running naked...

The kids love to run around naked. They love to be free. They do all sorts of things naked that they would also do with clothes on! They garden with the shovels and dirt, water, play with their babies and strollers, hammer on the house, kick balls or play volleyball, watch the butterflies fly in and out of the garden, listen to the birds sing... They don't notice that they are naked until we remind them that they should put some clothes on before they go out front or to the garage.

Hannah's party

Today we celebrated Hannah's second birthday at home with our family and friends! We got everything ready, put up decorations together and Nanny brought balloons. She was so happy to have everyone over for HER birthday, and she knew that everyone was there for her! She had fun running around with Benjamin, , cousins Marissa and Levi, her friend Connor, and neighbor Ryan. Grandpa brought them a motorized Jeep and they cruised around in it all afternoon. She got lots of presents too~lots and lots of clothes! Perfect for a little girl. As she opened each gift, she would dance around the patio and say what she got. So cute!

Hannah is 2

Today is Hannah's birthday. Now she is 2. She is so happy to be 2. We went to the zoo today and saw lots of animals. We went to the petting zoo and she was terrified of the goats just walking around freely. Benjamin was pretty comfortable until the last one head-butted his hand and scared him half to death. He was pretty crushed after that. We found the snakes and then everything was OK again. We went on the sky ride...boy that is a hit! They would've gone on it over and over again if there weren't any animals to distract them! Corey met us there for lunch and a little animal viewing. Next time we have to see the monkeys, 'cause we missed them today!

This afternoon Granny came to visit with a present...Silly Parts Elmo, she loves it! She wanted to sleep with it but he is too hard, so we put him in another bed. After dinner we went to Cold Stone for a little birthday ice cream with sprinkles, yum!

Her birthday party will be celebrated on Saturday with most of her family and friends.

the alligator...

We went to Kaiser to visit Grandpa in the hospital today. He had surgery on his foot today so we were going for a visit to see how he was doing. We were walking around looking for the right elevator (hospitals always have several of them taking you to different parts of the hospital), and Benjamin and Hannah were looking for it also. As we walked down the corridor Hannah said "Mommy, there's no alligator around here!" We thought it was cute!

Markers...

This morning I got busy in the kitchen for a few minutes while the kids watched one of their favorite shows on TV. They are usually glued to the TV in the morning, maybe it helps them ease into the morning and wake up. Well this morning was a little different. We were going to go to a playgroup at the park at 10 so we had to eat breakfast and get dressed to go.

So when I was done in the kitchen I found that they weren't watching TV anymore (it had only been 10 minutes) so I went looking for them. I found them on our bed with 2 markers...marking up the bed sheets, pillowcases, walls and themselves! The markers (purple and brown) was all over the place! Benjamin was saying "Hannah this is a triangle and it's for you. This is a rectangle and that's for me." In the 10 minutes they decided not only to re-decorate the bedroom, but themselves as well! They had drawn all over their faces (like indian-warrior paint) and arms, legs, hand and even the bottoms of their feet! Even though I freaked out...everything came out in the wash!

Bike trailer...

Yesterday we got a bike trailer. We have been talking about getting one for a long time and we finally got one. It is really easy to hook up to my bike and go. Until we got it, Hannah would not let us get one foot close to her with a bike helmet...but now she knows that she needs to wear one if she wants a ride! Since yesterday, life has been all about the bike trailer. They want to take a ride in it all the time! We are so happy because if they hated it...what a bad investment it would've been! But they do like it and now we can all go for a ride together!

Video...

Hannah and Benjamin like to watch TV. They have a small collection of musical videos that they watch. When they get their video time they have to take turns picking one out and they always remember who's turn it is to pick one out. When Hannah feels like watching something she says "I want to watch a movie-o" (a combination of video and movie!) Funny, I thought I share!

Tent...

Yesterday Nanny gave Benjamin and Hannah a tent for our house so we had to put it together today. They had fun jumping in and out of it while we worked in the back yard. Benjamin wasn't interested in putting his sleeping bag or any other stuffed animals in it though. They just jumped in and out for a long time. We're thinking that it would be fun to camp out in the back yard some day!

Swimming...

Today Benjamin and Hannah went to Nanny's house for a couple of hours. They LOVE to go over there and play with her. Today they went swimming at her pool. Benjamin is a fish at heart and just jumps right in. He is actually diving in and landing on his belly...only a matter of a couple months and he'll be swimming! Hannah was not into it today. She was much more interested in picking leaves up and throwing them into the pool. Then Nanny would have to fish them out for her. I think she'll like it better as it gets warmer and we go swimming more often.