Eleanor Turns Three!

We decided to take the kids to Great Wolf Lodge over Memorial Day weekend, which seemed like a pretty genius decision. And it could have been. Honestly most of it was a blast, which is probably why leaving caused such extreme angst and trauma.

 Favorite quote from the video: Eleanor "I want to follow you ... everywhere."

The kids' rather amazing sleep nook

Bradley was happy to hurl himself down any and all water slides. Eleanor liked going down water slides but would plaster herself face down on your chest for the trip down. It was pretty adorable. Patrick thought the water was a little chilly.

They also had a game to play with overpriced magic wands, an arcade, and an evening show that required more waiting than our impatient children were accustomed to.

Cute kiddie area water slides. Bradley and Eleanor both went on ones far more adventurous than these.

The next week I took the kids with me to the gym and couldn't understand why they were melting down as we entered because they usually love the gym. It wasn't until we came back the next day and Eleanor pointed at the apartment complex across the street and kept saying she wanted to go to Great Wolf Lodge that I realized that she thought the apartments were Great Wolf Lodge and she thought we were choosing the gym over water park fun. Poor girl, I would be upset about that faulty decision making as well.

The next weekend we chose to spend mostly in our own backyard and at the Tomahawk Ridge Aquatic Center. 

 Patrick lives for dirt and for splashing his poor siblings.

 And group cuddles.

The pool outing was a blast, we even packed a picnic dinner.

Eleanor has feelings about sunscreen application

They are so cute in their swim ponchos.

Soon after this my dad came to help out while Nathan was on a business trip and we all had a pretty terrific time.

I got the big two to make welcome signs

But then the stickers proved to be too exciting and I don't think many ended up on the signs.

Although Bradley and Eleanor were quick to warn Grandpa about Patrick. "He hits." Yes he does. Patrick hits and then you tell him that was not okay and to go hug and is this sweet boy ever happy to oblige. At least he doesn't mind apologizing for bad behavior.

Speaking of behavior, this is how Grandpa was welcomed to our house.

"Rough house!" was yelled often during his visit.

Eleanor was falling asleep on the Grandpa bed here. Lucky Grandpa.

Fortunately there were cuddle breaks.

This is how we solved the debate over who would sit next to Grandpa at breakfast.

Park outing!

We kept the backyard playtime classy with kids in underwear. I don't know why I thought they weren't going to get very wet at first ...

 There were daily popsicle breaks.

If you look in the background, there's a little girl that's a little cross that Grandpa put her on the ground while getting some food.

After Grandpa's visit I heard frequent complaints about her feet touching the ground again. True story.

 We went to the pool.

And a fun sprayground where Grandpa didn't think he would get that wet (haha). 

 This looks like an adorable picture of Grandpa with an angel child, yes?

Bradley was trying to distract me by having me take pictures of him so I would forget to turn off the tv.

We went to Scheel's, the coolest sporting goods store around. Bradley was so desperate for fudge samples that he grabbed a piece that we dropped on disgusting floor and shoved it in his mouth before I could tell him not to. His reflexes and reaction time can be quite remarkable when put to the test.

The big kids loved the Ferris Wheel ride with Grandpa.

And bowling

We even let Patrick get in on the action this time!

Patrick was so excited when his daddy came home that he insisted on getting out of his bath immediately and going in for a snuggle. Daddy didn't seem to mind too much.

We all went to Nathan's company summer fair that weekend. 

Patrick was a champ at the carnival games.

There were bouncy houses, balloons, face painting, bubbles, and so much more but really all our kids needed to know was that there were unlimited amounts of popsicles. 

We're very excited to go visit Grandpa and Grandma and all the rest of our Washington friends and family in August. It made saying goodbye to Grandpa much easier, although Bradley still tried to talk him out of it by making some very good points about how Grandpa greatly improved the adult to child ratio around here.

Before he left, Grandpa made sure to order new high powered water guns I've since had to hide because the children enjoyed them perhaps a bit too much. 

And we discovered that Eleanor does NOT appreciate being sprayed back, not even just on her feet.

Oh the misery. "Wet! Wet!"

But the biggest news for the month is that Eleanor turned three!

We had a family celebration on her official birthday with our friends Kory and Fatima joining us for dinner and cupcakes.

Opening presents.

Patrick desperately trying to snuggle his way into not having to say goodnight.

Eleanor loved decorating her cupcakes.

I thought I kept Patrick pretty happy overall.

But there's only so long a baby can stand being kept away from the REAL treats. Bradley was very happy we still had leftover dinosaur cupcakes for him to decorate.

And this isn't just a special party day outfit for Eleanor, this is pretty much every day now. Tutus and cowboy boots, is there any better combo?

Grandma Colleen and Kerry came down to visit for the party which was a lot of fun.

Patrick showing off his moves while helping me do some last minute party shopping

Eleanor was *slightly* excited to pick up her birthday ice cream cake.

We decided to do water activities in the backyard which worked out rather well despite not having a fenced yard. Whew!

Poor Kory. Nathan took pics instead of saving him.

We had quite the time with water balloons in the front of the house too.

 But nothing is better than cake time! Princess ice cream cake - oh my!

 Presents time. Always chaotic.

Birthday donuts and cookies at church the next day.

