Thursday: family

Nathan and his family came up for most of the day.  We started with some donuts.  Since it was cold and lightly raining, we had to rethink some of our plans.  We went to one church playground only to discover that they are closed during the summer.  So we went to the Nature Center, but then I remembered that there was another church playground across the street from it.  Happily, it was open.  Happily, it was perfect.  Not too big, not too busy, and the kids could run around.

At one point they were playing follow the leader.  (This was Isaac's favorite part of the day, by the way).  Later one only Isaac was playing follow the leader...he lead and didn't seem to care that no one was following him.

We picked up lunch and ate at home.  The kids played.  It was nice.

Wednesday: cuteness

Amanda: Isaac, you're cute.
Isaac: Well, when I look in the mirror...I don't think I'm cute.  But I'm glad you think so.

******
We received a boxful of Legos yesterday and the boys really wanted to inventory it.  So that was their activity of choice several times today.  I figured if they did it then Ben and I didn't have to later.

******
After lunch the boys decided to try and make the TV come alive.  They did a dance and a yell/chant.  It didn't work.  The TV remained inanimate.

******
We cut down some tree branches.  I dragged them up to the driveway where Isaac cut them into smaller pieces.  Joshua pushed them to the other side of the driveway on his riding toy.  Since the branches were now on the opposite side of the yard waste bin, Isaac moved the yard waste bin so that pushing the branches to the other side made sense.

Tuesday: puppy dogs resting

...although not for very long.

At story time last Wednesday the leader asked if we had any dogs at home.  (Joshua said his name was Puppy Dog.)  Isaac said, "Two."  I almost smacked my forehead.

Sunday: Wild Chef

We went to Wild Chef for lunch for my birthday today.  It was fun.  The boys seemed to enjoy it too.

The fire was a bit scary, but they made it.

Fort Wayne: day 3

On Sunday we went to a splash pad with a river.  Liz had previously posted it on her blog, and it looked like a lot of fun.

It was a lot of fun, although the water was really cold.  There were several different areas to go around in though, so the kids were occupied for quite a while.

We got home, ate lunch, and then packed up to go.  Joshua was very tired by this time and not playing very nicely with others, so he just got to play while they ate and then he ate while they played.

JJ woke up from his nap after we left and said that he wanted "more Amanda".  I love that he can say my name...it was super cute.

Saturday: birthday

Today is my birthday!  It was a very nice one, although nothing all that special happened.  A lot of relaxing.

The boys and I finally finished the puzzle that has been out for a few weeks.  Ben and the boys finished his Lego truck.

Joshua did a good job with a small part of his Legos.  He found the pieces, looked at the instructions to figure out how to put them together, and did it.  We haven't had a lot of luck with this before, so I was rather excited.

The boys gave me some fabric for my birthday.  Joshua was sneaky and saying things like, "We're going to get you're present.  It's a surprise.  After we get it you can build it."  Isaac chose a bunch of blue fabric because he knows that blue is my fabric color.

Everyone also got a lot of stickers from Joshua.

Fort Wayne: day 1 and 2

Our camping trip was canceled for the weekend because Nathan broke his femur.  While he was doing good for having broken a bone, he was not moving very quickly or easily.  So we went down to visit them at their house instead.  It can be more chaotic with house guests, but the distraction can be nice too.  Ben and Nathan hung out at the house while Liz and I brought the kids places.

We got there Friday for dinner.  Isaac had strawberry pizza.

On Saturday we went to the zoo.  The weather was perfect.  Joshua was not in a mood for pictures the whole day.

My favorite part was the crane (not shown).  It clicked its beak for us and it was cool to see.

We got to feed giraffes.  It was neat to see them so close.

We rode the carasel.  Isaac really wanted a cheetah.  I think we ended up on a leopard, but I told them they go fast too.

Joshua's favorite was the jellyfish.  They were really cool.

Isaac's favorite was the penguins.  However, by that point he was sick of walking and told me that surprises with a lot of walking weren't so fun.  While I can understand that, many of the best surprises do have a lot of walking.  So he was a bit mopey in between exhibits and happy at exhibits.

The kids got popcorn and a movie at home.