Avocago

Back in September (yes I'm still backlogged to September) I went to visit two of my dear cousins who live in the Chicago area for a week. J spent the weekdays with her grandma and I took M with me. J pronounces the city as Avocago and I think it's pretty much adorable

M only cried for about 20 minutes of each flight as was pretty good for the rest. We spent the first half of the week with Joe and Lianna and their sweet daughter Korrali who is just two weeks older than M. I'm kicking myself for not getting any pics with all of us. How did we let that happen Joe? Disappointing. It's probably because we had so much fun snapping pictures of the babies. I mean, look at these two!

They were even holding hands!

We had to get a close up of Korrali and her gorgeous 1/4 Chinese face.

I was expecting to have it feel like a bit of a heaven having just one babe, but I was surprised to find I spent about the same # of hours each day on childcare. Typically one child was just getting neglected at any given moment. It was also a bummer that my little man wouldn't sleep unless I was next to him so I didn't get my typically 2 to 3 hours in the evening without him. Although, like they say, a change is as good as a rest.

We met up with my cousin Katie and her youngest Eli at the Morris Arboretum.

Eli is actually about the same age as J.

I've always admired Katie because she just manages to exude a love for whomever she is with. I noticed it even as a young kid and felt so special every time she talked to me. I liked looking through these pictures because you can see some of it with her son.

M spent a significant portion of the outing like this.

So I had more fun taking pictures of the fun scarecrows for the contest they were hosting.

Eli loved the minions

My pacifier-hating child decided he liked the particular brand his cousin had. I tried 4 other types previously and determined he just didn't like objects. He showed me.

He also showed me in no uncertain terms that he was happier pushing the stroller.

Part of the fun of having three of us was actually getting to be in pictures instead of taking them.

The children's garden was fantastic and I wished J could have been there to experience it. I snapped pictures of the telescope and wading pond, but didn't get any of the fantastic winding paths, rope bridges and play structures. Eli enjoyed them all.

After such a fun day, M was happy to stay asleep long enough for me to slip away and even snap a picture.  Babies are always so sweet when they are sleeping.

Phoenix Zoo

We found a culture pass for the zoo and invited our friends the Coopers. It's funny, the Coopers are probably our best couple friends, the kind you don't apologize for a dirty house or dinner that is 45 minutes later than you planned. Yet I don't think they have ever been featured on the blog before. Probably because most of our adventures are centered around eating amazing food and when there is food abounding, you better believe I put down the camera. Anyways, we invited them to join us in the ridiculous September heat for some fun looking at animals and playing in the splash pad.

"Look! Fameegos!"

And orangutans

And elephants

Since we have documented the animals sufficiently before (J looks so much bigger than she did in January), I mostly snapped pictures of the kids at the splash pad.

This tunnel leads to a phenomenal cave full of stalagmites and you would never know unless you had to chase after your children.

They had fun running around with abandon.

Another entrance to the cave

Jake started crawling in the water so J followed.

Then it sort of became the thing to do. Made me think of elephants :)

M was just kickin' it in his surprisingly coordinating outfit.

The position of the water on this one made me laugh so I had to include it.

I'm not sure what started it, a desire to do a headstand or trying to get their hair wet. The world will never know.

They also enjoyed this owl nest, but their coloring looked scary so it got the B&W treatment.

Jake's face also got a little chocolate granola bar treatment.

We were disappointed that the Komodo dragon wasn't there. Thankfully a scorching metal one was available.

In effort to get the most out of our completely free admission (two adults and 4 babies, all for free!) we went to the Fischer Price playground exhibit and petting zoo, even though we should have probably headed home. 

There is something eerie about the toys this size. It's just weird. It was also followed by the mother of all meltdowns, not limited to both kids crying, loss of shoe wearing privileges, and the tightest stroller straps possible.  Unfortunately the exit was a mile away at that point so the photos stopped at the playground.

Overall, it was a great day. The half hour ride home without the beloved and forgotten blanky didn't add to it, but the fun still outweighed the bad.

Canoeing

Big Sis got a canoe for her birthday. She called after work and asked if it would be too crazy to head out canoeing that evening.

Normally I'm the one who thinks everything is just too much work and I need Big Sis to convince me it will be worth the adventure.

This time, I was the one saying that it wasn't a big deal. The tables had turned. The first snag was the time of day. It wouldn't take that long to throw the canoe in the back of the truck, grab some dinner and head out to the water, plus the sun doesn't set until 7:30pm in the summer so we decided to go for it. (This was actually an August adventure)

Of course this is the afternoon the truck finally made it into the shop. No worries though, we're committed! So we borrow the truck at Grandpa's. This only put us behind a schedule 45minutes. Then we have to snag the permit. And then and then and then. We finally make it out onto the water and it was so worth it.

I hung out with the babies on the shore

It was beautiful!

 After they came back, things started to go downhill. The children were all past the point of being reasonable and we were trying to get everything packed back into the truck. The tie downs had come apart and I put it back in the wrong way. I spent the next 20 minutes trying to get a ridiculous mess of webbing knot undone with only the dome light from the cab. The kids are strapped in a freaking out because they are tired and scared of the bugs that keep coming in. They were crying and fearfully shrieking "BUTTERFLIES!" at the moths, now stuck in the cab since we kept the door open for the light.

The reasonable part of my brain found the name for their terror amusing. The part of me that was tired and ready to go and annoyed at myself for screwing up and ready to swear at the stupid webbing, drowned out that amusement and focused on not screaming, "Pull yourself together and stop shrieking like wild dogs are attacking you!"

Eventually we got it all figured out and headed home. The crying hadn't stopped though so in an effort to calm all of us down, Big Sis starts singing If You Are Happy And You Know It. I join in, mostly to let go of the desire to throttle all children. The crying from the back seats doesn't stop, but underneath it all one can hear the quietest *clap clap* We turn around and J has the ultimate face of tragedy, complete with a rainbow-shaped mouth and tear-streaked dirt tracks. But she also has the most perfect, tiny hands coming together in a pat-pat only a toddler can make, signaling she is indeed happy and she does know it despite every evidence of the contrary.

The juxtaposition made Big Sis and I start laughing uncontrollably. You know the laugh, the uncontrollable laugh of someone who has no emotional reserve left, who has no alternative but to laugh or to cry. Happenstance pushed us from the precipice into laughter instead of tears.

Thank goodness it did.

The frustration is forgotten, the stress is gone. When I look at the pictures, what I remember is the peace of the water and the hilarious pat-pat.

That is why we go on adventures when they aren't worth the work or energy if you think it through all the logistics. You just have to go for it because after the terrible fades away, you only remember that you were happy. And you know it. *pat pat*

Making Pizza

Someone kept pilfering pieces of dough.

 Any guess who?

Then she decided to remove the sink from her toy kitchen and hide inside. The hiding wasn't very successful because she kept yelling, "Look at me!"

Exersaucer Child #2

I think he likes the jumperoo better, but this is still acceptable. Like his sister, the tall toy in the center is the favorite.

First Taste of Rice Cereal

 He liked it, just couldn't quite get the swallowing deal down so he used the bib to get a little suction.

And because I can't help but compare the two of them, here is J at the same milestone.

I love these bald babies!