King's Island

Sunday we took a spur of the moment fun trip to King's Island in Cincinnati. We figured it would be a good test run for the trip to Disney. We didn't tell the kids what we were doing, which led to a ton of questions on the 2 hour trip down. Needless to say, we had a great day. The kids part of the park is Nickelodeon themed, so alot of their favorite characters were around. They got to meet Dora and Diego, along with riding rides that featured Little Bill and The Backyardigans.

Austin loved the bumper cars and anything that involved driving. He must have rode the bumper cars 4 times! He was a little scared of Dora and Diego to start, but warmed up to them after a little bit. Caitlin is a major thrill seeker. She loved this little roller coaster that she and I went on. It was in the kid's section, but it was probably intended for kids about twice her age. For a 4 year old, it had to be pretty wild, but right in the middle of it she looked at me and said, "I am not scared, Daddy." Very cute and if there was any doubt, the girl loves an adrenaline rush...She even demanded that I put my hands in the air with her!

They both loved the Little Bill Roller Coaster. It was about right for their age and I think they rode it 3 times. Pretty fun to see them enjoying themselves so much. They both had a lot of laughs all day!...A couple of meltdowns, too, but for the most part, laughs.

Well, enjoy the pictures...

busy bees!

We have been busy lately!

Last week I took the kids to see their first movie in a theater. Interesting... We saw Ice Age 3 (which I thought was extremely dumb & not very entertaining!). The kids were very well behaved even though they hadn't napped and they weren't all that "into" the movie. Austin requested Twizzlers and Caitlin wanted popcorn, so they munched on their snacks throughout the movie. We took one potty break, went back into the theater, and then Austin choked on a sip of water and spit up on himself...so we left early. This calamity didn't happen until towards the end of the movie, so they made it most of the way through. Another theater does free movies for kids on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings throughout the summer, so we may try one of those on Wednesday.

Well, over the weekend they both FINALLY pooped in the toilet! HOORAY! It was all Ryan on that one...great job daddy! Austin did it on Friday morning and that afternoon he got a new basketball just like the "big guys". Caitlin was a little more challenging...she tried to play games by sitting on the potty a zillion times and insisting that we sit in there with her...all the while she was trying to suppress her little smile! She held out on Friday and did it in her pull-up at about 5:30a.m. (DARN) but by the evening had to go again...she sat on the toilet screaming, "I DON'T WANT TO POOPIE IN THE POTTY" over and over again...but she stayed on there. Then right in the middle of her screaming, she stopped and yelled (SURPRISED & relieved), "I POOPIED IN THE POTTY!! I'M A BIG GIRL!" and she just giggled about it. We are taking her to choose a new Belle dress tonight.

That Belle dress will come in handy because we are taking them to Walt Disney World in September! We are all very excited. Because they pooped in the potty, daddy got to call Mickey and tell him they could come there to visit him. Planning for a Disney trip is a little like making plans to invade a small country! We have booked breakfasts with Mickey & his friends, breakfast with the Princesses, breakfast with Little Einsteins & JoJo, a trip to the Pirates League for Austin's pirate make-over (complete with eye patch & tattoos!), and a trip to the Bibbidy Bobbidy Boutique for Caitlin's transformation into a princess! We've also been trying to figure out our plan of attack for all of the parks. CRAZY! All I can say is...foot massages will be in order!!!!! I am looking forward to some serious family time though! Always a nice treat for us!

Next month Ryan and I get a weekend away to celebrate our 9th anniversary! Everything we're doing (and where we're going) is a surprise...he's got no idea where we'll end up. :) I have enjoyed planning this surprise for him...I don't get to do that kind of thing very often anymore.

Yesterday we took the kids to Kings Island for the day. It was a surprise for them and it was awesome...I will let Ryan post those details though...my hands are killing me right now!!!! Sorry!

4th Year Video

It took me a little bit to get this up, but here is a video with lots of pictures from the past year... Some of them go pretty quick, so I am going to see if I can slow it down, but thought whoever is reading this blog would enjoy seeing this...

Today's Adventures...

Last night we were all up until about 10:30 because of the fireworks. At first Caitlin was scared so I sat in her room with her. Then, Austin comes sauntering out of his room excitedly saying, "Mom! I just seeed fireworks out my window! It was pretty weird." So then Caitlin got excited. I decided not to fight it...I opened her curtains and blinds and we sat in the chair and all watched them together. Finally at 10:15 I got them into separate rooms and they stayed up for a little bit talking to themselves. It was cute to see how excited they got at seeing the fireworks for the first time. Every other year, they've been asleep!

Anyway, during the time I was trying to console Caitlin because the noises scared her, I just felt really bad for parents and children in countries where those noises are not from pretty sparkly things in the sky, but from gunfire and bomb blasts. Made me remember to include them in our prayers...

