Special Vacation at Poppy and MiMi's: Day 1

While mommy and daddy were vacationing in Hawaii, Noah and John had their own special vacation at Poppy and MiMi's. (Some of the pictures are a little blurry...action shots.)

One last book with mommy and daddy

Half a muffin in his mouth... Too much?

Washing the new tea set

Tasting the "crumpets" (see the blur to his mouth)

Putting sugar in the tea

Getting ready

Setting the table (This was the table cloth my mom always gave me for tea parties when I was little. Oddly enough, she didn't remember it.)

Tea for you.

Mmmmm.

I love to eat!

Notice the mess

A special surprise for each day

Opening John's present

Runaway frog

Noah wrote us a thank you note. It was his own idea.

Tired boys...

Swimming

Mouse egg for dinner

The sharks are circling...

Pickles anyone?

A Hawaiian Vacation

On August 25, Greg and I celebrated our 10th anniversary. It's kind of hard to believe really! To celebrate, we went to Hawaii. Poppy and MiMi kept the boys. (I was very sad to leave them, but I'm pretty sure they had the time of their lives! More blogs on that later...)

This was the first trip we'd taken by ourselves since Noah was born. It was really great to just relax and do what we wanted. I got a lot of reading done. I read a 600 page book, 4 magazines, and 200 pages of another book. (I think I've only read about 2 pages since we've been home...) Greg was a little annoyed by my book. Every time he was ready to go, I'd say "Hold on! I'm almost done with this chapter." It was a good book!

Pearl Harbor Memorial

USS Missouri

USS Arizona

View from our room

View from our room

Anniversary dinner

Tourists in a convertible

Mountains and ocean

Us (in case you were unclear...)

Sunset from our room

Sharks at the hotel

I've always wondered how pineapples grow

Boy or Girl?

In just 8 days, we'll find out if "Benny" is a boy or a girl. I thought it might be fun to poll my two readers. So, place your vote to the right!

The Science Center

We went to the Science Center with the Hunters (and I'm NOT going to say how long ago it's been; then you'd know just how behind I am on the blogging). 

Champ and John in a ball pit (John looks like he could just go right to sleep!)

A fan favorite, the train table

Checking out the microscope

Playing in the tepee

I love trains!

Watching the cars drive by on the interstate below

A Boy and His Toys

Ever since Noah rode the Gator at Greg's brother's house, Greg and Noah have been dying to get one. Greg found a good deal on a used one that was in good condition. One night after Noah went to bed, he went to pick it up. So, first thing when Noah got up, Greg dressed him so he could go out and see his surprise. (Noah didn't know he was getting one.)

Who is more excited?

Ready to take it for the first spin.

John (with his very, very crazy morning hair) testing out the new ride.

Noah: Get him outta here!

Take his brother for a spin. (Oddly, not the same day, but Noah is wearing the same thing.)

We Miss the Red Chair

We miss taking our red chair pictures. I was hoping the red chair would be near the front of the storage unit so I could still take the boys and get their picture. (Had I thought of it before we got everything in the storage unit, we could have planned for that... Hindsight is always 20/20.) So, we've been using the oh-so-comfy tan chair.

16 months

16 months with Noah

17 months

The Magic House

I recently took the boys to The Magic House. We went with our friends, the Hunters. I'd never taken the boys, but they loved it! (They're wearing their "we're going to a place with lots of kids and mommy wants to be able to spot us quickly outfits." Shockingly, there were lots of orange shirts there that day. They didn't stand out quite as much as I thought they would.)

Champ and John playing in the water. I'm pretty sure John would have played here all day if I'd have let him.

Noah and Avery playing in the water. 

Noah and John playing in the sand.

Rocks! Good boy fun!

Driving the "digger"

This picture makes me laugh. John looks like a giant compared to Champ. (They're just 2 months apart.) I think it's just the angle of the shot. I don't think I really have a gigantic baby.

Our New Home...

...is moving right along. Of course it never feels like it's fast enough when you're waiting. (This Schuster family is not generally a very patient people.) On the other hand, it seems impossible that they've gotten as much done as they have. It's really pretty amazing.

Our sweet friends, Paul and Shannon, have been so kind to let us stay in their home while we're "homeless." It's been such a blessing to us. Thanks guys!!!

Before we know it, we'll be home sweet home!

"Benny"

Noah and John are going to be big brothers. The due date is February 5. (We like to have our babies in February.)

Noah has been so cute about it. John, I don't think has a clue. When we told Noah, he wanted to call him Benny. (We don't yet know if it's a boy or a girl. We're all just saying "he" because that's all we've known. Time will tell!) He always wants to know where Benny's head is or he'll ask how Benny's doing today.

You Never Know What He'll Say (or Do)

A few weeks ago (okay, maybe a little longer than that...) I had the boys at a meeting with me at sweet Babs' house. She was trying to get John to sign "more." I said, "Oh, Babs! He just says 'I want some more.'" Right on cue John said, "I want some more."

Every now and again, when we go to Starbucks, I'll get a scone to share with the boys. Recently when we got one, as soon as they handed it through the window John started yelling, "I want some! I want some!" The next time, I had give some to Noah and John started yelling "Gimme! Gimme!"

We were at the pool and Noah found $0.30. Greg took him to the concession stand (a.k.a. the candy stand) to see if he could get something. They came back with 2 Tootsie Rolls. Noah didn't want to share with John. He shoved the whole thing in his mouth as I said "If you don't share, you can't get one next time." So, Noah took a piece out of his mouth and put it right into John's.

This picture requires no words...

"Now what do we do? There's a wasp in the pool!"

Again, no words required... Just good boy fun!