Halloween 2011

So, we've spent the last week looking at adorable pics of other people's kids on Halloween. In those photos, kids are all lined up, shoulder to shoulder with their siblings/friends, proudly displaying their costumes. At our house, we had a hard time getting both of our guys in the same frame, much less looking at the camera at the same time while not covering up their costumes with a blanky or a sippy cup. But, they had a great Halloween, and we still got some cute pics :)  Presenting, "Thing 1 and Things 2", from "The Cat in the Hat"

Robbie. "Thing 2" because he's 14 minutes younger.

Jacob. The "older brother" got to be "Thing 1"

Robbie was not a fan of keeping his hair on his head. I was going to use blue hairspray, until I read the can: "Do not use on very fine, or very blond hair." Yikes! So, we sacrificed a super-cute scarf a friend made me a few years ago (Sorry, Suzy. It was for a good cause!)

Jakey, giving us his very best goofy "Dr. Seuss" face!

Robbie, showing off his "hair"

The whole gang: Audrey the kitty, Jacob, Robbie, Joey the ladybug, Cooper the chicken, and Emily the bug.

A few weeks ago, we spent a great weekend in Door County, while our boys enjoyed a great weekend with their Green Bay cousins (thanks, Green Bay Chilsons!) We got to take some of the fun home with us, when they sent us home with their bouncy castle! The boys have had a blast with it...

Video: Bouncy Castle

End of Summer, and Fall

Where does the time go? Here's some photos/videos to get you caught up...

We wanted to sell some of Merfy's stuff, so we set up the kennel to take photos of it. The boys spent an hour in and out of baby jail. They had a blast!

This is Jakey doing "the falcon." It's a long story -- has to do with the name of our sand volleyball team a couple years ago, "Falcon Crest." The name was a sort of cross between a cheap beer and an old TV show... At any rate, Bob dug out the falcon pose a couple weeks ago, and now the boys do it all the time on their own!

Spaghetti. Robbie. Need I say more?

As it turns out, we have a FABULOUS apple orchard very near our house. With the exception of a short trip home for an afternoon nap, we spent an entire day there! We hung out with our friends the Hensleys in the morning, and Grandma Kathy in the evening. We loved it so much, we went back a week later with Grandma Jean and Grandpa Don. Here are some highlights...

The boys found a mini-haystack just their size.

Grandma Kathy tickled Jacob until he giggled himself right back into the haystack!

Jakey does his Frankenstein impression.

Push, Jakey! You're so strong!

That one might be too big to pick up by the stem...

Robbie is saying "jump!" to indicate his next move!

Sticking that tongue out definitely makes Robbie stronger - so he can pick up this pumpkin!

Obviously, the bigger the pumpkin, the more tongue needs to be hanging out!

Here's an example of the many attempts at our fall family photo. We have approximately 15 pics similar to this one. The littlest people kept crying, or wandering off, or getting distracted... :)



Anyway, here's the best of the bunch. (Thanks, Laura, for taking this photo!)

Now for some video entertainment:

Jacob has what we call "crazy face." He used to do it when he was angry/frustrated, and it looked so scary, like he was having a seizure or something. Once we figured out that he was OK, we realized it was hilarious! And then Jakey figured out that we realized it was hilarious...so he added a smile to it, rendering it the new and improved crazy face you see in this video!
                                             Jakey's crazy face

So there we were, at the apple orchard, hanging out at the petting zoo. Bob was teaching Robbie to say "llama." Robbie's version sounds exactly like "mama" so it is unclear at the beginning of the video exactly who he's looking for... Until he turns to the animal pen and you can hear his excitement at seeing a furry white "mama" :) 

Mama Llama

This video requires no introduction. Enjoy! 

Robbie chases chickens

By the end of summer, Jacob was showing his rocking fish who was boss... 

Jacob rides a fish

Summer!

It. CANNOT. Be. Mid-August.

Our last post was Mid-June, and we haven't had a moment's rest since then. The good news is, we've been busy having fun :)

Several of my teacher-friends and I have been trying to get together with our kids for playdates once a week or so. This beach day was probably the highlight...

Here's the whole crowd (I'm the one balancing the two kids who love water but refuse to touch sand!)

I LOVE this photo. It looks like he's punching him (which happens, don't get me wrong!), but here Robbie is actually feeding Jacob grapes. Adorable!

Bonus of the boys hating sand? Really easy to keep track of them. They wouldn't take a step off this blanket :)

We spend a lot of time just hanging out in the yard. Here's the guys relaxing one afternoon...

Jakey, hanging out in the cool grass!

Robbie, getting ready to show off his skills on the slide!

We took a trip to Chicago to visit Grandma Jean and Grandpa Don. If you ask the boys, though, the highlight may have been playing in the suitcases the day before we left...

Look! We both fit in the big one!

This was not staged, I promise. Robbie just climbed in and started doing some gymnastics.

Monkey see, monkey do!

 

Hmmmmmmmm. We don't seem to fit in this one as well as the big one!

