5K Feels Longer with a Double Stroller

Again this July, we participated in the Brewers Racing Sausages 5k and this year, our good friends the O'Hearns joined us.  We got to walk all together around and through the ballpark and had a lot of fun despite the heat.

I will say that pushing two kiddos in the stroller definitely counts as a workout!  Especially when one is as robust as Ansel!!  I think we were all glad to cross the finish line that day.  Ansel was able to wear one of Amita's hand me down Brewer outfits (that I think she wore last year!).

One of Amita's favorite books (and one of mine from when I was a child!) has a story about two mice that say hello to a rainbow.  Amita was thrilled to see this rainbow at our house after the 5k (luckily we didn't get rained on at the race!).  She was waving and calling "Hello Rainbow" to it.  I was just glad I still had the camera handy to capture it!

Garden State

After much work this spring, we are just now starting to enjoy the fruits of our labor. Even with more weeds than I'd like our garden is looking great!

Here's our first harvest - peas, hot pepper, & black berries!

Two Birds Go to the Zoo

Anyone that has been to our house recently knows that Amita's favorite book right now is the camel book (a moldy oldy I found at a library book sale).  So she was thrilled when she got to see all the animals from that book on a recent visit to the zoo!  We took a day off of work and took both kids to the zoo to see the sights.  Lucky for us, the weather was great and the kids really enjoyed a few hours outside.

Here's Mama and Amita looking at the giraffes.  She was able to count all of them and liked watching them eat and drink.

Amita and Daddy got to sit in on a bird show (the rare bird show!).  The eagle flew right over their heads!!  And they also had a performing crow that Amita just loved.

This donkey was sleeping and Amita was fascinated with him.

Here's one of our cool cats taking a break from walking and having a drink.  The double stroller worked great for hauling both kids and a stuffed diaper bag around!

Here's Amita and Daddy by the goats.  She didn't want to go in and pet them (I don't blame her!), but she liked watching from the safety of Daddy's arms.

Amita loves the bird house at the zoo and she really enjoyed the flamingos outside (they weren't around in November when we were last at the zoo!).

Taking a snack break in the monkey house.

Ansel was super good at the zoo!  He was laid back and just took in the sights and sounds.

Here's both my little animals back at home.  They were both so great, we are planning another visit very soon!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

It was awesome to watch Amita and Piper entertain each other and have fun playing.  They both seemed to really enjoy each other's company and it was a blast to see them interact more.

Amita is sweet and loves to give out hugs and kisses.  I don't think Piper was as fond of Amita's wet kisses... but she was fine with the hugs!

Here's Amita driving at a nearby playground.  We tried to tire out the girls a little before my brother's family had to get on the road back home.

They had a lot of fun swinging with each other.  Piper likes to fly high into the sky... Amita prefers to be lower to the ground.

Here's Amita giving Baxter some "nice rubbies".  He needed a little consoling after a weekend with a house full of people.

Ansel loves to bounce and can get the jump-a-roo to shake in ways that Amita never did (could be the extra lbs he's carrying...).

We took the girls to a paint your own pottery shop and they had lots of fun painting.  They got to wear cool owl smocks and there were no rules about spilling or making messes.

Amita LOVES her cat that she picked out and decorated herself.  Stop by our house and I'm sure she'll volunteer to show you!  She's very proud!!

Families of 4 on the 4th

Fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays and it was all the more special because my brother and his family could spend it with us again this year.  The girls were another year older and could better appreciate the 4th of July parade (and the candy throwers!) as well as the toddler splash pool and beach.  And with me not being pregnant this year, I could better appreciate pretty much everything about the holiday!  But especially the cooler weather (only in the 80's instead of the 100's like last year!).

And let's not forget that this was the first 4th of July for two special kids.  Ansel was representing in his red, white and blue.

We tried to convince Amita that she wanted to take a picture with Ansel.  You be the judge on how successful we were!

Here's the girls in the wagon, very similar to last year.

Here's Ansel taking in the parade from a cooler spot in the shade.

Amita had a great view of the parade from on top of Daddy's shoulders.

Both Amita and Piper had a blast watching the action with their dads.  And everyone was so color coordinated too!

Here's our other 4th of July first-timer.  Priya snoozed through a lot of it, but she sure looked cute doing it!

Here's Daddy taking a break from carrying Amita on his shoulders.  They had fun watching the parade from the lower level too.

Here's Mama and her two kiddos.  The shade was spectacular!

Ansel never took a morning nap and he had fun playing in the wagon when the big girls weren't using it.

This year, Amita LOVED the toddler splash pad.  She was immediately in the thick of it (once it finally got turned on at noon!), splashing and squealing with joy.

She and Piper got to try out all the different water spraying devices.

But the hands down favorite for Amita was one that she called "the shower".

Here's Piper staying drier than Amita chose to.

After skipping the morning nap, Ansel was exhausted.

We finally took the girls out of the splash pad when Amita's lips turned blue and even then, she was not sure she was ready to be done.  But she really enjoyed her pink bathrobe and insisted we keep the hood on... for most of the rest of the day!

The girls got to help make and then eat popcorn before they turned in for the night.

And speaking of eating... here's Ansel making a mess with his food.  Biggest difference between him and Amita?  He is not a fan of cleaning up!!