Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Play Dates and Big Boy Beds

Monday was our weekly multiples play date. The boys got up and played around the house and then we left and went to our play group. Don't the boys look so cute in their pjs? It's getting cold at night and in the mornings, so we got some warmer pjs for the boys. They both refused to let me put socks on them, just looking at their bare feet in this picture is making me cold!

The highlight of any play date is always the snack. ;) All the kids love snacktime. The boys had cantelope and were just babbling away with their friends.

The boys loved the piano! Of course, they love anything that makes noise, but they seemed to really enjoy playing it. Their tiny little hands on the keys looked so cute to me. Maybe they'll sing or play an instrument when they get older?


The boys loved playing with all the fun toys. The mom that hosted this week has triplets! Two girls and one boy, which meant lots and lots of fun toys.

Yes, Evan is wearing a lei in this picture. He insisted on wearing it to the play date. :) The boys went into the bedroom and was loving the big kid beds and the music makers hanging on the cribs. They played with those forever.


Evan playing "night night" while Zooey and Carter played in the crib.

This picture is so funny to me because Evan has a big stuffed frog on his side and it looks like there's a stuffed animal on Carter's side, but that's Zooey. She was wearing an elmo costume and layed down.


Train tables are always a hit with all the kids.

The weather was too nice not to enjoy a little outdoor play.

They had several cozy coupes and riding toys.

The boys had a blast riding in these.



Zooey pushing Evan in the swing. So sweet!

So, Evan returned the favor.

The house we went to had a cat, which normally hides when we all come over (I don't blame her) but this time she was upstairs and needed to get downstairs. The boys saw her and I was coming up the stairs and I see the cat run by me and Carter and his friend chasing after it yelling "come back!" It was so funny. Evan and Carter loved that cat. They stuck their heads to the cat door, lifted the flap and said "Where'd cat go?" That poor cat.

I sent Greg some pics of the boys playing on the big boy beds and he suggested we convert the boys cribs when he got home. I'm am a planner, something of this magnitude usually gets planned for months in advance. I've been dreading big boy beds (and potty training) since I got pregnant. I'm serious. I did not want the boys in big boy beds. But, I knew it was something we needed to do and it's really quick to convert their cribs so we could always covert them back if we need to. So, we did it. Without months of planning and talking about it, we just did it. I'm very proud of myself. ;)

Evan checking it out after Greg converted it.

Carter checking out the aquarium machine thing.

We had to make a quick trip to Target where we were each going to take a boy and let them walk while we grabbed a couple of things. But, Evan insisted on riding in this cart--I was so thrilled. They never want to ride in a cart. And he still has his lei on. Of course, as soon as Carter saw that Evan was riding in it, he wanted to ride in it too. It made our shopping trip so much easier.

When we got home, we went outside and played in the sand box a little before dinner.


The boys first night in the big boy beds went great. They went to sleep and didn't get out of bed. Then, today after preschool, Carter went straight to sleep in his. Evan decided to turn his white noise machine on the music setting and have a little dance party and wanted to come out of his room. I put him back in his crib a couple of times. He got out and played with the lights a little and then went and laid himself down to sleep. (the whole thing probably took about 15 minutes) and tonight both boys went to sleep with no problems. I'm so happy and relieved that the transition has gone so well. The boys are on a pretty good sleeping schedule now, they're tired when they go down for nap and bed but we try to make sure they're not overtired and they've been sleeping really well. I know that there's going to be times when they wake up or decide they don't want to take a nap and being in big boy beds will make those times a little more difficult, but it's gone so much better than I could ever imagine. Although, it's almost too good to be true, they're probably plotting something. Hopefully it doesn't involve getting up in the middle of the night together and running around the house while Greg and I are sleeping.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Liberty Mills Farm

Friday afternoon, we took the boys to the first pumpkin patch of the season. We have several more pumpkin patch trips planned for the next month. We were the only ones there, so they weren't running the hayride, but the boys still had a blast. Greg stayed with Evan and I stayed with Carter, so the boys were able to roam around and do what they wanted.

I took a ton of pictures (which is why I didn't include it in my weekend recap post) This pumpkin patch was fun, but out of the ones that we are planning on going to, this one had the least to do. I got this many pictures of my least favorite one, you can only imagine how many pictures I'm going to get of pumpkin patches and hayrides this season. You've been warned--tons of fall posts and pictures are coming. ;)

Carter wanted to explore everything when we first got there and loved checking out the tractor. He kept saying "ride, ride". :(


He gets confused and thinks green riding lawn mowers are tractors, too. I can totally see why he'd think that.

Carter saw this bucket of mini pumpkins and said "Balls!" and picked one up and threw it. Oops. After I explained they were pumpkins, he seemed to understand.

Evan loved the mini pumpkins.

Evan loved playing with the mini pumpkins and reorganizing them.

A fun hay tunnel for kids to climb through.

The toddler hay maze.



They had 3 different corn mazes, but we only went through the "easy" one. Here's Evan leading the way.

Carter going through the hay tunnel.

There was a huge mound of hay for the kids to climb on and the boys played on that for most of the time we were there.

Evan loved falling through the hay and then yelling "stuck!"








 



The boys loved picking up hay and throwing it on us.





Evan learned that he could scoot down the hay like a slide. That boys will turn anything into a slide.

 
We had such a good time. The boys were worn out when we got home. The farm was only about 20 minutes from our house. We have 3-4 more that we want to go to before Halloween. 3 of them we went to last year and a new one that I want to try. Greg and I have gone to a pumpkin patch/corn maize almost every year since we started dating. We love them and are really excited to take the boys now. I can't wait to do one with a hay ride, I know the boys are going to get a kick out of that this year. They loved that part last year and that was before they really started liking tractors. I love doing seasonal things with the boys and it's so fun now that they're getting older and are really starting to enjoy these things.