 So we finally got packed up and went to Chicago. The boys LOVED playing at this park with fountains that shoot up at random...

Jacob looks like he's not enjoying himself, but he kept coming back for more - for a while he sat right on one!

Robbie showed no fear and RAN around the park, getting as wet as possible.

Taking a water break!

 Grandpa Jack and Grandma Sara held "camp" again this year in Aberdeen, complete with "water park", "movie night", and "field trip"...

The water park was a big hit.

OK, so here our boys demonstrate their differences: Robbie is happily yelling at the water while hitting it...

...Jakey is enjoying a quiet moment in his own "hot tub"!

Proof that daddy did spend the summer with us! Here's the whole family on the carousel.

 These boys LOVE their little red wagon! Unless it's pouring rain, we're in it every day, many days more than once a day. Once again, Grandma Kathy wins for best gift -- they'll love it for a long time!

Taking a break from practicing "sledding" down the hill in our yard.

Here's grandma Kathy with the boys. While we ran all over the country to see most folks, Grandma Kathy came to us many times. YAY for fun visits with Grandma :)

 Our sad news for this summer: We had to say goodbye to Merfy, Bob's canine "baby" of almost 15 years. We wanted to make sure we had some photographic memories of the boys with Merf, so here are some cute moments...

Jacob enjoys a tickle with Merf.

Robbie hugs Merfy. So sweet.

 We took a trip to Omaha so Bob could participate in his company softball tournament, and we could all visit Suzy, Robbie's Godmother and my good high school friend. Suzy treated us to a trip to the fabulous Omaha Zoo!

Robbie, in his monkey shirt, compares his height to that of various types of monkeys.

Jacob, in HIS monkey shirt, has lots to say about why we left the stroller in the car (don't worry, we went to get it!)

THIS is why we LOVE the boys at this age. They make a normal, boring drive into something hilarious!

Here, the "Suitcase Show" in action.

Random moments to make you laugh

Wow, if I quit my job we could continue to update our blog every day! :)  Here's the 3rd in a row...

The boys practiced their splashing in the pool... now they've brought it to bath time.

So, these next videos may require some explanation. Jacob's new favorite game is throwing small toys down our staircase, one after another, for 5-10 minutes at a time.The first video begins with a sad Jakey who has just unsuccessfully tried to push a too-large ball through the gate. He is so sad and sincere in his shock about what does and doesn't fit... you can see how it's entertaining for him. Interestingly, this behavior is the only thing that happens in this house that only ONE child does. Robbie just looks at him like he's crazy - like, "Why are you throwing away all our toys?"  :)

First museum trip!

No, you're not imagining it... we really are putting up two posts in as many days. Today was a specal occasion, which we documented just for you -- our first trip to the Minnesota Children's Museum. What a fabulous place! If you've never been there, here's a taste...

Our first stop was to play with these crazy, bendable blocks, complete with balls to throw through them.

It was tough to leave this area, but there was more to see...

We got hung up for quite a while on these stairs... not part of an exhibit, just plain old stairs -- but the boys loved them.

There is a special part of the museum for little ones (ages 6 months to 4 years). It's a magnificent spot to practice climbing, running, sliding... I think we spent more than an hour just in this little room. More than worth the price of admission, though. I love this picture because Jakey looks like he's trying to stand up so tall, and his shirt says "Who are you calling short?" :)



Here's Robbie in the middle of a spirited game of peek-a-boo!




Here's Jakey getting in on the "peek" part of the game.



Jacob was the first one to spy this fun-looking sparkly thingie (maybe it's supposed to be rain?). Anyway, monkey see monkey do... here's Robbie giving it a try.



At the top of the play area is a window from which kids can look down on St. Paul. Here they are, taking a look!



This is around the end of hour 2... Jakey seems to be saying, "Seriously? Nap time was an hour ago, and no snack yet?!?!" However, he snapped right out of it and ran off to play for another hour or so :)



Robbie wanted to stop and play with these blocks - this never gets old!



The above video cracks me up... I call it, "Cautious and not-so-cautious." In Jacob's defense, going up is harder :)

Yes, you're seeing this correctly. We dressed Jacob up as a beaver and encouraged him to crawl up into the dam. :)

So as this video begins, Bob and I are talking about the half hour Robbie has spent practicing running up and down a ramp, perfecting his technique. Bob noticed how much fun Robbie was having, and said, "He laughs all the way down"... and then, of course, Robbie takes a digger. Don't worry, though. That, too, ends in laughter :)

You'll note from my narration that in the hour we spent in the toddler room, this is one of the only times the boys were close enough to each other to get them in the same video. We're starting to call them "This way" and "That way."

Here's a quick look at Jakey exploring on his own... he was in the "prairie" part of the room, so was busy playing with everything from a big fluffy spider, to a foam tree, to a few spinny sunflowers.



Done. Totally out before we made it to the highway. All in all, a very successful first day at the museum. We had a blast!