Cora's Birthday version 1.0

She actually had three 1st birthday celebrations, but what is a Diva to do? She had to please her fans. The first was with Grandma and Grandpa T before the trip. She needed to receive her outfit to match Alison's. She was completely blown away by the amazing gift of a box and paper that she was allowed to tear. Her fifth food group is paper and I try to keep it away from her as much as possible, so this was a big deal.

I don't think I will ever catch a picture that is good of all of them, but Jacob is smiling in this one so I had to post it! One day I will have time to learn Photoshop and cut Aaron's head right off!

Cora was having so much fun with the paper, that we got her to wear the little hat Grandma made. Unlike her cousin, Cora has no use for accessories of any kind. And given her choice she would go without clothing as well!

Children's Museum

In preparation for our trip we decided to get a children's museum membership that we could use at different places throughout the country. We packed up one day and headed over to sign up. We stopped by Grandma's on the way. We told her that we would bring our own picnic, but in true grandma style she had veggies, chips, and cookies to compliment our meal. We ate outside and enjoyed the beautiful view in their back yard.

Jacob just won't smile for the camera!

Cora had a great time as long as we kept her on the blanket.

The museum was fun. The kids headed straight for the climber.

They added a big farming display since we were their last.

Jacob and Cora had fun with the tubes that blow air. He would try to position her properly and then send a purple cloth through the tubes. You can see it floating down beside her.

She began to anticipate it coming when she saw him open the flap. They both really liked this game.
Catherine found a home with the paints. She of course couldn't just paint with the brushes, but had to get her hands involved and mix the colors. She does have a knack for art and color.

I think she should have been born to one of those women that painted by filling balloons with paint and throwing darts at them! The messier the the better and all in the name of art.

Aaron was attracted to all things building. He figured out how to build the arch.

And he constructed a little castle for Cora.

Cora made Aaron, who has no fear of heights, a little nervous when she was watching the construction out the third floor window. He asked if the windows were strong enough to keep her safe. What a good big brother!

As for Cora, she used her new crawling skills to check out the toddler area. She loved looking at her reflection on the walls and ceiling in the little mirrored crawlspaces.

Peek-a-Boo!

Going to the Petting Zoo

No summer would be complete without a trip to the petting zoo. Our city has a little petting zoo right in the middle of town. I guess it is not all that little. There are horses, cows, pigs, goats, bunnies, chickens, ducks, a large Koi pond etc. All of this is off a busy street next to a water park. It is totally free and a great afternoon outing. The kids loved the bunny. The bunny didn't care! Even Cora rubbed it a little with her feet.

Did I mention that my least favorite part of the petting zoo is the 'petting' area. This old donkey and pony are nice, but they have a million goats that try to eat your shoe laces and these weird deer things, that aren't really deer and they will eat your shirt. The animals don't bother to rinse their mouths out first and Aaron's shirt was covered in deer-esque hay slime. GROSS.

They had some hula-hoops out on one of the sidewalks for the kids to play with. Catherine totally rocked it. She could have kept going all afternoon. Of course Jacob would have none of that and after watching for 30 seconds he knocked it down. Oh the love of siblings.

No trip to the petting zoo would be complete without a roll down the big hill.

Have you tried to do this as an adult? I tried a few years ago. It was a very, very bad idea. Don't do it!

We ended our day by picking on Cora. She is convinced that she should ride everywhere on my hip. When I put her in the grass she didn't like the poky green stuff one bit. That left leg goes up and the right one is sacrificed 'for the greater good.' (yes that was a nod to H.arry Potter)

Maybe if I close my eyes this will all go away!

This is how I found Jacob sleeping. Tired kids crack me up. How do they sleep in such strange positions...... and then walk the next day!? I guess he had a good day.

The First Outing of the Summer

Our first few weeks out of school were busy and fun. One of the first days out of school we went to my friend Michele's dad's farm. She convinced him that it would be a good idea to get some chickens. They don't do anything half-way. But we sure enjoy their hard work. The eggs from these chickens..........humm I guess I need to go take a picture, be right back. Ok so they are not only white and brown, but blue and green too! They taste great, with very vivid yellow yolks. Joe used to add cheese to his scrambled eggs, but with these, the taste is so good without it. It is a little late for scrambled eggs, so I will have to take a yolk picture some other time.

The kids had a blast on the farm. We just hung out and talked, I felt so relaxed. There is nothing like the country. It is the perfect place for kids. No traffic, no strangers, just kids, fresh air, and plenty of room to run. If I wrote a story of my life I'm sure somehow the readers would think it was a tragedy, but I feel so blessed to have been able to come home from school, drop off my books, and go explore the woods. Day after day, it never got old. What a perfect life. Being in the country is so different than visiting a forest preserve. Anyway, that was a long enough trip down memory lane, let's see those chickens.

They had just gotten some new chicks. The kids thought the chicken coop was interesting and they had lots of questions. They liked watching the chickens run around in the yard. The area they keep the chickens had to be fenced in because of coyotes and there was twine strung across the top to keep the chicken hawks away. Like I said, lots of work! But lots of rewards too.