AND the rain just kept on comin...

The rain began Thursday afternoon and it rained and rained and rained through Sunday - 25.12 inches later and we are hoping to see no rain for a long tine! We did have some flooding in the garage but nothing that caused a disaster. We were certainly luckier than most who suffered substantial damage. 

We played inside... a lot!

We played some good board games and the whole crew was happy....

Day two and Mommy and Tripp are playing trucks and bulldozers on the floor... in general we all remain happy and no one is stir crazy yet...

Day three time to get out of the house! The rain couldn't stop us from a throw-down at Chuck-e-Cheese... We were thrilled to be eating some SUPER TASTY pizza, inserting coins like we were winning big at the slot machines... helping the kids slam the turtles back into their shells and watching the two tickets pop out for good effort

Don has found a secret game that will spit 10 or more tickets out at a time. After some major hits on the ticket collection it was time to practice their shot...

they're lookin' serious about knockin off the bad guys...

We quickly challenged Don to "Operation"... he assured us that his abilities in the game were not comparable to his abilities on the body... 

The red nose on the patient beeped a good bit so we were relieved to know that!

When asked the best part of Chuck-E-Cheese...

the prizes of course!

We landed 198 tickets and with that Juliette was so thrilled with a little plastic lizard that she could prank Tessa and Doh with, a tiny box of nerds and a tootsie roll

Tripp was so thrilled with two tiny packages of nerds and two tootsie rolls!

$45 later and we had some super happy children!

Day four and now we're gettin' real around here...

"Smile and say cheese!"

Yup, Thomas is bored of smiling and finds it to be much more enjoyable yanking on his Sister's hair... 

His Sister screeches and we have the Mama with her smile going on determined to get a good shot!

Kinda like the rain... we may have been attempting that the rest of the night...

By the evening after three different outfits on she has decided she is going somewhere...

with her beanie boos stuffed in her "purse" and a drink filled with grapes on top...

where you ask?

"Mommy, anywhere!"

So we compromised on a picnic in the house...

The babies were sure they wanted in on that fabulous indoor picnic too!

by the end of the picnic not even the dog could lay on her bed another minute... she decided the floor was a bit different and maybe she just needed her bed for a small pillow...

And this my friends is the last scene of the evening!

As we are over any indoor activities so too were we over the rain!

Not even the trucks and bulldozers could keep this little fella awake!

And by day four just as the rain began to dry out we had some slap happy kiddies around 9:30 that night!

And the beauty is as Juliette assured me, "Mommy like Annie says, the sun will come out tomorrow!"

"Get to know me day"

Tripp was so excited when he woke up this morning... it was his day to bring in the "Get to know me bag!"

A few of his favorite things that he wanted in the bag.... his blue blankie (He even put his fingers in each of the holes to show his friends how he sleeps), "Sprinkles" his dragon, 2 lollipops, a chocolate bar, a picture of his siblings (I added that in there as he did not mention them... HA!) and the oldie but good "Singing Every day book" from the 1950's. This was Tessa's book as a child and both of mine so far have loved it. He even started to sing "Grumbling Joe" to his class.

What an exciting day for this little guy!

"Fall"-ing into all the new season has to offer

Ahhh... it is the hint of Fall coming with temperatures beginning to cool a bit!

Tripp and I have loved the Babboe bike and often ride to pick Juliette up from the bus. There is a park there and with the cooler weather comes the daily requests to play in the park!

This Mama loves to just watch them play...

"Look Mommy! I holded on for t-ree seconds..."

Funny enough he was just about right!

Tripp and Juliette love to play with their friend Ava. She comes right off the bus and races to the park too!

This silly girl thinks life upside down would be great!

She lives without a care in the world.

And then there are the requests for Tessa's famous apple pie! Nothing could signal Fall more than that. The kids were so excited to do just that...

Someone is excited to take a picture and the other one is too busy "helping" AND eating the streusel !

Oh our little "Helper" ..... hmmm anything look out of place??

The apples are all peeled and soaking and a little person believes that is just where the flour belongs!

and with all of the "Great Help"...

The pies turned out amazing! The kiddies were thrilled and took full credit for the deliciousness!

