Exhausting.

Taking kids places is exhausting.

First, there is all the prep. You have to make sure you have everything that your kids might possibly need while you are away from home. Even if you are just going somewhere for an hour or two, there seem to be a million things you might need. There are the basics, like diapers, wipes, bottles, and formula. Then all the other things - a change of clothing, a hat, sunscreen, a jacket, a blanket, a stuffed animal or two, a book, a toy, a sippy cup of water.... Well, you get the point. If you have two kids, everything is doubled... And that's just for summer trips! Imagine all the extra gear you need in the winter....

So once you get it all packed up, then you have to get your kids prepared. Diaper changes, clothes changes, wrestling your 2 year old around for 15 minutes to get a pigtail in her hair (or is that just me??).

You make sure you've double checked the bags, and start the process of packing the car, and getting the kids buckled in. The two year old wants to do it herself of course, so this takes extra long.

To be honest, I'm exhausted before we even pull out of the garage!

The car ride includes stuffed animals being 'dropped' (aka, thrown) on the floor and then a yell for someone to pick them up, begging for there to be 'more cows!' to look at along the way, adults remembering that in all the fuss to get ready, THEY forgot to go to the bathroom before we left, and then some general yelling and shushing, because the baby's trying to sleep.

You finally arrive at your destination (whether it's 15 minutes or two hours, it probably seemed like an eternity)! Time to unload all of your belongings, and your kids, and haul them in. Then you hope you remembered all that 'other' stuff too...whatever that might be. The birthday gift, the potluck contribution, whatever.

Once the kids warm up to the new surroundings, you hope for a little time to relax and visit with your family and/or friends. This is silly -- it's not going to happen. You are chasing the 2 year old, feeding the baby, digging through the diaper bag for whatever is needed at any given moment. If your child happens to catch a glimpse of people in a swimming pool that she wants to swim in, you get to listen to her yell and scream about it for 30 minutes or so.

After a lot of whining and chasing, you decide it's time to head home. This sometimes involves diaper changes, changing into pajamas, maybe another bottle. Then it's all in reverse as you load the kids into the car again, and make sure you haven't left any important items behind. Finally you are on your way home...and hoping the kids will both sleep...which is of course, wishful thinking.

Undoubtedly once you get home, you realize something you either forgot, or forgot to do, while you were out.

But you're mostly too tired to care...

Cereal

We gave EJ cereal for the first time over the weekend. He wasn't too sure about it at first. Most of it that actually went into his mouth came back out again!

After a couple days, he is getting more used to it. I think he will really like baby food, but we will stick with the cereal for a little while longer to get him used to the whole idea of eating off a spoon! He is not one to turn down food, and is always grabbing at everything we are eating, so we're hoping he will be a good eater! It's hard to believe he is already old enough to be at this stage! The biggest issue that we have is getting him to sit still. This kid does NOT stop moving!!

"I'm Swimming!"

Last weekend we visited our friends and spent some time outside, and in their pool. I wasn't sure what Mara would think about it, but she loved it! At first she wanted me to hold onto her tightly, but soon she was floating around by herself and having a blast!



At one point she exclaimed: "I'm swimming!" It was fun to see her so excited about it!

EJ enjoyed himself from the deck. Maybe next year he'll be having fun in the pool too!

After the pool fun, the kids played inside. It was fun to see them play together! We've been getting together since they were babies, and they are interacting a lot more now and having fun together!

There was even a little picnic table just for the kids (and Maggie!)

After dinner, Mara enjoyed playing in the sandbox too. She was in Heaven with all the fun outside activities!

Both kids were pretty wiped out from an exciting afternoon and lots of fresh air. It was a great day in the sunshine with friends!

Elijah - 5 months old

How is my baby already 5 months old?? Time really does fly, and it's amazing how much a baby changes in just 5 months! EJ is so smiley and happy. He adores his big sister and his kitties. He is so close to crawling, which scares me! He gets up on his knees and rocks back and forth - one of these days he is just going to take off!

It's hard to remember life without him around! He is so sweet and can always make me smile!

Sweet Baby Boy

A Boy and His Cat...

We have two cats, and they couldn't be more different. They look alike and are brothers from the same litter, but otherwise they are completely opposite! Picasso is scared of the kids, and tends to stay away from them if he can help it. I can't say I blame him, really! Oliver on the other hand, seems to adore both Mara and EJ, and is always hanging out by them. Right now EJ loves Oliver too! They bonded together today...

EJ grabs ahold of his fur, but Oliver doesn't seem to mind!

He comes right back for more, head-butting EJ to try to get the little guy to pet him!

EJ decided he would even try a bite to see how Oliver tasted.... the poor baby has probably ingested a lot of cat hair recently, since Oliver is shedding like crazy!!

Como Zoo

We took a little trip up to Como Zoo on Saturday to check it out. I haven't been there since I was a kid, and all I remembered was Sparky the seal! It was a nice, hot day, so the zoo was packed, but we had a pretty good time checking out the animals!

Next time we'll plan to take a picnic lunch...I had been planning on it, but didn't end up happening...and food is ridiculously priced there!! Oh well..it's free to get in (they take donations), so I guess they have to make money somewhere!

Mara really loves giraffes, and had an absolute blast feeding one at the Minnesota Zoo last year. She looked at these and exclaimed "Raffs!" but otherwise wasn't super interested, I guess because we weren't that close to them, so it wasn't as exciting!

She's checking out the giraffes here. They held her interest for longer than any of the other animals at least!

We had to check out the giraffe statues too!

The gorilla was pretty entertaining (for me at least!). I'm pretty sure he was looking right at us because Mara was yelling about something. ;) I kept telling her to look at the 'big monkey' (she loves monkeys), and was corrected by a little boy -- 'that's a gorilla!' with a look that told me he thought I was pretty dumb. :)

EJ was pretty quiet the whole time...just enjoyed the ride! He fell asleep after we were there for awhile. He was a lot easier than Mara, who wanted in and out of her stroller the whole time!! :)

Overall, it was a pretty fun time. I'd like to go back again in the fall when it's a little cooler, and maybe a little less crowded.