Busy Days

We had a busy end to the week last week. Thankfully, busy usually equals fun in this house!

Thursday morning we met up with another triplet family at the zoo. It was hot, but the zoo had all kinds of fans spraying water which kept the kiddos cool (and muddy).

And we, of course, rode the carousel. I'm pretty sure the carousel is the boys' favorite part of the zoo. You should see the way Tyler starts dance-walking when we get close enough to hear the music. Adorable!

Tyler

 Chase

 Jackson

Friday morning included dashing to the grocery store to buy what was on sale there as well as some picnic supplies for later that day. Then we headed to a new-to-us park to meet up with some moms from a mom's group I'm in. The boys had a ball at the new playground and giant sand pit and even more fun at the neighboring sprayground! After a full morning in the sun, we all came home and crashed for nap time. I slept for 2 hours and the boys for about 3.5!

After naptime we skyped with my mom, which is always a favorite.The boys weren't content to just sit in their chairs though... no, they needed to be just as close to the screen as possible.

Saturday morning we all headed to a nearby parade! It was hot, and the parade was long but the all in all the boys had fun.

  Poor Nick was so confused by the time we got home though. Look at all those political stickers! Who is he supposed to vote for? There are too many options!

Blueberry Picking

Friday morning, Nick and I decided to take the boys blueberry picking at a local berry farm. The boys had a ball! We gave each of them their own bucket to put their berries in and instructed them to only pick the blue ones, not the red or green berries. I have to say, when I was cleaning the berries and prepping them to go in the freezer, I really didn't find too many red or green berries. Well done boys!

Tyler

Chase (who turned out to love berry picking the most)

Jackson

After picking our berries we went into the little store there and bought some blueberry lemonade and a blueberry drop biscuit to share! Definitely a fun, family morning that we'll try to repeat again this summer!

Weekend of Surprises

This past weekend was a 4 day weekend for Nick, so we decided to take advantage and do some extra special stuff with the boys. We simply told the boys there would be a "surprise" (or two!) that day and watched their faces light up in anticipation.

Saturday night was the first surprise. After church let out we dashed to a part of town we don't often visit and found there were thousands of others heading the same direction. After making the bold decision to follow some cars that seemed to be taking a short cut (which they were), we ended up at the park just in time. In time for what, you ask? To see a bunch of hot air balloons lift off!

Chase

 Jackson

 Tyler

 Nick and Jackson (a new favorite picture for sure!)

The boys were in awe of the balloons. We were so close (as you can tell in a couple of those pictures), and they loved cheering as each balloon lifted off and waving to the lucky people riding in the basket! They're still talking about the big balloons 3 days later. 

After the balloons we went to surprise #2; ice cream at Chick Fil A! By the time we got to Chick Fil A we were already an hour past bed time and it was beginning to get dark so the boys knew this was extra special. They made huge messes with their cones (which is why there are no pictures), but they loved it. It should be noted that when Chase and Tyler walked out of Chick Fil A with Nick they remarked that it must be early in the morning because it was getting dark. That tells you how early they've been waking up lately! Ha!

Surprise #3 of the weekend came Sunday afternoon when we took the boys to a nearby sprayground (a playground that sprays water everywhere for my family bumpkins in Maine that don't have such things). They hadn't been to a sprayground before and were a little unsure. Well, to be fair, really only Tyler and Jackson were unsure for a while. Chase jumped right in and started having fun!

Surprise #4 was yesterday morning when we packed up and headed to Aunt Laura's to take advantage of the pools in her apartment complex. They had a ball (of course) and were super excited to see Aunt Laura's cat, Marbles. I don't think Marbles felt the same way towards the boys though, because she took off to hide under Laura's bed as soon as the boys ran into the apartment. 

All in all? A super fun weekend that the boys won't forget for a long time!

Family Fun

Last weekend Nick sort of had a 4 day weekend. I say sort of only because he did go to one of the Easter services on Saturday afternoon to help out and then he signed one of us up to help in the nursery Easter Sunday and I took that shift. Basically though, he was off from Friday-Monday. It was great having him around!

Monday morning some rain and storms passed through early and then it was supposed to clear off a bit. We took advantage of the impending sunshine and took the boys to the zoo! Even though I had my camera with me the whole time, I refrained from taking it out and snapping shots of every little thing. Towards the end of our time there, I did snap a few shots of the boys waiting for the Tram and then on the Tram.

Chase

Jackson

Tyler

The "Put the camera away, Mom" look

March for Babies update: Bad news! I've lost two of my walkers! Bummer! Any of my KC reader friends want to step up and walk in their place? On the brighter side, thanks for the donations that have been steadily coming in! We're at about 30% of my goal now. I figure if I can raise $30 a day between now and the walk I should be able to hit my goal. Can you give even $5? Remember, if each of my regular readers gives just $5 I'll blow my goal out of the water!
 

The Cold, The Parade and The Crab

Yesterday was cold, cloudy and drizzly at times. It was gross.

Yesterday was also the start of Daylight Saving Time. That was gross.

Yesterday was also a St. Patrick's Day parade nearby. That was kinda entertaining.

Yesterday afternoon Jackson acted like a crab. That was to be expected.

DST doesn't usually go as well as I hope it does. The spring switch is usually worse than the fall, mostly because the boys don't want to go to bed at night because it still feels early to them. This year I decided to try something new: we would skip the afternoon nap and try our best to wear them out so that they would crash at the right bed time. Part of my grand plan of wearing them out was to take them to a St. Patrick's Day parade nearby!

Chase

Jackson and Nick

Tyler & Chase (hands in the pockets, trying to keep them warm!)

We were waiting for the parade in front of a garden statue place, so Nick took the boys to look around at one point. They all came running back yelling "Buddha! Buddha!"

Happy boys with Aunt Laura!

(L-R: Tyler, Chase & Jackson)

Did I mention yet that it was cold and miserable? Cause it was. It didn't help matters that we were somehow at the end of the parade instead of the start like it said it would be online. The cold, lack of entertainment (we waited an hour before the parade finally got to us) and lack of nap finally got to Jackson. Oh and it didn't help we weren't letting them eat the bulk of the candy that was thrown to them. So we left before the parade ended, which also added to Jackson's despair. 

The good news is, my evil DST plan worked beautifully! The boys crashed hard at 7:30 when we put them to bed (usually we hear giggling and carrying on for 30-40 minutes at least) and they all slept until 7:15 this morning!

Trains, Trains and More Trains

Sunday afternoon we all loaded into 3 cars and headed to downtown Kansas City. The goal? See a bunch of trains and then have dinner delivered by one.

The kids (big and little alike!) had a ball looking at the massive train set displayed in Union Station.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The kiddos also all thoroughly enjoyed walking through The Link (an enclosed, above the street sidewalk system that connects several buildings in Kansas City).

 

We then took the kiddos to Crown Center for some fine dining. Ah, that line just makes me giggle... what we ate was anything but "fine". To be fair though, you don't go to Fritz's for the food - you go because a train delivers your food!

See that train at the top of the picture? It rides around a track in the restaurant delivering food! In the above picture the train is just dropping our box of food off. The food was then lowered to the table on a tray. Nifty, huh? The kids love it. They also love the conductor hats!

 

 

 

After dinner we bundled up and headed outside to take in the Mayor's Christmas Tree and the fountains!

 

 

 

 

 

 

And that, my friends, is how we ended our Chaotic Christmas! It was a ball and I wish it could have lasted longer! To close out my few days of excessive picture posts, I'd like to leave you with just one more shot. My family, all together again for the first time in several years!