Summer Fun and trip to Cincinnati (2.5 years and 11 months)

A few weeks ago Nana and Grandpa drove up here for the weekend.  They spent Saturday with us.  Like every weekend this summer, Brian was working on the swing set.  This weekend was building the slide.  It was wonderful that they were here to help us.  It took all 4 of us to put it together.  It was a project.  Austin and Sydney also helped.  It was great to see them.  Austin still talks about everything he did while we were down there.  In particular, he will call something "fast like a golf cart" when he wants to say something is moving fast.  We all had fun.

Austin's best friend Kaitlyn turned two that weekend too.  We went to her party.  Kaitlyn lives a block from us.  We see her and her parents also every night.  They walk around the block and then play outside until we get to their house.  Then Austin and Kaitlyn play outside for 15-20 minutes before we finish our evening walks.  We love our walks.  It is really the only time Brian and I talk.  Austin and Sydney enjoy their stroller ride.  Austin has become very talkative so sometimes Brian and I don't talk as much because he's talking too.  Kaitlyn's party was a lot of fun!  It was really hot but we still had a great time.

This weekend went went down to Cincinnati.  We left Thursday after work around 4 pm and drove down.  It wasn't too bad of a drive.  Austin is a good traveler.  Sydney slept most of the way which worked out perfectly.  We stopped for dinner at A&W root-beer.  Before kids, we use to go there all the time.  It was our favorite summertime restaurant.  Now we don't go at all.  It would be too hard with Sydney in her car seat.  This A&W had an inside though so it worked out.

We arrived at our hotel in downtown around 9 pm.  I was happy to finally get there.  Austin helped us get our things into the hotel.  We looked out our window and there were fireworks.  We had a great view.  It was fun to watch them with the kids.  We got settled in and went to sleep.

Brian had to work all day.  I was hoping to meet my friend down there but she had to work Friday too.  So I decided to take the kids the the children's museum.  The Cincinnati children's museum is very nice.  It is much better than Cleveland's.  We finally got there around 11 am.  First we dropped Brian off at work.  Then went to Walmart to buy Brian a belt since I forgot to pack one.  Austin was not very good in Walmart. I was nervous it was going to be a terrible day.  Then he had a poopy explosion so I cleaned him up and went back to the hotel for some "pink stuff".  Pink stuff is Pinxav which we think is the best diaper cream.  Then I nursed Sydney.  We were finally ready to go to the museum. Being alone with the kids in a strange environment is a little overwhelming at times.

We got there and it was a little bit of a walk from the parking lot.  Obviously I have to carry Sydney.  Austin walked until he got distracted and wanted to stop and look at everything.  I was getting annoyed since Sydney and the diaper bag where getting heavy.  Finally we made it inside.  There was an escalator going down but Austin was scared of it.  So we walked down the stairs and finally I had lost my patience and I carried him the rest of the way.  He was screaming.  I was thinking "Great I am taking the kids to this great museum and he's crying.  Why didn't I stay at the hotel".  But once he got inside, he loved it!  We had a great time.  We were there until 1:30pm. By that time, we were hungry and tired.  I thought about eating lunch there and going back but I did not want to do that alone.  I drove back by the hotel and stopped at the McDonald's drive thru and picked up lunch.  We went back into our hotel and had lunch and took a nap.

After nap we picked up Brian from work.  We came back to the hotel and got ready for dinner.  We were going over to a guy's house that Brian works with.  I was a little nervous about this because our kids are active and don't like to sit still long.  I was worried they would ruin something at their house.  Luckily the gathering was basically outside.  It worked out very well.  We had packed some balls so the kids played with them and everyone had fun.

On Saturday morning we were in the hotel and Sydney decided to take her first steps alone without holding on to anything.  It was so great to see her start walking.  We were all very excited.  She was 11 months when she started walking.  She is trying so hard to do everything Austin does.  And she will be soon!

We were suppose to meet my friend and her family at the zoo but it was raining so we decided to go to the Children's museum again.  Her son was sick and they could not come.  So the 4 of us went and had a great time again.  After the museum, we drove home.  We wanted to get home.  There was still a lot of work that needed to get done on the swing set.  Plus Melissa was coming into town.

