Memorial Day/Family Fun Day

So behind... blogging has been low on my priority list these days.  Life has been busy and I typically blog during my lunch hour, but work has been very very busy as well.  Positive problem, right?  Well, time to check in!  Since it has been 5 weeks since my last post!  FOR SHAME!  Looks like I will have some time this week to catch up! YAY!  They won't be chronological, but I should be able to cover it all I think!
Okay - MEMORIAL DAY!  On Sunday evening I got the bright idea that we should go hiking Monday morning.  (By "got the bright idea" I mean I saw my friend Kari did it and thought it was awesome and chose to copy her! To the point of going to the same state park.)  We were out the door and arrived at the park just before 9.  It was great!  The hiking was perfect - in the woods... totally shaded and we were out early enough that the heat wasn't overbearing.  And trust me - later in the afternoon it was hotter than hell.

Abby took a power nap on our way there and was ready to go in the jogging stroller.  Such a sweet girl.

This really was the perfect activity for Logan as he was able to just have at it and RUN RUN RUN (so long as he stayed where we could see him.)  It was perfection.  Logan was so happy to be hiking.  Although the whole way there he said he didn't like to hike.  I explained to him that he had never done it before so how could he know.  Momma was right!

Logan was climbing on logs - we worked hard to keep him out of the poison ivy... of which there was A LOT.  Abby continued to be happy in her stroller.  Look at those eyes.  Sister is BEAUTIFUL!

I was happy to be able to get a self timed picture on part of the trail that went round a pond.  And Abby even looked at the camera.  TOTAL SUCCESS!

After hiking for about an hour we sat down under some huge trees where it was really breezy and had a nice snack picnic.  We were home before lunch and Nathan blew up the new pool and I boiled some water to mix in with the FREEZING cold water from the outside.  Abby took a nice nap, we grilled hot dogs on the deck and the kids jumped (or were sat in - if they were babies) in the pool. 

Abby didn't like the pool at first, but quickly started warming up to it with each addition of warm water.  She splashed and was very very  happy.  Until Logan splashed her - then she was very much NOT happy.

After another set of naps for both the kiddos we headed out to a local bowling alley!  I had purchased a Groupon months ago and with it being SOOOO incredibly hot I was happy to do something in air conditioning.  It was Logan's first time bowling and he LOVED IT! 

I can't even begin to tell you how many Monday evenings I sued to spend at this bowling alley with my mom.  She was in a blowing league when I was younger and I would go with her every so often selling candy bars or some other thing from school.  It was always fun.  I think she will like seeing pictures of the kids at her old stomping grounds!  I was cracking up at how quickly Logan figured out if he could contort his body he thought he could change the direction of the bowling ball.  We all do that when we bowl, don't we?

Nathan took Abby to the end of the lane and let her "roll" the ball down with a little help from Daddy. 

I think I said a dozen times or so that it was a great day.  I loved every minute of it!  The Groupon included pizza and while we were eating I asked Logan what his favorite part was he said, "the bowling, the pool in the yard and hiking."  I guess Logan thought it was a great day too!

Abby's 6 month pictures and some Logan ones too!

On Saturday a dear friend of mine came to take some pictures of the kids.  I was excited, but tried hard not to build my expectations up too high.  Well Jenn delivered and I am in love with these pictures! 

Happy Easter!

Easter Weekend! We had a great weekend! It was a blessing to be with family both on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday morning we headed out early and met up with some of Nathan's family at his parents' church. They had an Easter egg hunt and watched a video on the Resurrection. It was a nice start to the day. The kids decorated some bags and headed out to pick up some eggs!

3 kids... all eyes opened... not blurry... equals successful photo of 3 cousins!

Logan loved the way the wind caught in his bag when he ran.

Abby was still too little to partake really, but she did enjoy having some eggs placed in front of her. A friend of Nathan's parents put some ears on her head. They cracked us up!

After Nathan skipping his nap.... oh joy.... he and Rhyin colored eggs. It was a good time. Although last year Logan was much neater than he was this year... go figure!

Logan and Aunt Deb!

