Oh my God, they are taking over

This morning after Violet crawled into bed with us around 6am we all settled back into an uneasy sleep. Shortly after 7, I was awoken to hear Violet creaking open the door to Jack's room. Too late to do anything, I was resigned to having Jack be up (he typically is still sleeping at 8:30 let alone 7). Since they seemed be playing nicely I might have closed my eyes for a second more. A few minutes later (2, 5, 10...anyone's guess) we heard giggling and the sound of Violet's voice getting closer. Then Jack's!?! How could this be. Don't ask. I have no idea - no crash was heard and definitely no crying. So how did Jack get out of the crib? It is a mystery. Violet was enigmatic about it and Jack well, he's not talking.

Is this our future - the kids banding together to problem solve? I think we are in for a crazy few years (decades). I guess we will start with seeing what tomorrow brings.

Violet playing bags at the MetroMix booth - win us those Lolla tix honey!

I don't just treat the kids to ice cream (Sar)

Tent love

Mom, this post is for you. The kids are still totally loving the tent. What I thought would be a private sanctuary for V has turned into a must set up, crawl through the window, run around like banshees and generally up the chaos level (in a good way) daily event. When we have play dates all the kids want to play in the tent. Now if only we had a little more space....

So this is Lincoln Park, huh!?!

We finally made it to Adams Park. Our friends the Long's (who are now in Singapore) clued us into this park last year, but we never made it. In a moment of enthusiasm, I decided to load up and take the bus over there. The Ma's were game to join us and I am so glad we checked it out. It is I think the best park we have been to in the city! The kids spent 5, yes 5 hours there - So much to do. Not only an amazing little splash pool with a slide, but the big hit, a sandbox. For those of you who don't love the sandbox, let me extol its virtues. An enclosed space that nobody tries to escape from. Literally hours of strife free playing. The kids are so engrossed I actually had conversations with other moms. The park itself is really clean (not a shard a glass to be spied) and tons of toys in the sandbox kept me from having to schlep ours there. I walked home so the kids could squeeze a nap in and Ron actually beat us home! What a perfect day.

I can help you

Not quite as light as a doll, Violet still gets the job done. JAck seems non-plussed.

A few of Jack's favorite things

Jack has just started to appreciate the building of block towers as opposed to only knocking them down. So far has record is 7 high - not bad. Although this record was achieved with V in her room. Who knows when he will get a chance to try for 8!

Jack also really loves when we read to him. He will go find a book and bring it to one of us and will sit intently to listen to multiple readings. Current faves are Polar Bear, Polar Bear what do you hear and The Red Barn. He really seems drawn to animals, although not some much live ones.

One of his favorite games is ring around the rosey. After falling down, he will imediately reach up to grab a hand for another go. Violet is thrilled about this development. I however am ready for Candyland.

Swimsuits, swimsuits, swimsuits!

Lately, it has been a struggle to get the kids (mostly V) dressed in the morning - we are late for everything. When I do manage to get clothes on and leave the house, as soon as we return they are quickly jettisoned to make way for the beloved swimsuit. Or swimsuits as Violet loves them all equally. Ron has pointed out she owns more then he has cumulatively in his life.

She has taken to creating her own "pool" out of the foam blocks. So of course she needs to wear her swimsuit. At least she has not asked for it to be filled with water - yet!

Our kids are becoming accomplished beach goers. Already having seen more bodies of water in there short lives than I had by the time I was 30. Here is a video of Violet at North Ave Beach. One of her favorite beach activities is to be buried. In this clip, Ron is trying to get her to burst out like the Hulk ( always a fanboy). She needed a little assist, but once emerged did her best impression.
We took the bus; we are still trying to keep the new and improved car as neat as possible. Of course North Ave poses a parking challenge anyway. The water was pretty cold but neither Violet or Ron seemed to mind - they went all the way in. Jack, being a little more reticent, only required me to dip my feet in. He did allow his feet to get wet too . So progress.

Pitts gets hitched

Before we dropped the van off in Omaha, we had a detour to Des Moines to witness an old college friend get married. Ryan was in both Ron's and my wedding as well as my brother Luke and Stacie's wedding. Needless to say, as anyone who knows Ryan can attest, his charm has won over my whole family. We were all present to be part of his special day - except my mom who was still dealing with the aftermath of the flood.

It was an intimate ceremony in the backyard of his parents home where Ryan and his groomsmen rowed in to meet his bride. After deeply personal and heartfelt vows the celebration began. Ryan, being the head chef at RL restaurant had a hand in all the food. And he did not disappoint!

We all had a lovely time - and being that we had our kids taken care of for the night, we had a real lovely time.

Future cousin (beautifully housed by Luke's wife Stacie)

While the guys worked, the kids and I finally got our pool!

This past weekend we drove out to my brother's house to help build their new deck. Some of us were more help (Ron) most of us were less than helpful and just hung out, trying to stay out of the way. It is going to be a really big deck and the guys managed to frame it out in 2 days. No major injuries were reported. Looking forward to the first BBQ invite.

Omaha or Bust

Sadly, this past weekend, we had to return the (came to be) much beloved van. As unPC as it was we loved it. So much space! Two cars in the city! 13mpg! It was awesome!

We visited Ron's Grandmother who lives in Carter Lake, Iowa. With all the recent flooding the lake she lives on (you guessed it - Carter Lake. Those clever Iowans) was higher than it had been it years. Ron really wanted to take the kids in, reliving some childhood fun of his. Violet was game, but Jack did not want anything to do with the cold murky water. They had tons of fun and I even went in for a minute.

After the day at the lake we headed to the Omaha Zoo with Ron's cousin Laurie, her 4 year son Simon, and Ron's Mom. It was a really nice day 75 in July! At the zoo there are roving peacocks which must be pretty docile animals judging by the amount of chasing they endure. Violet crashed in the wagon covering her ears to block out the noise. A little trick she learned from her buddy AJ who has doing this on this last field trip bus we were all on together.

Sayonara van, we hardly knew ya.

Just add water

In trying to figure out a way to have a pool at home, several ideas where dismissed. They have included putting one in the kitchen (Ron rejected) and keeping one downstairs to pull out. I think that would work the best but I am concerned that there is just too much glass in our grassy area out front. As often as I go through it there always seems to be more. Putting one on the sidewalk just seems to be a recipe for skinned knees. Violet needs no help in that department - she will be lucky if the one she has heals before the end of summer. Every time it gets close, she breaks it back open and the whole healing process begins anew.

We nixed the home pool idea (for now) and just let the kids go to town we buckets of water in the kitchen. After using every towel in the house to sop up the mess - I underestimated how much fun pouring water in the floor would be for them. I think it would have been less messy to use the pool!

Oh well, An hour killed and I got to finish my book.

Time flies

Where has my baby gone? This guy is a kid!

After a long walk, some cool refreshments where in order - the kiddos really work up a sweat being pushed in their deluxe stroller! Anyway, I am posting this photo to exemplify at one point we had some sibling harmony. I think my last couple of months of easy street are coming to an end. Jack has increasingly become more physical with Violet. She, not being of the shrinking variety, meets this with equal (plus 10#) temerity. I hope this is a temporary learning period otherwise I am going to have to invest in a striped shirt and a whistle. Or some earplugs!