The drive wasn't too bad but Sydney slept for most of it.  Austin is a great traveller in the car.  We hope Sydney will get better once her car seat can turn forward facing.

Brian has worked so hard on building this swing set for the kids.  I don't know how many hours he has spent on it but it's a lot.  For some weeks, Brian has been working on it after work in the evening, then he stops and puts Austin to bed, and then he goes back outside and works on it until midnight using spotlights to see.  Brian has basically built this swing set by himself.  My dad has helped on the weekends which was very nice.  And Brian's mom and Mike helped with the yellow slide which was great that weekend.  Jonathan helped for a weekend too when he was in town which worked out nicely for any heavy lifting that was needed. Everyone's help was greatly appreciated but Brian has been working on it everyday, many late nights, and every weekend all summer long!  He is exhausted but he knows it's for the kids so it will be worth it.

Happy 4th of July (2.45 years and 10 months)

This year we decided to take the kids to fireworks for the first time.  I was talking with some girls at work and they take their young kids to fireworks each year.  So we thought we would try it too. On Sunday night we went to Fairlawn for fireworks.  Brian and I use to go to them every year before we had kids.  We know exactly where to park and everything.  That makes it nice.  We arrived around 8:30 pm however fireworks were not until 10 pm.  We walked around the area.  They had a local orchestra playing so we listened to the music.  Austin loved the music.  After every song he would say "one more".  We were surprised at that.  Sydney seemed to enjoy the music too.  Austin also got a light up sword that he played with.  We walked around the park together too.

Finally at 10 pm the fireworks started.  There was a 10 year old girl near us that started to freak out when they went off.  We think that may have scared Austin.  Soon after, he started saying he wanted to go home.  He was not crying, but just kept saying he wanted to go home.  He also kept saying "I can't see the clouds" which we didn't quite understand (maybe he was saying that it was dark out and bedtime).  We started walking towards the car.  Austin kept looking back to see the fireworks.  He was on Daddy's shoulders and actually fell asleep on his shoulders before we got back to the car.  Austin was probably just tired since it was over an hour past his bedtime.  By the time we got home, both kids were out.

On the 4th of July, we took the kids to the parade.  We have always enjoyed the parade and we thought why not start a tradition of taking the kids to it.  We sat by the start of the parade so we were not waiting too long.  The kids don't have long attention spans.  We played with a ball until the parade started.  We knew there were a lot of sirens so we brought ear protection.  Austin likes wearing his but Sydney would not leave them on.  I covered her ears and she was fine.

We stayed for about an hour and half watching the parade.  The kids really liked it.  They handed out a lot of candy and Austin loved that.  He kept putting it in the bag and saying he was going to eat it on the car ride home.  He did not realize how much candy he got.  We all had a great time as a family.  It is a fun tradition we started and look forward to it again next year.  

Brian has been working really hard the building the swing set.  Thanks to my dad they were able to get all the walls up.  Austin enjoyed helping mix the concrete for the walls.  Austin has really enjoyed helping his daddy build the swing set.  Brian has been working all day on Saturdays and most evenings trying to get it done.  It is quite the playground.  The kids are going to LOVE it.  I am so excited for them.

Sydney is standing more and more.  She will stand more frequently and for longer periods of time.  She has not walked alone yet but she is getting close.  Sydney likes crawling around but you can tell she would like to be walking.  Sydney is able to clap her hands.  She has also learned how to crawl down the stairs however we still have to turn her around at the top of the steps.  She still prefers to go head first down stairs.

Sydney loves to eat.  She will eat almost anything.  Most nights at dinner we cannot cut up her food fast enough for her.    Sydney also likes to eat dirt and chalk.  It is really annoying.  We can't turn our back for a second or she will have dirt or chalk in her mouth.  I am so happy she eats but I wish it was only food.

Austin is a little more picky.  He likes macaroni and cheese, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, strawberries, yogurt, and chicken.  Austin is not a big fan of vegetables except corn (which he does love).  He also does not like pizza or hamburgers.  Many times he will say he does not like it without even trying it (technically he says "I can't like it").  I hope he will out grow that soon.

We have been busy with the swing set and planning Sydney's party.  This is going to be a very fun and busy summer.

