Water babies

Oliver has always loved swimming and pools, and not surprisingly, Eva takes after him. It was her first time swimming, and she loved it!

Playing in the sprayersThe great kiddie pool. The water was only about 1.5 ft deep, so Ollie could run around in it by himself without us having to be on top of him the entire time. Shootin' the ball!!

He's a great at throwing the football.

Eva's first dip in the pool. I loved this bathing suit with the attached hood so we didn't have to worry about her little head getting burned.

Choo choo trains

Before we left on vacation, I had done a little research into what to do in the Phoenix area with small children. Our days of lying by the pool with a drink are on hold for now, and with the weather (90's and sunny the entire time), it's not like we could have them out in the pool the entire time either. I came across the McCormick-Stillman Railroad park and hit the jackpot! It is actually a city park in Scottsdale (free!!), has two playground areas, a carousel, train rides(for real??), and several indoor train exhibits. Oliver is even more obsessed with trains than airplanes, so I knew that we had to go there. It was such a nice, well-kept place!! Here are some pics from our first day there (yes, we went twice over the course of our stay...).

Jon's comment was that the Monon Bell is bigger...Stagecoach. Stick em up!! Adobe playground. Ollie in jail after his stagecoach heist. Eva enjoying the show. On a side note, Evie popped her first tooth today! Hi Mommy! Model trains Inside of a real choo choo. Riding the train! Lunch at a Mexican restaurant after our visit to the train park. Margaritas for Mommy and Daddy, and Mac'n'queso for Ollie!

Airplane!

Wednesday we left for our first non-working vacation since Oliver has been born. We spent 6 wonderful days in hot, sunny Phoenix. We had such a great trip! I will post a few blog entries about it over the next few days. This was the conversation Wednesday morning on the way to the airport:"Goin' on airplane. A big airplane! Airplane flies high. Airplane real loud." Then we got onto the plane: "Ooh, the airplane book (looking at the safety manual). Airplane real real high. Airplane fall down!! Airplane swimmin'." (Mommy is having an anxiety attack at this point thinking about the plane crashing...) Flight home on Monday evening: "Look Oliver, the light is blinking on the airplane's wing." "Airplane winking its eye!!" (So clever!) Ollie loved to look at planes flying before, but after going on vacation, he is obsessed!!! At least both kids are fabulous flyers. Even after being delayed twice on Monday and spending 4 hours at the airport, they did great.

Waiting for our flight Wednesday am. This nice lady sitting next to us pulled up cartoons on her cell phone for Ollie. Me and my little flyers. This was Evie's third flight, and Ollie's fourth.Thrilled to be in an airplane!

Standing tall!!

So Miss Evie is upright more and more these days. She is always pulling up and standing on everything!! Here she is investigating Oliver eating Cheerios. She decided that she wanted some too, so stood by him and begged until he would share with her.

Hey! Hey Ollie, I'm down here!! Yum, Cheerios!! Please give me more!!

And here is a pic of their first group bath. Of course they are both staring at me instead of the camera, but are cute anyways!

Single mom, week #2.

Jon's second week out of town was March 20-25. He was in Savannah, GA for a training seminar for Lilly. We had another good week. The weather was fabulous for the first half of the week. Jenny and Spiff came over on Monday to hang out, and Grandma Marie was so nice to come down and help out for the rest of the week. She was on Spring Break and didn't have to go to school, so we had a great time hitting up the zoo on Tuesday and Children's Museum on Wednesday. Wednesday afternoon, Oliver went home with her for his first overnight trip to Grandma's house. He was so excited about it, and had such a great time. I cried as he drove away waving and blowing kisses. It was good for him though, and me too. Heather and Silas came over on Thursday to hang out, and Friday, Daddy came home!

Oliver playing with his helicopters. He barely bumped his head on Grandma's iPad, but freaked, so I put a band-aid on it. Band-aids make everything feel better, even imaginary bumps.

Evie is crawling everywhere these days! Yes, she has a little bump on her head too. It happened while she was home with Daddy, and he had no idea how she did it. I'm sure it was from her dare devil antics of climbing and pulling up on everything. Evie and Silas having a snack together. She is giving me the evil eye for interrupting their date!

Oliver after spending the night at Grandma's house. He was so worn out, he passed out on the couch!

Elegant Vintages, a night out!

On Saturday, Jon and I got a much needed night out before he went on trip #2 of the month! We went to Elegant Vintages, a wine auction to benefit the Indianapolis Zoo. We got all gussied up and headed downtown to the Conrad where we enjoyed wine during the silent auction. Then we got to enjoy a 4-course dinner while they had a live auction. It was a lot of fun! We even won two of the silent auction items that we bid on.

See, we clean up pretty well! We tried for a family shot, but Evie was more interested in looking at something on the floor instead of the camera... Me with my "Sex in the City" package. It included both movies, sunglasses, lipstick, perfume, an eyelash and eyebrow set, and a Saks gift card among other things!

Jon with the half case of wine that we won.
My fabulous hair. I had an appointment for a cut and color that afternoon, so I had Laura give me an up-do while she was at it!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

From these two Irish (well, at least 3/16th Irish...) cuties!! What a beautiful day it was in Indianapolis, and we were lucky enough to enjoy our Guinness and Smithwicks outside!!

See, he loves his sister!! Evie's first wagon ride! She had so much fun, and was laughing at Ollie the entire time. He kept tickling her,
and then she would try to get him back!

So fun.

Just hanging out...

Here is Ollie with my mid-week pick-me-up from Jon while he was away. Ollie was helping me re-cut and re-water them after a few days. They were so beautiful, and huge!
Daddy "driving" Ollie and Evie around in a box.
Too cute!
This is why there are never any pictures of me. Hair back, no make-up, looking tired in my mom uniform. Ollie looks adorable in Eva's bunny towel though!