Painter Andy

Andy was busy being a painter today - he got into his full gear for it! He also blew some bubbles out on the deck for awhile, which was nice for him to be able to get outside. He crashed after dinner on the couch. Jack was literally crawling all over him but he didn't even notice it.

Anyone need their house painted?
Andy LOVES blowing bubbles... I think he could do it for hours.

Jack (having just woken up from his nap) still looking a little out of it with bedhead.

I pulled a chunk of this sponge out of his mouth after this picture... he literally puts everything in his mouth!

"Hey big brother, wake up! Let's have some fun" says Jack!

Road Trip to Minnesota!

This past weekend, we set off for our longest road trip yet with the kids. We drove to Minneapolis to visit Uncle Ryan, Aunt Marianne, and cousin Ben! We knew it would be a 5 hour drive or so, depending on how long our stops were. Not knowing what to expect, we were so pleasantly surprised by how well the boys did in the car. Jack napped for about half of the time both ways, and spent the rest of his time in the car either visiting with Andy, playing with little toys, or snacking. Andy only slept for the last 15 minutes of the drive on Friday (poor guy was SO excited to be there, but he totally crashed at the end). He had fun coloring in the car, snacking, looking at the sights outside, and watching a movie for about an hour of the trip each way. Chris and I both agreed that we will definitely be up for making the drive again, especially when we get to have so much fun once we get there :) When we got to Ryan and Marianne's house, Andy went right to bed and didn't even wake up. Ben was asleep of course (it was about 10:oo) but Jack was ready to go! He got to be the center of attention for about an hour which he loved. We also got to watch the end of the Wisconsin basketball game.

Saturday was great - beautiful weather too! Pancakes and bacon for breakfast, then Marianne and I went for a 6 mile run (a little slower probably due to the pancakes and bacon!). We chilled out with the kids in the morning, got some yummy food for lunch and dinner, blew bubbles outside with Andy, went to a very fun park that the kids enjoyed, the boys got a bath, and we played some board & card games amongst the adults when the kids were asleep. We watched some basketball too of course. On Sunday we had a relaxing morning, where we actually got to sleep in until 8! Then we hit the road when the kids were looking tired around 11... We were home by 4:00 and had a relaxing evening.

Thanks so much Ryan, Marianne, and Ben for the fun weekend! You were excellent hosts! Ben was so nice to share all of his toys with Andy and Jack. Jack was giving Ben some pointers on how to crawl - I think he's getting close! And Ben was giving Jack some lessons on how to say "mama". Ben and Jack are so similar in size, it's fun to see them sitting together! Well, enough narrating - here are some pictures...

Pre-trip - getting ready to go! Jack was in a good mood! Wishing the Badgers good luck in his red...

About 15 minutes from home on the way there... Jack is already asleep and Andy is coloring.

Friday night - Jack was up and having some fun on his own. He liked Ben's exersaucer.

Rub a dub dub, 3 boys in the tub! Having fun and splashing around...

Uncle Chris and Ben enjoying some quality time.Ready to get out for a walk to the park...

Andy, on top of the slide...

What a great slide!

Jack had a nice time swinging..

Daddy and Jack taking a breather

Andy's digging, the rest of us are just chilling out...

This digger was perfect for Andy - usually he can't really work the levers.

Jack was getting kind of tired...

Marianne and Jenny, with Jack and Ben... love the baseball caps!

These guys are gonna have SO much fun as they get older... college roomies maybe?

Happy St. Patrick's Day, aka Green Lantern Day!!

We had a great St. Patrick's Day today! Andy preferred to call it Green Lantern Day - his Green shirt today turned him into Green Lantern the superhero. Jack was all about green - green shirt, pants, and shoes. Andy was a little distressed that I didn't have green pants for him, but luckily he got over it. We even had green pancakes for breakfast today - except for Andy who insisted upon blue since it's his favorite color :)

The boys wouldn't exactly sit still for me this morning so this was the best we could do! (Andy is blowing one of his Batman party favors for his upcoming birthday - he just couldn't wait and has been having lots of fun with it)

An extra picture - Andy has been having fun the last couple of nights pretending to be a cowboy -here he is with his horse and "cowboy" hat.

It broke 60 degrees today so Chris picked up the boys early from school in the jogger stroller and we jogged to the park to play. Andy had fun exploring and Jack had a good time trying out the swing. I only wish this warm weather would last!

