At the Drive-in

What should you do on a random Monday night in the summer? Why head to the drive-in!

We decided to go to see Toy-Story 3 at the drive-in. Caleb and Lucy took naps at 4:15 in prep for staying up WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY past their bedtime of 7:00. We met up with Aunt Cathy, Uncle Jonathan and Celelia at 7:30 to make our way to the theater.

They were in awe of the huge screen.

Toby liked the music playing from the speakers.

We ate dinner and snacks while we waited for the sun to set and the show to begin.

We parked in the first row and the kiddos loved running around in the grass in front of the screen. We brought our computer to watch Toy Story 2 while we snacked and waited, but never even thought about turning it on. Next time we will bring a ball or two instead.

Once it was dark, it was time to round the troops up for the show.

They were quite excited to test out their cozy spot which became their tent to camp out during the second part of the double feature, Prince of Persia.

Caleb getting a little hyper because he only "rested" and didn't actually nap and it after 9:00 already. By the end of the movie, he was asking when it was going to be over because he was so tired, but then wanted to stay up for the second movie.

Getting one last snack before the movie starts.

Then....Magic Even though Toby took his nap early, he was so excited about the movie he stayed up for almost half of it before passing out. We tried to get a picture of them all sleeping in our "camper" but couldn't find the camera in the dark, plus it was 1:30 and we just wanted to pack up and get home. The kids slept in a little, but are feeling the "hangover" of staying up late.

Ergo Baby Carrier

I have an awesome baby carrier, The Ergo Baby Carrier. I had a few clips laying around the house and some fabric that I didn't know what to do with so I decided to make Lucy one. She LOVES it.
She was asking to go to the zoo so that she could bring baby Lucy (the zoo is where it has come in handy the most recently). She knows the art of babywearing through example and was able to do so many things with baby Lucy in toe that she normally could not do.

Toby and Caleb both also got into it, although Caleb would not pose for a picture.

Mr. Independent

Toby has reached the age where he wants to do everything himself and everything his brother and sister do. He insists on turning the faucet on and off, zipping his own coat, buckling himself into his carseat, booster, swing or whatever, putting on his own socks and shoes, picking out his clothes, choosing his diaper and wipe, and the list goes on.

here is is pretending to wash his hands, one of his favorite things to do

He has been feeding himself for a long time now and is pretty good with a fork, but I like to feed him things like yogurt so that he doesn’t make too much of a mess. He now insists on that too. We are back to wearing bibs, but he is getting much less messy.

note the yogurt high on his cheek

Every morning (an other times throughout the day) he walks into the kitchen, goes to the panty, chooses a box of cereal, removes the bag, puts the box in the recycling bin (just like he sees mom do with the empty ones), and eats, often spilling all over the floor.

The other night he was so excited that I took dinner out of the oven that he opened the dishwasher, got out a spatula and tried to serve himself food. He is obsessed with the dishwasher. He tries to unload it whether the dishes are clean or dirty. He constantly opens it, but if I need it open to load or unload, he closes it on me. He tries to hold his own with the outside toys and fights over the big kids’ bikes. He has his own car and “motorcycle”, when he rides he tries to remember his helmet.

In the last month he has become a huge climber (thankfully not out of his crib). He likes to scale everything in site. We set up a ladder last weekend and in one second he was to the top. Yesterday, I went to the bathroom and came out to him on top of our sideboard.

the tears only began when I turned to get the camera to document, he was quite content that he got his two phones

Since many of the things he insists on doing, he really cannot do for himself, his independence can be very time consuming, but we laugh because now that Caleb and Lucy can do things for themselves, they would rather we do it for them.

Growing up so quickly.

Lucy not only trys to act like an adult in being a mom, but in many other areas as well.

The other day she asked to bring her purse while we ran errands. While we were driving she asked if she could put on her lipstick. I told her that she could when we got home when she informed me she was already doing it because it was in her purse where it belongs. She tells me she needs to go freshen up her lipstick when it starts to wear off.

here she is with her accurate lipstick application

Sometimes she insists on taking a shower by herself, with HOT, water, instead of a bath. I gave her an old shaveless razor and she meticulously shaves her legs. A few weeks ago we were going somewhere in the late afternoon and she took a shower before we left. We told her it needed to be fast and she informed us she needed to shave. We asked her to do it the next day and she insisted that she had to do it then so that she could look nice.

I noticed that she had Baby Lucy sleep in her bed the last few nights and I asked her if she wanted me to tuck her into her cradle. She told me that Baby Lucy is all growed up and that she has a new baby in her tummy and that she will go to the hospital and get married. At least the idea of getting married before having babies is starting to sink in!