Water, Water, Water

The kids got to have some summer fun in the water last weekend. We went to Crown Center on Saturday. They had a puppet show inside that Maia and Chase loved to watch. Then, we went out to the fountains. They really weren't too sure of them at first, the water sprayed about 20 feet into the air (a little too high for the little ones.) Maia met a friend there and finally got brave enough to run through. Chase stuck to the little fountains. Sunday, we went to Tiffany Springs water park and had a blast. Maia showed off her new swimming skills she's been learning all summer in her lessons. Chase really surprised us, as well as many other moms, and went down all the little kid water slides. He had a look of terror going down the slide, but when we picked him up, he would sign and say "more"! Mom and Dad also took turns sliding down the big slides (getting ready to go to White Water during our vacation next month!)

Maia and Chase love their water slide in the back yard.Story time with Dad before bedThis is the reason 3 year olds should not dress themselves. Maia came out of her room today wearing this gorgeous outfit. Socks on her hands, tights over her skirt with a glove on her left foot covered by a ballet slipper, a cute tank top, and a headband to top it all off. A bit rediculous, but I was secretly proud that she actually was able to put it all on by herself!

Summer Fun

Happy 4th of July!

We went to see the Kearney fireworks display this year. It was very impressive...the kids loved it, especially Chase! There were so many people there that it took us an hour to get out of our parking spot, and another hour to get out of the parking lot. The kids were so good, though. Thank God for DVD players and fruit snacks! We also celebrated the 4th at the Norgrens. Chase wasn't too sure of those fireworks., he never left my lap. The other kids had a blast, especially Bella!

Happy Birthday Bart!

We celebrated Bart's birthday last night, and Maia told us it was "such a fun party!" Maia's self portrait in the bathtub...our future artist! The big change in our house is that Chase has been in a "big boy bed" for the last month. He's actually been doin REALLY well. However over the last couple weeks whenever we check on him before we go to bed, we've been finding Chase sleeping in random places all over his room...silly boy. A few times, we've had to push him out of the way with the door when he falls asleep just behind it.

Deanna Rosa & Swim Lessons

The kids had an absolute blast at the Deanna Rose Farm! If you have small children, you have to check it out! (My little plug for the farm) There was so much there for Maia and Chase to see and do. There were so many animals, goats to feed, a horse-drawn wagon ride, and a few playgrounds (one was just Chase's size). We're definitely going back this summer. We happened to go the day that "Dairy Days" was there. The kids learned all about where milk and ice cream come from, and Maia even got to learn how to milk a cow...Grandpa Gaddis would be so proud! A bonus for mom and dad is that they had free ice cream, smoothies and Popsicles! Chase was not a big fan of the goats (he called them dogs). Can't say I blame him, they were very greedy when it came to the bottle of millk. Maia loved the the goats. We caught her getting ready to smooch one on the lips! (Thank God for antibacterial sanitizer!)

Maia began swimming lessons this summer. She has really come a long way in just a couple weeks.

Maia's swim lessons

Maia's swim lessons

Welcoming Summer!

Chase is in for a long summer! Many of you may have already learned of Chase's accident. He and Maia were playing in the backyard on their slide, Chase fell and came up with a mouth full of blood. Later that evening, his tooth fell out! We took him to the dentist to find out that there is no damage to any of his adult teeth (I hesitate to call them permanent teeth because in his case, you never know). It'll only be another 8 years or so with a toothless smile! It doesn't seem to bother him at all, though. He sticks straws, food and his tongue through the new hole.

Chase got his first summer hair cut last weekend. He did such a good job! He sat in the airplane and watched the girl cut his hair...then drenched the cape with slobber from the dum dum the girl gave him. I don't know what the girl thought would happen when you hand a 16 month old a sucker, but it was gross!The finished product...handsome little man! Random picture of Maia pushing her little brother around Zona Rosa after the hair cut.

Speaking of teeth, Maia had some work done this week...poor little thing! Here she is with her "elephant nose". She thought this was so funny! She did not think this was quite so funny...her lip was numb for hours afterwards. She's still a little swollen, but doing much better!

Getting ready to go on one of our daily walks.

Summer is finally here! The kids had fun in the sun with their friends Jack and Bella. Getting all 4 of them in a picture is always a challenge...Barney was a bonus! Drink break

Happy Mother's Day!

We went to the Kansas City Zoo for Mother's Day. Mom's got in free and got free ice cream! The weather turned out to be just perfect. The kiddos were so good, and had a lot of fun. Mom and the kids Maia and Jen watching the animal show

Chase pointed to every animal and called it "cat"

Peek-a-boo Sleepy little boy...he made it until 2:15 (pretty impressive)

Maia acting like the flamingos

Pooped

Maia is 3! Go Cards! Easter!

It's so hard to believe that our little princess is already 3! Time flies! We went to the doctor yesterday for Maia's 3 year check up...She's doing great! Chase also went yeasterday for his 15 month visit. Poor little guy has had a rough week...that was his 3rd visit. He had a fever last week for a couple days that wouldn't go away, turns out he had an ear infection. A few days later, his 8th tooth busted through! Then, we got a call from daycare saying he had a rash and needed a note from the doctor to go back (trip#2). His rash was just due to getting over the ear infection...Maia used to do the same thing. To top it all off, he got 3 shots yesterday. Hopefully he's done with the doctor for a little while.

So here are the new stats:

Maia - Weight: 37.8lb (90-95%) Height: 40.25in (>95%)

Chase - Weight: 24.2lb (25-50%) Height: 30.75 (50-75%)

We had a really busy weekend in St. Louis last weekend. Maia celebrated her birthday at Grandma and Papa Buck's house this year. The only thing she asked for was a princess birthday cake...She's a little into princesses these days! She also got a big girl bike from Aunt Laura and Uncle Matt (of course it's a princess bike). She LOVES it! She was able to ride it around in Grandma and Grandpa's basement and was actually really good. She even pulled out a few tricks, throwing her legs out to the side and standing up on the pedals. She also got a tee ball set from Grandma and Papa. It took her a little while to get the coordination down. Uncle Matt and Dad worked with her for a while. Then they figured out that she bats lefty! Since that discovery, she can really blast the ball!

While in St. Louis Matt, Laura, Bart, and I went to watch the Cardinals. Bart and I hadn't been to a game at the new Busch Stadium. The weather was perfect! We had incredible seats...8 rows back, just pass third base (thanks Ronny). Aside from fearing for our lives with every foul ball that came our way, it was a great game...WE WON!

The kids had a really good Easter. I think they ate more candy on Easter than they've eaten in their whole lives. Chase really started getting the idea of hunting for eggs. However, he treated the real eggs like baseballs and kept throwing them (he's got a good little arm). When he saw that they cracked, he would push his thumb through the shell...gross. Maia had a great time with all of her cousins. We hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!