Children's Mercy Hospital Family Picnic

Each summer CMH has a family picnic out at the agricultural hall of fame.....way far away from us but still worth the drive out there. All my girlfriends usually go with their kids and so it makes it a lot of fun. Everything is free...and I mean everything...lunch- hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken, baked beans, potato salad, chips, ice cream, sno cones, popcorn, drinks...jumpee things, train rides, carnival like games, rock wall, race car track...it really is a great picnic.

It was Saturday and the weather was gorgeous. Of course, Addison loved it as she loves everything we drag her out to. She usually just chills in the stroller and checks out her surroundings. She is enjoying her lunch here...grilled cheese, carrots and mandarin oranges. She will eat anything, anywhere.

As I mentioned the ice cream is free. Lauren wanted this popsicle that was almost as big as her. She only ate about 1/4 of it before passing it on to Daddy to finish.

Another snack, the sno cone that she gets every year. This year I asked for just a little syrup. The last two years she has ended up with sno cone syrup all over her...down her tummy, on her hands and arms, even to her toes...not this year. I have learned!

Lauren, Mady, and Sydney. Sydney is Lauren's favorite. She seems to see her the most since Sydney's Mom and I work together a lot and hang out here and there in our free time. Those three girls had so much fun running in the grass, giggling, laughing, and playing. So fun to watch!

I jump at any opportunity to get a good picture taken with my girls. Good meaning I have my hair fixed, make-up on and a decent outfit. Usually on the weekends I am so casual with no make-up that I don't dare pose for a picture. I love this picture. Little Addison is so sweet.

Lauren, Sydney, Mady, and Grant (Sydney's little brother) had a blast watching the train go under this bridge. They probably watched the train for over 30 minutes. They would laugh and scream each time it came by and would wave at all the people on the train. The had a great time!

Thank you CMH for a great time.

Pictures of the past few weeks!

I have tons of pictures of Lauren and Zoe, but hardly any of Addison and Zoe. One night I decided to snap a few. Addison is giving Zoe a hug here! Zoe is the best dog with Lauren and Addison. She is so laid back and tolerable of anything. We just love her!

Addison is watching her sister play outside. Mark was outside grilling while I was inside getting things ready for dinner. Addison just hung out at the door watching Mark and Lauren.

Lauren is my little Mommy. Addison can pretty much feed herself, but sometimes she needs help picking up her fruit since it is cut up so small and harder to pick up. Lauren is always willing and eager to help in any way that she can.

At the Kansas City Zoo

Lauren has a new favorite song that Ms. Morgan plays at school. It is a song by Hannah Montana...so yes...my 3 year old knows who Hannah Montana is. She is singing the song and dancing here in this picture. It is pretty cute to watch her dance.

I tried to snap a few pictures of the girls while we were taking a break and playing on the playground. I could not get Addison to look at the camera and smile at the same time...plus I was trying to make sure she did not fall off the bench she was sitting on...all for a good picture.

Lauren and Addison in the double stroller that we love looking at the monkeys. Lauren has a place behind Addison that she can sit or stand in the stroller. It is such a great way to have 2 kids in the stroller. Lauren loves it!

One of Lauren's favorite things at the zoo were the sea lions. She enjoyed watching them swim all around the pool and then come up for air and blow the water out of their nose. She was acting like a sea lion the rest of the day.

All tuckered out at the end of our day at the zoo. She just closed her eyes and went to sleep. Not a single fuss out of her.

A day at the Zoo

Saturday Morning when Mark headed up to Maryville for his fantasy football weekend I headed out to the Zoo with the girls. I was a little nervous because I had never taken them out together on a "fun" adventure. I have gone to the grocery store, Target, etc...but never somewhere fun for several hours at a time. If you have not been to the KC Zoo in a while I recommend it. We had a great time and both the girls did awesome.

Lauren really is a great kid. She listens very well and helps me with Addison. When we first got there we rode the train. I got Addison all unstrapped and out of the stroller and headed to get on the train...then Lauren says "I have to go poopy mommy" so I get Addison back in the stroller and start to leave to find a bathroom....then the train arrives and everyone starts loading up on the train. So Lauren decides she does not need to go poopy and wants to ride the train....hmmm...so I get Addison all unstrapped again and we head to the train. As the train takes off we come up to a very long dark tunnel and by the end of the tunnel I had the only 2 kids on the train crying and screaming "I want to get off Mommy, stop the train Mommy."

After the train ride we had a great time. Lauren liked seeing the tiger and the monkeys. She loved playing on the playground, and her favorite thing was the ducks and the sea lions. She really liked watching the sea lions swim on their backs and blow water out of their noses.

Addison just goes along with anything. She hung out in her stroller and was so happy. She ate lunch and finally fell asleep in her stroller around 1215. She only took a 30 minute nap all morning but you would never know. She is such a GREAT baby.

When the computer is up and running I will post pictures.

