Breakfast Date

Last Saturday morning we went out to breakfast with Nana & Grandpa Cermak. We had been wanting to do this again ever since our Christmas brunch, but we didn't feel that Evie was ready until recently. I am happy to report that Evie was an absolute angel. She sat in her chair and stacked up coffee creamers, played with her green crayon and paper, and giggled and smiled.

Grandpa helped her line up the creamers:

Gavin, on the other hand, was a completely different story. He managed to bite open a creamer and splash the contents over his head and onto not one, but two booths behind us. This could have been a really bad situation, but fortunately one of the booths was unoccupied, and in the other sat a very understanding father of a two year old! Whew!

After the creamer incident, Gavin didn't want to stay in his seat and didn't want any of our breakfast food, so Francis and Grandpa took turns walking around with him.

Here's Gavin plotting: "Hmm, what can I do with these?"

Evie wanted to make sure Nana knew where the ceiling fan was:

Back at home, Evie kicked a ball around with Grandpa:

A new turtle toy that Daddy bought on Ebay - Gavin likes to sit on it!

At lunchtime, Uncle David came over to be silly with the kids:

Gavin threw a complete tantrum when Francis left to run errands in the afternoon, so Uncle David took him outside to walk around. Too bad it was still hot - Gavin wanted to stay outside but after 40 minutes, he was all sweaty and flushed. He was not happy to be back inside. The end result of the day was an early bedtime for him!

The "Cousins"

One day last week we went over to Auntie Di's house to visit with her and the cats. The kids were very excited to play with their "cousins," but the cats were a little on the tired side.

Gavin tried to coax Fergie out of her Coke box hideaway, but she was happy to stay put!

Eventually she came out for hugs. The kids were very gentle!

Evie's First Haircut

Today Evie had her first haircut! Grandma Cordes and I took the kids over to our hair salon this afternoon after naps and a meal. I am so proud of them, because they were both perfect angels! One of the other stylists even said, "Oh, they're so quiet! Usually kids run around and destroy this place!"

Here is Evie right after waking up from her nap. "I'm ready for this haircut, Mom."



Evie sat on my lap while our stylist, Connie, started cutting her hair. Evie wasn't quite sure what was going on, but she was very calm.

Right away, Connie cut a lock of Evie's hair for me to save. She even attached it to a special certifcate titled "My First Haircut."

I decided to go with a bob for Evie. It looks almost the same from the front, but the back and sides are much neater. Here she is, all done!

While Evie was in the chair, Gavin amused himself with the toy table. He was fascinated!

I personally cannot get over how cute she looks!

A group shot. Connie is holding Evie's certificate:

Evie was such a good little girl (and Gavin was an angel, too)! It was a perfect afternoon!

Hanging Out With Grandma

Evie is still doing very well, walking everywhere and playing peek-a-boo with Gavin. She has adjusted to her new sleeping arrangements and goes to sleep for me with no problems.

Evie has a very big day tomorrow....I scheduled her first haircut! I can't believe it is time for this. Her hair is getting really long and "shaggy," with about ten different lengths in it. It's time for just a little trim and shaping.



Here is Evie on Monday, reading with Grandma Cordes:



Gavin is very entertained with Grandma's reading style (she was a grade school librarian, after all):




Evie and Gavin love gnawing on the plastic ice cubes that we keep in the freezer. Here they are being silly with them after lunch:

Doing high fives with Grandma:

Yadda, Yadda, Yadda

Gavin has become quite proficient with the phone. Here he chats with our god-daughter, Annie:

"Hello? Cermak residence..."



"Mom, I'm talking to Annie! I'll fix your iPod later!"



"OMG! Can you believe how late our Daddies were up last night, playing Halo? And they thought we were asleep!"

"Did you see Jon & Kate Plus 8 last night? I'm so glad I don't have to share my stuff with 7 other kids! Sharing with my sister is hard enough!"

"Mm-hmm... mm-hmm... I know!"



"Someday Annie, we'll play video games with our dads, and we'll win! Oh, gotta go? Okay, buh-bye!"

Father's Day, Part 2

On Sunday (yesterday) we went to Grandma & Grandpa Cordes' house to celebrate Father's Day. Evie was so happy to put on a new dress that she walked all around the house with Uncle Brad:

Gavin tried to open every door he found:

It's always fun to explore, especially when you have a different toy than the ones at your house!

Gavin liked sitting in Grandma's soft rocking chair:

Then it was time for "This Little Piggy:"

Evie got a burst of energy just sitting on the couch, and she kept crawling back and forth and bouncing on it:

She was such a happy girl!

Gavin and Grandpa:

Gavin played cars with Uncle Brad:


Evie finally got ahold of the rolling toy ("It's mine now!"):

Evie ate most of her peach cobbler for Uncle David....


...then decided Grandma's table cloth looked nice enough to wipe her mouth on (I caught her just in time)!

Here's Gavin getting sleepy.

Grandpa grilled yummy cheeseburgers and hot dogs. We got home and put the kids in bed by their normal time - they were ready for it! What a busy and fun weekend!

Father's Day, Part 1

On Saturday we went to Brookfield Zoo with Nana & Grandpa Cermak to celebrate Father's Day. This was the twins' first trip to Brookfield - the first of many, as we are now members! It was so exciting and different for the kids that they were worn out after about 90 minutes, but overall they did well. Gavin had a minor tantrum but that was our fault because we lost track of time and he was hungry.

The twins started out with hats, but it was just too hot to keep them on:

We saw a polar bear, a tiger, an elephant, and a lot of farm animals in the Children's Zoo.

The kids loved the Children's Zoo!

We went inside the Safari Grill to cool off and get some chicken nuggets for Gavin:

Evie needed a meal as well:

Gavin ate his applesauce, but was not too keen on the nuggets. They were rather plain (at home we have seasoned nuggets)!

Gavin walked a lot. We knew he was getting tired, but he stayed steady on his feet.

Our last stop was the gift shop. They had this big stuffed moose out in front that Gavin loved! He kept hugging it, then walking into the store and looking at some stuffed penguins, then going out to hug the moose again (of course, Nana and Grandpa bought Gavin one of the penguins):



Sound asleep on the ride home!

There is a new dinosaur exhibit that we didn't get to see on Saturday, but here is one of the dinosaurs that is right in the middle of the zoo: