Holy Flock...That's a lot of Ducks!

It started with one or two and has turned into an addiction. Gabe loves Rubber Duckies and I encourage it by purchasing any cute duck I see. He only has 11 now but I can already tell this is leading to an episode of Hoarders. From left to right: Santa Duck, St. Patty's Duck, Pedro the Sombrero Wearing Duck, Raggedy Ann Duck, Nerd duck, Valentine's Duck, Penguin Duck, Vampire Duck, College Grad Duck, Easter Bunny Duck, and finally, Leprechaun Duck. Some of the have names, for example, he calls the Leprechaun Duck "Daddy" which I find extremely funny! Much love to you all!

Craft-tastic!...& The Kids

I wanted to post my wonderful creation because I never craft. I never craft because usually when I do, my projects turn out crappy. But I am really pleased with the way this one came out. It is a weekly organizer that you hang on your wall. It is a picture frame and you use dry erase markers to write down your week. I made this one for my sister for her birthday because she gets some sort of sick thrill from being organized...FREAK!
And since I know many of you ONLY stop by to see my kids, here is a picture for you! Much love to you all!

He Fought the Law & the Law Won

He fought Newton's Law of Gravity, that is. And yes, his face lost the fight.

I guess he was running outside at daycare and in the rush to get in line his face met the sidewalk. Gabe is fine-it is all surface stuff. It just looks like he got into a bar fight and took a roundhouse kick to the face. Below is a better picture of his eye which is surely going to turn black. Guess he takes after his Mommy right now will it comes to being light on your feet.
Someday he will gain control over his body & quit falling down...someday. Much love to you all!

Say Yes!

The other night I had made some plans with the ladies in my family. This being said, we figured it would be easier for Ryan if we simply went out to dinner so that he didn’t have to worry about cooking.

We went to Virg’s Diner which has the most excellent selection of Cholula Hot Sauce and as some of you may remember, Gabe LOVES Cholula. Not kidding. He eats it with a spoon and takes shots from the bottle. We are planning an intervention but don’t tell.

After filling up on Cholula and eating all the croutons off my salad, Gabe wasn’t too keen on eating his dinner. So we ate and tried to feed him what we could. He ate about half of his chicken strip and a couple fries but then he was done. Like, throw his plate off the table done. So we boxed up what was left and figured it was best not to push the issue.

We then leave the restaurant and are driving home (Past a McDonald’s) when the following conversation takes place:

Gabe: I want chicken nuggets.
Me: Baby, we just ate dinner.
Gabe: I want chicken nuggets!
Me: You can have some more of your dinner when we get home.
Gabe: I WANT CHICKEN NUGGETS!!!
Me: No, Gabe. Not tonight.
The angry voice that came out next could not have been my child. It must have been some demon from the depths of hell!)
Gabe: Say YES!

Did Gabe just tell me to say yes? Umm…yeah. Yeah he did. I laughed so hard I thought I was going to pee my pants. At first he was still angry that I would not say yes to his request but then he started laughing with me. I knew 2-years-old would be a challenge but sometimes it is really freaking funny too! Much love to you all!

Improvising

Gabe wanted some tortilla chips and brought us the unopened bag. We said no and set the bag aside. Gabe went into the kitchen and found a can opener and got the bag of chips again. He then proceeded to try to open the bag of chips with the can opener. I give him an "A" for effort! And Ryan thought it was so cute that he opened the chips and gave Gabe one anyway so really, it worked. (Side note...Do you see Freya waiting in the background because she is sure she is going to get some of those chips? ) Much love to you all!

Literally Bouncing Off the Walls

Last weekend we went to Airborne Trampoline Arena with the kids...and when I say kids that includes my husband, my sister, and her husband as well as Gabe and Sera. If you have not been to this place and you have kids (Or adults that act like kids.) you need to check it out! It is really fun and extremely exhausting.

This is Sera on the rope ladder that is over the big foam pit. She loved climbing this because she was really good at it and almost always reached the top to ring the bell.

This is Gabe playing in Kids Area. I am really glad they have a designated area for little ones because as much as he liked being on the big trampolines sometimes he got a little bit overwhelmed.

And as I said before, we went with Becca and her hubby Spencer. I wish they would have given us the heads up on wearing yoga pants and not jeans! Seesh Becca! I am still glad they were able to come with us because they made it that much more fun.

Spencer is a natural at a place like this. People were stopping to watch him when he was doing flips into the big pits. He is really amazing!

And even though no one stopped to watch him, Gabe was equally amazing at making baskets with the foam blocks.
And Ryan was proving himself to be my own personal Superman by taking a flying leap into the big pit as well. Side note, after belly flopping into the big pit he got a little stucks in the foam blocks...like a turtle on it's back. It was cute!
And just to prove that I wasn't sitting the whole time here is a group shot of the Baker family.

Airborne Sports is a lot of fun and good if you want to wear out your hyper kids. But a word of caution: you will be sore the next day! Much love to you all!

Nuts About the Zoo

With the money we get for Christmas from family members we buy a yearly membership to the zoo. It is always a great place to take the kids for a relaxing outing. And with the membership we don't feel bad if we only go for an hour and miss some of the animals because we can always go again the following weekend.

One activity we almost always do when we go is the Conservation Carousel. The ride operator was nice enough to take our family picture. That is another thing I like about the zoo-friendly staff!

In the winter the animals tend to be more relaxed because there are not as many people. In fact, Gabe and Sera got a good look at one of the tigers that lives in Asian Highlands. Gabe took one look at the tiger and said, "Mommy! It's big!"
And Sera, being the cheeseball that she is, just couldn't help but being silly!

If you haven't been to the zoo in the winter you should check it out. And remember that the new Polar Bear exhibit is set to open this spring so be extra sure not to miss that! Much love to you all!