Monkey See, Monkey Do

The thing about the twins is, there's two of them.  Yeah, I know...captain obvious, right?!  If one does something, the other has to at least try.  It can be good or bad or scary or funny or frustrating! :)

Here are some photos of what these two little monkeys have been up to lately.  

Climbing the stairs.  If the kitchen door opens they are up there before we know what happens.

 They found where we keep the cereal.  Bowen dumped half a box of Cheerios on the floor.  As you can see, he had fun with that.

 Bowen LOVES corn.  Seriously LOVES it.  Sidenote:  No idea what is up with this face!

 Although Blake might not eat the corn, he chews on it because it feels good on his teeth.

 Bowen with a dog bowl on his head when Bailey was visiting last week.

 This face.  Again.  Every single time he sees the camera.  Oh Bowen... :)

 And Blakers.  These two photos are very good representations of their personalities I think.

Nope.  This isn't a repeat of the prior photos.  The boys got the Cheerios AGAIN.  That's a mommy mistake.  The plus side was they played for a solid 20 minutes without moving around or getting into anything else! :)

 Blake taught Bowen what fun the toilet water is.  This grosses me out beyond belief!

 Just splashing away!

 Under the sink in the kitchen is loads of fun too.  Don't worry, I moved all the plastic bags.

They are only 15, almost 16 months, old and they are just CrAzY!  I'm sure it's going to be a lifetime of craziness, but what did we ever do without these two?!  I honestly can't remember. :)

Weekend Project: Bags Boards

Ever since we were in Mankato a few weeks ago, Aaron and I have been talking about making some bag boards of our own.  We looked at designs online and Aaron looked at the dimensions and was certain he could make something. 

 Saturday morning Aaron headed to Menards and got the few supplies he needed to start the project.  He headed out to our friend Jay's house to actually construct the boards.

 When he got back to town it was time to start painting.  We decided that we wanted a Minnesota Twins theme for ours. The kids loved this part. :)

 I'd like to say I helped, but I didn't!  I took care of babies and supplied water, since it was so stinkin' hot outside!

Two days and two bag boards later, Aaron finished.  And has a nasty sunburn to prove it!

 We did them in coordinating colors.  Board #1:

 And Board #2:

As Aaron said, they aren't perfect, but good enough for a town this size.  I think he did an awesome job and we can't wait to use them!

Outside.

Despite these ridiculously HOT, MISERABLE conditions, we have gotten outside a little bit lately to do some summery fun activities.  Like the playground.  And time on the slip-n-slide in the backyard.  

I had the bigger lens on my camera, so it was nice to catch some expressions of the kiddos where they didn't necessarily know I was taking their photo.  I have problems these days because they are so trained to smile when they see me with the camera!  Haha.  I know there are worse things..

Some photos of Jenna and Brody at the playground:

Jenna with her two #keepfightingblake bracelets on.

 She caught me taking her picture.

 Brody is trying to do the monkey bar thing.

 In love with this expression.  It's so him.

 And this one too.  I'm convinced she is part monkey. :)

 Determined.

 On Sunday when it was 952 degrees we set up the slip-n-slide.  All four of the kiddos loved it.

 Bowen.  Everytime he sees me with the camera he makes this face.  Cracks me up!

 I really like the next few photos of Bowen.  Exploring and discovering.

 Blakers.

 What are you lookin' at?!

 Our neighbor brought us ice cream.  She is awesome!

 Hose.  Toes.  Sprinkler.

We are hoping that this heat will break soon.  We hate being cooped up this much, but are so grateful for the time we get to spend outdoors!

North Mankato Fun Days

The weekend after the 4th of July, we headed up to see my brother, Mandy and Maddox in Mankato.  My dad and Linda also headed up there, so it was nice to see most of the family!  North Mankato was having their fun days celebration really close to the Hunecke's house, so it worked out nicely.

My brother was in full host mode.  He's the only person I know that would put his grilling supplies in a tool box... :)

Maddox is getting so big!!  He is super chatty and just hilarious!  Jenna and Brody had so much fun playing with their cousin.

We got up there on Friday and grilled out and were joined by our friends, Scott and Lisa.  Saturday was the big parade.  I'm not kidding!  It was two hours long, but it was such a great parade it didn't feel long at all.  Bonus:  The cold front was moving through Minnesota, so it was only in the 80s.

Justin, Mandy and Maddox (who didn't want to look at Aunt Jamie):

Another big - this shopping cart.  This thing was huge, I couldn't resist a picture.

After the parade, we put the babies down for their nap at home and I headed back to the park for rides.

Mandy decided that we should ride this ride called 1,000 Nights.  I thought it looked like a ride I used to ride at Valleyfair back in the day, so I went with her.

It wasn't like that ride at all.  I hate rides!!!  I literally screamed my head off the entire time.  I was convinced I was going to die.  UGH.  Anyway, I was screaming, Mandy was laughing and the guy next to me in the orange kept talking and telling me how much he loved this ride.  It was an experience. :)

After rides, we headed back for some backyard fun!  The three oldest loved the pool!

The downer on Saturday was that Blake wasn't feeling the best.  He was a little dehydrated and just kind of cranky.  Poor kid.

We played bags.  It's a Mankato must.  My brother made these Hawkeye ones.

Scott and Lisa came back on Saturday!  Scott had his hands full...literally...with the twins. :)

Maddox decided to go swimming in his tighty whities.  Hahaha!

Bowen loved this 4-wheeler.  He really loved it when he pushed the button and it went on it's own.  Doesn't he look ornery?!

Two weekends in a row with family!  Thanks to the Hunecke's for having us!  Tons of fun!