Memorial Weekend

The Gross side of the family was here visiting this weekend, so we got to see the kiddo's cousin Seth! They had such a great time playing at the pool and in the sandbox together... here's what I hoped would be a totally adorable picture, but for some reason, our camera seems to be on the fritz!

Happy Mother's Day to us :)

So for Mother's Day, Josh and our friend Matt went together and planned a super fun weekend away for my friend Kelly and I. We drove down to Louisville, KY... and took a slightly longer than planned trip to an outlet mall then headed to our hotel. The next day we scrapbooked for about 12 straight hours which to the average person would be cruel and unusual punishment, but for Kelly and I it was a dream come true! We did a little more the next day and then headed home... reluctantly!

Swimming!

During our Florida trip, Emma went from being deathly afraid of putting her head under... to jumping off the side! We decided it was a good time to sign up for swimming lessons. She and Reese both go on Mondays and love it. (I get in with Reese, so pictures of him are to come when Daddy gets in on the last day!) Here are a couple of Emma in the water...

A day at Lakengren

Can we spend every Saturday at the lake?? It was a glorious day with friends out on the boat. Emma is becoming the expert tuber after some practice with her pal Lora!

Sprinkler!

Our boring Friday turned fun when Emma's friend Jackie came over to play! They splashed in the sprinkler and played all morning...

Blueberry Face

Reese demonstrates how to demolish a bowl of juicy blueberries.

Buddies

Our good pals Jeremiah and Ashley came with their son Ben from Tennessee for a visit. It was a gorgeous weekend so we took them to see the sights of downtown Indy. FYI: sunny days are perfect days for the Children's Museum since everyone else is outside! The boys had a blast playing together while Emma was off doing big girl stuff. The boys have changed a bit since their visit in February of '06!

The Jungle Book

Last week, Grammie Debbie took Emma and I to see the Jungle Book at Beef & Board's for kids! For the kids shows, they serve a snack- juice box and a Rice Krispie treat (so what if it was 10 am?) Emma LOVED it... The characters kept walking right by our table and she even got to go outside and meet them afterward! She was a little starstruck seeing them up close. :)

Oh so sweet

Emma and our neighbor girls Tori & Cara being silly little girls rolling around in the grass!

Some cute videos...

This one is of Reese splashing his chubby little feet in the pool... with Aunt Autumn's help:



Emma and her cousins jumping in the pool:



Emma's solo go-kart ride:

FLORIDA!

We just spent 2 weeks in sunny Florida and are back with dozens of pictures to make up for my lack of blogging over the last month. :) Our time was mostly spent in the pool of the house we rented since we had 5 kids under 6. We ventured out a couple of times- a water park, a mini golf/go-kart/batting cage place, the beach, and Aunt Pat's house in North Ft. Myers. We had amazing weather (not quite as nice as Indiana weather, of course) and a really fun time with family!

Mr. Reese getting acquainted with the pool in his own little boat.

Emma & Asher's story time.

Asher & Emma catching our appetizer. ;)

Emma & Winter taking Jeff for a swim.

Pappaw and Reese cooling off.

Aunt Pat the retired school teacher can't resist a good craft with the kids!

Violet the bathing beauty.

Emma went from barely wanting to get in... to this!

Awww...

Grammie Bev reading to a very happy Emma and a not-so happy Reese.

"Curious George climbs up on the coffee table and writes all over it with sidewalk chalk."

I love the beach!

Whose lame idea was it to come here anyway?

Another Aunt Pat idea... an Easter egg hunt for the kids. They found color-coded eggs with coins and traded them in for candy!

A junior go-kart ride ALL BY HERSELF!

Reese gives it a try with Daddy!

Is it SUMMER?

It got up to almost 80 and super sunny the other day. We are getting glimpses into spring... Reese is totally into the backyard. I think he's wondering why we've been holding out on him for so long... He did NOT want to go inside.

Almost Spring!

We had a couple days of sunny warmer weather this weekend! We took a quick trip to the park to enjoy it before it left again. It was a little muddy, but we didn't care! Reese's new favorite thing: swinging. His big sis took over when I got tired of pushing...

Heels over head for gymnastics

Josh was in charge of taking both kids to Emma's last gymnastics class while I was away at a retreat. He'd never used the new camera so this was the best picture!

A little behind...

So, in January, Josh and I went on a kid-free trip to Florida. I borrowed my parents' camera and was waiting for the CD of the pictures... and am finally getting those on here. :)

The view from our beach lounge chairs... what a life!

We spent some time with Josh's aunt Pat in North Ft. Myers and made it to a really great antique town about an hour before all the shops closed. We were so bummed, but did some speed browsing and decided we've gotta go back during our next visit.

Then we were off on a journey to my Christmas present surprise- the Lion Safari! I am a bit of a zoo freak and we had done one of these in Ontario (coolest thing I've ever done) and so Josh got us tickets to do another one in Florida... SO cool. It's the closest you'll get to Jurassic Park with wild animals roaming free! You obviously have to keep your windows and doors shut. Yikes!

Gonna have to go back WITH the kids in March, though! I took a tons of pics, but here are a couple of the lion gate (in Ontario, there were NO gates at all- you drove RIGHT up to the lions) and a giraffe investigating a car ahead of us...

If you know Josh at all, you know his fear of alligators. So... we thought we'd face his fear head-on and go on an airboat tour in the EVERGLADES! Yes, we boarded a tiny airboat with about 6 others and cruised around a small lake that was home to hundreds and hundreds of gators ranging from baby size to 6-7 footers. We spotted some pretty close up... and Josh feels a little more manly now. :)

Zoo Pooh

Just another wintertime activity... Storytime at the Zoo! Emma and I trecked through the frigid temperatures and blustery winds to see him. Our little friend Sam was there and we had fun listening to the story with him. He may have been a little more interested in Emma!

Mommy, can I PLEASE join the circus?

Emma must have asked this question 15 times and the tears were starting to come when she realized that she couldn't join right then and there. Elephants, motorcycle tricks, twirling batons, trapeze artists, trained tigers... not to mention cotton candy, popcorn and a light-up toy- all thanks to Grampa. Reese was past his bedtime, but got his second wind after Grampa decided he needed his own light-up toy. :)