Last Thursday: lunch without kids

Over the years we've learned our lesson; don't wait until the last minute to try and get a group picture.  So that was the first thing on the docket today.

Then the ladies went out for lunch.  Without the kids.  It was quiet.  And peaceful.

And we rode the carousel!  We rode  the animals and didn't just stand by a small child.

Upon our return home there was a bit of play time.  Isaac randomly decided Ryan's lap would be a good place to sit.

This one is funny because their fathers tended to sit in those chairs and watch TV.

Then it was time for water balloons!

You were supposed to aim at feet...but there was a lot of throwing at nothing too. :)

That was a bunch of fun but over somewhat quickly, so we moved to the back yard.  The older kids got squirt bottles and Joshua sat in the water table.

At the end of the day Isaac was so tired, but at least he was next to his best friend Chico.

Tuesday: happy birthday Joshua!

The birthday day started with a donut!  It was a plain one, but Joshua still enjoyed it.

It continued with his first pony ride at Meijer.  Unfortunately, Isaac took the picture and covered most of it with his finger.  Joshua also got some toothbrushes.

We got ready for the birthday party throughout the day.  We hung up streamers, but my one picture of them wasn't very good; I'll try tomorrow.  We also frosted cupcakes.

Joshua ate at the kids table.  He likes watermelon the best right now, so he had quite a bit of that.

He had lots of help opening presents.

Cupcake time!  The wind blew out the candle before we finished singing.  Oh well...it would have been too hot otherwise.

Ready, set,

go!  Joshua ate all the frosting off and some of the cake.  He mostly made a mess with the cake.

He also got his first taste of ice cream.  He wasn't a fan.

There was also a new water table...but we had to wait until the bigger kids finished playing first.  He didn't seem to mind though, so neither did we.

Then Joshua crashed.  Perhaps too much sugar?  But it was bedtime anyway, so we put him to bed.

Monday: 52 weeks

Today started with Isaac running "really fast".  It happens when he puts his arms behind him like an airplane.

I tried to get Joshua's normal weekly pictures, but he wasn't cooperating.  All he wanted to do was bounce with his arms out and do pre-somersaults.

Isaac got his quilt too.  Or, did the quilt get Isaac?

Being silly.

Wrestling.

Last Wednesday: Children's museum

The men of the group went to see a movie while the rest of us went to the children's museum.  It was quite nice; the boys could have probably spent the whole day there.

The museum had a place for crawlers.  Isaac enjoyed it too, but it was nice to have a contained spot where Joshua wouldn't get run over.

There was some fishing.

And some trains.  Joshua really got into the trains and didn't just take apart the track as I had expected.

I really like this picture.

There was a nice dollhouse to play with...it had an elevator which fascinated Isaac for quite a while.

There was a place where you put eggs down a hole and they came out the bottom.

This tree told stories.  However, the one we had was kind of boring.  Isaac remembered it though, because as we were going home and listening to books on CD he started talking about trees.

Joshua in the crawling area.

More fishing.

The tree again.  (Sorry, it's a bit of work to get everything in exactly the right order.)

The eating set up for the kids.  It was interesting to hear snatches of their conversations, as they can communicate but have no filters.  They "discussed" rules quite a bit.

The guys ate at the bar.

Joshua ate at the table.  He almost fell asleep this night, but we woke him up.

They had a power wheels and Isaac loved it.

Joshua got in on the wheeled vehicles too.  He enjoyed it more than the picture shows.

We let Isaac take Joshua for a spin.

Matching clothes...with the wrong son.