Computer is down

at home again so I can't post any pictures. It is always more fun to update everyone on the happenings of our life with pictures of the fun things we are doing on the weekends. So I sit at work with some downtime to share with you our wonderful weekend. Nothing too exciting but always fun. Mark and I attended a wedding Saturday night of one of my great friends Kori. She looked beautiful and we had a great evening together enjoying a wonderful dinner, wine, and wedding cake. The girls stayed at home with Gramps and Nana and had a good time. Lauren is filling me in on everything that Gramps and Nana left out...hmmm...Sounds like she had fun!

Sunday Mark and Lauren went to church in the pouring rain and Lauren said "we got soaked Mommy." They enjoyed donuts after church which is one of Mark's favorite things to do with Lauren. Addison and I stayed home, which was a good thing because she took an 1 1/2 hour nap. It is always hard to go to church with her right now because it is the middle of her nap time.

Sunday evening we attended the 2nd annual back to school block party. We live in a cul de sac with about 20 houses on the block so you can imagine how many people were there. The party was swarming with kids and they all had so much fun. Lauren is good friends with Jacob and Garrett who are brothers. They all rode their bikes around the circle which was so fun to watch. Addison's little friend Nathan was born 2 weeks before her and so those two sat in their strollers watching each other, smiling and laughing. They are going to have so much fun as they get older.

So there you have it. I hope to be able to post pictures soon.

10 months old

On Friday August 7th Addison was 10 months old. Wow the time has flown. She is moving all around these days. Scooting everywhere. She has a constant rug burn on her right leg from scooting all around the house these days. She says "Hi" and is waving goodbye, and finally I think I am hearing "mama" rather than "dada" all the time. She has started to pull up on things, but only a few times. She loves to take all the magnets off the fridge and make a mess on the floor. She also loves to play with her little people farm.

I can't believe I need to start thinking about her birthday. What kinds of gifts to buy and what kind of party to have. She is growing up way too fast.

Of course you can't take pictures of one and not the other. Lauren is completely into Tinker bell these days. She watches it almost everyday. If you have ever seen Tinker bell then you know that towards the beginning you meet the mouse. The mouse is a big part of the movie. Well apparently the mouse makes a face "the mouse face" that Lauren is making here. It is so cute when she makes the mouse face and laughs and giggles.

It has been another great weekend. Mark and Lauren went to the Royals game last night and had a blast. Mark was more worn out and ready to come home than Lauren was. When they got home Lauren was so animated telling me everything they did at the game. I was sorry that Addison and I had to miss it. She is a little sick this weekend...mainly just a runny nose and cough..

Well I hear Lauren waking up finally after a long nap. Time to head out to the Summit Fair shopping area for an outdoor festival they are having this weekend. Should be fun!

The Hands

The picture up above was taken in Mark's car last weekend on the way home from the pool. Mark has told me that many times Lauren and Addison hold hands while in his car. Whenever Addison is crying Lauren can always calm her down in the car by playing peek a boo or by grabbing her hand. I had my camera with me since we were on our way home from the pool. I took about 15 pictures of them holding hands. It is so precious to me. Lauren and Addison really adore each other and I think they will be very close in the years to come. Lauren always helps me with Addison. She keeps an eye on her while I get ready in the morning. She rushes to her side when she is crying, and she loves to play with her. The same is true for Addison. She loves to play with Lauren. If Addison is awake when Lauren is napping it seems like she is looking for her and misses her. The truly are the best of friends, even at such a young age. Mark and I feel so blessed to have such wonderful, healthy girls. They make it all worth while.

Good Times

The weekends that are the most busy and most exhausting are always the most fun. Saturday afternoon we had friends over for a BBQ and Lauren and Aiden had a blast. Those two always play really well together. The weather was beautiful so we sat outside on the deck and grilled out. What a great time. Lauren finally drove her car (that she got for her birthday, that has sat in the garage since her birthday) since Aiden was here to drive her around first. Once Aiden got to driving her all around she was ready to do it herself. As you can see here she loved it!

Addison watched them drive all over the yard and laughed and smiled as Aiden and Lauren were laughing and giggling. Mark and I could listen to our girls laugh and watch them smile all day long. That is what it is all about...

At one point Lauren even put her arm around Aiden as he was driving. So cute. She even stood up in the jeep and was holding on the purple bar on top...I had visions of her being 16 driving around in a jeep...standing up, holding onto the bar, hair in the wind....then I yelled at her and made her sit down!

Sunday afternoon after naps we headed out to Summit Waves in Lee's Summit. It was a lot of fun. We took the girls on the lazy river while Mark and I laid in the tube and they sat on our laps. They both loved it until we hit the waterfall and our heads were covered in water and then both girls were screaming...not so relaxing after that...trying to calm them both down...

Little Addison was so cute in her bikini. She did not really like the water because it was pretty cold so she just hung out in the shade.

She is trying to stand up and check things out. She loved being at the pool watching everything.