Today mommy woke up with a splitting headache so this morning was relaxed. We skyped daddy and then just had a lot of cuddles and a little outside time. After we all took a nap (& I popped 4 Advil), we went to lunch at "the milkshake store" (Steak & Shake) and then met Aunt Bubbles at the library. The kids were off the wall there so that didn't last long (Sorry Lynn!!!). We checked out a few cute books and then headed to Lynn & John's house for a little while. The kids ran around outside and climbed all over John. After about an hour we headed home for dinner. Then the kiddos cleaned up their toys and helped me vacuum...they LOVE to pretend they are vacuuming alongside me using the lawn mower and the weed eater! FUNNY! Even funnier that when I empty the canister into the trash, they "empty" theirs also!

Got word this evening that the Pacers won their 1st summer league game. HOORAY! They play again tomorrow at 3pm. Be prepared for the post tomorrow regarding their 2nd win!

What is with the sham-wow guy? Now he is peddaling some product called the "slap chop"! But I digress....

Tomorrow is a school day....here's hoping all goes well getting out the door! Caitlin is pumped that she gets to bring in the "Mystery Bag"...she puts in a toy and the kids have to ask questions about it and guess what it is. She chose a hot pink purse with fur trim. That's our girl! :) I think Austin will be pumped because he chose his Pacers shorts and shirts to wear tomorrow. That's one of his faves!

Sometimes it just clicks...

...and sometimes it doesn't. For a stretch of several hours today I felt like a GREAT mom. We had such a rhythm going...here's what went down....11am, Ry left for practice/summer league. 12pm, naps with NO problems! 2pm, cuddles with both kids and no fighting (this is HUGE nowadays!). 3pm, met Lynn at Target and shopped without incident until about 5pm. 5:30, I actually prepared a meal without interruption! Kids rode bikes in garage while I cooked stir fry for all of us. Today I am laying down the law with meals...they eat what we eat or they get cheese & crackers. Read that tip in Parents magazine and am running with it. 6pm, Austin screamed "NO RICE...I DON'T LIKE RICE!", ate his chocolate pudding, cheese, and chocolate milk. It's going to be tough with my little picky pants. Caitlin ate her rice, chocolate pudding, cheese, and chocolate milk. The cool part was that we all got to eat together because I wasn't bouncing up and down to get stuff. 6:20pm, the kids used their reading pens to read books while I cleaned up the kitchen. Again, with no fighting!?!?! 6:40pm, took kids for a bike ride around the neighborhood until about 7:15. When we got home, nobody cried or complained about having to go straight in...HUH?! They got to choose either a banana or a nectarine for a snack...Austin picked the nectarine, Caitlin the banana...they didn't eat much...just nibbled. Then we headed upstairs for baths. I knew I was pushing my luck...

Bathtime started out well, but ended with Austin crying about everything. One of the more mystifying things he cried about was having to use the "elephant" towel. He wanted the "puppy" towel that Caitlin chose. OH MY GOSH! He was going hysterical..."I don't want the elephant. I want to be the puppy! NOOOOOO ELEPHANT!!!" and he's running around our room like some naked madman crying and screaming. Then he REALLY went nuts when he asked, "Sis are you going to be the puppy all day?!" She smugly said, "Yep" and he went ballistic. Then she sat back and enjoyed the show wrapped in her puppy towel! I just started laughing at how ridiculous it was! That's what it took for him to stop crying. Then he started laughing too. Ah, the inner workings of a 4 year old!

In other news...our 4th of July was a wash out. It rained all day and evening. So we didn't do much. Ryan had practice in the morning and that afternoon/evening we played in the garage...riding bikes & scooters and playing ball. The kids got to see fireworks this morning because we recorded part of the Macy's fireworks display.

Caitlin has been really interested in spelling and wanting to read words...so that's what we've been doing a lot of. The other day she wrote (without my help) Caitlin & Austin...and yes, she used the ampersand! I was shocked and amazed.

Austin is in constant motion. He is hard to keep up with & he LOVES to do jobs....mowing, filling stuff, pulling weeds, whatever.

Other funny stuff....

**Austin saw Michael Jackson on TV and asked Ryan, "Who is that lady?" (Sorry hon, it's too good to NOT put in here...you'll thank me years from now!" :)

**Caitlin keeps singing this commercial with me. "What's your flavor?" Oh my, we sang that and danced around the garage making up silly songs for quite awhile yesterday!

**Some kids sleep with stuffed animals...Austin sleeps with a pass to the P.I.T. (bball tourney)! Daddy gave it to him this morning and he slept with it at nap and bedtime! Oh my gosh, he is supposed to be sleeping now, but I hear him chanting, "P.I.T., P.I.T., N.B.A.!"

**I heard Austin looking at some instruction manual saying, "Bills, Bills, Bills..." which is a line from one of their favorite shows...Caillou.

Have to go for now...dumb fireworks are scaring Caitlin!!!!! I hate fireworks.