A New Park!

Grandma Linda and Grandpa Will came to visit this weekend.  After a relaxing Saturday afternoon playing at home, we ventured out to the Hyland Lake Park Preserve on Sunday.  We had heard about the great play area there, but it is more than great!  Owen and Maren had a blast!  Owen was so overwhelmed by all of the different things he could climb that he mostly ran laps around the play area.  When she wasn't climbing, Maren tried to crash a couple birthday parties (for the balloons).  It is always exciting to find a fun and safe place that will tire out two toddlers!  

Climbing Kiddos

Trying out the twisty slide

Maren and Grandma

Getting ready to cool down in the sprinklers

Loving the water!

Daddy and Owen after running through the sprinklers together.

One Year Photos

Click here to see the adorable pictures form the Twins' 1-year (17 month) photo shoot with Cheesebrow Photography.  We are so happy with how these turned out!

Children's Museum

Last week, we went to the Children's Museum to check out the Thomas the Train Exhibit.  It was our first family trip to the museum, and it was a big hit!  Both Owen and Maren are very into watching Thomas on TV right now, so coming face-to-face with him was a huge surprise!  Owen was so overwhelmed at first, he got a little teary-eyed.  He quickly adjusted to the shock and took off running. 

 

After Thomas, we went to play in the Habitot play area.  It is an amazing place for toddlers to run and explore and is basically covered in mats, which makes it my new happy place.  Owen and Maren jumped, climbed, ran, rolled, and Josh and I were able to just relax and watch.  Best place ever!

 

We also visited the Outdoor ArtPark and Earth World Exhibits.  Although, the kiddos were getting tired and hungry, they still enjoyed exploring these exhibits.  Maren, especially, was excited by the ArtPark.  She loved looking at all the plants with Daddy.  I think we have a future gardener on our hands.  Owen actually escaped the Earth World Exhibit and headed down the hall to see Thomas again.  Apparently, he wants to stay close to his mom. . . unless Thomas the Train is involved!

 

Owen's favorite part of the day - just looking at Thomas.  

 

Maren loved all of the interactive play options, like selling Daddy train tickets.

 

She also spent a lot of time playing with the train tables. 

 

We tried to engage Owen at the train tables, too, but he only had eyes for Thomas.

 

 Here he is. . . running to see Thomas again.

 

He did visit Percy as well. 

 

Maren with Thomas

 

Maren enjoyed the view from Habitot.

 

 

Maren's favorite ArtPark activity was painting with water. 

 

She really, really loved it!

Owen found a piano outside and hopped right up to play. 

 

Maren also took a break from painting to join in.

 

Duet!

 

Maren Meltdown! Every time she tried to crawl through this, she hit her head, which made her cry.  When I tried to stop her from hitting her head again, she cried even louder.   She's so stubborn!

 

Cave exploration in Earth World

 

Owen enjoyed some downtime in Earth World, like reading books...

and building blocks.