Plain and simple... Yay for summer and the glorious heat that comes with it!

Goal: To spend time outside everysingle day this summer. 

Difficulty: None.  Success rate so far: 100%!

Just look at those 3 precious girls we have been blessed with.  Simply incredible.

The above picture captures all 3 girls personalities perfectly.  Hannah thrilled that she is holding both sisters at the same time, independently, AND getting ready to go down the slide....  Aspen NOT thrilled to be the middle child and smooshed yet again to try and capture a picture of all three....  and finally Brooke just excited about life and trying to clap her chubby little hands even though she has no idea what is going on or about the fact that she is in the most ackward position and will be the first to go if the train links break!

LOVE IT!

Hannah loving life!

Brooke consistantly climbs 3/4 of the way up the slide, lets go and slides back down on her belly!  Aspen is beginning to follow close behind!

Cutie :)

Not a difficult task at all when you have such happy girls!  Hope you're enjoying the sun as much as we are.  If you need a place to soak it in, stop on by!

A day at the beach

 Well it is a fact that it is hard to beat the heat here in Idaho without some source of water.  Today we decided to intake of it at the beach! 

 The twins were thrilled intaking all of their new surroundings and did not complain once about their lifejackets!  There was just too much going on for them to even care!

 The sun was hot and the temp of the water was perfect.  Even Sadie was enjoying herself.

 Swimming beauty

 The twins have caught on quickly that the way to Sadies heart is with a ball.  Brooke and Sadie became very close friends today!

Just can't get enough of Aspens sweet chubby cheeks!  Don't you want to just squeeze them! 

 Sand castles are a HUGE hit this summer.... little sisters who smash them are not.

 Brooke was hilarious!  She wasn't too sure of the sand so she crawled/walked around on all fours most of the time!

 Yes... yes... two are definitely more difficult than one.  It never fails, you save one's life just to look over and see the other one is about to dive head first off of the other side.  Oh goodness.... sigh.

 Exhausted is the only way to describe each and every one of us at the end of the day.

Sweet dreams little ones.

Zoo Days

So the warm, beautiful, and gorgeous weather we have been waiting for is finally here!  Today we decided to go to the zoo and enjoy Boise!

Aspen and Brooke loved just playing in the park, they are still a little young to enjoy the zoo as much as Hannah.  They spent their time chasing each other (and their big sister) through the grass and playing in as much dirt as they could find.  It was cute to see 1 yr olds with their finger nails full of dirt!

We should have just spent the night in the park since I don't think it was worth the fight to get the girls back into their carseats BEFORE they were done having fun!  :)

A monkey posing with a monkey!

Nap time at the zoo was both non-existant and tiring as we carried the girls a lot!  Timing is everything!

Yep they let children drive.  ;)

This is a picture of one VERY thrilled and happy little girl.  She is now qualified by both the zoo and Mom to ride the merry-go-round solo!  This is Hannah's favorite thing at the zoo and she couldn't be more proud to be able to ride alone.  (This also helps me when I take the girls alone because I get sick on the merry-go-round which means I don't ride it!)

Today was also a first for the twins as they got to ride a merry-go-round for their very first time!  I could hardly contain the two in their stroller as they watched their big sister so Grandma agreed to brave taking two babies at once and they LOVED it!

They have a new exhibit allowing you to feed some goats and sheep! (They sell approx 8 pieces of food for a quarter but they tell you where your quarter is going so you should feel good about it! Ha!)  Hannah enjoyed this area as well! 

Aspen was a huge fan too (she is an animal lover just like Hannah) but as you can see instinct told her to keep her toes close and away from the goat!

We all had a great day and Grandma even braved wrestling a Komodo dragon to the ground!  Anything to protect her babies! ;)

A couple of cute videos

So Grandma found this cheesy dance video game at a garage sale for $0.10 or something ridiculous and the girls love it!  The twins have been "official" dancers for about 3 1/2 weeks now and here are some of their moves....

(This one is especially funny in the end because Brooke gets so excited that she falls over!  What cuties!)

Outstanding Dad

So many milestones coming so fast!

 We definitely have some climbers on our hands.  And what better thing to climb on than the gift Aunt Lis sent them!  And as we approach 1yr and 20lbs so quickly...  Front facing car seats are in our immediate future!  Yay!

 If you haven't noticed a trend yet, outside and popscicles go together and are part of our daily routine!

 Only slightly dangerous, but Hannah only rides her horse while standing!  It's more fun that way!

 Our big helper!  Or John's big helper I should say!  Hannah is always facinated by John's shaving/trimming of his face and this time he let her help!  What a brave Daddy!

 Absolutely thrilled!

 As we begin/continue the upgrades to our backyard Hannah has found hours of fun in the random dirt pile...

 ..and yes she is very aware if you add water you get mud!  :)

 Evidence that she can't deny!  Hannah's hand is the only one that fits this print!

Here the twins are following their 1yr check up at the Pediatricians office.  Visit went well, 12mo shots... not so much.  Aspen was easily distracted by Grandma Pats cell phone but Brooke would have none of it.  She was mad and wanted us to know it!  

Another First Birthday Success!

As you can tell the girls had a blast today!  There was very little hesitation when it came to diving in face first to their cakes!  Will post more pictures soon since all of us are ready for bed after such a fun day!  Still can't believe the twins have turned one!

There is nothing better than an all access pass to cake when you're one!

Quickly approaching the twins first birthday and time only seems to go faster!

On June 8, 2010 we will be celebrating the twins first year of life!  That's right.... they made it and we survived it! :)  This last year has brought nothing but challenges, joy, tears, and fun.  We have loved EVERY moment of it....  but phew, I sure am tired.  Really hoping this next year brings sleep!

Thought I'd share a few picks from dinnertime at our house.  It is nothing short of messy anymore and sometimes we just embrace the moment instead of worrying about stains, baths, or mopping the floor.... again. 

The twins LOVED our noodle fest.  I couldn't help but remember the time I pulled a super long noodle out of my nephew Jack's intestines as he gagged on the other end still in his throat!  Did we learn from that?  Nope, cause short noodles are no fun!  But don't worry no gags here...  the girls handled their noodles with grace.  Grace on their heads, grace on the floor, grace in their chairs, and even grace in their diapers which I still don't understand because they had on onsies and pants!  You can see by Aspens nose that the girls are beginning to wear their battle wounds from their frequent attempts to walk!  Oh no!

Trouble... that's what we started on this particular night.  Brooke is particularly fond of food on her head now!  Good thing we save bathtime for AFTER dinner!

And yes it has happened again...  we have hosted yet another plague in our home.  Isn't it summer yet?  I don't know how many more sore throats, coughs, and runny noses I can handle!  I know Hannah looks miserable and it looks as though she is hosting a tropical disease in her eyeballs.  I'm pretty sure she was.  All I am going to say about this is that her eyeballs are fixed and she still has her vision intact.  Thank you Dr.Andrews...  I hate weekends, in particular long weekends like Memorial Day weekend when the only way to seek care is through 3 Urgent Care Visits and 1 ER visit.  All I have to say is Ugh...  sure glad that week and a half is over! 

Bring on the hot weather baby!  We are ready for some pool time!  Goodbye old man winter, I'd be happy to only visit you in the future.  I see California in our future.  Oh how I longed for California last week. :)