Siblings

Let's be honest. Having two kids is starting to have major perks, especially when giggling and chasing are involved. Now when I ask Leah to keep an eye on Adam and I find him in her closet loosely tied up with a jump rope... not so much.

The Wheels On The Bus

One of the first things I fell in love with when I was studying up on Indiana was the trolley that operates around downtown. This weekend, encouraged by our last adventure on a city bus, we decided to check it out. And it was mostly great! Turns out the trolley route operates with buses and trolleys, and we only got to ride on the bus. But it was still fun- we checked out the park, the fountain, and the bookstore before heading back home. Leah and Adam thought it was a great adventure, as they proved by their fantastically long afternoon naps. And, in stark contrast to last weekend, it was totally free! Somehow, I don't think the kids could tell any difference...
Speaking of money, Leah has started showing a little more interest in money. At the grocery store last week she started pointed out all of the price tags and little shelf advertisements and asked, "What are all of these numbers for?" So we had a little talk about money and the cost of food- she had no idea!

Earlier this week she sorted all of the money in her piggy bank into little piles, and told me she was going to save up a bunch of money so she could give it all away to our extended family. To her, that seemed like the best way she could use her pennies.

And one more Leah story, since I'm on a roll. Yesterday we were visiting with our neighbors, who had just gotten back from a fishing trip. They pulled out a cooler full of blue gills on ice, and Leah was fascinated. She was brave enough to touch the fish and even picked one up. She asked all about their gills, scales, and fins. Our neighbor told her about the whole fishing experience, including catching the fish with crickets, reeling them in on hooks and cleaning them before eating them.

Then Leah asked, "Are the fish hungry right now?"

After all that, she still didn't realize the fish were dead.... and I didn't have the heart to tell her. She must have thought she was so lucky to be able to touch a real fish without it swimming away!

I'm sure that's not in the manual...

Me: Leah, what did you learn about in Sunbeams today?

Her: We learned about ears.

Me: What do you do with ears?

Her: I don't know.

Me: Do you use them to see? (Noooo) Do you use them to taste? (Noooo) Do you use them to smell? (Noooo) Well then what are they for?

Her: You use them to pull ear wax out of!

Spaghetti Night

The fork was just a formality...

Maybe If Chicago Wasn't SO Awesome...

..then this wouldn't be the longest post known to the history of this blog. But Chicago is that awesome, so here we go!

In celebration of our 6 year anniversary, we headed up to Chicago last weekend, and it was the best trip we've taken there so far. We went to the temple, like we do every year on our anniversary, and took turns hanging out with the kids in the hotel. Honestly, who knew a mini-fridge could provide so much entertainment?
The plan on Saturday was to go to the Shedd Aquarium, Millennium Park and the Cheesecake Factory. And we did all that, plus an impromptu trip into the Field Museum of Natural History.

The aquarium was fun- we'd gone there recently and it was much busier this time, so we didn't stay very long. But the dolphins, beluga whales, and penguins were still fascinating. And we loved the new show they have- Leah was entranced by the "underwater fairy godmothers" (they couldn't have been mermaids without tails) and the girl who got "randomly selected" out of the crowd to participate in the show.
After we left the aquarium, we walked past the Field Museum, and decided to check it out. It was much quieter but still a lot of fun.
There was a cool exhibit that took you underground to see dirt and bugs. It started by taking you through two "shrinking" rooms, and I guess Jason and I were very convincing because Leah was freaking out by the time we started walking around underground. And it didn't help that there were HUGE mechanical bugs moving around. She started out on Jason's shoulders but was in my arms, hiding her face by the time we left. Then she kept telling us for the rest of the day how much she didn't like shrinking and didn't want to go underground again. Oops!

And we spent ample time paying homage to corn at this exhibit. Corn pays our bills, you know!
Any guesses to what country we're pointing at? It's in Asia!
After the museum we were all exhausted, but we still had a tasty dinner ahead! My parents sent us a sweet anniversary present and we headed over to the Cheesecake Factory to enjoy it! We didn't realize it was at the bottom of the John Hancock Center, one of the tallest buildings in the world. We planned to head up to the top after dinner to see the city skyline at night, but the kids didn't make it that far. So we're saving that for our next trip to Chicago- with my sister Allison!
We had to pay homage to the American Girl Place store- where I'm already planning Leah's 6th birthday party!
And after a delicious dinner- thanks again, Mom and Dad!- we piled in the car and headed back home. The kids passed out in the first 5 minutes of the drive, and Jason and I were practically slapping each other to stay awake for the 2 hour drive home. We pulled in around midnight, safe and sound.

And so, if you've made it this far, I will now reward you by breaking down the trip by numbers.

Number Of...

miles driven- 326

times we got lost (even with our GPS)- 2

pictures taken- 105

dollars spent on parking- $45

tolls paid- 8 (including one where Jason said, "Thank you. Come again!" Ha)

clothing changes due to potty accidents- 1

pancakes eaten by Adam at breakfast in the hotel- 3

toys bought for Melanie- 1

spoons dropped by Adam at dinner- 5

naps taken by each kid in the stroller- 1

activities we added to our "next time" list- 4

times Jason said, "It's our anniversary. Let's do it!"- 14

times we said we're glad we get to do stuff like this - 7

times we said we're glad we married each other 6 years ago- too many to count!

Busy Busy Boy

Adam is getting so busy! He tries to pull up on anything,
nightly baths are becoming a must,
and chewing on everything is still a favorite pastime.
But his new favorite thing to do is fitting little things into bigger things.
Like a spoon into a cup-
or a straw into a lid.
This can provide endless minutes of entertainment...
of course, it's not always such a good thing.
He seems to have a natural draw to electrical outlets, the computer and the VCR.
He definitely keeps me on my toes!

Mother's Day

As a late Mother's Day present, the kids are taking long afternoon naps, so I've got a minute to blog now that I've finished up my own lunch and nap. Laundry and unpacking can wait just a bit longer.


This Mother's Day was fan.tas.tic. We got home from Chicago at midnight on Saturday, but Jason still hopped out of bed first thing Sunday morning, took the kids downstairs to make cards and breakfast and let me sleep for an extra 45 minutes. And I didn't lift a finger for the rest of the day. No dishes or meal prep, diaper changes or toy corralling, or feeling like I had to choose between playing with the kids and getting the housework done.


It was just watching Leah sing with the Primary in sacrament meeting and getting to skip my lesson in Relief Society in lieu of a brunch served by the Elders Quorum, leftover Cheesecake Factory cheesecake in the sunshine and lounging around all afternoon, writing in my journal and talking to my own wonderful mother on the phone.


Being the Mom is the hardest job I've ever had - SO much harder than I ever anticipated. But yesterday, I felt so loved from Jason, Leah and Adam. And I know that it's all worth it, but yesterday was a pretty sweet reminder.