Our Family Trip : Part Three

Day Three
Shannon and Anna came to our hotel on Sunday morning to play for a little while before we headed off to Recess, Go Bananas! another super fun place for our toddlers! This place was so wild and crazy, Isaiah had a BLAST! It was kind of like a gigantic Chuck E Cheese will 15 blow up jumpy things and 4 playgrounds.
Isaiah literally RAN AROUND the entire place not sure what to do with himself. Thank goodness Shannon was there to help me out! She watched Levi a lot of the time so that I could run with Isaiah (Anna, who just turned one in September, wasn't quite ready to do all the stuff Isaiah was wanting to do!)

First we played in the 1-5 year old jungle gym.

Levi broke the rules and played too.

Then Isaiah and Anna rode the train...

Isaiah decided he wanted to go down this enormous blow up slide (it was probably 15 feet tall!). I wasn't sure if he should but there were kids younger than him doing it, so I said why not. He got to the top step (which were too small for me to go up) and turned around wanting to come back down--yikes! I said no, you have to keep going, or he would have fallen straight down on me! So he went down and had so much fun he did it again! But twice was enough for him--he decided not to do it again!

They rode the Airplanes...well Anna got on and decided she didn't want to.


Then Isaiah decided to climb through the gigantic blow up caterpillar...he got about 3/4 of the way through and some older kids went past him and he got scared...and I had to go in to rescue him! He was crying, "mama, mama" it was sad, but he was just fine.

The kids got tired (and so did the mommies) and so we headed back to the hotel for lunch and nap time. Shannon brought peanut butter sandwiches and soup for us to eat (Thank you!) and the kids had fun eating together (and making a mess of the hotel room floor for the 3rd time that weekend!)... and Shannon and Anna headed home...and Isaiah laid down for a good nap (this time he actually slept!) and I got the room all packed up.

Mark got done about 2:30 and made it back to the hotel and we finished packing up the car. The hotel was nice enough to let us check out after 3 (thank goodness!) and we then headed to Jordan Creak Mall to shop a little while before heading home.

We had a really nice time. Isaiah slept REALLY WELL in the pack and play both nights--I was a little worried about that since he would be in the same room as us. Levi enjoyed his first nights staying in a hotel (of course in bed right next to me). It was a fun family trip--the first one we've had just the four of us.

Our Family Trip : Part Two

Day Two

Mark had to be at Camp Dodge by 7:15 to start his medical training...and we didn't really want to get the kids up, out of bed, and loaded into the car by 6:30 to make sure we got him there on time...so our friends Shannon and Dan agreed to come to our hotel and drive me to our car... (THANK YOU GUYS!) This worked out pretty well...except Dan and I got lost trying to find it...but we got there...and then crammed all 6 (Shannon, Dan, Me, Isaiah, Levi and Anna) of us in our car and headed to the Des Moines Science Center.

We ALL had lots of fun at the Science Center. It was HUGE and there was plenty to see and do! What a fun place for kids of all ages!
Here is Isaiah sitting on the air table holding onto the air blower. They had all kinds of things to blow air at to see how they moved.

There was an entire area devoted to toddlers. Here we are playing in the bubbles. So much fun! Surprisingly it really wasn't too messy!

Here is Anna playing in the tree trunk tunnel.

Isaiah and Dan meeting the snake. (yuck!)

And here is Dan playing blocks.

After we'd had enough fun at the Science Center, we went to Tasty Tacos for lunch...I'd never been there--it was REALLY YUMMY! Isaiah and Anna were pretty tired, so we had to eat and run...We made it back to the hotel and Anna slept, but of course Isaiah refused to nap, so he sat in the pack and play for about an hour resting.

Next--SWIMMING TIME! Shannon and I took Anna and Isaiah swimming while Dan was nice enough to play with Levi from the sidelines.
Hurry up mom!

Swimming buddies.

Next we were off to the mall...hoping Mark would get done in time for us to meet him for dinner...so we went and looked around and Mark showed up (thanks to his friend who dropped him off) and we put our name in to eat at Old Chicago. They said 45 minutes...so the boys and Anna played at the playland while Shannon and I went shopping. An hour later our table still wasn't ready, it was after 7pm, so we decided to head back to the hotel and pick up some food on the way... tired kids are not fun when you are out to eat!