And the bike we saved to give her after the party. Eleanor kept asking when her next party was going to be - I guess between family party, friend party, and bonus gift the day after she didn't see why the birthday festivities ever had to stop. 

Cute goodbye picture with Colleen and Kerry.

The birthday festivities were a blast and now we're back to normal - pool, gym, and even some park time and play dates.

At the gym cafe with friends. Our gym is pretty amazing.

Bradley and Eleanor are taking swim lessons together at Tomahawk Ridge Aquatic Center and it's fairly adorable to watch. It's just the two of them and one other little boy in their class so it's practically private lessons! Eleanor's primary goal seems to be keeping her hair dry and Bradley's is to see how many times he can jump in the pool. The swim teacher is earning every dime she's being paid.

Here's a glimpse of poolside behavior not during a swim class.

We've had a lot of thunderstorms lately and the day after Eleanor's party I was forced to take a nap with Bradley and with three cats while listening to thunder and lightning from the warmth of my cozy bed.

When will my suffering end?

I only napped for a short time with the boy and then got to read a book while cuddling him. It was so amazing that I wrote down "living is holding a napping child in your arms during a thunderstorm while reading a book." There are few things that can top this.

Happily, there are no shortage of tired children that want to sleep on me these days. 

However, it is not all fun and games for Mommy. Eleanor is a bit princess obsessed shall we say, especially when it comes to Rapunzel.

I am NOT Mother Gothel, Eleanor. I am the queen.

This stinker is such a character. Okay, perhaps Bradley too.

But oh my goodness Patrick. I LOVE that he's understanding what's going on, even though he's mostly using his powers of communication for naughty yet adorable behavior.

 How cute is this kid????

Stealing crayons from Eleanor. He yelled at me until I put him up on a barstool where the action was. Also, if you're thinking he looks just about as big as Eleanor in this picture ... he is. She currently outweighs him by 3.5 lbs and they wear the same size clothing. She eats well but few are as dedicated to food as sweet Patrick.

He is crazy about the cuddles with his siblings. If his siblings can handle the cuddles. Only once has he smashed Bradley's glasses into his face and hurt him with the force of his love snuggles. Sigh.

 General transcript of the video: Baby monsters love little girls the most. Oh! Spit up!

Bradley and Eleanor sometimes don't watch tv while cuddling all over each other ... but most of the time it is the preferred way of viewing a show. I can't even imagine what it will be like when Patrick will settle down and watch a show with them.

Oh, like this. But for more than five seconds.

 Patrick's love for the cats also remains deep and unmoving. Much to the kitties' chagrin.

Oh, and in home improvement news - we got built ins installed by our fireplace! It took one full day to have them installed and the lucky father son woodcrafter team got to have Bradley sit on a couch for the majority of that time and ask them non stop never ending questions. "What are you doing? Why? What is that tool? Can I touch it? Why? What are you building? What is a bookcase? Why? What are you doing now?" and so on and so on. 

We're pretty delighted by how it turned out.

Nathan even mounted the tv over the fireplace so we are officially super fancy folks now. 

Luckily we have this guy to keep our egos in check. You think you do cool things? This is what I think of your accomplishments.

Chewing on a blanket, spitting it out, laughing, repeat.

And we have Bradley who recently camped out in the hallway outside his room unbeknownst to us. I walked upstairs to come to bed and came across this. I asked him why he moved out into the hallway and he said he just wanted to see the light. What a sweetie.

 

Usually the kids are very good about naps and bedtimes but Eleanor insisted that she didn't need a nap the other day and promptly fell asleep on Daddy in the basement after ten minutes of Sports Center. It does that to me too, Eleanor. 

 

The other night Eleanor had a tough time falling asleep and called out for me. I walked into her room and she said "I so excited you listen to my sound!" and then hugged me enthusiastically while saying "I pretty love you a bunch" over and over again. Did Mommy melt and stay in there for quite a while to keep her adorable little daughter company? Yes. Yes she more certainly did.

 Eleanor loves cute clothes and having her picture taken.

Rapunzel shoes. Plastic high heels. She clops around the whole house in these things.

And she has started trying to read me books which I LOVE.

Nathan's June highlight was probably having Bradley stay up late to watch NBA finals with him one night. Bradley was pleased about staying up past his bedtime, moderately into watching basketball, and VERY into stealing Daddy's popcorn. 

Nathan also had a rather fun Father's Day at the pool with these sweet kids. Bradley in particular barely wants anything to do with me at the pool, Daddy is by far the fun exciting one who will go down slides with him and doesn't whine and fake cry when he has to go into a chilly pool (it is a complete mystery where Eleanor gets her behavior around water from)

And here is one last family video. The crew! I can't believe how much Patrick has come into his own and how determined he is to keep up with everyone else. I also can't believe I ever put clothes on the adorable squishy child.

Oh, one last truly final family video. Patrick gets so excited about his siblings doing fun things. They had just found out a friend was having a super hero themed birthday party so we had to get out all of our costumes in preparation.

We're doing well, I just turned 32 which was fun although I don't really have any pictures of the day because my birthday treat was playing euchre with a group of friends. Eleanor was very pleased that the girl birthdays were so close together. Our crew can't believe that they have to wait till October for Daddy's birthday. Birthdays are so much fun!