Everything's More Fun When You're Naked

Riding your bike is more fun.

Sitting in your chair is more fun.

Climbing is more fun.

Riding in your stroller is more fun.

And just chilling out is more fun.

Touch A Truck Day

Yesterday was "Touch a Truck Day" at the Ann Arbor Mall. From the hours of 9-11 children from all over town gathered to "ooh" and "aah" and drool (really, some of them were drooling) over trucks that they had probably only previously seen in miniature or from a "safe" distance. Kids that were patient enough to stand in line for more than 10 minutes had the additional opportunity to SIT IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT!! They had unlimited access to the buttons and dials and levers that abound in all heavy machinery. Among the main attractions were a dump truck, a tractor, a bus, a garbage truck, and a semi-truck. Rowan and Abby were in heaven (Rowan perhaps a bit more so than Abby).

Abby drives the garbage truck.

Patiently waiting in line to sit in the dump truck.

Rowan and Abby in the dump truck.

"Hey, what's that button do?"

It kind of looks like two innocent children are about to be run down by an evil tractor...

Hanging out in the semi.

Cutest truck driver I've ever seen!

The Messinger In Me

Alex would never do this. He would never approve of me doing this. But he wasn't home today, so I did it anyway!

I needed a way to transport two babies to the UPS store, about a half mile away, within an hour's time. I didn't really want to carry one and push the other in the stroller, which is what I have done in the past to get to the park. These kids are getting too heavy for that! But I knew if we all walked it would probably take three hours, if we made it at all. So I channeled my grandpa and my mom's creative spirit and I rigged the Chariot into a double-decker bus. Abby was thrilled with the whole thing and we made it there and back without incident (unless you count a few cheers out the window of passing vehicles)

(Brian and Heather, please note that your child is in the "safe" seat inside the chariot!)

Two Years

Our friends recently had a little baby boy of their own. When I saw him it brought back memories of Abby as a baby. So I pulled up some old photos of her and I am blown away by how much she has grown and changed in two years. But at the same time, she was already so Abby (for lack of a better word) at two months.

(Photo credit Brian and Heather)

Chicago--Day 3

On the morning of our last day in Chicago, Abby gave me my mother's day present. She slept until 7 am with only one tantrum at 6 am. I didn't mention it in the previous post, but she had a hard time adjusting to: 1) the time change (7 am in Ann Arbor is only 6 am in Chicago), 2) the fact that I was sleeping in a much more comfortable bed than her only a foot away, and 3) that Beth and Dan don't necessarily want to get up at 5 in the morning on a weekend. On Saturday morning she woke up at 5 am and was screaming at me to get up. I pulled her into bed with me to try to get her back to sleep for at least an hour. She was resistant. Very resistant. She poked me, cried, yelled at me, asked for cereal every 5 minutes, and in general was a pain in the neck. We finally gave in at 6 am and got up. She was very crabby. But after some cereal she laid back down with me and slept for another hour. Hallelujah. Anyway, back to day 3.

She slept until 7 and then got up with Alex while I lazed in bed a bit longer. I arose to the smell of sizzling bacon, courtesy of Dan, and a highly entertained daughter, courtesy of Beth.

After our leisurely breakfast, we packed our things and headed to the Lincoln Park Zoo. It was a gorgeously sunny day, and mighty enjoyable.

Here are some random animal shots...some from the zoo and some not.

If I had to pick Abby's favorite part of the zoo though, it would be the stones on the bridge leading to the farmyard. She is such a little climber. She (and about 30 other kids) had so much fun stepping from stone to stone and climbing up them.

She was bummed when we took her away from them.

I got a good shot of the city skyline from that same bridge. Then I played around with it.

Before we packed up the car to head home we grabbed a yummy mother's day lunch at a barbecue restaurant. I had a delicious pulled pork sandwich and sweet potato fries.

I'm so glad we decided to do this! Thanks to Beth and Dan for showing us such a good time!