Deceptively Delicious

Even though we are good eaters, and will eat almost anything you put on our plates, Mom is always trying to find more ways to get vegetables into our diet. It isn't that we don't like vegetables, it is just that we like trying new and exciting things. For this reason, Mom is on a Deceptively Delicious kick. We've tried a few recipes before, but this summer we have made quite a few things, with our favorite being sweet potato pancakes. Yummy in our tummy! Today, we pulled up our stools, and helped Mom bake chocolate chip cookies with chick peas. We also quickly volunteered to eat them as soon as the first batch came out of the oven. We know you are all grimacing right now, but trust us, they are pretty good..so good in fact that we asked for another. We love eating our veggies here in our world!

Big Shoes to Fill

Mom always tells us that in order to go outside we need to put shoes on. Being that we are such good listeners, we made sure to put shoes on before we headed outside today. Mom needs to clarify next time that she means OUR shoes.

Choo Choo Trains and Carousels

Today we were able to do what we've been waiting to do all summer...ride the choo choo train and the carousel at the zoo. We've been to the zoo this summer almost as many times as we have fingers, and every time we go we ask Mom to ride the train and carousel. She always says the same thing too..."you can only ride them if both Mommy and Daddy are with you". Daddy hasn't stepped foot inside the Milwaukee Zoo EVER so we were doubting it was going to happen anytime soon. We don't like to admit it when we are wrong, but today Daddy proved us wrong and we can't tell you how happy that makes us feel! We of course took in all of the sites, with the aquatic and reptile center being a big hit again; but the biggest hit came after 3 hours of anxiously and patiently waiting. Daddy said the magic words... "Let's get in line for the carousel". Lily almost blew our shot when she tripped on our way to the ticket counter. She scuffed up her knee and was pretty upset so we had to wait and watch everyone take a turn without us. She finally settled down though and our turn arrived, which worked out in the end because we both got our first choice...a crazy cat and a flowered horse. Next we were on to the choo choo train which was just relaxing and fun. We've decided that we'll never get enough of the zoo here in our world!

Another Zoo Adventure

Today 6 mommies and 11 1/2 kids took on the Milwaukee Zoo. We met up with old friends (Jack, Peter, Brady, Tyson, Lacey, London, Manny) and new friends (Nora and Luke) to take in all of the animal sights. We made for quite a procession considering Peter was the only one who stayed in his stroller the entire time. We were running like tigers, swinging like orangutans, and climbing like chimpanzees the whole time we were there. The aquatic and reptile center was the big hit today, with the vibrating chairs coming in a close second even though all the mommies said every chair in the zoo was broken. We had fun nonetheless and overheard Mommy telling the other mommies that we are going back next week to ride the train and carousel with Daddy so we can't complain here in our world!

Tough Girls

This afternoon we hung out with our cousin, Elizabeth, up in Green Bay. Daddy is working all weekend so we decided to take the opportunity to get in a little shopping and quality family time. Elizabeth is only 3 1/2 years older than us, but she sure does know a lot, and she makes sure to teach us everything, like the time she taught us to climb up the slide. Today we learned all about tattoos, but only I was brave enough to actually get not one, but two tattoos. It was a little uncomfortable when Mom held the cold wash rag on my arm, but other than that it was no big deal so I'm not sure what Ryan was so scared about. Once we were done we used our muscles to build the coolest fort out of tinker toys. It was so big we each had our own bedroom. I'll admit, today had nothing to do with the princesses and tutus I'm so accustomed to playing with, but it just goes to show you that I can be tough here in our world!

Nice to Meet You Lord Stanley

Today we met Lord Stanley, otherwise known as the Stanley Cup, courtesy of the Chicago Blackhawks. Daddy's work got to have the Cup for the day so we were able to see it and have our picture taken with it. After waiting in line for at least 30 minutes we got our 30 seconds of fame with the Cup and all I could say was "cool". Hopefully the pictures turned out okay and we'll be sure to post them good or bad as soon as we get them. After our photo session we were able to enjoy some Giordano's Chicago stuffed pizza with Mom and Dad which was almost as good as (if not better than) meeting Lord Stanley. We're loving the perks of living in our world!

Watercolors 101

Mom decided to let us try out watercolors this afternoon. Lily insisted on painting a kite and I wanted to paint a rainbow so Mom had to dig deep and show off some of her artistic abilities as well. We quickly caught on to the concept that you have to dip your brush in the water before switching colors, and we loved using each and every color. After 45 minutes our masterpieces were complete and left to dry. We may not be the next Picasso, but all that hard work made us pretty silly which resulted in our doing what we do best, having some good old fashioned fun here in our world!

Off To The Races

One of the best things about our house is the race track in the dining room. Mom and Dad may beg to differ with us in regards to calling it a race track, but our dining room is so huge that we can't help but race around the table. It never fails when Jack is here too, we always end up racing our cars. Jack came prepared today though and brought his own car so no one had to share...genius! We raced for almost an hour only taking a break to have a snack and get our picture taken with baby Peter. I think we all declared our self the winner in the end so we'll have to race again next time Jack comes over to determine the real champion. We're going super fast here in our world!

Wisconsin State Fair

Tonight we took in all of the sights, sounds, smells, and snacks the Wisconsin State Fair has to offer. You name it and we guarantee it came fried and on a stick. We were tempted to dive into the smores and macaroni and cheese on a stick, but we held out for the ginormous cream puffs. The fair also had Krispie Kreme cheeseburgers, but we stuck with good old fashioned hot dogs. Dad did surprise us with frozen grapes on a stick and to our surprise they were covered in chocolate. We also enjoyed a refreshing glass of flavored milk...strawberry for Lily, banana for Daddy, and chocolate for Mommy and me. We didn't see any pink or yellow cows though so we aren't sure where the milk came from. Food wasn't all we managed to see. We took in the pig, cow, chicken, and sheep barns while there too with Lily falling in love with a giant pink pig, and I was fascinated with all of the cows. In the few hours we were there we definitely got a "taste" of what Wisconsin has to offer.

Room With a View

BEFORE

AFTER

This morning when I woke up I had a great view of our giant Elm tree outside my second story bedroom window. By bedtime, my view had drastically changed. After over 100 years of growing we had to have the giant Elm tree in our yard cut down because it was sick. Ryan and I had fun watching the men use a crane to cut the tree down and then we watched as each branch crashed to the ground. With every crash the house shook and we would say "boom" as loud as we could. With all of the excitement we were a little sad too. We will miss our giant tree and we asked the men if they could replace it with a tree as high as the sky or a chocolate tree, but Mom said she doesn't think either is possible right now. We say anything is possible here in our world!

Musica del Lago

Daddy was helping out at the Yacht Club tonight so we headed down to the lake and then snuck across the street to take in Musica del Lago at Alterra Coffee. Two of our favorite things to do are dance and be outside so tonight we got the best of both worlds, and to top it off Daddy bought us a giant chocolate chip cookie so we were in heaven. We are loving summer and all the fun it brings with it here in our world!