Random photos from August

These little puppies love to do tricks.  They fetch, play dead, bark, sit, roll over, and read a book (Jane added that one).   Of course, when your puppy treats are marshmallows, they'll do just about anything.  I often build forts or houses out of big boxes we get, but they LOVED their dog houses.  We ended up keeping these up for almost a month.

Cute little naked picnic.  Why don't they like to wear clothes?

Is she a lefty or a righty?  I guess that remains to be seen, but she favors the left most consistently.

 One of Peter's not so cute Peterisms, is the way he sucks his fingers "clean".  A normal person would lick the individual fingers, but Peter uses the less effecting and disgusting sounding method of shoving ALL his fingers in his mouth and making a gross sucking noise.  Oh boy.

 This was the first time I asked Jane to hold Alice and she was thrilled once she realized I meant hold her while STANDING.  Now she asked me if she can hold her all the time, but only lasts a few seconds before she's done.

At the Pool

We had a great summer of going to the pool and splash pad at the YMCA.  It was mostly me meeting up with friends, so we stuck to the toddler pool and splash pad areas, but a few times Chris came and we could go play in the big pool.  Jane loved her floaties this summer.  The moment she put them on and started paddling around by herself, she had the most adorable excited grin all over her face.  She loved her new freedom to explore the pool.  Peter had no interest in wearing them or getting into the pool.  He was content to stay mostly out of the water and play in it with cups and buckets.  (But more than that, he preferred to eat snacks on the sidelines.)  I didn't push him either.  I couldn't manage the three kids in the deep pool, so he didn't get much practice.  This was our last summer trip to the pool, and since Daddy was with us, we told Peter he was going to learn to swim with his floaties on.  We were delighted when he didn't hesitate.  He put them on and headed in, and he loved it.  He had the goofiest grin on his face the whole time and we kept getting the giggles just looking at him; Mouth closed (to keep the water out), smiling, and squinting into the sun.  I love that little boy.

Super Heros and Princesses

Super Spider Batman is the ultimate super hero.  He races around the house at break-neck speeds and only pauses for a few "hiiiiiiiii-ya" kicks.  Peter has never seen a Spiderman, Superman, or Batman show, but he's improvising pretty well.  Also, we do sing the Spiderman and Ninja Turtle theme songs before bed every night and he knows almost all the words.

Princess Jane is sweet and girly.  She wears two tu-tus under her Princess dress to get maximum fluffliness, her tiara is an accessory to many outfits, and her graceful dance moves are ready for the grandest ball.  But watch out, she might use her magic wand to turn you into a sticky skunk.  

Indiana State Fair

The State Fair is always a good time.  We on a weekday morning (one of the perks of Chris's schedule) and the place was practically ours.  The kids were just giddy, running around, climbing on tractors, petting farm animals, and eating elephant ears.  What kid doesn't love the fair.  We had planned on taking them on some rides this time, but the carnival didn't open before we had to leave.  The kids were so disappointed, but the pony rides helped.