Some Fun At the Children's Museum

Time to Play!

Now that we have our Fridays free we try and get out of the house a little more often.  Of course there is always shopping to do, but a few times a month we also try to do something a bit more exciting.  One of our adventures this month was to the Phoenix Children's Museum.  It was a very cool place that both kids loved and we will definitely be heading back there again!  It is strange to say, but this is one of those great places to visit in the summer when you don't want to be out in the heat all day.  In most states this would be a wonderful winter activity.  Arizona is definitely different! 

The museum is an old school building that has been converted.  It offers all sorts of different activities in each of its themed rooms.

Place for Under Threes

This room was definitely our favorite!  It had all sorts of areas for both kids to play, crawl, and explore.  It also kept them contained which was a BIG help.

Brayden had fun setting the table with plates and bowls while Larkin was busy at the sink.

 Making something yummy for dinner!

 The sensory station to explore different sounds and textures.

 Larkin checking out the bridges and walkways.  The theme of this room was also doorknobs,

so at the top of each rail there were different knobs to play with.

 Made it across the bridge!

Brayden loved pushing the ball through the rungs and also chasing after it.

 Climbing around in the sensory center.

 He decided to take a break from chasing that ball.

The Texture Cafe

This was so much better than playing kitchen at home.  This was a whole restaurant complete with buffet, chefs kitchen, and wood stove. 

Larkin making some lunch at the buffet and Brayden running away with a rolling pin.

 Check out my yummy meal!

Back in the kitchen to make a little dessert.

Outside of the cafe was an ice cream stand and table area to enjoy that yummy treat.  Of course the ice cream cone was just foam board rolled up and the ice cream was a foam ball, but they sure made it look real.  This was the place Larkin kept wanting to stop back by.

Noodle Forest

 What a fun place to crawl, walk, or run through.

The Market

Here you could pick your favorite foods, weigh your items, and even scan your stuff at the checkout.

 The perfect sized shopping cart.

 Weighing some beans.

Art Studio

This room had a variety of activities for kids to do. 

Larkin especially enjoyed painting and playing with play-dough.

 Larkin is painting the ever changing castle!

 Having some fun at the play-dough station.

Building Big

Also known as the giant fort room. 

Here you could build your own fort or help add on to the giant fort in the center of the room.

 Larkin sizing up the room.

 Brayden having fun with some of the headboards and knobs around the room.

Pedal Power

Here they had a variety of trikes and bikes for kids to try out. 

It was complete with a trike wash that kids could pedal through!

 Here Larkin couldn't figure out why Brayden couldn't pedal her around while she relaxed in the backseat.  He actually did a pretty good job of walking her around the room!

And we are back...

We had to finish our afternoon with one last playtime in the little kids' room. 

What a great afternoon we had!

Into Everything

Into Everything!

Our little Brayden is definitely developing quite the personality!  He is into EVERYTHING these days.  His favorite activities are climbing, crawling, chewing, standing, and more climbing. 

Right now Brayden has 5 new teeth coming in so he is chewing on anything and everything. 

He already has his top 4 teeth and bottom 2 front teeth.

 Showing off some of his chompers!

 Not sure how that is comfortable, but Brayden loves his nap time

 with his favorite elephant stuffed animals. 

He is still taking two naps a day which we hope will last a while.

Climbing is another favorite activity.  Here he is under the pool table. 

Shortly after this picture was taken he also discovered how to climb on top of the pool table. 

He is quite the little monkey!

Relaxing with a good book.

 Practicing our standing outside.

Standing on my own! 

Brayden now takes one step and then laughs, drops to the floor and crawls away. 

What a sweet little brother!

The Tutu

The Tutu!

Starting about last November "The Tutu" became a staple in our everyday apparel.  Evidently a purple tutu goes with everything...winter clothes, pajamas, things to wear to the doctor, zoo, grocery store, or anywhere else you may want to go.  And, if on some rare occasion, we do get her to not wear the tutu it still is brought along wherever we go.  It used to only be worn with the velvety shirt that went with it, but now she has branched out to wearing it with pajama pants, regular pants, other dress up clothes, and any shirt that she feels matches.  I guess we should be happy she is dressing herself and feels so strongly about something.  Here are some of Larkin's choices in attire lately.

