"Sicka, sicka!"

Recently the kicking, screaming and wrestling at diaper changes got to be too much for us Yodeling parents and in desperation we stuck some random stickers on the backs of Augie's hands to keep him occupied. It worked so well that we've added giving out stickers to our diaper changing routine and we now try to keep a supply of them in our diaper bag. It's been mixed success, however. August and Rose have gotten so enthusiastic about the stickers that they now kick and wrestle over carrying the packs of stickers with them when they leave the changing table and Augie screams "Sicka!" when he wants one. He's also taken to putting them in his sister's hair as you can see in the picture below. When I took off Rosie's stained shirt after dinner the other day, I discovered a sticker on her chest as well. She doesn't seem to mind though... In the last week August has started talking so much. It's really amazing to hear him add new words everyday and to copy whatever we say to him. He gets "nose" and "no-no" mixed up and says "thank you" whenever he gives something to us, but I'm sure it's just a matter of time 'til he gets it straightened out. Rose gave August a couple of adorable hugs today. We wanted to get a photo for the blog, but before we found the camera the twins toppled over giggling then rolled onto some toys and started screaming. Maybe another day they'll repeat it for the camera.

Vaction in Pennsylvania

We recently returned from a week-long visit to Pennsylvania to see relatives. Although there are lots of people we love to see in PA, we were in desperate need of a vacation and so we limited our visits to mostly just relatives. We scheduled few get-togethers, laid low and relaxed. It was great for us parents and gave the kids more time to play with their cousins which they liked alot. We were pleased that Rob's parents, Delmar and Marjorie, were able to drive up from Georgia to spend some time with us, and that Becky's aunt Nellie and her sister Beth and family were able to spend lots of time with us and the kids. We were even more pleased that they all pitched in to help keep an eye on our busy toddlers so that we could relax.
Here's August with his Grandpa Delmar stopping to examine a street arrow.
Aunt Beth learns to herd the twins plus her own kids.
Grandma Gloria guides Rosie out of the cabinets.(Rose is wearing an outfit made for her mother when she was a toddler by great-grandma Ethel Wentling.) Having fun before bed at Grandma's - Beth, August, Rose, Becky and Nellie.

Vaction pictures - Fun in PA

Although we tried to relax in PA, we didn't just stay at in at Grandma's. We went on some outings, some of which were centered around eating ice cream like our trip to the Mt. Gretna Jigger Shop. Becky got to see both Jared and Logan, her nephews, play in soccer games, we went out to dinner with Becky's cousin Mike and had some visits with relatives. We even had a pizza taste test one day to compare slices from Annville's three pizza joints. (Napoli was our winner for anyone reading this from PA.)The kids especially liked our trip to ZooAmerica with Grandma and Jared and below is a photo of Augie at the bear exhibit.


Augie shoots hoops in Grandma's back yard.
Hanging out on Grandma's front porch. The kiddos really liked waving to walkers, bikers and dogs who went by Grandma's in the morning.

Vacation pictures - Grandma's backyard

One of the best parts about visiting Grandma Gloria is playing in her fenced backyard with her collection of toys. The kids loved the freedom of running around without us chasing them like at the park and we loved relaxing in lawn chairs while they did it. We all enjoyed the warmer temperatures, especially in the evening, as Seattle has been chilly this summer. The little car was a favorite of August and Rose, sometimes at the same time.

They also loved pushing the teddy bear around the yard...
and pushing each other up and down the sidewalk. Since the weather was pretty hot, they got to splash around in the wading pool nearly every afternoon. This was treat for Rose who thoroughly enjoyed her first swim in a big pool at Uncle Buss and Aunt Mary's pool on Labor Day. She splashed around, went under and resisted getting out. What a water baby!

Vacation pictures continued

Although we did lots of fun things on vacation we took few pictures. Here are a couple of us having a good time. Becky's mom, Gloria, took this picture of us at the Union Canal Tunnel Park in Lebanon. It was a gorgeous day to visit.
Rosie plays Peek-a-boo at the park.
A sleepover with cousins Logan and Jared at Grandma's house! It was a great sleepover that even included a field trip to Dairy Queen for dessert and to feed the ducks in the nearby creek. Here's Logan, Grandma Gloria and August at breakfast the next day.
Here's Jared and Rosie wandering around in their PJ's. Although August and Rose got to spend a lot of time with Jared, this is the only picture of him that we took. I guess he just moves to fast for our camera.

Vacation pictures - Home at last!

The kids did well on all flights to and from PA. There were some times of kicking, screaming and bouncing around in their car seats, but they soon settled down for naps. We were glad to have lots of snacks with us and a plane with individual video screens on the way home. Both were great pacifiers for cranky toddlers.
Augie preferred napping with his daddy over snoozing in his carseat. It's always a welcome sight when Mt. Rainier appears through the plane window. We know then that we're almost home.