Science Museum Fun!

We all went to the Science Museum on Wednesday. Surprisingly, my sister and I survived going to this huge place with five kids. (Surprising for me to survive anyway.) We actually had a lot of fun. The kids absolutely loved it and I saw some things I'd never seen before. My favorite parts were the demonstrations of how different things work (elements of sound, gravity, weather, etc.) Ethan LOVED the train exhibit and the water he got to play in. He also really liked the airplanes, building blocks, and every demonstration that involved a ball. I'm pretty sure Spencer's favorite part was the time we spent in the nursing room. :) We may have to go to the museum again sometime since all of the kids were pretty happy and very entertained for the entire 4 1/2 hours that we were there. Here are MANY pictures of our fun adventure. Sorry I left them huge. There were too many to edit.

At the Echo Tube.

Crazy Ethan



Playing in the water.

Spencer

This was taken just as his tower was falling.

So much concentration.

More concentration.

He loves phones.

Trying to take a seat and talk awhile.

Our weather guys.

On the train car.

Watching the trains.

Signing "airplane" by the planes.

Spencer

Looking at the fish.

Our very sleepy boys on the drive home.

Ethan's First Tattoo

A couple of weeks ago Ethan gave himself his first "tattoo". I actually have been waiting for him to do this for a long time, I just thought it would be with a Crayola marker not a black permanent marker. He found the marker in the desk that is in the room he is sleeping in. It was during naptime, so I didn't know he had done it until after his nap. He seemed pretty surprised by the mess on his arm when he woke up. I am now positive that he is right-handed since all of the drawings were done on his left arm. I was not smart enough to think of taking a picture BEFORE cleaning him up, so the pictures show a faded version of his work. Considering this is the first time he has ever drawn on himself with marker and he hasn't done it again since, I guess I have been pretty lucky in that respect.

For Daddy

These videos are especially for Daddy. Anyone else, of course, is welcome to look at them, just keep in mind that they were taken with my still photo digital camera as I have not yet been able to buy a tape for my camcorder. Turn up your volume!

We miss you Daddy!

Fun with Cousins

Over the past two weeks there has been a lot of chaos and a good amount of fighting, but, of course, there has also been a lot of fun. Ethan has enjoyed playing with all of his cousins. He has enjoyed watching movies with K, being "big brother" to Little L, and running around with Big L. All of the cousins have really enjoyed having Spencer around, and he loves to watch all of the kids play. The fighting, although normal, has caused me a bit of stress since Ethan has never really had anybody around to fight with. It sort of has a domino effect. K picks mostly on Ethan and Ethan picks mostly on Little L. Little L has also occasionally picked on Spencer. It has been fun for Ethan (and me) to always have somebody to play with, so I guess the fun is worth the chaos. Here are some pictures to prove it.

Thank Goodness...

It's been a while since I posted. I am busy helping my sister tame our 5 children. It's not always an easy task. Anyway, as I was flying here alone with my two children I gained a greater respect for humankind. I had two separate flights with an almost three hour layover. Not only did I have my hands very full, but it all started just before nap time. The kids did very well considering, but I was very stressed out all day. Luckily I was able to have Shaun help me to the gate. I don't know how I would have made it through security without him. It was a mess even with both of us. I felt lucky again when we were seated next to a nice woman, who was a mother, in our first plane. She really helped Ethan not to feel nervous during take-off and landing. She also got snacks out of Ethan's backpack (which he won't wear) while I was feeding Spencer. When we got off that plane a nice man stopped and offered to help me with whatever I needed, but of course the only thing I could think of was to have him take my kids for the remainder of the day. Since that didn't sound like such a good idea, I said "I think I'll be ok, thank you." I think he sensed I was lying. Oh well. I can't say much positive about the layover, but I did survive, after all. I did have one man tell me that he hoped I could now get a break (from childbearing) as my hands were so full. I guess that was nice. Our next flight was a little bit longer and we didn't get off to a very good start; Spencer had a blowout during take-off. We were seated next to another very nice woman who was a grandmother. She did a lot to entertain Ethan and even let him put his feet on her lap while he took a nap.
She held his hand as we walked off of the plane, too. When we arrived at our destination, we had to wait for my sister to pick us up. I struggled to get my baggage off of the carousel with Spencer in a Snugli. One woman was kind enough to pull one of my bags off for me, but I got the three larger ones. I then stood next to the carousel with four suitcases, three small carry-on bags and two children completely helpless and wondering what to do next. I watched everyone leave the area effortlessly with their bags and when they were all gone I decided to take my bags and my children, a couple at a time, to stand next to a wall where I was out of the way and waited for my car seat that was apparently stuck in the large items machine. When the airport employee finally brought me my car seat, she also helped me put my stuff on a cart and wheel it over to some chairs so that I could sit and wait. There are other things that happened that I am trying to forget so that I will dare to fly home so I won't mention them here. I would have been so relieved when my ride arrived, but it only meant three more hours of traveling in a car. Needless to say, I survived, but on that day I thought I might not. All I can say is THANK GOODNESS there are still plenty of people in this world who are kind enough to help when they see a need. I may not have made it otherwise.