New addition

We've got a new addition to our family...

we call him Crabbie.

 We are always on the look-out for good outdoor toys because we love being outside, but it's SO hard to guess what kids will actually enjoy.  I hate to spend lots of money on something and then they not even be interested.  I keep thinking we'll look at garage sales, but if that were to happen, I would need someone else to GO to garage sales for me.  Any takers?

 We've thought about getting a sandbox for a while, but hesitated because of the reason above and just how messy they are.

 We finally broke down and it's been a major hit.  Love me some little sandy feet!

 "Look mom!  I poured sand all over my pants!"  It's the little things that make this guy excited.

Don't get me wrong...it is messy.  We've upped baths to a nightly event because sand gets EVERYWHERE!  Also, I've noticed a lot more sand in the kitchen...in the bathroom...basically every room, magnified by wood floors.  But sometimes the moments of fun outweigh a clean house (not that our house is that clean...we have two walkers that make it their mission to destruct any minute they are awake).  The other big challenge is keeping the sand IN the sandbox.  Sounds simple, but why does it seem way more fun to dump the sand OUT?

My little photogenic boy...always ready for a picture.

 My sweet daughter, who refuses to look at the camera (she just happened to be telling me a story in this picture).

 And my hot husband...who I'm sure would love to know I put his picture on the blog.  Good thing he doesn't check it. :)

Summer trip

Since moving to South Bend, we have been blessed to be able to take at least 2 trips a year back to see family (summer and Christmas).  Since Kev's schedule is pretty flexible, we try to go for around 2 weeks so we can spend a week with each family.  So far we've flown every time, because let's face it, spending 18 hours in the car with 2 kids 2 and under sounds like a nightmare.  Elliott's actually at a better age for flying now...she likes talking about everything, is fairly easily entertained with snacks, coloring, books, or my iphone, and we can reason with her.  Mason, on the other hand, is basically at my least favorite age for flying.  He's almost 18 months, EXTREMELY active (like he constantly wants to walk) and is entertained by things maybe 5 seconds.  Did I mention he has developed a "velociraptor" scream the last month when things don't go his way?  It's very pleasant.

To make matters a little more complicated, we fly out of Chicago which is 2 hours from South Bend, so it makes our long day of travel a little longer.  We left our house at 6:30am (of course running a little late), felt very rushed at the airport, especially since the security line was really long.  When we finally made it to the front of the line to check our IDs with about 30 minutes or less to our flight, we realized they had apparently entered Mason's name as "Nathan" on his boarding pass so they made us go back to the ticket counter.  Talk about a low moment.  Thankfully, we did not miss our flight but the downside is we had to immediately get on the plane (we were intending to let the kids burn off a little energy since they had been sitting in the car for 2 hours), and we had to sit apart.  Mason did okay the first hour, but he screamed with his ear-busting cry for the entire 2nd hour of the flight.  People loved us! :)

However, we did make it in one piece to OKC and the trip home actually went much smoother even though we had 2 layovers (thanks to Benadryl and Aladdin).  Other than the rough flight and a tornado scare while we were there (silly Oklahoma weather), we had an amazing time with both families!  The kids did better than I was anticipating with sleep (maybe because I had low expectations), and the time was SO fun.

In OKC I only got one picture with the camera because it was charging.  The kids loved hanging out with their cousins!  So.much.fun.  We played outside pretty much nonstop.  It was awesome!  I did a much better job taking pictures at my parents' house and we also spent lots of time outdoors. 

 The water table was Mason's favorite.

 The sandbox was so much fun...especially for Levi.  He basically lived in it when he was outside.

We went to a local splash pad.

 And spent some time at the Amarillo zoo.

My parents even bought a bounce house which provided hours of entertainment.

 I'm so thankful I got to spend time with both my sisters!

 And of course I'm always thankful for time with my mom.

Sweet cousins.

They love their Momo.

Such a great Momo and Papa!

We can't wait to visit family again!