Are You Ready Some...

Cuddle Time!

Rain, Rain, and More Rain

Well this week is "bring a friend for free" week at Great America, but unfortunately the weather has not cooperated with us. Wednesday, we were all set to take our Papa with us and show him all of our favorite places, but it was too rainy and cold for that matter! Then, we had plans to take our dear friends Liz, Lauren and Ryan as well as Papa on Friday to do a tailgate lunch and then play all day at the park, but once again it didn't happen, more rain ruined our day. What a bummer of a week, at least we were able to enjoy a nice swim day with everyone on Tuesday!

Sticks and Stones May...

Be EATEN!!!

Nana found a very yummy recipe called Sticks and Stones! First, we mixed some things together in a glass bowl and then popped it in the microwave to melt the butter. Then, we poured some stones (oatmeal squares) and sticks (pretzels) on a cookie sheet. When the butter was melted, we Nana helped us pour the mixture of butter, cinnamon and brown sugar over the "sticks and stones." Oh, we almost forgot to mention, that we also added some almonds to one side of the cookie sheet. After, we gently mixed the sticks and stones with the butter mixture, Nana placed the cookie sheet into the oven. Every ten minutes, Nana had to check on the "sticks and stones" to make sure that they weren't burning.

About 30 minutes later, our treat was ready to eat!

We highly recommend this simple, satisfying, fun to bake treat!

It a snack that everyone will enjoy eating and it also makes your house smell so yummy!!!

Thanks Nana for sharing this fun treat with us!

It's a Bird, It's a Plane, no it's a...

Hot Air Balloon!!!

We had a surprise flyover of three hot airballoons. James and Daddy jumped in the car to go watch them land in the park near our house.

The balloons actually touched down at the park for a second and then found out there was a better place to land at a near by preserve.
Daddy said James got to touch the balloon and the basket. Also, one of the "balloon driviers" gathered a bunch of kids, James included and told them to look up directly insided the inflated balloon to see how big is was inside and then with out warning, blasted the flames and scared everyone! Apparently, he made everyone really jump!

Day 1 at Six Flags

Beep! Here I come!
"The Choo-Choo is comin'! The Choo-Choo is comin'!"

Our buddy, Joshers was so tuckered out that he fell asleep in his stroller after Bugs Bunny Land. He played really hard in the Wiggles World. So, after we said our goodbyes to Heather and Joshua, we decided we had to make just a couple more stops before we called it a day.

The carousel is the first thing you see when you arrive at Six Flags and for some reason it usually is the last thing we get to ride on before we leave, crazy huh?

James asked so nicely if we could ride just one more ride, the Sky Trek and since it is very manageable ride for Mommy to take us two little ones one all by herself, she said "Why not?!"

Even though our Six Flags plans were slightly changed (we planned on spending our time at the water park, but for some reason it was closed =( ), we had another wonderful day playing in the sun with our dear friends!

We will be heading back on Wednesday to share the day at Six Flags with Papa! We can't wait!!!

Grandma Miller's Birthday and Housewarming Party

We finally had the chance to see Auntie Annie's house. It is very cute and it has a very nice front porch. Daddy and Crazy Auntie Rita pose for a picture.

More James and Amelia in Chalk

This time Allyson used dirt to make the color of our eyes and James' hair. Good thinkin'!

Mommy, Look at Me!

Amelia has been expressing her wants with the cutest little voice by saying,

"Mommy, look at dis!" or

"Mama, watch dis!" or

"Mom-mY, look at me!!!"

She sure was proud of her "choo-choo" train of blocks that she made across the livingroom floor.

"Nice job, Baby Girl! Mama is very proud of you!"

Hangin' with the B-Family!

This afternoon, April, Brooke and baby Cody joined us for a playdate and a taco lunch. We played and played and PLAYED all over the house!
Amelia was fascinated by Baby Cody. She really loves this little guy!

Thanks for hangin' out with us today!

A Thrift Store Find

Hullabaloo!

Mommy and Heather had a to fill the need of rummaging through gently used stuff at the Community Thrift Store on Monday night. Well, Mommy found a gem! This is a game by the makers of Cranium, called Hullabaloo. She got this practically brand new game (box wasn't in the best shape, but everything else was like new) for a whopping $1.63!!! Yes, folks this game was a steal!