Abby had a good time watching her brother's antics and even did a quick taste test. Nice...

On Easter morning Logan and Abby woke up at pretty much the same time (and thankfully the Easter Bunny had woken up a little earlier and hid all the eggs and baskets) so we headed downstairs to look for eggs. The Easter egg (Daddy) was clever this year and hid all the eggs with each of Logan's favorite toys. It was cute!

Logan found Abby's basket for her. She enjoyed some foods, bath toys and food containers.

Logan's basket was a bit more full and had some Superman socks, Superman sandwich container, glow sticks, "King" from Dinosaur Train, bath crayons and toys and some gardening tools. He was most thrilled with King of course!

After egg hunts we got dressed and surprised my parents by showing up for Easter service at their church. They had a breakfast before hand for the whole church cooked by my dad and a couple others. It was great to see my mom's face light up when she saw us walk in. Then we took some family photos after the service.

The kids took quick naps and Logan had a quick lunch before we headed to my Aunt and Uncle's home for some more Easter fun. My Aunt had more eggs for the kids to hunt for. Logan was pretty happy since it meant he could look for twice as many eggs in an effort to help his sister. :)

We tried to get a few pictures of the kids together... these were our best outcomes...

Logan enjoyed some time outside with his new bubble maker! It was great fun!

This was a picture of the kids with our Aunt Me and Uncle Frank! They love our little ones so much!

It was a great weekend celebrating such an important day with family.

It is a PARTY! and 6 month stats.

Last night we decided to have a little get together for Abby's 6 month birthday. We had the grandparents and my aunt and uncle over. It was a nice time. Did a simple taco/nacho bar. Can I say how much I LOVE doing that? Seriously - you can't go wrong with that. I digress... Abby took a quick cat nap after daycare and was ready to party when she got up!

Here is our sweet girl - ready for dinner herself!


OH MY GOODNESS DO I LOVE HER!!

Grandma even brought a cake!!

With our girl...

All four of us. This is perfect as Abby is always staring at Logan so it makes sense that she will be staring at him rather than the camera. :)

Abby is in love with her new stuffed animal. Love this picture... hehe

This morning Abby had her well baby check up. Everything was perfect! She weighed in at a healthy 19 pounds 2 oz (94th %) and 26 1/4 in) 69th% She has made a huge jump in her height percentile... 36th to 69th! Girly girl is getting long - or tall as the case may be. The NP we saw was thrilled with how well Abby is doing. She was "wowed" by how well Abby is reaching with both hands and working on her pincher grasp. She has no worries that Abby isn't rolling back to belly since her core strength is so well developed. I can't help but be incredibly happy to see how healthy our girl is. She is such a blessing.

Happy 6 months baby girl!

She woke up happy - as she usually does. Little did she know that today is an extra special day. Today she is SIX months old! A half year already. Seems like it should be longer than that. Happy 6 months sweet girl! We are having grandparents and my God parents over for dinner tonight for a little dinner to celebrate. Will be great!

We are trying hard to get Abby a good evening routine. She has got herself into a wonderful routine through the day. It is amazing how she has quickly put herself on one during the day. Didn't take long before I noticed a pattern and we just went with it! But her evenings are kind of a crap shoot. We have started giving the kids baths together when it works out. Here they are enjoying one. SO much easier to do a bath when Abby can sit. Glad she was an early sitter!

This past weekend we had a MAJOR cleaning blitz in the house as I knew we would be away all this coming weekend with the Easter holiday. However, Saturday morning Logan and I had some momma/Logan time and went shopping together. We started with Target, then off to Ikea where we ate ice cream BEFORE lunch... (yup that was awesome!) then to Joann Fabrics and finally lunch at McDonalds. It was a great morning together!

The rest of the weekend was filled with cleaning, decluttering, pretty-fying and laundry. FUN! In reality it was actually fun to get so much done. Amazing how much BIGGER Nathan and my's bedroom is when there aren't 4 baskets overflowing with clothes - half of which need to be refolded, half need to be put away in rooms and a third half needing to be put on hangers. Ahhhh - feels good to have the chaos organized.