Sprayground Adventures

What can we do when it is hot out, but I don't want to take the kids to the pool (because I can't keep my hands on a baby and toddler at the same time)?  Spraygrounds!  I turned to the trusty internet and found out there is one just 10 minutes from our house!  Who knew?  That's what I love about KC....there are so many things to do and none of them are that far away.  So Monday I loaded up the girls and headed to Sunnyside Park.  Hannah was a little hesitant at first ("I don't want to get wet"), but she ended up having a blast.  And unlike swimming, she could do it by herself and we could watch (or in Olive's case- nap) in the shade. :)

Tuesday we went to another sprayground in Loose Park.  It had neater stuff, but it was also more crowded and hard to get to (no sidewalk for a stroller).  We played in the park first, so Hannah played in the water with her clothes on.  Now we can cross off Loose Park on our top parks of KC list, but we need to go back to see the duck pond and rose garden.

Today we went back to Sunnyside, and Steve brought over sandwiches for lunch.  Although it is just a few minutes from his work, he never knew it was there either.  Spraygrounds are my new favorite summer activity!

Baby Love

I am totally in love with my baby, especially her long eyelashes and big chubby cheeks.  I think I kiss them about 20 times a day.

Jeff City

Last weekend we went to Jefferson City to visit the Ditches.  Hannah loves their house because it has two of her favorite things: a trampoline and piano.

However, they did not have horses like at Great-grandpa's, so Hannah had to improvise.

I tried to get a picture of the cousins, but Olive looked freaked out in all of them.

Storytime with Granny and Papa:

The girls thought I needed a haircut:

Throwing rocks and leaves in the river:

When we got back to KC we decided we need some cool treats from Dairy Queen.  Hannah was very excited to try her first blizzard.  She said it was "better than ice cream!"

Baby Olive

Hannah has never been a big fan of dolls, but I thought maybe she would be more interested when we had a baby. So Grandma bought her a doll and we gave it to her when I was in the hospital. She named the doll....Olive. Hannah occasionally takes her baby Olive on a stroller walk, but she is much more interested in playing with the real Olive. Sometimes I see the doll laying around the house and I have a mini panic attack and think "How did Olive get there?!?"  They really do look alike.

Camoflauge

Olive- 3 months

Hannah- almost 4 months

McWeekend

We had another great (but hot!) weekend with the McGuires.  They came to visit us and amazingly we found a place for everyone to sleep.  It so neat that we knew each other back in college and we've watched each other get married and start families.  And now we have FIVE kids between us.

The newest kiddos: Gwyneth and Olive.  Both are 3 months, but Gwyn is 11 days older.

The older kiddos: Kevin (almost 5), Hannah (2), Colin (3). 

Early Saturday morning Steve and Taco ran a 10 mile run in honor of Josh being cancer-free for 10 years.  We stayed behind and at doughnuts. :)  When they got back we went to Science City.  Even though it was our third time there, we found some new things like this pretend space shuttle....

which was also enjoyed by some big kids.

And we found this optical illusion.   Where did my legs go?

Looking at the trains.

Tragic helicopter accident:

Intense speed checkers:

Hannah's favorite thing about Science City is still mini golf.

I think we have more pictures of us playing than the kids.  Jane definitely has a better model face and her hair blew better, too.

But Gwyn had the best air-blown look.

Good.  More kids playing.

How Olive spent her morning at Science City:

After naps we planned on going to the city pool, but then decided to just play with water in the backyard.  We had a sprinkler, water table, and baby pool...

which was enjoyed by big kids, too.

On Sunday we went to our neighborhood park.  They recently put in a "nature playground" that includes logs, sand, waterfall, and a stream.  The boys built a dam...

and Hannah went fishing.

While we were at the park we randomly saw Ollie's cousin Lolo with her dad.  I recognized her from Ollie's blog!  She is just a few months younger than Hannah and they had a great time swinging together.

Activity Center

When we got out the activity center for Soren we realized Olive was big enough to do it, too!  She can really only spin the blue/yellow/green wheels, but she enjoys sitting in it and looking at all of the toys.

Olive Stats- 3 Months

Olive is about 13 pounds and 25 inches long.  She has rolled over from tummy to back and likes to put weight on her legs when you hold her up.  Most nights she sleeps 7-8 hours straight, wakes up to eat, and then sleeps another 2 hours.  Then she has a big morning nap, a big afternoon nap, and a shorter evening nap which gives her a total of about 15 hours.  She likes to be around people and gives lots of smiles when someone  talks or sings to her.  She has also just discovered her hands, so part of her day is spent staring at them.  It was pretty difficult to get her to look to take her picture...

Trike Rider

Hannah learned to ride her tricycle on the 4th of July, and it has been one of her favorite things to do since then.  She was very excited to go to the bike store that weekend and pick out a helmet.  Steve made her a race course around the driveway with chalk.  She wanted him to bike with her...with his helmet on of course.