My Most Fantastic Birthday Weekend

My birthday was on Monday, which was nice because it meant Dave had the day off for Memorial Day. I had the most amazing one this year! On Saturday we met up with my good friend, Rachel, from college and her husband and new baby. I was really excited to get to meet him and catch up with her and the kids had a great time exploring the Children's Museum. Last time we went Benjamin was in tears when it was time to leave the dinosaur digging area, so we promised him we'd do that first the next time we came and we kept our promise. He loves it there!

Since when did my baby get this big?!?!?!

They all had a great time digging for dinosaur bones.....

Even Daddy got in on the action!

Water time!

"I caught one!"

Collin really loved this and didn't want to leave!

Anna, however, doesn't stay in one location for long. She's our adventurous girl!

Benjamin and Anna both really enjoyed pulling themselves across this log bridge...

Collin still loves airplanes!

The boys playing in this cute train table that they can climb into to reach all the tracks....

Benjamin enjoying being a boy!

Both boys loved this digger. Collin would tell us, "Collin's turn!" over and over to let us know he wanted back in the driver's seat.

How fitting, we posed in an Indy car the day before the 500.... ;)

Carousel time!

Getting ready to take a flight to Egypt....

They really enjoy the Egypt section of the museum. Benjamin's patience and kindness astounds me sometimes. Whenever we are in areas like this that have pieces (like the fruit and blenders to make smoothies) there always seems to be a greedy kid or two that take all the pieces (why those parents don't parent in that situation astounds me too, btw) and he is so sweet just quietly waiting his turn. He had to wait quite awhile for the fruit and blender to become open and he was so cute intently making us smoothies now that it was finally his turn!

Anna enjoyed making us tea. Outside these two pictures (above, below) are tables and chairs like a little coffee shop that the kids get to pretend to wait on their parents and they love it! (We have a bring two free with us pass (you have to pay for 2 years and over), so if anyone ever wants to join us we'd be happy to meet you!)

We had a great time and stayed until about 2:30. We couldn't believe Collin's ability to stay up and enjoy himself so long, but he didn't make it long once we were in the car. Isn't he too cute with his "pup" (cup), Elmo, and his beloved "gammies" (blankies)?!?!

The next day we enjoyed church in the morning and then after nap time, my amazing Mom came and watched the kids overnight so that Dave and I could have our first night away! It was FANTASTIC! :) We didn't even do that much, but it was just so nice to get to be adults and to have a little break. We ended up just going about an hour away and staying at a hotel. We enjoyed walking around the town and I got to eat at a vegetarian restaurant (yum!) and then we had a relaxing swim in the hotel's pool without holding onto any kids! The next day we went to a bookstore and enjoyed browsing without having to watch our kids take all the books off the shelves and then we went to Brown County Park and went on a horse ride. It was crazy hot and humid, but thankfully the ride was mostly in the woods and thus cooler. Here's Dave on his horse (The Chief) and me on mine (Twister).

What the views looked like as we rode. (FYI, it is very disorienting to take pictures while riding a horse!)

They have these cool family cabins out in the woods that you can rent....

My poor horse, Twister. He didn't seem too happy and he had a bit of an attitude at times (which wasn't exactly what this inexperienced horse rider was looking for) but we survived!

After the kids got up from naps, we got out the sprinkler (it's a snake!) for the first time this year (remember the crazy heat?!?!) and I got to play with my kiddos on my birthday while Dave grilled out. Like Anna's pose?

They all had a fantastic time!

I like this action shot....

Collin was so brave! He would get right in the water....

and then smile and squeal and declare "All wet!" happily! He is becoming quite the little boy! He now answers us yes mostly by saying, "Mmmhhh" (not sure how to spell that, sorry) and when you ask him a question, before he gives you his answer he usually says, "Ummmm".

This was Benjamin's favorite part of the snake sprinkler. He would stand at the end and wait for Anna or Collin to get close and then step on the snake to make the water go higher and splash them!

Mmmm, wonder what the reaction will be to this...

.....yep, that's COLD!

Anna was running around in her usual wild ways, so I asked her to stop and smile for me. Doesn't she look so much older?!?!

I knew my happy girl could give me a bigger smile than the one above, so I asked for one and this was the result....

Then it was supper time, which after all the running around meant we had three happy kids!

After supper the kids sang to me as Daddy brought me.....

a yummy strawberry shortcake!!

After all the outside fun, it was definitely time to go upstairs and get a good scrubbing! Here's Collin on the way up....

Anna didn't feel like posing this time....

I went in to check on my big kids (you don't go into Collin's room once he's asleep!) and found quite the distressing sight. I walked in and there was a box placed right in front of the door, so I moved it over to get the door open and when I got into the room I couldn't see Benjamin. Not in his bed or on the floor. My mom fears came immediately to the surface and I started to panic! I looked around the room more intensely until I came upon this...

He was tucked in between his bed and this small floor space by his window. Scared the crap out of me! We moved him back into his bed and he didn't open his eyes once! I told him about it the next morning and he immediately got this tickled smile to his face and told me he didn't remember any of it and then, "I sure am a strong sleeper! I may not sleep very long, but I sleep hard!" (btw, I'm afraid the hand in the pants is a common form of sleeping for our five year-old these days)

Very funny way to end an amazing weekend! On my birthday when we were outside playing after we had eaten, Anna started running in a big circle around our whole yard yelling "Best day ever!!!" (this is from Tangled in case you haven't seen it) It brought a huge smile to our faces and it was so true!!!