July 28

Busy we are indeed, however, I have found time to sit down, relax (not really), and write an update nevertheless. Today was fun filled - we signed Delaney up for a class at the Children's Museum about Healthy Bodies. The class was pretty much a waste of $10, but she didn't see that - only the teacher in me did :-) Matt took Carson and did some museum exploring - they went to all of the places I've never taken the kids before - to splash in the Scienceworks water (all of it, even Carson admitted he was soaked), to see the Dale Chihuly garden, and to the Passport to the World (which Matt says Carson wasn't very fond of). Delaney and I played in the Health House, decorated a Kleenex box, made a healthy collage (q-tips, cotton balls, bandaids, stickers of happy faces), and used the doctor kit to check each other out. It was quite fun. We met back up at 11:15 and went to ride the carousel. It was a nice morning!!

This week has been great, crazy, tiring, and fast! Matt and I went out for our anniversary on Sunday evening and Shannon and Aaron took the kids to Aaron's parent's pool. They got to eat McDonalds and pee outside - yes, that is all I've heard about!! Monday we played in the backyard b/c our play date plans were cancelled b/c of a sick baby (not in our house). Then, my parents had the kiddos Tuesday night while Matt and I went to see Jimmy Buffett here - FUN!!!! Matt took Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday off work, so we took the kids to the library and to play at a park on Wednesday. On Thursday we went to the mall and a big pet store, the kids were HILARIOUS jumping from fish to hamster to bird and squealing with delight over each one. We had high hopes of going to the zoo, but it rained like CRAZY during the night and we decided we didn't want to be wet and gross all day. Thursday night we went to see Buffett in Cinci with Shannon, Aaron, Teri, and Jeff - FUN again!!!! Then, Friday morning my mom got up with the kids (she had spent the night on our couch) and we slept until a little after 9 -wow!!! Then we all got cleaned up and went to a China Buffet for lunch. That has been our week (in a nutshell).

Gretchen

PS To all of Matt's family, does the picture of Carson remind you of anyone?!?

Update, July 21

Since I did just send an update on Monday, this one won't be as long as you all are used to. However, it is only fair that Matt gets pictures of himself sent out close to his birthday. We used the time while he was at work to make him brownies for his birthday treat. Enjoy the picture of the kids during this process - hilarious!!!! They were very into making them special for daddy, so they picked through all of the mini M&Ms in our house to find all of the oranges and blues (lesson there - don't eat any mini M&Ms from our house b/c they have all been touched by the kids now). We iced the brownies with orange icing and then sprinkled the M&Ms on them. The kids liked to stick their M&Ms on so that they got icing on their fingers which then, of course, had to be licked off!! It was so much fun to do this for him this year b/c they were very into surprising him with the treat and the gifts. I took them to Kohl's and let them each pick out a shirt for him. Then they got to wrap it up in tissue paper and stick it in a bag for him. They were so proud of themselves.

Matt's dad surprised him by planting a new bat in his bat bag. Matt had a game at 10:30pm on his birthday, so I asked my dad to come sit in the house and listen to the kids sleep so I could go take pictures. Matt didn't even notice that it wasn't his usual bat until someone else pointed it out. In his defense, it was white just like his old one, but still, it was in plastic, come on buddy!!! He was very surprised and excited and had a few good hits with it during the game.

Tomorrow is our anniversary so the kids will be spending some quality time with Aunt Shannon and Uncle Aaron. Then we are off to two Jimmy Buffett concerts (one Tuesday and one Thursday), so they will get some quality time with Grammy and Grampy (my parents) this week too...lucky kids AND lucky parents!!

Love to you all,
Gretchen

Update, July

Okay, I have been a slacker. I have no excuse except it's summer!! We have been having so much fun I haven't even had a chance to sit down and type an update. But, I thought our doctor's appt last week deserved one!! Delaney weighed in at 29lbs 8 oz and was 35 1/2 inches tall. Carson weighed in at 29lbs 13 oz and was 36 inches tall. I think their heights are reversed b/c I think she is 1/2 inch taller than him, but that is how they wrote them down for me. Carson was in the 75th to 90th percentile for both height and weight and Delaney was in 10th to 25th for height and 25th to 50th for weight. They DEFINITELY do look like twins, although getting asked that question once during every outing does get annoying!!



We had an exciting 4th of July week. We took the kids to the Beech Grove fireworks on the 3rd with Aunt Shannon and Uncle Aaron. They did great!! We bought them popcorn from a vendor when we first got there and they sat and munched on it until a few minutes before the fireworks started. Carson fell asleep about 2 minutes into them and was only startled a few times, but quickly went right back to sleep. Delaney was too in awe to sleep, but she did sleep the whole way home (all of 10 minutes). They were so great that night that we decided to take them downtown after we spent the evening at my parent's house, but, a little rain made us decide not to brave that, probably a good idea b/c they ended up not starting until 10:30...yikes!!! On Friday (the 6th) we went to Madison to see the Regatta parade. Luckily our family has great connections and we watched in front of an air conditioned shop that we could escape to when the heat was too unbearable. The kids had more fun parading through the shop (with Grandpa Bub in tow) going back and forth between the food in the back room and the parade on the street. After the parade we (Matt and I) walked along the river while Grandpa Bub chased the kids up and down the street. It was very nice to visit with all of the family for the evening and to let the kids experience Regatta. We think a hotel room may be necessary for next year so that we can take in all of the events of the weekend. We drove home that night with 2 sleeping beauties!

That pretty much catches you up on our life - lots of parks, picnics, swimming in the baby pool, and walks have also consumed our time. We love to be outside, so the lack of rain has been welcomed in our house; not welcomed by our grass that is prickly, but that's okay...we have shoes!!

I'll try to be better with these updates.....

Love to you all!
Gretchen