Finally!

We finally made it back to IKEA today! I've been dying to go since last summer! We left Finn at home with Granny, but took Kinley with us. We just drove straight there and back. We even ate at the cafe! She was doing the funniest little wicked laugh all day:

Here we are with our loads of junk we bought:

Kinley was pretty good the whole trip, but she did get sick of the carseat. I thought she would nap most of the car ride, but she ended up only napping for about an hour all day long (it was an 8 hour car ride total)!

We took a little break along the way so Kiki could get some movement. She really appreciated it!

Don't Worry, She's Fine

We decided to have some good old outdoor fun this Memorial Day, so I filled up the pool and put the kids in. It started like this:

Kinley wasn't having a very good time, so we moved on to this:

But she wanted to be standing:

Which ended up like this:

Good Day Sunshine!

Now that it's finally FINALLY sunny again, we've been spending more time outdoors. Yesterday, Nicollette and Kristal turned us on to a really cool park near the lake that I didn't even know existed. The boys had a lot of fun flying kites up there:
Then they got distracted by an ice pile. It's going to be so interesting to see if Kinley gets as distracted by random things like ice and sticks and ants. I wonder if these are just natural boy attractions?

We stayed so late at the park that Kinley actually fell asleep in her stroller! Highly unusual. Today we went to the nature park. I love this place. I've been going there since I was Finn's age and it just brings back so much nostalgia. I remember BEGGING my mom to go there. It was just always this really cool special place and it still is! It would be an even cooler place if Finn would just stay by me, but I guess that's why they make kid leashes! Anyway, here's Finn and his new friend Daniel:

Touch-A-Truck Day, 2

Saturday morning we went to Touch-A-Truck Day again. We went last year and had a great time (and it was my first blog post!--check it out here and see how much Finn has grown in the last year!). It was even cooler this year because Finn liked the trucks so much more! The only problem was, once he got in one, he didn't really want to get out!

Kinley was as enthused by all the big rigs. Now that she can crawl, she HATES her stroller. Check her out, she looks pretty ticked:

In the end, Finn got a popsicle and all was good.

Finn's Bestie

Finn's true best friend is his pacifier. I think I've mentioned before how fond he is of it. He's even taken to referring to it as a person and calling out to it when he can't find it ("Paci, where are you?"--as if it has ears). It's really quite sweet, but it's gotten to be a bit of a pain. It's hindering his eating habits (as if he actually has eating habits) because he insists on having it at the table, he is constantly talking about it or looking for it and, on top of everything, the thing is just gross. It's 2 1/2 years old! Since we haven't really focused on potty training this week, I decided that maybe we should focus (we MUST always have a mission!) on giving up the paci--at least during the day. It's led to some strange exchanges with Finn:

Finn: "I miss the old house"--(first time he has EVER referenced the old house in 2 months)

Me: "Why?"

Finn: "Because there I could have my paci"

And another time we were looking at the picture in the upper right corner of this very blog and what does he say? Does he say "There's me and my sister!"? No. He exclaimes, "LOOK! There's me and my paci!"

Yes, it is heartbreaking. Most of the time I feel like a power-hungry tyrant. I mean, what does it really matter? Am I just embarrased that my nearly-3-year-old child still has a pacifier, or am I really concerned that he isn't being prepared for life?

But...he has done pretty well the last couple of days and I hate to break a good streak. So I guess for the moment we will be paci-free (at least until bedtime!).

Forward Motion

She's still a little clunky, but Kinley has figured out how to crawl! She's wiley, that one:

We've also welcomed a new addition to the family. Large couches and recliners make me feel like a grandparent, but I don't care--it's comfy!: