Yin and Yang

 A few months ago my yin and yang shared a swing at the park.  They really enjoy the swings, but I don't think they will be able to share much longer.

Swings

Last week we met a friend at the park for a walk and some play time. It was such a beautiful day! The monkeys loved the swings, although they were easily distracted by the allure of jungle gym. They did a pretty decent job of playing with the bigger kids. Thankfully my friend was able to give me a hand with them even though she was pregnant and had her own toddler to keep an eye on. Playground trips will be so much easier when they are both walking! I am looking forward to a lot more walks in the parks now that it is getting warmer.

Thanksgiving

Happy late Thanksgiving everyone! We had a nice, albeit very low key, day at home. This year it was just us and mom. She made a very nice dinner for us. It is one of only a couple of years in my life that I haven't spent the day with a handful of family and/or friends. I must say that I much prefer having a gathering. It just didn't really seem like Thanksgiving without the hubbub of people around. Next year it will be back to ordering dinner from Tony's and inviting people to join us.

We spent black Friday at the zoo with our little monkeys. It was a beautiful 70 degree day. We had such a pleasant afternoon. The zoo was quite busy, so I guess we weren't the only people who preferred to be outside over shopping with the vultures. I finally remembered to take the camera along this time. Unfortunately, I missed a fabulous photo op provided by one of the grizzlies. Just couldn't get the camera out and ready in time. I did get some pics of a big bear and some monkeys though. Check them out!

Last Minute Trip

I finally have a great reason for my missing posts. Last week me, the monkeys and my mom took a little surprise road trip to see Grandma Pauline. It was a very last minute trip. The kind that involved being on the road within 6 hours of deciding to go. I learned that I can pack and load the car in less than 3 hours. Pretty good when travelling with two 1 year olds for a week. We left on Monday night and showed up Grandma's doorstep about 20 hours later. I think she was still in shock when she went to bed that night. It was a good week, although no visit ever seems long enough. The monkeys sure love their Great-Grandma and I do too!

I survived camping with infant twins!

A week of camping with 2 infants and no husband. It can be done, but boy was it hard. The monkeys, my mom and I went to our family reunion in Indiana. It was a 10 day trip with a week of camping. The girls and I spent the week in a tent. They loved their Pea Pod tents! I put one outside for them to play in and one in my tent for them to sleep in at night.

It rained every day and we had a severe storm come through. The humidity was oppressive, which made the girls extremely cranky. That combined with teething had me drinking before lunch one day. The girls were super clingy and didn't want anyone but me and my mom to hold them. There just wasn't much time when the girls were awake that I could put them down or pass them off without them screaming. Thankfully my mom was a huge help. I probably wouldn't have survived without her.

Everything considered, the monkeys did really well and I think they liked it a lot. It was a good trip, but it was also really disappointing. I really underestimated how much work the trip was going to be. I had thought that, with so many hands around to hold the monkeys, I would be able to spend some quality time visiting with my grandma and the rest of the family, but that didn't really happen since the girls needed so much attention. In retrospect, I wish I had rented a camper, but I'm also kind of proud of myself for doing it the way I normally would and making it work.

Most of the pictures are pirated from my mom and from my brother's girlfriend Kelly. I just couldn't seem to get to my camera. I can't remember the last time I went on a trip and took such a small number of pictures!

Kelly, my brother and Grandma.

The monkeys having some dinner.

Isabella full and happy.

Sean, Isabella, Mom and Caitlin

Sean with Caitlin and Isabella. Caitlin was mad that Sean wouldn't share his beer. That's Dick lounging in the background.

Ugh! I somehow managed to get a few large puddles of water between my tarp and the floor of my tent during one of the torrential downpours. There must have been an edge of the tarp sticking out. That's what happens when you rush to throw a tent up while trying to keep infants happy. This is us moving everything to get it all dried out before the next round of rain came in.

Grandma giving Isabella a frozen cloth to chew on. Oh sweet relief!

Sean with Isabella.

The monkeys playing with their cousin Jaime.

Caitlin and Isabella playing.

Isabella on a mission.

Caitlin happy with her momma.

The monkeys playing near their Pea Pod. Isn't it cute?!

Caitlin spending some time with her frizzy haired momma. Ugh - midwestern humidity sucks!

The best great-grandma ever!

The monkeys took a trip to Indiana to see their great-grandma and for a family reunion camping trip. Grandma camped for a week right along with the rest of us. I hope that I am still able to get out and enjoy life like that when I am her age. The monkeys loved getting to see her again. Here are a few pics of them enjoying their visit with Grandma Pauline.

I'm back!

I have returned from a trip with the monkeys and am slowly catching up on life. I'm too tired to stay up and do a real post tonight. Here is a little teaser from the trip.

Internet OMG WTF BBQ

On Sunday we went to a big OMG WTF BBQ with a bunch of families from an internet message board I frequent. There are so many great ladies in our group - many of whom I have become friends with in real life. The bbq was at a friends' house in the mountains. She has an amazing view from her backyard which you can't really see through the clouds. It was cloudy and thundered a lot, but we were lucky enough to avoid getting rained out. We were able to get a few family pictures and I tried to get a photo for the monkeys' 1st birthday invitation. As you can see below, it didn't go very well. Caitlin was just not happy with the location I chose for the pictures. Isabella thought it was a fun spot though.

Pool Time!

We had a pool play date at a friend's house on Thursday. It was the monkeys' first time in the pool. They loved it! I discovered that with two infants you can't look away for more than a couple of seconds. I think every time I looked away one of them fell over into the water or was trying to eat the floating grass. Maybe Isabella is trying to tell me she wants more roughage in her diet.

If you look at the middle picture you will see my friend's son getting cozy in Caitlin's lap. She was just fine with it until he tried to take one of the measuring cups she was playing with. She wasn't having any of that! The last time he tried to grab one she jerked it back so hard that she fell over. The result of the tug of war is the bottom picture.