Last weekend, we had an awesome visit from our friends, the Baldwins. It's a bit more of a novelty now that they live in CO again! :( No more Oklahoma neighbors....
We tried to make the most of the time. On Saturday, Candace and I took the kids to the park! All except Abigail, and let me tell you, it was an adventure. Mostly for me with Eve and Halle because Candace's kids were well behaved.
Halle doesn't care for the swings, but the other four sure did!
These next few look extra good because Candace took them :)
Here's the shot of Halle she got before the meltdown ensued.
Eve spent the entire time (except of the trip down to the lake to feed the ducks - pictured next) on the swings.
And quite happily, too!
The duck feeding looks better in pictures than it actually went (thanks to Candace's skills as a photographer). I spent the entire time trying to keep my girls from falling the lake.
Halle started out just fine:
But she was getting so close to the water in pursuit of the ducks, I didn't dare let go:
No matter how determined she was:
"Come on, Mom! You're ruining all the fun! And embarrassing me in front of my friends!"
If I had two extra hands, I would have had them on this girl, who wanted so badly to touch a duck, she didn't care about the danger.
Luckily, she managed to stay dry :) And no, she didn't get to touch a duck - not for lack of trying, though!
Our park adventure ended with me carrying Halle, screaming and kicking, under my arm back to the car. Let's just say I'm sure the other parents there were judging me.
We had a nice day on Sunday, ate way to much, then worked out some energy with a little soccer in the living room.
On Monday, before they had to head out, Candace and I took the kids (the same 5, minus Abigail) to Chick fil A for some lunch and play time. Lunch went relatively smoothly...
Playtime started out well:
Eve was even brave enough to adventure into the tube tunnels with Nathan and Hannah at her side. Usually she is either so scared she won't go near them, or if she does find the courage, she gets up there, gets stuck or lost, freaks out and starts screaming and crying. She did great this time and had a blast! The trouble came from Halle.
She got sick of the toddler treehouse (from the picture above) after awhile and started climbing up the big kid slide:
This is about as far as she ever made it and since there weren't many kids there besides us, I wasn't worried about it. It was a super slow slide so it's not like anyone coming down would have run her over anyway. But I got distracted for a couple of minutes and then realized (of course right as it's time to leave) that Halle had managed to climb all the way up the slide and was now playing in the tunnels up top. And refused to come down! I had no way to get her, so sent Eve up after her. I told Eve the normal rules did not apply and she was allowed to drag Halle to the slide and force her down it. Eve did her best, but Halle wasn't going easily and it took a good 5 minutes of Eve fighting her before she got her down far enough that I could pull her out the slide. It was lovely. Candace's well behaved children were waiting patiently with her in the restaurant for me to round up mine. Sigh.
But it was so fun to see the Baldwins again! We enjoyed every minute of our time with them (with a couple of exceptions, noted above). Oh, and the best quote from their visit? Courtesy of Nathan: "Our baby is way better than yours." Haha! Now, to be fair, Abigail wouldn't stop crying and Levi was very cheerful and content, so I could see where he was coming from ;)
Until next time!
