Now that you have been fully informed on the details of our wonderful vacation, it’s time to give a little update on the kids.

As of yesterday, Lance (19 1/2 mo) weighs 19 lbs, has 8 teeth and wears underwear all the time now.

Ivy (4 mo) weighs 16 lbs, has rolled over once and wears size six month clothing.

Lance loves his fire truck book and will “read” it by making siren noises. One night after he was put to bed I caught him up by the door –where the light was better - reading his fire truck book in his fire truck pj’s. Had to go around the corner and laugh before telling him to get back in bed.

Ivy loves to smile and laugh. She does her little “sit-ups” all the time, often holding them for 10-15 seconds at a time! She’s on a good schedule now, sleeps 11 hours at night and eats only four time a day. Wonder baby!

Lance is developing new skills every day. Once I was sitting at my computer when I hear a sound that was his equivalent of “ta-da!” and turned to see him like this:

He can climb the ladder at the park and by pulling a pillow off the couch to give him a boost, he can climb up there as well. Saturday night I was folding laundry while we were watching a movie and Lance figured out how to put on his own shorts. he was so proud of himself.

Ivy does her share of the tricks too. She can also blow bubbles until she has a beard. (such talent, eh?)

Lance loves his little sister and spends much of his time trying to entertain her…even if she’s supposed to be napping. This particular time Lance loaded her crib with toys – who could sleep with all that fun going on!

Sometimes his constant attention isn’t appreciated.

However, when it’s all said and done, these two have a blast together!

Our trip was filled with many happy memories. We all enjoyed a stop at the St. Louis zoo.

“Will you rest upon my little bed?” said the spider to the fly.

Lance wasn’t so sure about the carousel – didn’t laugh, didn’t cry, just rode.

We all loved the penguins!

And while the kids merely tolerated the car ride, they loved the breaks!

Wrestling match during a lunch break.

Posing with Aunt Stacie in TN                             Sacked out after a hike.

Stacie and I saw a billboard advertising the Precious Moments museum, so on a whim we persuaded Brian to stop and see what it was all about. There were some beautiful Bible paintings and there were many larger-than-life replicas of the dolls.

Precious Moments - How could life with these two cuties be any different?

My Mom called Friday morning with an exciting plan to visit us that very day! Apparently she was getting desperate to hold a baby, thus proving my theory  that if you put enough cute pictures of the grandkids on the web, grandma will have to visit. Aunt Katie came too

We had a whirlwind tour of Ft. Worth attractions. First stop was the Stockyards where we watched a cattle drive – Lance kept staring down the street in awe after the cattle passed.

Next stop was the zoo, where we got up close to the gorilla,

actually saw the hippos moving,

and were entertained by the big cats –  hearing the lions and tigers roar!

However, Lance’s favorite by far was feeding the birds!

Our last stop was the Botanical Gardens where we enjoyed the fountains, the flowers and the peaceful atmosphere.

Ivy was voted angel of the day.

Today is our anniversary. It also happens to be the day that Brian’s work offered a free lunch – how convenient! I packed the kids in the bike seat and back pack carrier and biked up to the office. (wish I had a picture!)

After showing the kids off to some of his co-workers, we had a yummy Italian meal on the plaza. Because it was cool and very windy, most people carried their lunch back to their office so we had a private table.

In conjunction with the meal was a pumpkin carving contest.

This was Brian’s favorite and got the most comments – disgusting.

This one was my favorite – romantic!

Tonight we’re going to have a fire in the fireplace and cook dinner over the open flame. Lance should enjoy that.

Happy 3 years to us!!!

Yesterday was Brian’s birthday so the neighbor kids and Lance got together to make him a little present.