Swim Lessons and More!

I'm trying to catch up on posts, so I've posted quite a few new ones tonight - continue on past this post if you are interested :)

My mom came up to watch the boys for a couple of days so we took advantage of having a photographer for our super-swim lesson Wednesday night last night. It's a handful getting both of the boys and us ready to go in the water, and getting us all back out and ready to brave the cold. But it's totally worth it! Jack loves relaxing in the water and even likes to splash. Andy is REALLY loving it now. This week most recently (not the pictures below - they were from last week) he really enjoyed wearing his Spiderman swimsuit in the water and pretended he was Spiderman the whole time. I was wearing a green suit last night, so thus I was Green Lantern (obviously).

Here we are waiting to get into the pool...

Waving to Grandma, Andy still a little tired (he fell asleep on the drive there)

Sitting down very patiently...

In the water, doing some warm-ups

Tossing Andy into the air...

Andy checking to see how Jack is liking it

Go Jack go! He's a good little swimmer-man

Jack, of course, has a ball. He loves playing with balls in the water (or on land!)

Andy and I doing some swimming. He loves his goggles, but they also bother him when they fall off (but he doesn't like them tight either) We were able to skip them this week, which made things better I think.

We've perfected our getting out of the water routine which helped things a lot this week. A couple of minutes before class is over, I switch kids with Chris and take Jack out of the water into the locker room. We get there early so are guaranteed a mini-locker room. I get Jack changed, give him his bottle which he holds and drinks while I get ready. Then I come back into the pool area where Chris and Andy are enjoying some free-swim time (there's no lesson after us so we get to stay as long as we want) When we finally cajole Andy out of the pool, I get him dressed while Jack sits on the floor and Chris gets ready on his own in his locker room. And then we are ready to brave the cold - with two sleepy kids in the car ready for bed!

Some other pictures while Grandma Graham was watching Andy and Jack. Here are some of Jack's fun things he likes to do.... hide in his little fort under the jumperoo....

Play in the kitchen, opening and closing the fridge and oven...

Drink juice with Andy...Gnaw on the juice cup (yes, I think he's getting more teeth)
Bang two objects together to make some noise (not a good hairday that day - he's got something funny going on in back!)

Sit back and relax after he's eaten a big meal... happy with a full tummy :)

Piggy Back Rides!

Andy has discovered the joy of piggy back rides on daddy's back! He's old enough now that he can get a good grip around Chris's back and his legs are long enough to wrap around. And Chris is getting some good mountain climbing training in!

Getting ready to go...
Hi ho Silver! Giddy-yup :) This is one of the early laps...

And here they are after lap number 10 or so... slipping down a bit but still having fun! Jack has been enjoying his new secret shortcut and hideout...he fits perfectly behind the couch

On the way out...

Peeking back at me after making his escape...

A visit from Grandma and Grandpa Graham

Andy and Jack got a visit from their Grandma and Grandpa Graham last weekend. We had a nice Saturday visit - didn't do much. We attempted a few home repair projects and ordered lunch in. Pretty low key - but fun!

Here's Jack just hanging out with Grandpa.

Looking for trouble!

Andy enjoyed playing with his toys with everyone.

My dad helped us out and hung Jack's letters of his name on the wall. (I don't have an after picture, but it looks great!) As you can see, he had a little helper :)

Jumping in the crib...

It's not nap time yet!

Chris has always liked BBQ potato chips - and I HATE them... I even really hate the smell of his breath after he eats them. YUCK! Well, Andy started eating them about a year ago, and he loves them as well. Again, YUCK! This past weekend we discovered, that Jack is also a fan of the BBQ Baked Lays chips. So sad... I'm really outnumbered and they're all going to smell like the chips after they eat them :) Here is Jack, interested in what Andy is eating, but has not yet tried it...
The first bite (yes Andy is feeding him the chip from his bowl - that part was way too cute!)

Hmmm... Jack says, "I think I like it..."

Ready for more...

We tried to get a posed picture... Jack wasn't really in the mood.
And the one where my mom and dad are both looking - Andy took that one... not too centered, but not too bad!

Jack has started taking a new interest in Bailey - he especially likes looking at him when he is outside. (notice how white our poor Bailey's face is getting! He's only 5 and a half!)