MLK Jr Day

I was very fortunate to have today off for Martin Luther King Jr Day. Jeani suggested we meet them at Redstone Park in Highlands Ranch to play. I'm glad we did because we had a great time. It was a little chilly when we arrived around 10 AM, but the sun kept us plenty warm. Much warmer than what those poor Minnesotans are putting up with lately. Brrrr!

Reid:

Aiden:

Reid:

How did their little legs get so long?

Warming up. By the way, do you notice the forecast for the next few days? Tropical!

Especially tropical when compared to Minnesota. Eva wisely found warmth in David's new down coat:

Meanwhile... an image a mother hopes to never see when her children are older:

Jacob and Reid:

Leah:

Aiden:

Me and Aiden:

Aiden, Jacob, and Reid:

Leah, who was hoping to join the boys at the top. Don't worry she had some turns on the slides too and grinned ear to ear when she was coming down:

Aiden, Jacob, Reid:

Aiden:

Reid and Aiden:

Aiden and Reid:

Jacob, Jeani, Leah, and Aiden:

Reid, Jacob, Leah, Jeani, and Aiden:

Reid, Aiden, and Jacob:

Reid and Aiden:

Aiden and Reid:

Leah and Aiden:

Leah and Reid:

Reid swung a little too close for comfort; guess I better pay better attention:

Leah was really good-natured. During this stretch of time, Jeani had taken Jacob in to use the restroom and Leah never even fussed that her mom was out of sight. She just kept on enjoying the swinging:

Aiden and Jacob playing Peek-A-Book:

After the park we scarfed down some PB&J and made a trip to IKEA. This was my 2nd trip in three days :), as I'm trying to organize a bunch of my crafty things into shelving/drawers in the guest bedroom closet.

The boys told me they were robots:

They did a great job and were really patient. I'm still a little nervous taking them out and about (especially walking through parking lots- scary!), but they did a good job of listening to me today. They were rewarded with a ride on an escalator at the end of our trip and were excited to tell Eric about that part.

Reid still loves to help and enjoyed putting items on the check-out belt.

Hello, 2013

Aiden giving me a "haircut" with the screwdriver from the workbench we gave them for Christmas. Reid was sporting his hat because we had been playing baseball:

Hockey with Daddy:

Truck-driving fun:

Wreath or stylish hat?

With 2.5 year-olds, even vacuuming can be entertaining:

Hi, Brudder. Hi, Ainnie.

One last crafty project before the end of break- a key fob for my school keys:

Enjoying January sunshine:

Back to early mornings:

Needed more engineering paper. The boys are getting a little too big for the cart, which will cause some big troubles for me:

Comfort ear:

Two fire trucks passed by our van with screaming sirens. Best. Day. Ever.

This grocery trip went south very quickly. In the cart. Out of the cart. Mom, hold me. Mom, don't hold me. Crying. Screaming. The whole nine yards.

See? This picture better sums it up:

Good thing Daddy had arrived back at home in the mean time. The first three days of this week were a little tough on the boys. After being with me for two weeks straight, I not only wasn't with them during the day, but also had evening commitments, Monday through Wednesday.

After I took Eric and Aiden's picture, Reid requested a picture with me. I'm no fool and sprinted over to the table (where he was halfway done with supper, before the rest of us had even had time to sit down.)

A little game of "Let's throw the balls at Mom so she can't take our picture."

Reading time with Daddy:

Reid was feeling under the weather today, but he was happy to play with Mom's iPad:

Aiden wanted to pitch a few:

The first one went on the wrong side of Reid, so Eric was showing Aiden where he needed to pitch the ball:

Better luck hitting grand slams when Daddy is pitching:

Except, when Daddy robs him of a homer:

Reid mugging it up: