.
Good work, Grace!
Gabriel aimed his bucket just right.
And Grace was off for more water!

Partners in Crime

Gabriel showed off his new car that Grandma bought him while we were at the zoo.
Daddy showed Grace that she could dig on this stump in the backyard.
They used sticks to pull at the dead wood.
They even found a worm, and Grace let Daddy put it in her hand!
Their goal was to find bugs.
They looked through the dead wood they pulled from the stump trying to find worms and bugs.
Daddy had just as good a time doing this as Grace. It was awesome seeing them spending this quality time together . . . Even if they were doing something that I think is utterly gross!

My Favorite Thing

Grace chose not to take a nap this afternoon, so that gave us a little extra one-on-one time together before Gabriel woke up. I turned on an episode of Mickey Mouse so she and I could have some cuddle time. My favorite thing is cuddling with my kiddos while having some down time in front of the t.v. It doesn't happen a lot, but I savor it when it does happen.

Louisville Zoo With Grandma and Papaw

We went to the zoo this morning with Grandma and Papaw. It was a beautiful morning. The temperature was perfect. The animals were pretty active, and it was a wonderful trip!
Grace enjoyed being in the backpack because it allowed her to sit up and see the animals better.
Gabriel was hot stuff in his Lightning McQueen sunglasses.
At the African Outpost, the kids had a ball "driving" this old beat-up van.
We have three years of pictures of Gabriel standing in this exact spot. I hope I get time to find the past two years of pictures so I can post a comparison.
There were three gorillas inside. They were pretty active today.
The hippopotamus was hanging out in the water this morning.
There were three other gorillas hanging out outside.
We ate a picnic lunch.
After lunch the kids had a little bit of time to play at the playground.
Grace was trying to step on her shadow, but it kept moving. Hehe!
We fed the lorikeets. The told us when we entered that there was no guarantee that the birds would come to us because they had already been fed quite a bit.
These people didn't know that my mom was the bird lady. She had half a dozen loris ready to sit on her and eat from her nectar cup.
We bought tickets for the Dinosaurs Alive exhibit. I have to say --- it was cool!
Grace didn't seem too scared of the dinosaurs in this exhibit. I think the fact that she was attached to Daddy's back gave her a sense of security.
The dinosaurs were so realistic, not that I know what a real dinosaur is like.
We may have to go back and see the dinosaurs again before the exhibit closes.
On our way out of the zoo, Gabriel spotted some ducks. When he walked up to them for a closer look, they didn't seem to mind his presence a bit.