Birthday Party & More

This past Saturday, we had a birthday party for Ben & Ella for friends and family who live on this side of the state. We had it at the same park as last year (the "birthday park"). The weather turned out perfectly for us. It was nice and sunny and warm.

We started off the day by letting the kids play in the playground, then we had some dinner, then cupcakes and then presents. We spent about a little over 4 hours at the park. We had so many people come and join us for the birthday party - people who knew from church, from daycare, from college and our the grandparents and an uncle and an aunt. It was great! The kids enjoyed playing with all the other kids that came.

The next day, we went and played at the beach while my parents and brother were still in town. Benjamin seemed to really enjoye that it was low tide and went pretty far out there while Ella enjoyed looking at the rocks. Nicholas also had a good time wandering all around and playing with kids his own age and the bigger kids.



You can see some pics of both days at www.flickr.com/photos/heathercim

In other info:

Benjamin says as we are heading to the beach that "You need to do this (he had his hands covering his ears") so you won't get scared." He was referring to the loud noise the train makes as he goes underneath the overpass to the beach.

Ella got this cute little play dress and play shoes from a friend of ours and Benjamin wanted them too. Last night, he was walking around with them on and came up to us and said "look at my BEAUTIFUL shoes". It was so cute!

At the party, Ella saw one of the little kids (he's about to turn a year old) from the daycare and went up to him and said "Hi R. How are you, sweetie?" in her baby talk voice.

Nicholas was really into the dog that came to visit and excitedly followed him around for a bit. He also seemed to like riding in a little push car that a friend brought their 1 year old in. Nicholas now knows where his belly is and will lift up his shirt to show you his belly. He had his checkup yesterday (stats to come as soon as I can get them from Jon) and the doctor says he needs to be saying 24 words by 18 months. I remembered being worried about one of the twins but both of them are just fine talkers now, so I'm not too worried about Nicholas.

Nicholas is attempting to climb up on the couch these days. He thinks it is so fun to sit up on the couch and last night, I kept telling him he was a big boy and he kept cracking up over that. :-D

Ben & Ella got a train set for their birthday and they are really liking that and will fight over the trains. Surprisingly, they are also fighting over the play shoes that they got as well. Nicholas really likes the bubble lawnmower they got.

More to come when I remember to blog about it. Sorry to my kids as I was hoping to have this blog as a way to fill in your baby book later and I haven't done either of them too well lately.

Oops

I somehow managed to delete all my links - someday I might add them back, but for now, it will have to be blank.

Ben & Ella turn 3

My twins turned 3 on Saturday! Times sure does fly.

Ella loves to do art stuff. She likes to color and she loves to play mommy with her baby dolls and to her baby brother. She keeps telling me about someone named "Jin" that I think perhaps might be an imagined friend as I have no idea where she got that. She also likes to sing - I just love to hear her sing different songs.

Benjamin is definitely more the thinker. He likes puzzles more. At one point, this weekend, he was concentrating so hard on getting these balls to move through a little maze. That was more interesting than going down the slide that was right next to him. He also likes to sing and is such a cute singer.

Their interactions with each other are definitely the best. Sure, they yell at each other and have their disagreements, but it is still fun most of the time.


We spent the weekend in Spokane where my family lives. We spent their actual birthday at Riverfront Park. We looked at Spokane Falls, then moved over to the park and played under the water scuplture for a bit, then onto the caroussel. Benjamin opted to just sit next to me and Nicholas on a bench, while Ella braved the horse going up and down with Jon standing next to her. They enjoyed that quite a bit and Ella wanted to go on it again. After that, we headed for lunch, then went on a train ride through the park. Since they both love trains, this was a definite must. Poor Benjamin fell asleep on the train though - it was a long day. That night, after waking from a nap, we had a BBQ and my aunt and grandmother joined us.

The next day, we went to Chuck E. Cheese's to celebrate my niece's birthday. The kids enjoyed that as well as there was a slide and another little caroussel to go on. They didn't particularly enjoy Chuck E. Cheese though. Ella freaked out when she saw him and wanted me to hold her. Benjamin was less freaked but didn't really want anything to do with him. When it came time to open presents, Ella tore her paper apart, but Benjamin was taking it off strip by strip. He never did finish opening it until we got home last night (and he screamed because Nicholas tore off a big piece - I told him he needs to go quicker when Nicholas is around. Nicholas really wanted to play with all their new toys but they wouldn't let him - he was not happy about that).

On our way home, we stopped at a rest top next to some wind turbines/windmills. The ones next to the stop weren't really moving, except for a couple, but off in the distance, they were. Ben & Ella were quite fascinated by them, as were we. I took pictures of everything and will post on flickr when I get the chance sometime this week or weekend.

Ella really enjoyed playing with her 8 year old cousin. They both have an interest in babies. Morgan was also kind enough to give Ella and Ben her Dora house that she doesn't play with anymore and a couple other items. They were so cute playing with the baby that Morgan got for her birthday (from us). Benjamin spent a lot of time with Connor, my 9 year old nephew. I think Morgan & Connor really enjoyed playing with them too.

There was a moment yesterday when we were leaving my aunt's house that made my heart smile. Benjamin goes up to my dad and says "Grandpa, are you going to Aunt Trina's house too?" I think it just makes me smile for two reasons - I have a child that calls my dad grandpa! And that Benjamin wanted him to come too. They are definitely more comfortable with my parents these days than they have been in the past. Now, if only, I could use them as a babysitter!!!