What the kids have been up to

I have really been slacking!  Our days have been super busy lately, mostly with being outside and going to the pool.  So, here is snapshot of what the kids did while we were gone, plus a few happenings from home.

My mom met Josh's sister Brittany at the Louisville Zoo.

Hanging out in great-grandpa Dave's truck.

I am guessing this was popsicle eating.







Dave is obsessed with playing games that involve him being carried our thrown.  Lately, the kids and I have played a ridiculous game where they pretend to be babies, but then inform me that they are not babies and I throw them.  Good times...

Seriously, it's Dave's favorite past-time.















Ike had to wear undies over his diaper.  He looks totally confused as to why I would take his picture like this.

Dave wearing his (now) high water Thor costume.   Growing too fast.

Stopping for a rare smile from both!

Vegas!

We had such a great trip out to Vegas!  First, I would like to thank all of those who helped keep our kiddos!  Whether you kept them overnight for 5 long nights (thanks mom!) or hung out and entertained them (dad, Kyra, Tony, grandpa, Britt and kids, Pam, and I am sure many others!), we really appreciate all of your help to make our trip possible!!

Now, onto our adventure.  When we arrived in Vegas, we met our friend Greg and his mom (Carole) at the hotel.  We stayed 4 nights at MGM, which was good but not my favorite.  It was just so big.  Seriously, it took me at least 10 minutes to get to the pool.  Anyway, the accommodations were fine, but the reason we really went was for the food.  I had it all worked out to hit as many of the restaurants we wanted (and could afford!) to go to while we were out there.  So here's a rundown of our trip.  A little gambling, some fun shows, miles of walking, and lots of good eats.

First night on the town!

Dinner at Sage.  Crazy delicious.

Hanging out downtown.  

Guy Fieri's had really cool skull napkins.











My lunch, some kind of Asian inspired appetizer...so good!













We didn't get to see Guy in real life, so this giant poster had to do.






Since I am a super wife, I arranged for all of us to go to Meatloaf one night!  Josh and Greg were pretty pumped, and I was looking forward to it.  Carole may or may not have fallen asleep for the majority of the show.  :)   Meatloaf put on a fantastic show, but his voice is not what it used to be.





Sweet picture of us and Meat.  

Greg stole my camera while we were at dinner.

At Rx Boiler Room for dinner after Meatloaf.












Mother and son enjoying dinner.

Watching the Bellagio fountains.

Love these!  We watched them for 3 rounds one night...can't get enough.

We really took it to the casinos using some crazy strategy Josh found on the internet.







Okay, so we maybe won $4 total, but it's better than losing!

Josh and Greg at Emeril's on our last day.

Final dessert at Michael Mina's.  Best root beer float ever.











So, as you can see, we really enjoyed ourselves!  We also saw Carrot Top, who was incredibly crude but absolutely hilarious.  And there was quite a bit more eating than shown here...I just figured everyone would get tired of all the food pictures!  It's a good thing you have to walk so much in Vegas or we would have come back several pounds heavier.

Anyway, thanks again to everyone who made the trip possible, and to Greg and Carole our travel buddies who ventured out of their comfort zone for our culinary excursions!

20 Months of Ike

Well we hit the twenties...this definitely feels like it happened too fast.  Oh well, I am sure I will be saying the same thing when he hits his actual twenties.  Ike is one crazy kid and just awesome to have in our family.  He is so animated lately and really expresses his likes and dislikes with great attitude. 

Was not feeling like having his picture taken at this moment.

One second later, he's all smiles.













He has started to really manipulate us in the past month.  Ike always knows what he wants and is not afraid to throw a tantrum or two to try to accomplish his goals.  He is constantly trying to eat strange foods (like blue cheese dressing with a spoon) and is so baffled when I tell him no.  If there is one thing Ike doesn't like to hear, it's no.  Probably the case with all kids his age I suppose.

Ike loves to get into everything still, and I have recent proof of this.

He sharpied his face while I was making dinner.  









He would spend (and does often) all of his day outside.  A little rain is not going to get him down!

Soaked!











He kept saying "rain on head".  Maybe rain is a hard concept for kids to understand?  He sure seemed confused by it!







Here's a video of him experiencing the rain.

I think he was trying to be some kind of villain...maybe bag hand man?  Not very scary....

Ike really loves bath time right now.  Here's a video of him pouring cold water on himself.










Other interesting Ike tidbits...he is in the 88th percentile for height and 65th for weight (weighing in at 26.5 lbs).  Total opposite of Dave at this age!  Josh has taught him to say "ohhhh yeah!" and do this weird dance whenever he really wants something (like that blue cheese dressing!).  I have to remember to take a video of it.   He really really likes to pee in the toilet, so I am sort of thinking he may potty train early.  We'll see about that.  Ike's vocabulary is still increasing every day and he is getting really good at knowing everyone's names-even many of Josh's coworkers.  I am hoping he does fantastic for my mom while we're gone over this long weekend, maybe it'll help his separation anxiety.  Nothing like going cold turkey!  :) 

Summer (finally!)

I feel like I can officially say it is summer, and we are definitely pumped!  Ike and I spend almost every waking minute outside, while Dave usually stays inside a bit more (typically because he is watching videos on youtube).

Here are our latest happenings.  Not much to report, just enjoying the warmth!

The boys posing on the big rock in our yard.
















Dave on his favorite slide at the city park.

Ike went down all by himself!














Dave climbed the big ladder for the first time.

Love Ike's serious face.

Stopping for a quick picture.










Dave has really enjoyed using my new camera.  I let him borrow it around campus and he loves taking pictures of random stuff.

Chapel.  It's right across the street from our house so we see it a lot!

Good one he took of the pretty flowers next to the chapel.

We spend lots of time playing with the water hose.
















Dave wanted to help me bake a cake for my birthday.

 Whew, the big 30! 

Another one of them outside the house.








I mention it a lot, but I sure do love the community that we live in!  It is so fantastic to have a group of kids/families for all of us to hang out with on a daily basis.  We feel very blessed to have such great people surrounding us!

And, Josh and I have only 4 sleeps until our big trip to Vegas!  My mom is now taking the kids down to Evansville during our trip so I am sure the kids will have a blast on their "vacation" while mom and dad get a little time away!  :)