Happy Father's Day (2.4 years and 9.75 months)

Since we have been home, Brian has been busy starting to build the swing set.  Austin loves to help Brian with it.  Most nights they are in the back yard working on it.  They have dug holes together.  It rained the other day and the holes got water in them so Austin helped get the water out of the holes.  Austin loves to bring Brian any "mouse-ka-tools" he needs like levels, a tape measure, etc.

On Father's Day weekend, Brian and my dad cut wood and built the first tower.  Then on Sunday, they placed it into place.  I helped with that since it was so big and heavy.  It was a lot of work.  I felt so bad that Dad and Brian spent all day Father's day working on it.  They did not get a day to relax.  My parents stayed at our house until 7 pm helping.  Brian continued to work until 10 pm because he wanted to get in concreted into the ground since it was perfectly level.  I even put the kids to bed that night.  Usually Brian puts Austin to bed every night.  They were so busy we never gave Brian his Father's Day gifts.  Hopefully we will do that tonight.

Austin is growing up so fast.  He has gotten noticeably taller.  And his vocabulary has taken off.  He can say 5-8 word sentences easily.  He can repeat everything you say so we have to be very careful with that.  Luckily he has not said a bad word yet.  We usually don't curse but every once in a while one comes out.  Austin can also ride a tricycle.  We have gotten him 3 bikes.  One bike we still have not put together, one bike is still too big, and the other bike he can petal all by himself.  It is crazy that he can ride a bike already.  He's has gotten so big.

Sydney can really move around now.  She can crawl fast and even crawl up all of our stairs without any problem.  She loves to stand and is starting to furniture walk.  She wants to walk so bad but has not figured it out yet.  She can stand alone for about 10 seconds now but if she moves her feet she will fall down.  She cannot crawl down the big stairs yet because she continue to insist on going forwards.  She can go down our 1 living room step forwards fine.  She reaches her arms out and does great but she wants to do that for the big stairs too.  That will not work too well.

Last week Austin and Sydney both had ear infections.  Sydney got her's first.  It was weird because she did not really have any cold symptoms.  There were 2 sleepless nights so I took her to the doctor and she had a right ear infection.  Austin complained of left ear pain one night and would not lay down in his crib to sleep.  He wanted to sleep sitting up.  So Brian took him out the the car so he could sleep in his car seat.  Brian made himself a bed in the back of our Ford Escape next to Austin so he could try and get some sleep too.  Brian took him the the doctor and said he had the start of a left ear infection. There were also questions about Austin's ear tubes (whether they had fallen out and were still in the ear canal or not - Brian has seen them in both ears still although one doctor claimed the one was gone and the other was there while another doctor said the complete opposite about which ear was missing the tube).  Brian and Austin slept in the car for two nights and then he felt better and began sleeping in his big boy bed again.

We are enjoying summer.  We play outside every day that its not raining.  The kids have a lot of outside toys.  I love that we play outside because it keeps my house clean.  :)  We have lots of kids in the neighborhood that come to play too.  Most of them are older but they still enjoy playing with Austin which is nice.

We have had a birthday party and graduation party this month.  We had a lot of fun going to them. I am starting to plan Sydney's first birthday party.  I am excited about that.  We are going to have it at our house.  Since it is summer we can have it outside at our house.  We are going to get a tent and chairs too.  I really hope it doesn't rain that day!  Hopefully Brian will have the swingset done by then too.  It will be so much fun.

Trip to Myrtle Beach (2.35 years old and 9 months)

We left Saturday at 1 pm for Myrtle Beach.  Since I worked Thursday and Friday, I did not have any packing done  so we had to do it all Saturday morning.  So we got everything ready and then left at nap time so the kids would sleep some in the car.  We were not even driving 2 hours and Sydney woke up and she was not happy.  She did not like being in her car seat for that long.  It is hard since she is rear facing and there are only so many toys she can play with that entertain her for more than 5 minutes.  There were times she would cry for at least 30 minutes at a time.  It was awful.  Austin was fantastic in the car.  He would play with his toys and Kindle.  He is a great traveler.  Sydney is just not at a good age for long road trips.

