We had a family dinner at my aunt and uncle’s house which was the most exciting thing in Caroline’s life to date. She couldn’t WAIT to get there and start playing.
First stop — check in on the chickens:
Next stop — play in the play house:
After that we ate. We learned Brooke doesn’t eat the part of the grape with the hole:
Then we went on a little trip to Paris:
Brooke got Dallas to put all of her stop motion films on one disk. She proudly showed them off to anyone who would spare a few minutes to watch:
The little boys were only too willing to veg out as they ate their dessert:
My aunt and uncle were slightly less enthusiastic about being forced to watch:
Why is that? Why do kids always have to barf in the middle of the night? Isn’t the horrible stench, the chunky texture, the yucky feeling, and the gag-inducing sound bad enough? Why do we all have to be jarred from our slumber on top of that?
The first night was Caroline. Poor Caroline had a fever for four days. We shut ourselves in the house and didn’t go anywhere. Finally, on the fifth day, she was fever free. I was giddy with the thought that we’d actually be able to leave the house soon. That very night she barfed.
The next night she barfed again. As I was going to bed after helping her, I got sick.
Madison woke up with a horrible diaper so I assumed the sickness had gotten to her.
The next night Brooke got sick.
The next night Dallas got sick.
The next night Spencer got sick.
The next night I went to bed knowing we had all gotten the bug so I would FINALLY be able to sleep through the night!
Until Spencer woke me up. He was sick again.
The next morning Caroline brought Madison to me. (I was still in bed.) A few moments of cuddling with her revealed she stank to high heaven. It was then that I actually looked at her and saw she had dry, crusty barf caked all over her. Oops. Poor baby had gotten sick in the night and slept in her own barf. Sad face.
The next night I REALLY went to bed knowing we had all gotten the bug so I would FINALLY, FINALLY be able to sleep through the night!
And then Madison barfed again.
I am giving up hope that I will ever sleep again.
Is this sounding like we’re all trapped in a horror film? How’s this for the ending —-
I reeeeally hate to be that blogger who posts about holidays that happened months ago…but…here we are. I found Easter pictures and there are several cute ones with Dallas’s family that I have to share.
Kathryn invited us over for dinner and an egg hunt. The kids loved searching for eggs.
We had just about the funnest day ever the other day. Dallas had to take a week off of work in order to use up all his paid vacation days before he lost them so we dedicated one of those days to visiting Tracy Aviary and Liberty Park.
The Aviary was a lot bigger and had more exotic birds than I was expecting. We got there right as a show was beginning. They were introducing us to several different types of birds and the birds would fly right over our heads.
Madison loved it:
There were fun things to climb on:
There were little bird houses throughout that featured different birds. Spencer had to keep an eye on them:
We got to see how we measure up:
Brooke with a peacock:
My highlight was meeting this little bird:
He was just roaming around the area. If you approached him he’d run away from you like any other normal bird. However, if you ran AWAY from him he’d start chasing you. So imagine you’re a little kid, who likes to run, and all of a sudden you notice this somewhat large bird is chasing you. So you run faster. Which makes the bird run faster and the only way to get him to stop is for you to stop running. But try explaining that to the kid who is running all around faster and faster and screaming because the bird is about to attack her and she won’t stop running for anything because her life depends on her needing to keep running when actually, she needs to STOP running! It’s all very confusing to the child and hilarious to the parents.
And maybe it will be hilarious to you, too? We took video:
This is Brooke very carefully WALKING because the chasing bird of doom was near:
We forgot our stroller (GAH!) so little missy had her dreams come true as she was able to wander around as she pleased:
While the Aviary was fun, it was also hot which got the kids complaining right away. Spencer found a shady bench, hung his hat up, and took a little rest:
We found some rare species of owls hanging out in a tree:
The never-before-seen Caroline Piggy Owl. You can almost hear her hooting:
We found a picture that you can stick your faces through, and it was perfect! Three spots for three faces! Except one of the face holes was too tall for Caroline to reach so you might notice she’s hanging on for dear life as her feet dangle below:
The kids were positively DYING of heat and hunger and thirst so we headed out of the Aviary and into Liberty Park with our picnic lunches. We found a nice, shady tree and ate and drank:
We were right next to this huge hill that the kids weren’t too hot or tired to run up and down a billion times. Go figure.
Dallas took Caroline and Spencer to the bathroom. Brooke saw them coming back so she hid behind a tree to scare them. They caught on and hid behind a tree to scare HER. It was an amusing game of stalemate that lasted several minutes before Brooke made the move and ran out to get them.
They had paddle boats and canoes that you could ride. Dallas decided to take the big kids out:
Caroline was pretty convinced she was going to die:
They had a fun water play area that was just opening for the day. The kids loved splashing there. We just may have to go back sometime when we’re actually wearing swimming suits:
And that ends our very fun day. We actually wanted to stay longer and play at the park playground but Madison was more than ready for her nap so we had to head home. Hopefully we can make it back again soon and finish exploring the park.
After that we ate. We learned Brooke doesn’t eat the part of the grape with the hole:
