Clearly chocolate donuts are the answer

Caroline has had zero interest in potty training. She turned three about four months ago, and while I know every kid works at their own pace, I was beginning to worry that we would have to send her to college in adult diapers.

The other morning I noticed that her diaper was bone dry after having had a huge cup of juice earlier. I, half jokingly, said, "Hey, Caroline, if you pee in the potty I will get you a chocolate donut."

And sure enough, that little stinker sat down and performed.

Un. Be. Lievable.

While I should have been jumping for joy, there was a part of me that wanted to exclaim, "Are you kidding me? We have been begging you to do this for months and bribing you with everything under the sun. You can speak - couldn't you have just named your own price a few months ago and saved us some money on Huggies?"

But I jumped for joy anyway in hopes that it would continue. And it has. I won't say that we have it entirely figured out because it still does require me to initiate the process at times, but we are pretty darn close.

While we're on the subject, does anyone need any size 6 diapers? We now have a stockpile, and unless Boog suddenly loses bowel control, I don't think we will be needing them.

Pool Time Part II

The girls are thoroughly entertained by a small blue baby pool. They spend hours each week playing in our pool or running through the sprinkler.

Boog LOVES sprinklers, pools, hoses, and all things water

A happy (and very wet) boy

Insane children

Pool Time

After the boat, the ladies enjoyed some pool time in Cookie and Grumps' backyard.

Lucy's new BFF, Fred

Boat Ride

On Monday we headed out on Grumps' boat. I am not normally a big boat person. Boats and the ocean make me nervous. (Blame it on my Midwest roots?) In any case, when we have the girls on the boat I spend about 75% of the time having a heart attack as I imagine them going overboard. Thankfully Steve is there to tell me to relax.

We had such a good time out on the water - the weather was perfect, the girls loved it, and all six of us were there to enjoy it.

This is my favorite picture of the day.

Leaning over the edge just enough to make me hyperventilate. 

Grumps telling Caroline to stop pushing buttons.

Cookies on a boat? Life can't get any better.

Father's Day 10K

On Father's Day, Steve and I ran a 10k race near Cookie and Grumps' house. We have run it a few times before:

2009

2010

And now another family picture from 2013:

We both ran it and were happy with our results. A big thank you to Cookie and Grumps who watched the girls while we ran and were there to cheer for us as we crossed the finish line.

Throwback

This is a picture of Lucy and Caroline from the summer of 2011.

They both still make these exact same faces.

Lucy is still a ham.

Caroline is still thoroughly entertained by her sister.

They both still drive me crazy.

Red Robin

One of my favorite parts of visiting Cookie and Grumps is having dinner at Red Robin. When my brother and I were children, we used to go to Red Robin with our Meme. We always had fun and ate whatever we wanted. While in the moment I enjoyed having two chocolate shakes, eating fries, and then having a dessert. Now I look back and am thankful to my Meme for taking time out of her life to have us over to her house. She took us to all sorts of events, she attended our athletic contests, and most importantly, she made me feel like we were important. I remember interviewing her for a school project, and when I asked her what her favorite movie was, she responded, "Ferris Bueller's Day Off because I saw it with you and your brother." Even at my young age I thought, "Wow, Meme likes a movie simply because she saw it with us? She must think we're pretty special."

So now, even when Meme isn't here to talk to and she isn't here to enjoy our two sweet girls who would absolutely adore her, I can take them to Red Robin with Cookie and Grumps. I can watch them order mac and cheese (Caroline's favorite) and share a chocolate shake (Lucy's favorite), and I can watch them realize that their grandparents (all four of them: Cookie, Grumps, Nana, and Yoinkie) love them more than anything. 

I miss Meme, but I am happy that I have moments like these:

Multiple Choice

Most mornings Steve and I are awakened around 5:45 am by the sound of:

a) Lucy exiting the room to use the bathroom 

b) Lucy or Caroline very loudly reading a book to the other

c) Wrestling

If you had to pick one of those three options, which one do you think could occur most often?

If you answered C then you have either read any previous post in this blog or you have spent 10 minutes with these two wackadoos. Well done.

Memorial Day Part II

I had a few pictures on my phone that I finally put on the computer, and this was one of my favorites. It is taken at the Memorial Day parade that we attended. This was before the girls got out of control and Caroline binged on pizza flavored Combos and we took them home early. Aaahhhh memories ...

How we spend our weekends

We now spend our weekends turning this:

Our gardens when we bought the house

into this:

Taken this afternoon

It took a ton of work, sweat, and a few dollars spent at Home Depot, but it was worth it.