At The Park

We made our first visit to our local park on the one really nice day we had last week. It was so great to be there after a long time indoors!






You can see that Gavin is still wearing his winter coat - sigh. He just loves that coat. I haven't been able to get him into a sweatshirt or light jacket yet. I did make some progress, however: I got him to stop wearing his boots! Of course, I accomplished this by getting him to wear his new "Cars" sandals. So here he is in his winter coat and his sandals.

We'll be spending quite a lot of time here this summer!

Two More Cooks In The Kitchen

One day last week I again asked myself, "Why do we even bother buying toys?" Evie and Gavin were having a grand old time playing with my pots and spoons.



They were making soup, and of course they had to taste it to make sure it was delicious:

We also practiced being loud and quiet:

Same day, new outfit for Gavin. This happened to be the day of the haircuts, and when we got home Gavin wanted to wear his PJ's and then he and Evie resumed cooking:

It's hard to tell here, but Gavin is pretending to cut this plastic potato with his spoon:

Time to taste and be silly! Once our culinary adventure was over, we read the story of "Ratatouille." Fun times!

Haircuts

Last week it was time for Evie and Gavin to get their hair cut. You may remember that Gavin's first haircut (back in January) was a bit of a struggle. He was not happy about it. And Evie has just loved gazing at herself in the mirror for all of her haircuts.

Well, it must have been "opposite day" in the world of twins, because Evie was quite unhappy. (You can click any picture for a larger image.)



Evie was only happy when she was out of the chair and had her trusty snack-cup:




Gavin eyed one of the empty chairs while Evie was getting her hair cut:



Gavin's turn - he surprised us all by being a perfect angel!



No tears, no squirming, no protests. He was happy to play with the extra combs and clips in Connie's drawer:

Gavin looks so handsome with his shorter hair, and Evie looks adorable too, despite her tears. Now we are ready for the Easter Bunny!

Friday Cuteness

Gavin cuddles with Dad to watch videos on his iPod:

Gavin reads a story with Grandpa:

Then it's time to go out and play!

Evie shows Grandma one of her newest puzzles. You take the pieces (which are fish) out with a magnet on a string (like a fishing rod):

Kids-n-Cats

It had been awhile since we saw Auntie Di and her cats, but last week we finally had our chance. Evie can't hold her hand out flat to give them a treat, so she just ate her snack while the cats had theirs:




Here is a picture of Gavin being very gentle with Fergie. There were several other times that he tried to grab her by her sides or tail, but she was too fast for him!

Evie read a cat book; Fergie chilled out:

Gavin had more fun with the laser pointer than the cats did (we didn't let him look directly into it):

Gavin imitated the cats in one of their favorite places - under the dining room table:

Cosley Zoo

We made our first visit to Cosley Zoo last week. Even though we went there often last year, I think Evie and Gavin were a little overwhelmed. They were scared of the cows, which were standing RIGHT next to the fence. You don't realize how big they are until one is right next to you!

We took a drink break in the barn:

Gavin climbed the stairs to the old-fashioned railroad car about 20 times. Evie did it once and she was done. We'll be back for many more visits as the weather gets nicer!

Silliness and Smiles

Maybe this post should be called, "Things To Do With Old Halloween Candy." We have some old Halloween Milky Way bars that we are not going to eat (don't ask me why we still have them in the house). When the the kids found them, we counted them, stacked them, and raced them across the floor. They had a blast!







Evie even lined them up on her leg. You never know what will amuse a toddler!




When we were done playing with our candy, we went outside. Evie enjoyed riding Gavin's trike, even though her feet don't reach the pedals. Look at her happy face here...



...and her "tough girl" face here! Don't ever underestimate Evie. One of her nurses once called her a "little tiger" - so true!



Gavin just wanted to push the stroller:

Evie was in such a great mood that day. She was finally feeling better after having a cough for 2 weeks. She was all smiles:

At The Riverwalk

The Riverwalk is one of our most favorite places in Naperville, and we finally got to walk around and play there recently. Gavin loves the amphitheater - he loves to run up and down the steps and across the rows.

He is holding a banana that we had just bought. He was pretending it was a phone and didn't want to let it go:

Evie waves to the ducks:

We ran into some college kids who were writing on the walkway with chalk, and they asked us if we wanted to draw. Of course Evie and Gavin wanted to, and soon some other little boys wandered over to draw with us. They asked me to draw them a shark so I did. It was a spontaneous art class!

The kids love the covered bridge:

And they loved the fountain, even with no water:

A New Firetruck

You never know what you will find at Once Upon A Child (I have found brand-new clothes there!). The other day they had this gently used fold-up tent firetruck (only 8 bucks!) and Gavin liked it as soon as he saw it, so we just had to buy it. He usually asks Francis to get in it with him at the end of the day.




It is truly easy to fold up, which is not always the case with these tents. It even has a steering wheel:



Gavin requested a story in the tent:

Cars

Gavin's newest obsession is the movie "Cars," and of course all the accessories that go with it. Evie likes it, too! We have almost every car character from the movie. Here is Gavin with his collection of several "Maters" (the friendly tow truck).



Francis got Gavin a big soft "Cars" book that doubles as a pillow. Gavin hasn't slept on it but he loves to look at it!



Our speech therapist taught the kids the sign language for "fast" and "slow," so we race the cars every day and decide if they were fast or slow. The kids get to watch a part of the movie each night, too.

At The Pet Store

Cabin fever is really starting to hit us hard, especially now that we've had a taste of nice weather and being able to go outside. I've been racking my brain for ideas of places to go that have not a thousand germy kids pass through. So last week we went to the pet store just to look at the animals. (We don't have any pets and don't plan on getting any!)

The kids loved the fish. We were able to work on our colors because the store had such a variety of fish! As we walked through the fish section, I asked the kids to show me which fish were orange, black, yellow, etc. Gavin loved tapping the glass to see if the fish would swim away:





Gavin liked these birds that were behind glass...he didn't like the ones that were in cages. I think he thought they were going to fly out and land on his head:

Evie liked everything and I could have spent quite a long time in there with her...but Gavin got bored more quickly:

We also saw cats, mice, rats, hamsters, guinea pigs, ferrets, chinchillas, and turtles. Evie and Gavin liked watching the mice run in their wheels. It was fun, but we can't wait to get back to Cosley Zoo!

Pigtails

I tried pigtails on Evie the other day and I have to say, in my biased opinion, I think she looks totally adorable!




We had to get outside and let Gavin burn off some energy:




He wanted to fill up both our car and his car with gas:



Then it was time to push Evie around in her car:




Evie was happy to get a ride!