Backyard Babies

I was so tickled to look out the back window and see Dawson and Carter wearing matching camo hats.

Of course, we can't take a picture of the boys without a matching girls picture. 

My little foodie

Recently we finished our summer reading program and they earned the reward of a free book {yeah!} and a kids meal at McDonalds {boo}.  I was thinking about just throwing away the kids meal coupons, but of course the librarian made a big deal about them to the kids.  Once Carter knows about potential junk food, he will not let it go, so off for fast food we went.  At the drive thru window Carter picked a cheeseburger and I was waiting for Ava to make a choice.  I offered her the options of a cheeseburger, hamburger and chicken nuggets.  She kept saying no, no, I don't want that.  Finally she told me "Mom, that's all junk.  I can't eat that food.  Just get me a salad."

I thought that was hilarious, so of course I ordered her a salad.  She wanted lettuce with no tomatoes, so that's what she got!  

Five Fever

Lately a certain little boy in our house has caught birthday fever.  He has been heard on several occasions running through the house yelling 


"I'm going to be FIVE
I'm going to be FIVE
I'm going to be FIVE"


Which is really pretty cute.  But now the begging has begun and it goes a little something like this:

• Mom, now that I'm almost five I need an iphone.
• Mom, do you have any heavy machinery?  Now that I'm almost five I need heavy machinery like an ATV.
• Mom now that I'm almost five I need a pocket knife to kill the big snakes in the woods.  They are so big they will eat your face off, Mom.

By the way, the answer was NO on all counts.  

Bug Baby

Dawson was making Mommy and Daddy laugh on the trip home this week.

Vacation Wrap-up

What a busy, fun, exciting week we've had.  On Wednesday we dropped the kids off at Meme and Bob-Bob's house and went down to Cincinnati to visit friends and go to the Summerland concert.  We had a blast!  Dinner, drinks and 90's music, what more could we ask for?  Meme, thank you so much for taking good care of my kiddos for the night.  I think you earn the Meme of the year award for taking care of all five kids for close to 24 hours.  Keep in mind this also included a little stinker who refused to take a nap!  I also said to him "Dawson, be a good boy for Meme" to which he replied "uh uh."  In case you were curious "uh uh" is Dawson speak for NO."  

The concert was great, the sushi was delicious and the company was the  best!

Now onto a tale of two brothers.

Cautious Carter at the Pool: refuses to put his head in the water, does not want to remove his safety gear {puddle jumpers} and walks the entire time so he will stay safe.

Daring Dawson at the pool:  obsessed with the diving board, throws a fit when we take him off the diving board, and takes off running at random times to try to outwit the adults and get to the diving board.  Um hello, you are 19 months old!  No diving boards for you until you can swim!

As you probably gathered, we spent some time at the pool with Meme and the cousins before returning home.  We also had a BBQ at our home with some of Mike's friends from high school and today we rested.  

Promised Ballet Pictures

Here are some more pictures of our little ballerina.

She was supposed to be doing first position in this picture, but she just wasn't feeling it.

Love my ballet girl!

Ava's First Ballet Class

Today was the day we have all been waiting for:  Ava's first ballet class.  It was wonderful to be able to leave the boys at home with Daddy and just spend some time with my girl.  She is so proud of her ballet leotard and had to take a few twirls at home for Daddy.  

Then off to class.  In the car we had made it approximately 15 seconds away from home when she said "Mom are we there yet?  Is this ballet class?"  No honey.  About five more minutes.

Then came the stretching at ballet class.   I was taking pictures from above, so I couldn't get great shots. 

They stretched and stretched and stretched.

Look at this girl!  I didn't know she could touch her toes to her head!

Of course I took about a thousand more pictures, but I'm going to need to edit some of them before I post.  So there are more to come.....

I just LOVED watching her dance, she had a huge grin on her face the entire time.  I was dying from the cuteness the entire time.  They practiced first position, plies, marching, skipping and curtsies.  Soccer was definitely something that she tolerated, but ballet she enjoys a thousand times more hands down.  Love my baby girl!  Although she looked so much more like a little girl today. 

Cleveland Zoo

On Monday we gathered our crew and made the trek up to the Cleveland Zoo. This was a very memorable trip for me, for many reasons.  This is where Mike and I got engaged {yeah!} and this was the first trip where Dawson was genuinely interested in looking at the animals.  You could tell the instant when Dawson saw an animal because he began squealing and laughing.

Daddy and Dawson checking out the elephants.

By gauging the volume of his squeals and the amount of hair he pulled out of Mike's head, the giraffes and Lemurs were a big hit with him.

Pure Ava

Ava's favorite animal at the zoo was also the giraffe.  Except she calls them ja-raff-ees.

Our zoo treats: little stuffed animals with a lollipop

Carter's favorite animal at the zoo was the wolves.

The cutest meerkats ever

Enjoying his zoo treat.

Thank you Carter, Ava and Dawson.  We had such a great time with our little family at the zoo.  After it was all over and everyone had passed out on the way home, your Dad and I both remarked how well behaved you all were.  We stayed at the zoo until 3 o'clock!  Everyone was obviously exhausted towards the end, but you kept it together.  What a fun day with my favorite people in the whole world.