We stopped in Wytheville Virginia around 7 pm.  It is about half way from home to Myrtle Beach.  Brian got a really good deal on a motel there.  They did not have any cribs but it worked out okay because Sydney slept in the pack and play and we put the other double mattress on the floor and Austin slept on that fine.  We  went to Waffle House for dinner.  I have to say it was not that good.  I know many people like Waffle Houses but I was not a fan.

Then we left the next morning around 8 am and we arrived at Myrtle Beach at 2 pm.  It wasn't too bad but we were really glad to get out of the car.  On Sunday, Melissa, Jonathan, and Camden came over to Nana's house.  Melissa was having a rough day.  I totally understood.  I have been there and its rough at first but I reassured her it will get better.  It was great to baby Camden.  He's so small.  He was only 6 pounds 13 ounces when he was born.  Austin and Sydney were never that small.  I loved holding Camden but I was also glad to give him back to his mommy and daddy.

We had a lot of fun in Myrtle Beach.  Austin got to drive Nana's and Grandpa's golf cart and he LOVED it.  He likes to pull our cars out of the garage so for him actually driving the golf cart was the best thing ever.  They would drive around the neighborhood.  They have a playground, pool, and ponds with turtles in their neighborhood.  So Austin would go visit those fun places.

One day we went to Alligator Adventure.  Austin liked looking at the alligators.  It was neat to do something different like that.  Also one night we went for ice cream.  Austin got his own cone with blue ice cream.  Austin loved it.  His tummy was even blue though his shirt.  He really enjoyed his ice cream.  He also got to make homemade ice cream in a coffee can.  It was really cool to do that too.  He liked rolling the can in the driveway.  He really liked eating the ice cream too!

One day when I was with Melissa, both Austin and Sydney went swimming.  They love swimming so that was fun.  Austin also enjoyed playing on the playground.  Nana and Melissa live in a great neighborhood for us to come and vacation in.  I did not get to spend as much time with Melissa and Camden as I hoped.  It was hard because Melissa needed to feed Camden all the time and try to get some sleep.  I needed to be with Austin and Sydney to keep them entertained.  Next year will be better for Camden because he will be out with us playing.

Nana and Grandpa have an extremely nice house.  When I walked in I was so nervous.  All I could think about is my kids are going to destroy this beautiful house.  We brought the kids portable high chairs but they need to go on actual chairs.  I convinced them that needed to cover their nice dining room chairs and the floor or it was going to get ruined.  They thought I was crazy at first but by the end of the week they were thankful of that.  Austin and Sydney are really messy at dinner time.  Most nights we take Sydney's clothes off during dinner because she is so messy.   And I have to say, Austin and Sydney did really good.  They did not break anything!  Thank goodness!

Austin really enjoyed playing in their big pantry that has a light that turns on everything you open the door.  It was like the bathroom on the cruise ship for him.  He loved playing in there.  Austin also spent a lot of time outside.  So it worked out well.  Sydney would stand next to the bar chairs or play on the floor.  She was fine and very happy not to be in her car seat.

We went to the beach one afternoon too.  I was happy we made it there.  We knew it was going to be a mess but it was worth it.  We have our beach tent shade that works nicely for the kids.  Nana got the kids a lot of beach toys so they could play with them in the sand.  It was really nice.  Austin does not like the sand. He got use to it a little bit and did like playing with his toy bucket with water hose.   He does not like to be messy.  Sydney loved the sand and she really liked eating it.  She kept putting handfuls of sand in her mouth.  She would cry when we stopped her.  We put our feet in the ocean.  Austin was not a fan but Sydney did not mind it at all.  It was fun.

On our last day there, Brian spent most of the day installing baby camera system for Melissa and Jonathan.  I  was with the kids.  It is hard when we are not in our own environment.  I had limited toys and Melissa's house is not baby proof yet.  It will be soon.   She has a really nice house too and I could just see Austin throwing and breaking something.  I tried to play outside with them as much as possible.  Austin was playing in the golf cart so he was happy.  He would pretend to get doughnuts.  And that morning we really did take Austin for doughnuts.  He enjoyed eating one.

We had a great time in Myrtle Beach!  We left at 4 am on Friday morning to get home and relax a little bit.  It was an extremely long drive.  It took us 13 hours to get home.  But we had to stop for breakfast, lunch, and a poopy explosion break.  We were glad when we made it home.  Vacations are wonderful but it's always nice to be home!