Man Time

While the girls had lunch yesterday, Joe took Markus to have some boy time. They went to the plane museum, where Markus ran like crazy. Then they decided to head off to get some food, at which point Markus fell asleep. So Joe sat in the car while Markus napped, and then eventually they went in to get some lunch!

A Baby Brunch

Since Robyn lives so far away from us now, the girls and I thought it would be fun to have a little brunch baby shower for her and baby Mikey. It was so fun!

 

 Since Markus doesn't really know how to behave himself in mixed company, Joe took him out to the museums, and it was just the girls and the babies.

 I forgot to get a picture of all the yummy food (waffles, paninis, egg & bacon muffins, salad, parfaits, pastries, muffins that Joli made, fruit, and mimosas!), but I did manage a picture of the table.

 Mikey slept through most of brunch, but eventually needed to nurse, and Robyn started trying to wake him up.

 Mathew was absolutely adorable! He was so happy just watching and listening to all of us chat, then he nursed and napped a little, then woke up and listened to us again.

 Ryan was with her daddy this weekend, so Tessa was her surrogate baby :)

 Joli wanted to get her hands on Mikey so bad, and he seemed pretty happy just hanging out with her.

 Markus also wanted to love on Mikey, and I actually managed a few pictures before Markus tried an open mouth kiss and then ran off.

Such a wonderful time having all the girls here. Wish we could do it every weekend!!

Noise With Dirt On It

Today I was feeling a little congested, and assume I've caught the cold Markus has. I made no effort to take him anywhere, nor did I try to keep him home. I just simply started to tidy up the front porch. Which turned into a lot of playing, and a complete reorganization of the porch. Markus had a blast!

 

 

 Just a boy with his Batman shirt, his Superman undies, and his car :)

 One of the things I needed to do was put away the ladder. Markus figured I should wait awhile.

 The dogs thought it was simply amazing that Markus could be up near them.

 

 After dumping the rocks from the rock box off the porch, they suddenly became more appealing.

 We also found the container of bubbles.

 Then we played hide-n-seek.

 

 Once I got everything cleaned off the porch, Markus helped me plant some lettuce and broccoli. He loved digging the holes and setting the plants in them! He was starting to get bored so I suggested he practiced riding his bike. This is what he thought about that...

 After getting Markus down for a nap, I finish the porch. I don't have a before picture, by suffice it to say, that it mostly looked like a storage area for a gym beforehand!

This also led to some reorganizing of the inside of the house too!! Very productive day!

A Hike in the Snow

Since Joli didn't have school today, we wanted to take a hike. We were very excited to discover that it had snowed on our favorite path! Markus hasn't seen snow since he was a little baby, so he was very excited!!

 

 It's been just as long since Joli's been to the snow, so she was probably just as excited!

 It was simply a coincidence that I happened to be wearing my "snow" hat.

 The dogs were happy just to eat the snow.

 Joli was happy to slide down the hill on her jacket.

 Markus apparently has seen a show or movie in which you're supposed to throw snowballs, because he was really excited to try it.

 We attempted to make a snowman. It was tiny.

 Markus was not happy to discover the effects of being hit with a snowball.

 Finally we got the kids out of the snow and actually started hiking.

 Joe was basically the pack mule. I offered to carry Markus and eventually did, but he was very happy on Daddy's shoulders.

Such a lovely hike!