And while the pies are baking, another little person decided he did not want to miss the party! He decided to try to crawl up the first stair into the kitchen!

Thomas, are you kidding me?

Nope, he wanted to check out all of the fun!

Gracie could not help but give little Tyler some love! Tyler loves to pet her ears and poke at her eyes... one she doesn't mind... and the other... she walks away.

Such a sweet pup!

With the Fall comes play time in the playroom. Tripp was teaching Thomas about the farm. Tripp is so patient even though he is 3 which is great. However, as Thomas continued to take animal after animal, Tripp got disgusted and let me know that he no longer appreciated Thomas and he did not want him to play wiht him anymore...

"Mommy, he no like to share..."?

As the babies keep growing and wanting to do little boy things, the little boy wants to do what the babies do..

Lay in the play pen where the babies sometimes play in...

Soon enough though he is back to enjoying being the big brother!

Speaking of Fall, how about the Fall fishing?

Don and I snuck out this past week and got on a few of these beauties!

Perfect weather, perfect fishing...

not sure what more you could want!

Any excitement for a sleep party??

Oh yes for this guy!

He was having his very first pack the suitcase-planned party!

He was quite excited. His choices to pack were Clifford, The Little Blue Truck puzzle, Sprinkles the dragon, and a special chocolate bar from Mr. Gustavo, He even got to wear his new bulldozer shirt and pants. We know this one and clothes - yes that was a HUGE deal!

Some sort of relaxation in the mountains

We headed up to the mountains for the weekend and got our first real taste of fall. The weather was amazing. We took the twins and Ms. Labinia as well so that was a huge help! The kids had a ball playing outside, warming up by the fire, making s'mores and just enjoying each others company!

The guys did some fishing and the ladies had an amazing afternoon at the spa with a massage fit for a queen. Andralee and I brought a bottle of Prosecco that the spa had set out for us outside in the amazing weather looking out toward the mountains. It was an afternoon that I will not soon forget hanging out with a dear friend!

She is always such a helpful big sister ready to help her little brother anytime. 

Fall was in the air and so were the pumpkins! The kids were so excited to see their real sign of Halloween and the Fall - a pumpkin. Check out the size of that actual pumpkin - truly a home grown mountain pumpkin.

Ms. Labinia's little girl Jaylin came for the weekend as well. She and Tripp are just the best little buddies! They played together all weekend. Here they were enjoying the yummy and gooy s'more. Their night could not get much more exciting sitting outside after dark by the fire and earing these yummy treats. 

Juliette loved coloring with Jaylin

The guys took the kids hiking on some trails on morning. There had been a decent amount of rain recently so the  falls were rapid. 

Just hangin out and playin on the porch!

Evening fell and soon did the eyes of these little ones. It only took about 45 seconds for them to knock out at night. They slept well but two little people did not. Thomas and Tyler did not sleep through the night most nights there. It was the first time out of their comfort zone and so they work up quite easily. I was not used to that as they have been sleeping solidly through the night for the past 5 months!

We all thoroughly enjoyed our time! It is always so refreshing to just get out of town even for a mim-vacation. 

As I turned around toward the end of the trip home, this is what I found.... Mind you Tripp NEVER sleeps in a car!

Two little people were flat worn out!

Play hard... work some... play harder and then DROP....

Her favorite things and too tired to even keep her eyes open... 


Mermaid tail, some horrible kiddie blush, fairy wings, and her dear pony Caroline with the dog leash as her reins and my scarf for beauty. 


This child is always keepin' it real!

Love her SO SO much!

Fishin....

Juliette has always loved to fish. We began taking her out in the boat at 2 years old and she was throwing a rod and casting. Since the twins, she has not been fishing that much but she went out and caught some bait down on the dock with Don. She LOVED being out there and was all over the bait fish and shrimp. 

"Oh no Daddy! The shrimp jumped away!"

Then she got her groove right back and was all over those shrimp!

Look at this brave boy! For the boy who 6 months ago... "I no like to touch dat fish..." and now he handles them and LOVES to hold them!

Oops! "He jumped out of my hand... Come back little fish!"

And the next time he went out... he was ready to let dem swim...

AND... give them a good by kiss!