We love playing with it. The game is basically like a Simon Says type of game, but you place those different colored shapes with an assortment of pictures on them all over the floor. Then, place the speaker game piece on the floor and press the big button and wait to hear what wacky direction is given. This a silly game and we give it two thumbs up!

*In the picture we had to find a square and place our heads on it!*

Santa Fe Chicken, Anyone?

Dump a can of black beans (rinsed), a can of corn (drained) and a cup of salsa in to a bowl.
Now, stir it up!
Heather introduced us to this yummy recipe and it is so delicious!

Hangin' with the Family

Today, we had some special dinner guests, Auntie Rita, Uncle JP, Papa Bob and Nana came over to spend the afternoon/evening with us.
Who's feet are you holding, Daddy?

Uncle JP and Amelia are just waiting their turn to play some Wii Bowling.

"Cheese!"

Thanks everyone for coming over! We really need to do this more often!

A New Ride!

"Yaba-Daba-Do!!"

"Vroom!!!!"

This is one of the few "kiddie" rides that we have yet to try out at Great America and we are glad we did, these cars go fast!

"Hey, James! What are you waiting for??"

Ah, to take a spin on the old fashion cars!

(Yes, there was a bit of a traffic jam due to a car stalling out, but soon it was fixed and we were all on our way again!)

Independence Beach

Today, Nana took us to the Independence Grove Beach. It was a perfect day to play in the sand and water!First, we built a little sand castle, and then Amelia immediately smashed it with her foot!

Then, we played in the water and sand at the same time!

James had a blast swimming, running and splashing in the water! He was quite the little swimmer out there!

After we spent time playing at the beach, our tummies started to growl. So, we headed for the locker rooms to do a quick change and headed back to the car.

Along the way, there were some steps that lead down to the water. So, of course we had to investigate the rocks with the flowing seaweed attached and then all of a sudden there were tons of fish staring right at us!!!
There were tons of little fish and a handful of huge catfish just waiting for us to throw them some food. I quickly searched for some crackers to toss into the water, but the only thing I had was a granola bar, and let me tell you those fish love granola!We had another wonderful day with Nana. Thanks for taking us to such a neat place and of course our "Old"McDonald's lunch. We can't wait to go back and explore the awesome Child's Grove Park, it looks like we could spend an entire afternoon just playing in there!

Um...Amelia?

"What is that on your FACE!?!"

*Mom Note* Please rest assure, I do not beat my child! She actually got into a red ink pad that was being used for her b-day invitations and proceeded to smear it all over her face and then poked her fingers all over the pad!

Thankfully, everything came right out with just water!

Softball Practice

Tonight, Daddy had softball practice at a local park. It was really neat to see him hit the ball really far and later on catch some high flying balls.

"Good hit, Daddy!"

Now, we did say that his practice was at a local park, and this a one neat park! We call it the "Circus Park."

Branden and Kaleigh played with us at the park too!

(Their Daddy is the captain of the softball team.)

"Hold on tight!"
When the practice was over, we decided to check out the infield. I guess you can't even call us "Daisy Pickers!"

First game, next Tuesday night...stay tuned...

It's Harvest Time!

Here is a snap shot of our latest picking!

(some veggies pictured are from Heather crop!)

I'm Going to GET YOU!!!

"Watch out!"
"Gotch-ya!"

We had a wonderful time swimming and enjoyed a yummy hotdog lunch with Papa, Uncle Jim and Aunt Jill. Oh, and Stella too!

(Swim day was cancelled due to a Hand, Foot and Mouth scare, we may have or may not have actually had it last week)

Washin' Dishes

Today, Amelia was a fantastic little helper in the kitchen. She asked to help wash some of the dishes that were set aside in the sink.
"Nice job, Amelia!
Thanks for all of your help!"
Now, we need a dish towel to dry them all!

Got DIRT?

Fear not, this is actually "dirt cake" that Heather made specially for our "Swim Day" and boy, it was sure yummy!
Thanks Heather for introducing the Hammy kiddos to such a delicious treat!