Delightful

Last weekend my Grandma Peggy was able to come spend 24 hours with us. Grandma Peggy winters in California and summers in British Columbia so she hadn't seen Abby since the spring of 2009 and had never met Noah. We packed a lot into the time we had with her.

I had been talking up Great-Grandma Peggy for about a week to get Abby excited and Abby kept saying "I give her hugs and kisses." I wasn't really sure if Abby would since she wouldn't know Grandma from a stranger on the street but the minute Grandma waved at us through security at the airport... Abby was off like a shot to give her Great-Grandma a huge hug and kiss. I wish I had caught it on camera but I never in a million years thought she would do it.

As soon as we left the airport we drove straight to Grant's Farm because what would a trip be to St. Louis if it didn't include some goats and animals! The goats there are crazy hungry all the time. So the girls stayed out of the enclosure and fed them through the gate.
Next stop the chickens... they fed those too.

Noah was with for all the animal fun.
Abby made sure to show her Great Grandma Peggy the cicadas outside and even some of her favorite books inside, including one about ants.

Great Grandma Peggy enjoying some quiet time with her newest Great Grandson.
The next morning Abby and Great Grandma were discussing the day, remember we are usually up and dressed by 7am and Abby suggested the zoo. Grandma agreed so we were off. The St. Louis Zoo is truly one of the best zoos in the country. Not only is it free to get in but the little extra's are free the first hour the zoo is open - everyday of the week. Our first stop the Stingray and Shark touch exhibit.

Our next stop was the elephants. This was the most active I had seen the calves in awhile. One was actually submerged in their pool. It was also raining slightly so Grandma was keeping her hair dry.
The last stop of the day was Reptile day. Abby is in love with slimy and slithery animals. She laid down next to this python completely on her own. ewww.
After lunch and nap, Abby and Noah were ready to play again this time in our own backyard. These are just some family photos of Grandma with the kids.

So Smart

Abby is learning things so fast these days. Everyday she continues to impress us with things she remembers and has learned.

The cool thing about seeing her grow up is the emergance of her problem solving skills. Example....

I was sitting on the couch this afternoon, feeding Noah. It was 4:50, so I knew that Peggy was about to call since she was getting off of work soon. So, I asked Abby to go get me the phone.

She walked over to the TV stand where we keep the phone. She tried her best, but as she told me "I can't reach it." She struggled for a few more seconds. Then, said "daddy, I can't reach it."

So, I started saying: "well, go-------" And she cut me off, saying "I go get my stool!" I was just about to tell her to do the same thing. She has a stool in the bathroom that she uses to, well, go to the bathroom.

So, she ran to get it. She brought it back and yelled, "I got my stool daddy! Now I can reach it!" She was SOOOO proud of herself that she thought about getting the stool all by herself.

And so am I.

A Week At Work

This is what happens when you surprise the anchors....

So if you haven't been following along on facebook, I had a local ice cream parlor make up a batch of Peanut butter/Banana Ice Cream with Chocolate covered Cicadas. Thats right I had cicadas put in ice cream. It may sound gross but I didn't have to eat it. My anchor, April had some earlier in the show - this was the end of the 4pm when we promote our 5pm newscast.

April has a deep fear of reptiles. And Fox2/News11 loves to play tricks on each other... see above story. So yesterday I had a local reptile ranch come in and surprise April with some reptiles. Rich the co-host informed me before the show he also has a fear of reptiles, this has been a great week. It was nice to have a few light moments this week after a crazy busy month of sweeps, with a lot of death and destruction.

Growing too fast

Everyday the two of them are getting "bigger and stronger" those are Abby's words. But the two of them are changing so much these days. Abby is looking more and more like a kid and less and less like a toddler.

And look at these smiles. Dave left for Leadership Camp until late Tues or early Wednesday. So far we are getting along just fine.

I just took this one about 10 minutes ago.... passed out after a long day of smiles.

And whats a post without a cicada... I put the bug there so you could compare the size. eww.

Random Cuteness

Look who's 3 months old! I can hardly believe it. He's such a good little baby. He even slept through the night - one day last week. Hopefully he'll start doing it on a more regular bases. He's already in 6month clothing.

These kids I tell ya... too cute. Noah lights up whenever Abby is around. That is until she wants to hold him or or his hand too tight. He let's us know when he has had enough. He really likes sitting in his bumbo seat. He's such a happy baby.

Abby's daycare teacher gave her this cool sprinkler on her last day. This was our first night using it. Besides getting stuck in the middle (see video below) Dave also got in on the action to show Abby how to run through it.

This is Abby waterboarding one pissed off cicada. He survived. Barely. Now only if she could take care of the other thousands mating in our trees.

Laughter

With a 2 year old and a 3 month old we spend a lot of time laughing at ourselves, the kids and how we must look to others. And now Noah is laughing with us! He started laughing at the end of last week. It's great. He has the best baby laugh.

Summer Fun

It's summer time and Abby is loving the warm weather. Her teacher from daycare bought her a sprinkler so tonight after dinner we let her play in it. She loves it. She also loves her cicadas, she even gave them "baths." More on that to come. Anyways its in the 90s here and its supposed to be that way all week. I have a feeling Abby will be spending a lot of evenings in the sprinkler. Hopefully she'll get braver as the summer goes on.

Notice how ridiculously loud the cicadas are. Even with both of our children crying, the cicadas are far louder.