Happy 5th Birthday, Will and Anna!

Can you believe these kids are 5?!?! Larkin and I can't.

We began our day by grabbing donuts for breakfast and went to eat with Larkin at work before school started. We stopped by Walmart on the way home to allow the twins to spend their birthday money which was apparently burning holes in their pockets.

After lunch, some friends came over for cookies and ice cream and a playdate. When Larkin got home from work, we had a birthday dinner of spaghetti and meatballs. Then Aunt Lindsay came over with our cousins for the real party.

Happy birthday, Will and Anna!!!! We love you so much! Now please stop growing up so fast. Seriously.

Birthday Trip to Dallas!

We needed to get out of town. We've had a busy school year so far, and we really wanted a break. Larkin's birthday and some good friends in Dallas (or D-Town, for those in the know) made that break happen. And it was awesome.

We drove up Friday morning, and Josh kept us entertained until he fell asleep (at which point he kept us all sane). This video is long, but I couldn't shorten it. Please excuse his runny nose.

After we arrived, Elaine and Ella (my friend from BYU and the London study abroad and her beautiful and happiest-baby-ever daughter) took us to the Texas State Fair.

Petting zebras

Being animals on the farm

Driving tractors and feeding the hogs

Eating chocolate-dipped, frozen bananas

Enjoying the elephant ride

Driving motorbikes

Larkin enjoying his Fried Bacon Cinnamon Roll

The next day, we all went to a pumpkin patch, where the kids enjoyed bouncy houses, pony rides, a hay maze, and, obviously, pumpkins.

We then went to Hard Eight BBQ to get Larkin smoked ribs, prime rib, and brisket. The prime rib was dipped in a vat of melted butter. Happy birthday (and happy future-heart-attack) to Larkin!

Then we hit Legoland Discovery Center. Will and Anna were in heaven, if you can imagine.

Will got to build his own car and then race it. It won the first race he put it in, but then this happened.

Anna got to grab a mic and sing on the Princess Palace karaoke stage. Guess her song:

After Legoland, we drove straight home. It was a busy but FUN weekend! We may just make this an annual event. Thanks so much to Clinton, Elaine, and Ella for showing us such a wonderful time!

Happy Birthday, Josh Josh B'Gosh!

Our baby boy turned one this week! We still can't believe it. It does not feel possible that he is so old.

Josh loves his teddy bear. He is our snuggle bug, and as soon as he goes to bed at naptime or bedtime, he immediately rolls onto his side and snuggles his face into his teddy. So we threw him a teddy bear-themed party. Our friend Jennifer helped us make him this AWESOME cake!

Will and Anna helped by coloring pictures of teddy bears that we hung on the walls and his high chair as decorations.

 

Once he opened his presents, we stripped him down, so he could enjoy his cake properly.

Happy birthday, Joshua Brig!

Our Summer in Videos

I've already posted most of our Ohio pictures to Le Sueur Street, but we have taken some videos over the summer. Here is a smorgasbord of those videos, in hopefully chronological order:

Will and Anna on our drive to Ohio

Josh got disgusted by the mess Will, Anna, and Uncle Zach were making with cars, so he took it upon himself to clean it up.

Anna just being Anna

 

 

We went bowling a couple of times this summer, and Anna developed a ritual that she performed before her turn. It was reminiscent of Babe Ruth calling his swing.

And Will would do a victory dance after a successful bowl.

Fun at the splash pad

The twins played "Bear, Hunter, Lady" one night, and both thought it was hilarious to be the same character. Every. Time.

Anna has become amazing on the hula hoop.

And in the biggest news of the summer, Josh learned how to walk! He started it in mid-July, but now he is walking, opening doors, climbing stairs, and basically going wherever he wants to go.

And that was our summer! That was long. Is anyone still reading this?

Josh's Latest Trick - and Playing with Will

Josh has learned how to stand up without using anything to help him. We've tried numerous times to catch it on camera, but once we grab the camera and he sees it, he is too distracted to go back to what he was doing. We pulled the camera out tonight, though, to catch him playing with William. He loves to "attack" Will; he'll open his mouth all the way and crawl as fast as he can straight at Will. Then he'll try to tackle and wrestle Will to the ground. Unaware of the camera, Josh totally showed off his new skill just for us.

He is definitely a rough-and-tumble little boy! He is so much fun to play with!

How We Survived a Week of Scout Camp

Notice that the title says "a week of scout camp" - not "a week at scout camp." The kids and I were not at scout camp, while Larkin was. Thankfully, Larkin doesn't have a job that requires him to go out of town often. The kids and I don't like having him away, so we have to keep ourselves busy. Here is how we survived a week with our daddy gone.

Went to a birthday party and made homemade root beer with dry ice

Saw beautiful rainbows after cool thunderstorms

Made signs to remind us of the jobs Dad gave before he left (William: Peacemaker, Anna: Josh Helper)

Movie night picnic

Built a fort

Read books in said fort

We also went to a splash pad, played at friends' houses, had friends over to our house, and went to the library. But this is an example of how we don't do well when Dad is gone. Tuesday morning, I came out to see why the twins were so quiet. I saw this sight:

They had found a picture of Larkin and were sitting together, just staring at it. When I asked what they were doing, Will said, "Mom, I miss Dad now." (He had been telling Larkin all last week that he wouldn't miss him at all while he was gone. He wasn't trying to be mean; he was honestly trying to be supportive of Dad going to camp.) Later that day, I asked Anna to put the picture away and find something to do. She had literally been sitting around for about two hours just watching TV and looking at Larkin's picture. She put it away and came back into the room crying, saying, "I miss Daddy so much!"

We know we're spoiled with Larkin's job that gives him the summers off and so much downtime during the year. But we wouldn't have it any other way. We love Larkin so very, very much, and we're so excited to get him home tomorrow!

Comparison of Babies: Part Three

Josh, almost 10 months

Will, 4 1/2 years

After Will got dressed this morning, I said to myself, "Hmm, that shirt looks a little small." Then I thought to check the tag. Sure enough, it said 18M. As in 18 months. Josh's shirt accidentally got put into Will's drawer, and Will understandably thought it was his own. So he put it on.

Apparently it has become official. Josh and Will can now share clothes.