Tubby time

The ritual in our house is, and always has been, for the kids to take baths before bedtime. I know that Luke and Mia recognize it as one of the cues that bedtime is drawing near, not to mention that they both love playing in the tub and I love the smell of clean babies, so it is a win-win situation. Plus, these days they both seem in DIRE need of baths by the end of the day. Luke typically has all sorts of "boy" stuff on him - paint from school under his fingernails (and sometimes in his hair), crumbs around his mouth, sand in between his toes, and the random streaks of just plain dirt on his arms or face. Mia, well she's just messy! She wears at least half of her dinner, plus she doesn't shy away from getting dirty outside in the afternoons.

Here are a few pictures of them getting clean the past few nights (I *might* be a little obsessed with my new camera lens and learning how to use it - this might mean that there will be some extra photos in the coming weeks/months).

Goggles

What can I say? This kid loves goggles. Paw bought him two pairs over the summer in the hopes that it would encourage him to put his face in the water (this was prior to the swim lessons that have since turned him into a little fish). So, he asks to wear goggles during any water-related sports, including, but not limited to: swimming, running in the sprinklers, bathing, or going potty (who knows!).

Cracks me up - too cute!

Brown bear

That's what I've been calling Luke lately ... and he just gets more brown by the day, lucky boy!

Poor Mia, she got Mommy's skin color. No sunbathing for her!

Sweet, CLEAN baby

There's nothing more delicious than a baby straight out of the bath.

Memorial Day Weekend

We spent Memorial Day weekend in Tahoe this year with Day, Paw, Great-Grandma, and Great-Papa. We were there to see the seasons, very literally, change. As we drove up on Thursday, it was snowing (and not just a little bit, I might add!). By Saturday, we were taking a walk in the beautiful weather and Luke was swimming in the Northstar pool (I, unfortunately, did not bring my camera so failed to document our fun day). Here are a few highlights from our weekend.

Luke spent his time playing outside (with Paw!), learning how to make German Kuchen from Great-Grandma, and eating chocolate ice cream

Mia spent her time riding in the Ergo (one of her favorite places to sleep), eating, and taking sink baths.

We also had a great time just hanging out at the beautiful Northstar Village. We are so lucky to have such a beautiful place to go visit - I hope that we'll spend several weekends in Tahoe this summer!

Tubby Time!

Silly tub night

Luke had a fun-filled bath this past week ... well, most of his baths are fun-filled, but this one included a lollipop (a treat that I wanted him to finish, but wasn't into holding up bedtime for), blue tub water (thanks to the crayola color changing tablets from Santa), lots of bubbles, and ... and shampoo mohawk!

Hi Mommy, I Paw (Luke's favorite thing to do right now is put bubbles on his chin and pretend he has a white beard - just like Paw!)

Bubble fun!

Fun times in TX

We just returned from a wonderful long weekend in Dallas at "Hotel Clark." We had such a great time hanging out with some of our best friends and getting all the kids together. Luke had such fun meeting Peyton, Easton, and Ava, and hanging with his buddy, Jack.

If you can believe this, I actually took the LEAST pictures of the weekend together. I knew that we were in good hands with Brian and Joanna behind the lenses. Here are just a few pictures to give you an idea of all that we did thanks to party planner Joanna!

Breakfast at the big kid table:

Fun playing with Easton and all of his cool toys:

Swimming time with Mr. Darin:

Driving the boat with Daddy:

The Girls (minus Ava and I):

Backyard playtime:

Rub-a-dub-dub, how many kids can fit in the tub?

The SPLASH PARK (a trip highlight for Luke):

And, so, so much more that I didn't capture on film. Thank you, Clarks, the weekend was absolutely perfect. We couldn't have asked for more fun or better friends!

Tubby time

Almost every night I throw a fit about going upstairs to get into the tub. BUT, once I'm there, I remember how much I have always loved my bath. Right now some of my favorite tubby toys are my squirt trains. I love lining them up along the side of the tub and pretending - so fun

Here are a few shots from the other night, as you can see, Mommy was having fun with her fancy camera and focusing on different objects.