The Secret's Path

We (Gram and I) went to the Salisbury, MD zoo with the kids.

The really liked the otters that swam all around in front of them and talked to them (otters make a cheeping-type noise). On the right side of the picture, you can see an otter doing a back flip into the water.

But, really, the kids just wanted to run around and play in the dirt. Thankfully, Gram was with me. They each ran in opposite directions. We were each chasing a baby around the same part of the zoo for 3 hours. Maybe next time we'll get to see a different part of the zoo. :-)

Their new tent. They spent a good 20 minutes crawling/walking in and out of it and through both openings. Nikki also tried to climb in through the window on the side (this didn't go so well).

Grandma Patti and Papa Reggie got Ben a new truck. It has buttons that activates the lights and sirens. By the end of the day, Ben was saying something that sounded a lot like "truck."


Grandma and Papa also got Nikki her very own baby doll. She was way overdue for this. She has been going around for weeks wanting me to wrap up her stuffed animals (and sippy cup, books, and anything else she could carry) in a blanket like a baby. She was so excited to see her baby doll! She smiled, squealed, and ran over to it. I couldn't get it out of the box fast enough. By the end of the day, she was saying "aby" for "baby." Their first words.

Our first visit to Chuck E. Cheese. The kids loved it! I can see that we'll be going back there several times in the future.

As you have already known (or been able to guess), Joe and I both took the past week off from work. We got to spend a lot of time with the kids. We went to the pumpkin patch, Chuck E. Cheese, got their pictures taken, went to some of the fall festivals in the area, and spent a lot of time at the playground. It was a lot of fun for us. I was very happy that I got to spend so much time having fun with the kids and Joe.



It's back to work for me on Monday.

We went to the pumpkin patch with the kids. They had a great time looking at all of the pumpkins and running around.

We celebrated Reggie's birthday on Sunday. All Reggie wanted to do was to play with the grandkids. That's exactly what he did. Here are some of the highlights.

Nikki made this arrangement herself...

I followed Nikki around for a few minutes. She is a bundle of energy!

Ben is demonstrating his awesome flexibility. He does this a lot of nights before bedtime, and he finishes his stretching routine with his head down on the couch/floor in front of him.

Joe and I went to the Renaissance festival today (the kids were at Patti & Reggie's for the day). It was a good recon mission. We decided that it would be a lot of fun to bring the kids there-next year. They had lots of stage shows, vendors, games, face painting and stuff like that, and jousting (the official sport of Maryland). All in all, it was a fun afternoon.