So we had a hilarious evening eating pancake shaped Ham & Cheese sandwiches from Arbys...

Another busy, but VERY fun day!

Buddies.

Look what these two can do! They are really starting to have fun together! I've caught them watching each other, smiling at each other and even holding on to each other! They've grown so fast! It seems like yesterday they were just born...and now they are both (basically) 6 months old! (Levi will be on Feb 12 and Jonah was on Jan 24).

Our Family Trip : Part One

Mark had a Medics Weekend at Camp Dodge this weekend so we decided it would be fun if I came with the boys and we made a mini-vacation out of it.

Day One
We left around 12:30 on Friday afternoon in hopes that Isaiah would take his nap in the car on the way to Des Moines. That way he'd be rested and happy when we got there...well, as things go with little ones, it didn't happen the way we planned. About 20 minutes from our hotel is when he fell asleep! But that was okay, we got to the hotel, Mark checked us in, and we sat in the car a little while so that Isaiah could get a full hour's nap (which is much less than normal, but better than nothing!).

When we woke him up, he was happy to finally be on our "trip" (as he kept calling it) and was ready to go SWIMMING!! He has been asking to go swimming for several weeks now so we were very excited that he got to this weekend! When Mark worked regularly at the YMCA, I took him often when Mark worked, but we haven't been there in a couple months, so this was great!

I was also excited because this was Levi's first time to go swimming ever!

The water was a bit cold, but we got used to it and had a GREAT time. There was also a hot tub, and of course Isaiah was curious...so we let him sit in it with us for a little while...he seemed to like it better than the "big one."

Levi enjoyed the water (as I thought he would since he loves his baths!) and daddy had a good time carrying him around and playing with him in it!


Isaiah in the hot tub--he kept saying, "no bubbles" and pushing the bubbles away from him--he does NOT like bubbles!!


After swimming we got ready to out for dinner... after dinner we were heading to a friend of Mark's from the army...we had no idea of where anything was so we decided to put his address in our GPS and find something to eat on the way...apparently there aren't many restaurants near his friends house. We ended up stopping at one of the only ones we found...and I laughed through the entire meal because I thought it was the funniest, most bizarre place...why? well...
They gave Isaiah a small GLASS glass to drink out of...I'm pretty sure it was from the bar. (that he of course ended up spilling all over)

And we got to eat our dinner with...

and we got to pay by...

But the food was good...and we all left FULL. So it worked out just fine.

Then we headed to Sego's house...where Isaiah had lots of fun playing with his kids' toys...his favorite was the very loud sponge bob recorder (whistle).

What a fun day...

the play gym!

Just looking at this picture makes me happy!

On Thursday morning, I loaded up the car with all the little ones...Isaiah, Jayda, Levi and Jonah and headed over to Kammy's house to drop off the babies...she so graciously agreed to watch Levi and Jonah while Isaiah, Jayda and I went to the Rec Center Indoor Park!

Isaiah went with Kammy last year several times...and Isaiah and I went a few times...and he LOVED it...so I really wanted to take him again this year...

Isaiah and Jayda had so much fun! If only we could go every week! Maybe I'll get brave enough to go with all four kids...???
Here they are jumping in the blow up jumper--this was Jayda's favorite thing by far!!

Isaiah loved everything, I can't really say what was his favorite...but he spent a lot of time going back and forth between cars, scooters, and other fun ride on toys.


They crammed into one together and I pushed them around for a little while!

Then we had a snack with Ben, Jason and Lindsey...We happened to run into Lindsey and her little boys Ben and Jason while we were there. I graduated from High School with her and her husband...and I went through a few prenatal classes with her when I was pregnant with Isaiah. Her little boy Ben is just a few weeks younger than Isaiah and Jason is just a few weeks old!

The babies had just as much fun at Kammy's as we did at the park...This is what I found when we went to pick them up! She said they were both very good--happy and giggling!

What a perfect morning!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Mark's birthday was on January 21...and we had LOTS of fun!

The morning started with Isaiah and Daddy making pancakes. (well, really it started with Mark's 6:30 a.m. PT for ROTC and 8 o'clock class).

and Levi and I just hung out...isn't he getting so big and sweet? He's sitting up by himself in this picture!!

