Silly Steven

I was rocking Lyla to sleep (and falling asleep myself) and Tommy called me to come see Steven's latest silliness. He decided that it would be fun to put all of his little people farm animals and farmers in his shirt and carry them around. By the end of the night his wooden puzzle pieces, play kitchen cup and bathtub frog had joined them!

Lyla's First Vacation

Over Memorial Day weekend we traveled to Arkansas to visit the Clark Family. Grandpa Steve turned 60 earlier in the month so we all went down there to celebrate with him.

We left on Friday and only had to stop three times on the way down! Our big stop was at the George Washington Carver National Historic Site in Diamond, MO. It was really nice; the museum looked like it had just recently been updated and new displays installed. I think as the kids grow up this will be a good stop to make on the way to Grandma and Grandpa's. Our last stop before going to the house was in Fort Smith to ride the Creekmore Express I don't think that Steven really understands what all is involved in trains. He seemed a little nervous about the ride but warmed up the second time around.

On Sunday, Cousin Ava came down and it was fun to watch her and Steven play. It took awhile for Steven to warm up to playing with another kid but eventually he jumped right in. They were very fun to watch.

We left on Tuesday for Charley and Heather's. We visited them for the night and I almost decided that we would move in because Lyla slept through the night!!!

On Wednesday we went to the Wilderness Wildilfe Safari in Gentry, AR. It was really huge and we got to pet KANAGROOS! My favorite part of the Kansas City zoo is the kangaroo exhibit because they just roam free but now the Safari has trumped the KC zoo because we actually got to pet the kanagroos. Steven was more interested in the prairie dog holes than the kangaroos however if we had let him chase them he probably would have run with them all afternoon. A lot of the kangaroos had joeys in their pouches with their feet sticking out. I couldn't believe that those mommas were so laid back!

We are back home again and laundry has been started. That is my least favorite part of traveling - the mess when you return! We made it to Costco today but we still need to get some real groceries, maybe tomorrow.

The kiddos are sleeping and so must we ...

Lyla Smiles!

We saw her first real smile today when loading her in her car seat to start the trip to Arkansas. She is only 5.5 weeks old - so advanced for her age! We still haven't gotten a good picture on our camera but we'll keep trying!

Thomas the Tank Engine

It was almost like Christmas morning! Last night Tommy and I set up a part of the Thomas the Train set that we got from a seller on Craigslist and this morning when Steven woke up he got to see his train for the first time! He was so excited!

He immediately went over to the table and didn't stop playing with it the entire day. He even had the Big Red Barn farm animals riding on the trains by the end of the day (even though they didn't fit very well).

We blame this new obsession on two sources ... Heidi's gift of Blustrode the bath toy and Cousin Jack's DVD. This is a pretty fun obsession, though. It is so cute to hear Steven say Choo Choo!

During naptime ...

I decided to set up this blog...we have so many sites where we post pictures, videos, and news that I thought it might be nice to finally consolidate into one location. However, I am probably setting myself up for more work than I think!

Latest News:
Sara is on a dairy strike ... we think Lyla has a dairy sensitivity so I am trying to cut dairy out of my diet to see if that helps her spit up and breathing problems. I am on Day 2 and so far am holding strong. It kills me to think that there will be no more mac&cheese or ice cream for two weeks (at least)!

Lyla takes the Paci ... She has finally figured out how to suck the pacifier but unless something holds it in she keeps losing it! It is nice to have her content during the day when we are busy with Steven but I hope she doesn't get hooked like her brother. I guess we know better this time around!

Tommy plays ball ... the newest activity for Tommy this summer is old man baseball. I didn't bring my camera to the game we went to a few Saturdays ago but sometime this summer we'll get a photo. His team is full of drama ... the coach quit last weekend after he and the catcher got in a spat. I did say this was an adult league but I guess boys will be boys!

Steven full of silliness ... Our big brother is just full of silliness. He loves to play outside and if you don't watch him closely he'll take off down the street and that only ends well when you finish the trip to the park. Bubbles are a big hit and recently he has discovered the joy of Thomas the Tank Engine. Tonight Tommy is picking up a train set that we bought on Craigslist. We'll post some pictures tomorrow!

Signing off from the Clark Family!

Deanna Rose Farmstead

We went on Lyla's official first outing today! Deanna Rose Farmstead is a petting zoo and living history exhibit in Overland Park. We are trying to get out in the mornings to do new and different outings because the weather has been great and we really want to take advantage of our family time while I am on leave. This was a perfect outing because it was free (!) and Steven really loves animals right now - Lyla was just along for the ride!

While we were there we fed the goats, watched the rabbits and fed the baby goats from a milk bottle. Feeding the baby goats kind of freaked Steven out because the kept putting their front legs on him and they were about as tall as he is! We eventually gave our bottle to some little girls and Steven just watched. He liked that much better.

After we had a picnic lunch we headed over to visit Aunt Barbara and Uncle Tony. They hadn't met Lyla yet so we dropped in on them to show her off. Uncle Tony has the touch as Lyla really liked sitting in the crook of his arm!