The Secret Playground

Directly behind our awesome gym and awesome pool area there is also an awesome park that we just found out about last week... allow us to show you...

So instead of having to walk up towards Joe's school and then towards the gym, like I thought we'd have to go, there is a safer, much prettier route. It involves walking through a very peaceful, beautiful neighborhood and then through a paved path in the woods:

As you emerge from the woods, this is what you see to your immediate left:

There are multiple play areas that are separated into different age groups:

This is the area for preschoolers. There is a sandbox in this area.

There is a nature walk you can go on:

And tons of pavilions, picnic tables, benches and grills everywhere!

Oh yeah, don't forget the amphitheatre... that's right folks. It's like a typical amphitheater, but ours has a British accent :)

This is a picture of the concession stand by the amphitheatre.

And here are the boys enjoying the spoils of our find :)

We may not be able to walk yet...

... but that doesn't mean we can't play with our walker!

Gabe loves the little green knob you see on the right. It's on a very taut spring and he just hits it over and over again, laughing the whole time.

Just chillaxin' on my Daddy

This is Gabe laying on his Daddy's chest after a hard day of play with Mommy :)

Goodnight boys

Around 6am, Mommy was woken by Liam starting to stir. After feeding him a little bit, he sat up, crawled on top of Gabe, and then quickly fell right back to sleep.

This picture was taken in the boys' dark room with the flash. Both Gabe and Liam have their own seahorse to sleep with - an Easter gift from Nanny:) Recently, they've learned how to push their bellies to turn them on. A couple of nights ago, Joe and I were sitting in the living room and suddenly heard lullabies, as hummed by a seahorse, over the baby monitor. I assumed Gabe had woken up. When I went upstairs I found him fast asleep, cuddle up next to seahorse with the soft music playing... so cute :)

Swings are for fun or for naps?

I think we've used our swing at home too often for getting the boys down for naps ...

For the first 15 minutes or so, Gabe, Liam and Iosaf all loved their first time on swings at a playground...

Yosi:

Gabers:

Schmimo:

... but eventually it became obvious it was putting them to sleep...

Here's Yosi again:

Here's Gabe again:

And here's Liam :)

Easter Bunny's comin' to town (sung to the tune of Santa Claus is comin' to town)

Lisa: Well, at least we know that a certain Mr. E. Bunny will be coming to Blue Ash this year.
You: What are you talking about?
Lisa: Allow me to reiterate a conversation I had at this past Christmas...

Oliver: Lisa, do you believe in Santa Claus?
Lisa: Of course! Don't you?
Oliver: Yea, but I'm not sure about the Easter Bunny.
Lisa: What?!?! Why?!?!
Oliver: Because there are no rabbits in Washington, DC.
Lisa: Yes there are Oliver. You just haven't seen any yet. Bunny rabbits are everywhere.
Oliver: No. There are no rabbits at my house. And if there are no rabbits at my house in Washington DC, where would the Easter Bunny come from?
Lisa: You know what? You should go to a pet store. I know you'd see lots of bunny rabbits there for sure.
Oliver: Mama and Pop never take me to pet stores.
(15 minutes later Sarah informed me that she and Todd take him to pet stores all the time :)

Our New Pack-n-Play

The boys' combined weight is greater than the 35lb limit of their pack-n-play. So, we bought this play yard for them and they love it!

... Buy us some peanuts and Cracker Jacks...

Despite the chill... excuse me... despite the freeze in the air, we all went out to see Hollidaysburg play at the Altoona Curve stadium on Saturday. Wonderfully, standing heaters and food such as tasty hotdogs with jalapeno peppers (and mustard and onions and chili - yum, yum, yum) and coffee were widely available to help keep us warm :)


To our surpirse Ben was there with his family (Bridget wasn't able to come out for the weekend). Apparently his cousin is number 11 and plays third base for Hollidaysburg. So nice to visit with him.

Who has awesome grandparents?

WE DO!!!

Here's Liam with PapPap. Thank goodness for auto red-eye reduction abilities. Both Dad and Liam looked CRAZY before I made their eyes normal colored.

This is Gabe with Nanny and Tucker. The boys love the dogs and... well, at least Tucker loves the boys... the jury is still out on Clancy.

"This place suits me just fine," said Liam.

Giddyup horsey!

Teething Biscuits for all... including Tucker

Tucker stared at the boys the ENTIRE time they were sucking on these things. Liam held his out at one point, tapped Tucker on the nose and dropped the biscuit... which Tucker quickly gobbled up. So either the teething cookies taste alot like dog food or Tucker really likes baby food... I really hope it's the latter of the two options :)

Our Great Nana and Papa

Papa and Gabers... or as Papa will probably call him, Michael (or insert any other male cousin's name here aside from Gabe. Too many cousins to keep tract of!!! :)

Nana and Liam... or as Nana will probably call him, Liam.