The Tutu!

 It goes great with Dora the Explorer underwear!

 It goes great with any KSU shirt!

 It is great when you are on the run from your crazy looking fort.

 It even goes great with your Cat Woman sunglasses.

Finally, it is the perfect thing to wear with your aluminum foil crown!

On the rare occasion that Larkin is not in the tutu, you can find her in her apron and cape...

or dressed up in her Ariel dress.  Don't worry the tutu is under the dress.

We definitely love our little Larkin Lou!

Super Siblings

 Super Siblings!

We have been so lucky with how well our kids get along.  Brayden absolutely adores his big sister and for the most part she thinks he is the greatest too!  Larkin makes sure to always get Brayden something to play with (although sometimes it is just so she can take another toy away from him that she wants), she follows him up the stairs to make sure he doesn't fall, she gets him snacks and diapers, and she always tries to make him laugh when he is sad. 

When we took Brayden for his one year check up Larkin was very protective of her little brother.  She pretty much just stared at the doctor the entire time he was examining Bray and would only give a smile and a high five to the doc once he was done and Brayden was fine.  Then the nurse came in to give him his shots, and of course he started crying, so Larkin got up in a chair next to Brayden and started singing to him.  The nurse said it was the sweetest thing she had ever seen.  Sure hope this lasts!

Another afternoon at the zoo.

 This time we had to make sure and see the giraffes first, since they are always asleep!

 Cuddle time!

 Mommy's birthday bash. 

Of course we had our celebration in our pjs which was the best!!!!

Check out the yummy cake that Larkin and Daddy made. 

Larkin loves to bake, especially since we watch Cake Boss every week!

Dance Class Time

It's Dance Time!

If you know our little Larkin Lou you know that she is a dancing fool!  After the excitement of the holidays were over Larkin had only one thing on her mind...time to start dance class.  We had to wait until she was 2 1/2 to start so we figured the beginning of the year would be perfect.  Larkin is having so much fun in dance class with her teacher, Miss Carlee, and her good buddy Rylee. 

Picture 7-10 two and three year olds all in tutus and full of energy.  You would think this class would be crazy, but Miss Carlee is great with them.  Larkin has learned first position, is practicing her posture and leaps, and is working on her coordination (which she definitely needs to).  It is also nice that parents are not allowed in the room and so she has to pay attention to her teacher.  She takes that VERY seriously.  Except for the occasional potty break for one child, which reminds them that they ALL need to go, the hour long class goes pretty smoothly.  They are even learning a dance for their recital in June.  The little girls are dressing up like Little Red Riding Hood and Miss Carlee will be the Big Bad Wolf.  Can't wait to see how this turns out!  Here are a few pictures of Larkin showing off her dance moves and new dance attire.

2010- A Look Back

So 2010 has come and gone.  What a great year!  2010 brought us a beautiful baby boy, Brayden.  It provided us the opportunity to have friends and family come and visit our warm and sunny state.  In addition we were lucky enough to head back to Kansas, California, and Vermont to spend time with some of our favorite people as well as a little family vacation to Las Vegas.  It was a wonderful year getting to know our little boy and watching our little girl turn into a wonderful, creative, hilarous 2 year old.  They are right, time sure does fly, especially with kids around.  Our little ones have brought much joy, laughter, giggles, a few tears, and lots of patience into our lives!  2010 also gave me the wonderful gift of taking some time off from teaching and getting to stay at home with my children.  I have truly enjoyed every day I have spent at home with them.  I do have to mention that most days I am also watching another 2 year old and a 9 month old which keeps things a little bit hectic at home, but always entertaining!  Shaun has been working plenty hard, as usual, but manages to find lots of quality family time as well.  I am not sure how he does it, but we are grateful.  In 2010, he was named Engineer of the Year from ccrd, was named Top 40 Under 40 by Consulting Specifying Engineer magazine (check it out), and saw the Phoenix Children's Hospital finally near its initail stage of completion (PCH expansion).  He ended the year by being promoted to Associate Principal.  We are very proud of him!  We hope you and your loved ones had a great year too and that the new year will continue to bring everyone much love and happiness.