ALL ABOARD!!!

On Saturday Kristian suprised the girls and I by taking us to the train station! Every time Finley hears or sees a train she does the sign and says "ohhh, ohhh" she just loves them! And Avery thinks they are pretty cool too! So we went downtown where they have a little museum and an old engine. A retired conductor escorts you around and tells lots and lots of stories about when he rode the trains...the girls had fun!

********************************************************************************** We went to the zoo last week with some friends. The Zoo is always fun...especially the train that takes you around the park! This is on the sign outside the zoo...hold on tight girls! Avery got to feed a giraffe! She was thrilled! **************************************************************************

Uncle Drew had a game in Phoenix last week and we all went up to see him...this is about the only pic we got though...Drew and Stormi are going to have a baby boy in March!! Hooray!!

The Children's Museum and other goings on...

Since I am about a week behind in my blogging...here are events from last week that we did. ********************************************************************* Kristian tries to spend Sunday's with the Fam and one of our favorite activities is to go to the park. This week we picked one by aunt Kaci's house that had some grass...a rare sight in the old Pueblo...the girls had fun spending quality time with dad and aunt Kaci...and of course mom...but she's there everyday...not too exciting that old one... Ring around the rosy with daddy... I love to see Kristian with his girls...he loves them so... Attack a fin!! Just a bit higher Aunt Kaci...this is super fun!! Here Dad is helping Avery scale a wall...she is quite the fearless little almost three year old... *************************************************************************** We made Halloween cookies and took them to our friend Naomi's birthday party at Chucky Cheese...no pics of Chucky cheese, but these cookies were great! She looks so excited doesn't she? Fin is trying not to exude too much excitement for this activity of the day... ************************************************************************ We went to the children's museum last week for one of our playgroups and had a blast. They have really improved things there in recent months and it was really fun! I really like using these slide show things cause I can cram a lot of pictures in...so just allow me to grace you with another...

Ummm...I don't know quite what to say...

I debated whether to post this little diddy...then I figured most kids go through it at one point or another...Avery is at that point. The more mom tells her not to...the more appealing it is becoming. I really wasn't trying to capture this moment...she was kinda sick of me telling her to look at mom...I guess she got a little bored...or a little attitude...you decide:)

A Fun Day after a not so fun week...

So last week both the girls got the croup:( Avery was first last Friday and then Finley followed suit on Monday...just as mom and dad were hoping to get some sleep. We had Fin in the ER in the middle of the night...needless to say she was in no mood for a picture, but Avery's trip to urgent care was a definite highlight for a while...until it took 4 hours. She is fascinated with accidents these days and hospitals. So when we told her we were going, let's just say she wasn't disappointed. She was pretty sick...but still remained the trooper that she is!

So that was last week...Fin stayed sick much of the week and so when Daddy had a department picnic on Saturday we thought it best that Finley didn't go and expose other kids so Daddy took Avery...That was just what the doctor ordered for Avery...she had been cooped up all week-something she is definitely not used to and it was beginning to weigh on her (and mom:)

Oh to be a kid and climb trees again...she had such a great time with dad!

After they were done, mom and Finley met Avery and dad at a reptile show down the street...Avery got her arm painted, she got to touch some turtles, and get a kiss from a snake! We had fun.

She really wasn't nervous...but this picture sure shows some reservation...

Up close and personal with the snake...

PRESENTING BUNNY!!!

Okay for those of you who haven't met Bunny yet...here it is...Finley's heroic sidekick.

Bunny doesn't stray far from it's (bunny is genderless) keeper. At the dinner table bunny will sit on the floor...Finley will point obsessively at it and wave her arm chanting "dee, dee" her affectionate sign and name for it. One day bunny found itself beneath the stroller in the mall...it was hanging on for dear life until some sweet old man said, "I believe there is something under your wheel." I brought it up coughing and sputtering. About an inch of dust caked on every corner. I dusted it off quickly and handed it over to a desperately pleading Fin...a decision I would never had made with Avery...that thing would have been throughly cleaned before she touched one little pinky to it...oh the poor second child. I lost bunny one day in a store for a brief time. I frantically retraced my steps and found it in the bathroom...must have needed to jump out of the stroller and visit the germ ridden vinyl floor of Michaels. After that I told myself and Finley...no more bunny in stores...the car and home...that is it! Well, one day not to long ago, I gave in to those pleading brown eyes. She asks (with her signs and chants) every time we arrive somewhere...can bunny come? And clutches it so tightly until I pry it loose and get her out bunnyless. But one day not to long ago...I said okay. One day not to long ago bunny ran away. After traipsing around Aunt Kaci's college for a good hour or so we arrived home tired and hungry and after dinner and baths and stories...realized bunny was no where to be found. I sent aunt Kaci on a desperate trip back to the college to retrace our steps while I tried to get our little Fin to go to sleep without her sidekick...no luck. I was heartbroken. She kept saying "Dee. Dee." And waving frantically...she was so tired...and so dependant on bunny to get her to dreamland. It was very sad. Aunt Kaci soon called though and said "Bunny has been found!! Battered and beaten, but alive!" Hooray!! I was ecstatic!! (The store that made bunny has since gone out of business so replacing it would be a small feat...and trust me...I had tried everything in the house that was soft and comfy...she knows her bunny!) Bunny came home!! We were all happy...Avery presented "her baby" (as she calls Finley) with the tattered bunny. It had been run over a few times, but I let her go to sleep with it that night and washed it well the next morning and it is in pretty good shape these days. Bunny is a trooper...here is a tribute to bunny and it's cute little keeper.