Then we headed to Chuck E Cheese's (or Chuck E Cheese's House as Isaiah called it!) to have some fun! I'm not sure who had more fun...me, Isaiah or Daddy... (I'm sure it wasn't Levi -- because he slept for all but 5 minutes of the fun!)

The Birthday Boy.

the picture that the ride takes ... not too bad!

Daddy and Isaiah playing their favorite game--basketball!

Isaiah's new way to play skee-ball.

us.

Levi woke up at the very end of our fun...it worked out perfectly!

After the games it was time for lunch...we headed to the mall to Hu Hot and Uncle Matthew met us there to join the party!

Uncle Matthew and Mark standing in line while their food is cooked.

Next we headed home for nap time (and presents and (more) cake!) Right away we put Isaiah to sleep so he could get a good nap in and we went upstairs to play Mario Kart...When Isaiah woke up it was time for cake!!

and then presents...

Matthew made Mark this really soft and warm Hawkeye blanket!

Isaiah and Levi gave him a few new grilling tools to go along with his new grill he got for Christmas...

and I gave him this fun pull-up bar!

We hung out a little while longer...and then Morgan, our neighbor, came over to watch the boys while we went to Mark's basketball game...and out for a little more celebrating...

Mark plays on my work's basketball team...they always have a good time... my mom and dad came to watch the game and cheer him on!

Then Mark, Matthew, my dad and I headed out to have a little fun at the casino... unfortunately we came out $5 behind when we left...but my dad won $30! So all in all it was a lot of fun...

What an eventful birthday!! But a great way to celebrate!
Happy Birthday Honey!

we cheated.

On Tuesday night Isaiah and I worked hard to make a cake for my husband's birthday that was on Wednesday (watch for my next post about his birthday!). Isaiah was such a big helper...see...

No, really he did help...

We planned to have the cake all done Tuesday so we could enjoy Wednesday with nothing to do but whatever daddy wanted to do... so we made the cake secretly (okay so he knew the whole time, but pretended like he had no clue what we were doing--even though Isaiah brought him the spoonful of batter for him to taste and another spoon full of frosting)

When we were all done we decided to show daddy our creation that we made for him...

It says "we love dada" (but it looks like dado...haha)

...and then he said, we could eat just one piece tonight...

...and no one objected...

so here we are eating a piece of daddy's cake the night before his birthday!

Levi's favorite toy...and pretending it's summer.

Levi likes to play with toys. He is starting to grab the toys on his swing and tug at them, he likes to hold different toys and watch how he can make them move. Of course he likes the ones that light up, but his favorite toy is this soft, colorful ball that has a rattle inside. He likes to hold it and kick it with his feet. We even played catch with it together yesterday. What he REALLY likes is to hold it up to his mouth and chew on it! :)

We still have cabin fever at my house...so on Thursday when Jayda was over we pretended it was summer...and the toddlers enjoyed eating a popsicle together.

another first.

The other night Isaiah wanted to take a bath (downstairs in the baby tub of course, ever since we tried the bubble bath in the big tub upstairs he wants nothing to do with the upstairs bathtub--oops!!).

Isaiah was all ready to get in the bath and he said, "Levi come too." I thought, "Why not?"
and put both boys in the tub together--their first bath together! And boy did they BOTH have lots of fun!! Levi wouldn't stop grinning at Isaiah and Isaiah was having so much fun playing with Levi and putting the wash cloth on him. It was the cutest thing!! In the middle of the bath Isaiah looked like he was going to go potty so I asked him, "Isaiah do you have to go potty?" Instead of his usually "no" even when he does, he just looked at me and said, "yeah." (hooray we may be getting somewhere!!?!) I told him he needed to get out and go in the big potty or get out and we needed to put a diaper on him so he could go. I explained that if he went in the tub that our bath time would have to be over. So he decided to get out and go on the potty...and guess what!! he went pee on the little potty!! This is the first time he has ever gone pee on the potty! I was so proud of him and let him know it! And he got to get back in the tub and continue playing with his littler brother! What a big boy!

Look at those chubby arms!

A little crowded don't you think? They sure didn't care!


Smiling at each other...they are already buddies!