A Pleasant Surprise

A couple of friends recommended that we try going to a county park for a train ride.  The day of the event fell on the same day as the Thomas the Train event which we were thinking of going to again this year.  When we compared the prices of what it would cost to take our family to the park's train ride ($2 per ticket) or the Thomas ride ($18 per ticket), we decided to try out the local park.  We were kind of expecting to get what we paid for, but we couldn't have been more wrong.  It was GREAT!  We thought it was more fun than the expensive Thomas ride and proved to be a very fun experience for all. 

The men who operate these trains are volunteers, but they take their jobs and their trains very seriously.  The worker riding behind Jon on the train tried to talk him into becoming a railway volunteer during the 20 minute train ride.  Jon isn't ready to quit his day job, but someone else was listening VERY carefully to the plea for more volunteers on the tracks.  Scott's ready to skip preschool and join the train club. 

Kate was too young to ride, so Jon rode with the kids.  When they got off, Jon was so impressed with it, that he talked me into riding it again with the kids.  We would highly recommend this to any little train fan!

Splash

Someone enjoyed her first time at the pool and fussed only when I took her out of the water.

 Kate kind of looks like she's flashing a hand sign and should have a tongue piercing in this picture.  :) 

Natalie's confidence in the water did not match her ability, so after our pool outing, I promptly contacted a friend about doing swim lessons with the kids.  Hopefully this will be the first of many more pool trips this summer.  We had fun! 

Busy Bees

This post is dedicated to Scott & Natalie's little cousin, Brody.  He passed on his excitement over the "bee playground" to his cousins.  This is such a fun playground with a lot of unusual equipment.  The kids have been twice now and keep asking to go back.

Besides checking out a few local playgrounds, Scott and Natalie have been doing some fun field trips with Grammy and their great grandmother this summer.  They've recently been to an alpaca farm, a honey bee farm, and plan to go to a dairy farm next week.  The kids brought home some wild flower honey from their bee field trip and were requesting honey on everything there for awhile.  It sure is good!

Super Scott

Scott received some Superman clothing for his birthday and has been enjoying his new role. 

The kids acted out this scene several times one evening...

Little girl can't reach her balloon and calls for Superman!

Superman comes and retrieves the balloon.

Girl hugs Superman in appreciation.  Superman isn't sure if this should be part of the story or not.

Girl is so happy.  Superman saved the day.

Another day, Scott was wearing his Superman shirt outside to ride bikes.  We got a kick out of it.  There was something about Superman sporting a helmet and riding with training wheels that made us laugh!:)  Scott didn't get it though.  He just kept trying to pedal fast enough to make his cape fly up in the back.  Oh the joy!

Hooray for Holiday World

Okay...the title may be corny, but I'm doing my best to crank out some posts so I will feel caught up with my blogging!

A few weeks ago, we made our second (annual?!) trip to Holiday World.  It was hot, but we had a fun time.  Natalie was just barely tall enough to ride some of the "big kid" rides.  The kids loved the kiddie-roller coaster and the eagles.  A man dressed up as Santa Claus came up to our table during lunch and ruined the fun atmosphere for Natalie.  She cried and cried and was shaking with fear, but the silly man in the suit would NOT go away and was trying his hardest to convince Natalie to hug him.  Grrrr...  Besides that, we had a great day.  

For the record, Kate spent the day with Grandma and had just as much fun in their air conditioned home! :)

The Birthdays

Scott and Natalie's birthdays are about 2 1/2 weeks apart.  We started celebrating on Natalie's birthday near the end of May and continued the celebration until Scott's big day on June 6th.  We went to the zoo, had a little friend party, had a couple of cakes, celebrated with the grandparents, and made a big deal about turning 3 & 5.  Time is sure flying!

Kate enjoyed the festivities.  Zoo train, party hats, and wrapping paper...what fun.

A very talented lady made the cake this year.  It tasted as good as it looked. 

More trains?  What else would the boy want?  Thank you, Craigslist! 

Happy Birthday, Scott & Natalie!