Baby's first swing...

I forgot to post this video taken earlier this month of Joseph's first time in a swing.  He didn't know completely what to make of it at first, but he clearly enjoyed himself!

Evelyn's "Graduation"

Evelyn is "graduating" from pre-K 4.  Normally, she'd be off to Kindergarten but we've decided for her to do a year of pre-kindergarten.  She JUST makes the cut off to make it into kindergarten and I really don't want her to be the youngest kid in the class.  Actually, about half of her current class will be moving on to the pre-kindergarten program right along with her.  Especially with the much higher pressure these days for kids to be reading pretty much at the start of the year, we thought this was the best option for her.  It's a much different kindergarten than when I was a kid!

In any case, she still had a graduation and it was adorable.  I took a couple of video clips and they even gave her a diploma and bible to celebrate.  She'll be at the same school next year.

Ah...Ah...Ahh...ACHOOOOO!!

I have no idea why she started doing this today but I thought it was funny.  She just kept fake sneezing all day long.

Cincinnati

We took a short weekend trip to Cincinnati with the kids.  We just wanted to explore some new things and get out of town for a change of scenery.  The kids' favorite part is always staying in a hotel.  Now that we are a family of six, we are officially too large of a group to stay in one room so we had to get connecting rooms.  The girls loved that because they felt like they had their own space.

Getting ready to check in...

On Saturday we got up and went to Entertrainment Junction.  It's the World's largest model train display.  Sounded like a snooze-fest but was actually very neat!!  The models were so intricate, they had play areas for the kids to run around, and a fun house attached.  Lorelai and Daddy enjoyed the trains the most.

Scarlet, my little cleaner, is shoveling coal

exploring the play place

You could control all the trains and the sounds of the environments by the buttons posted on the walls.

Time to check out the fun house

Optical illusions made for some funny pictures

You can't tell by the picture, but this entire room was tilted 23 degrees.  It really messed with your head and it was easy to get dizzy and disoriented. 

Scarlet especially could not figure out how to walk in this room.

Scarlet's hanging on for dear life and I had to rescue her.  Evelyn had the bright idea to think she could run around in this environment.  It resulted in her somersaulting down the slope and bonking her head

The second day in Cincinnati we headed to the Zoo and Botanical Gardens.  Always a hot-spot for us!!

Lorelai is pretending to be a baby eaglet

Daddy and Evelyn together are the same height as a baby giraffe!

Trying to climb like an orangutan

Officially crawling...

Officially crawling... and getting into everything.  He's improving every single day and enjoys discovering new things that Mom doesn't want him to play with.  This little rascal is in a trouble making phase...

Legos at the zoo!

We went to the Zoo last weekend, which is not uncommon for us... but currently they have several giant Lego exhibits scattered throughout the grounds.  The girls had a lot of fun hunting them down!  Very neat to look at and it was overall a beautiful day.

Lego hummingbird

Lego rhino

This was one of my favorites.  This monarch butterfly was so pretty and colorful and the flower was very intricate

Lego zebra conveniently located right outside the lion exhibits.  What a tease to those poor lions HAHA

And the girls took a break to ride a camel...

Scarlet rode too...she got to sit with Maddie and didn't know what to make of it!

Wildebeast

We almost missed this one!  Beautiful snow leopard!  Lorelai really enjoyed this Lego scavenger hunt

This was the largest and probably most impressive structure

Every structure had a sign next to it that told you how many bricks were used and how many hours it took.  The polar bear took over 133,000 lego bricks and over 1,000 hours to complete!!!

Sea turtle hatching from an egg

The infamous Dodo

My other favorite was this colorful chameleon.  So fun to look at!

Some seahorses and coral

The flowers are in bloom at the Zoo!  Gorgeous!!!!  Evelyn was getting too tired to pose for a picture.  

A boy and his dog...

Addie has always been a tolerant dog with the kids, but I am constantly amazed with how she lets our babies just crawl all over her and poke and prod her without complaint.  She loves to be loved on.  Such a good dog...

Ready for school...

I've been considering sending Scarlet to school next year for a while.  She's very shy around new people and situations.  The preschool that Lorelai went to, and Evelyn still currently attends has a two year old program that's just two days a week from 9am-12pm.  I think it'd be good to get her out of her shell a little bit.  I think she's excited to go!

A case of the giggles...

Joseph may be over tired.  He has a case of the giggles and it's hilarious to watch...

April wrap-up...

Leftover pictures from April....

Sweet Addie lets Joseph crawl all over her

Aren't tornado warnings fun?  It's past bedtime, hanging out in our storm shelter

I'm in love with this birthday card we made for Daddy

Lorelai is so cute.  Daddy had to work late on his birthday and he really wanted him to have a good day.  She said, "Mommy, Daddy likes it when the house is clean so I want to help clean it for him."  She did a couple chores and then I said she could take a break and go play but she replied, "No, I can do more!  Can I vacuum for Daddy?"  I could get used to this!

Scarlet says, "Come on, Joseph!  Crawl!  Like this!"

Pumping iron!

Scarlet is having a picnic lunch with brother

Sweet, sleepy boy

The weather is warming up and we are enjoying the deck

Yes, we still have Easter candy.  Lorelai is enjoying her Peeps lollipop

A crazy rain storm almost cancelled the girls' Bunny Run 3k but it was moved to the mall last minute.  Everyone is ready to go!

Lorelai with her medal.  She ran the whole way with Daddy.  

Play dates are fun at any age!

Scarlet and her BFF