Children's Museum of Walla Walla, Washington

I took the kids to the Children's Museum of Walla Walla while Jeff took his parents wine tasting. Everyone had a wonderful afternoon!

The kids loved climbing on these metal structures outside the museum.

We spent a little bit of time outside. Nora is chasing bubbles.

Of course my little cyclists were totally impressed with the bike! If you pedaled quick enough the energy from the bike would light up a light bulb. Nora's little legs were moving so fast! Ronan wasn't able to get his light to turn on, but the bike was WAY too big for him. He had to shift his entire body for each rotation! I tried to assist him to get the light on and even I couldn't do it.

They had great costumes at the museum! Nora found a puppy one.

And here she is taking care of a puppy in the pet hospital. We spent a ton of time in this area.

Ronan found a penguin costume! He was so happy in it.

Ronan took care of a penguin at the hospital. He was such a caring doctor!

Grammy & Papa in Walla Walla

We met up with Jeff's parents in Walla Walla, Washington for a quick weekend visit. As soon as we told the kids about our plans they started talking up Walla Walla. They always look forward to seeing Grammy and Papa.

Ronan really comes to life around Jeff's parents. He transforms from this pouty two year old into this little boy brimming with personality. He will be all smiles and dance around. He will talk so much and so fast that we won't be able to understand him. It is adorable. At dinner he started "Cheers" and didn't stop until we packed up!

We brought along the bikes so that we could show off the kids new found skills. Nora is pretty awesome on the two wheeler now. She does a great job starting and stopping. I am hoping that within a month or so I will be able to take her and Ronan biking without Jeff.
Don & Kathy chased after the kids while they were riding. The bikes took up half the car, but it was so worth it to see the pride in Nora and Ronan while they rode their bikes.

It's nice knowing that we will be seeing Jeff's parents so soon. It will have only been three weeks! During this short amount of time though, Clare has really gotten mobile and is crawling around!

Alien Festival

Our favorite part of May is the Alien Festival! It was such a nice day and we left early enough to have great seats. The kids sat on the edge of the curb, wide eyed! And if you check out these pictures you will totally understand why!

Lots of silver cars!

Clare's first alien parade! She loved all the excitement.

My three little ones sitting on the curb, watching the aliens go by. Does life get any better than this?

We always stop by the Dollar Store before a parade and pick up some cheap prizes. The kids had balloons and then we picked up some dogs at a garage sale. Are we the cheapest parents or what? Of course the kids fell in love with their used beanie babies and they are now the most cherished toys in the house. Both kids named their puppies Ginger, after the dog who recently moved in with our neighbors.

This little girl amazes me!

OMSI

We spent Easter day at OMSI. I take the kids there often, but we hardly have Jeff with us. We had a great time exploring the museum.

Nora and Ronan loved talking to each other on the phone.

Potty training?

We built an arch! We all had to work together to build it and it only last about a minute, but it was so much fun!

Ronan loved looking at his reflection. The kids are at such a curious age. I sometimes feel overwhelmed trying to take advantage of these moments. They are so adorable when I do capture them though!

They are looking at each others reflections. It was quite entertaining.

Easter

Nora's favorite holiday is Easter. She talks about it all year, especially the Easter bunny. As soon as I bring out the Easter eggs the hunts begin. We have them inside and outside. I hid the eggs, then she hides the eggs.
Despite having hundreds of Easter eggs hunts, we never decorated eggs, and hardly took any pictures. The pictures below are from the official egg hunt on Easter morning. The kids are wearing matching pjs from their baskets (a special gift from Great-Grandma Luella). The Easter bunny knew all the right spots the hid the eggs: near all the puppy dogs!

Nora woke up and found her basket in about three seconds. Nora may have found her basket so quickly because it was in the same spot as last year, and Nora never forgets anything (but maybe her daddy does?).