The Park!

Can you tell I'm excited we're no longer trapped inside every day???  We met Jill, Heidi and Wyatt at the park yesterday after work so the kids could play.  They were so excited to see Heidi.  Matthew yelled "Heidi's here" when Jill pulled up.  We'll have to do this more often since the kids all loved the big play structure and they really burned some energy.

The Farm!

We visited Kensington MetroPark Farm on Saturday April 2nd.  It was a nice, fairly warm day so we thought it would be a good day for an outing.  We ditched the stroller and let Matthew and Claire walk and I wore Cate in a sling.  They did pretty well listening and didn't throw too big of a fit when it was time to leave.  A few of the sheep at Kensington had recently had lambs so there were about 9 lambs all less than 2 days old.  One of the sheep had triplets ;)  The kids talked about the farm for 3 days afterwards and told us all about the animals that they had seen.  We bought the annual pass so we'll be frequenting this park this summer.

The Zoo!

We had summer-like weather on Sunday so we took advantage and headed to the Detroit Zoo for the first time this year.  The kids were really into it (at least for the first hour and a half).  We let them walk while I pushed Cate in the stroller.  They were excited to see all the animals and were calling out each one and making animal noises.  It made the zoo pass we purchased last fall well worth it!  The first exhibit we saw was the otter.  They thought the otter swimming in the tank was hilarious!  Even Cate was checking him out.
We also saw the reptile house, Matthew was nervous because the reptiles were pretty active.  He would take a few steps back each time one was moving toward him.  Claire thought a skink that was digging a hole was the funniest thing she saw.  We checked out most of the exhibits but had to pack it in after about an hour and a half.  Claire also liked the prairie dogs, she kept saying "he's too cute". 

I Hurt Snow White

A couple days ago the twins were supposed to be taking a nap up in their room.  I went up to check on them and put them back in their beds.  I open Claire's door and the first thing she says to me is "I hurt Snow White".  I said "You did???" and looked over at her wall to see that she indeed had removed the shoes and most of the bottom of the dress off of the Snow White decal that I painstakingly placed on her wall.  Sigh.

Since the weather has been nice, we've been outside the last few days.  The kids have really enjoyed running around in the backyard and Cate likes watching all the action from her little ride-on car.  I feel like this ride-on car is going to be the best $15 I have spent in awhile (purchased used from a Mom-2-Mom sale thank you very much!).  I can push her around the yard and still keep hands-free to help Matthew and Claire with whatever they are getting into.  I'm planning a small garden that I hope to start around mid-May so hopefully the twins will enjoy helping with that.

Elephants Never Forget. And Neither Do Two-Year-Olds!

Claire has really been talking a lot lately and is amazing me with how much she notices around her.  It's hard to pull a fast one on her.  She seems to remember everything!  A few weeks back I was looking for the backpack carrier that I wear Cate around in when we go out sometimes and I couldn't find it.  I was telling Claire what I was looking for and that I needed it before we could get in the car to leave.  She must have been listening because yesterday when we were in the car she says "Mama's backpack for Cate, we have to find it".  She probably was wondering what what so funny when I started laughing. 

Yesterday we put apples outside in the backyard for the deer.  We have about 10 deer that frequent our yard and the kids like to watch them.  So, I took Matthew and Claire outside yesterday so they could put some apples out.   Matthew decided to take a few bites out of his apple before leaving it for the deer and Claire was very serious about the task.  Claire kept saying: "I feedin the deer apples!"  It wasn't very warm out and we're hoping spring will come soon so that we can play outside more.

Cate now has 3 teeth!  I need to post her 8 month old info and photos, maybe I can get to that later this week.  She has also said "Dada" which is her first official word!

Very serious about feeding the deer!

 The deer won't mind a few bites out of the apple.

 Racing up the hill!

Baby Cate got to come outside for just a minute.

 Being silly in the car.