The Icebreaker race

During the winter months, Jackson and Asher's school has an after school program called FIt Kids Club.  The kids learned a lot of different exercises, as well as trained for a one mile road race.  The boys were so excited to run the race with the kids from their school and their teacher, Mr. Milo.

When the gun went off, Asher; not one to pace himself, took off. I was worried he wouldn't last long. I guess he kept it up, but he crossed the finnish line and collapsed.
Jackson took his running training very seriously and started at a good steady pace and kept it up. We could tell he was meant for longer distances that one mile.
Mitch decided at the last moment that he wanted to run along with the boys. However, Lily wouldn't let her daddy leave her. So, Mitch ran the race with Lily on his shoulders. She thought it was pretty cool. Every time they would pass someone, Lily would say, "we're beating you." I guess we have a lot to teacher her about good sportsmanship.
Lily insisted on getting her own medal. The Mountain View, Fit Kids Club.

Lake Tobias, June 2012

Catch up post: Mitch took the kids to Lake Tobias, in Fairfax, PA, the day after I had Greta. Lake Tobias is one of our very favorite spots in PA, and we miss it.  Even though it is late, we didn't want these pictures and memories forgotten. I will let Mitch take it from here, since I was not present. 
Lake Tobias is one mans dream that started with a road trip and a stationwagon with a coyote.  The man started a collection of animals which has culminated into what it is today.  A semi-open wildlife park that is mostly a family business.  There are too many animals to name at the park.  Ostriches, Zebras, Llamas, bears, lions, Emu's, Elk, Alpacas, monkeys, Baboons, Buffalo, Capabaras, etc. etc.  Asher was selected for the reptile show and held the python.  He was pretty excited.  The kids were able to hold a python, alligator, turtles, etc.    Lily loved the petting zoo.  Of course her favorite was the horses.  She found this little pony and said it was "Her Horsee" and just hugged it and petted it for 20 min.  She was in heaven.  It got a little uncomfortable a couple of times when other kids wanted to pet "HER Horsee" Lily wanted to pick up all of the goats, which was not appreciated by the goats.  Lily moved on to the larger horsed and spent 30 minutes with her new "horsee".  She kept asking me if we could bring it home with us. After you walk around and see all of the animals in cages and pens, you have the option to take a safari in a school bus with the top cut off.  It is pretty cool to see the large animals walking around.  Especially to see animals from different continents that would not normally interact or cohabitate.  It is surprising they all get along so well.    Lily getting sleepy.  The kids loved feeding the animals from the bus. 

Greta Jane: week 45

Greta, seriously never cries. So when she does I think it's kind of cute. She is always climbing up my legs when I cook dinner or do the dishes, and on this day she was getting pretty mad that I was taking her picture and not picking her up. Her crying face is so pitiful that it's cute!

Greta Jane: week 44

Greta is 10 months

At 10 months, Greta has become so much more mobile.  She is crawling everywhere.  She loves to crawl up to me while I am cooking dinner, or doing the dishes and  pull herself up my leg.  She has been know to pull my pants down on occasions, it's a little embarrassing, not going to lie.  She can pull herself up on furniture now and cruise around.  It seems to have happened so fast.  She went from, just rolling around in a small space to being everywhere!
She loves the tubby now.  She didn't love it some much for a while, but moving her to the big tubby has made a difference.  Now, when she hears the water running she goes straight for the tub and is so frantic to get in that I can barely get her undressed.
She is also very vocal.  I think I said this before, but she really seems to want to be heard.  She will pop out her binki, say "BAH!" really loud and then put the binki back in.  She tries to match the volume in the house, and when the boys are home, that is pretty loud.  My favorite thing is that she tires to match pitch.  This is very exciting to me.  The other day I was watching "Doctor Who"  and I swear she was singing along to the theme song.  I will hold her on my lap while I practice singing, and it sounds to me like she is singing the same notes as me.
My new favorite, which makes me a giddy is patty-a-cake.   I don't know why I love it so much but it just makes me so happy.  I had been showing her patty-a-cake over and over and she would just look at me and smile, then, the other day, Lily came home to share some good news.  I said, "Yeah!" and then Greta started clapping.  I thought it was a fluke so we, said "yeah" again and she clapped again.  Then I said "patty-a-cake"  and she clapped again.  So, stinking cute!  Of course the kids are all so in love with her.  Especially the boys.  They can't get enough.  There are so many pictures and videos on my phone, all taken by the boys.  We learn funny things watching these videos.  For example, Jackson got the first video of Greta pulling herself to staring.  Also, the other day Greta got a big bruise on her forehead.  We found a video of Jackson calling Greta; "Greta Potter, The Girl Who Lived."
Greta loves this magic wand. It lights up with all kinds of crazy colors. I used it to get her to smile for pictures. She was so happy when I gave it to her. Other favs. She loves this ball, and she loves this foam block. She just sticks it in her mouth, and goes about her business. I think it must be soothing to her teething mouth.
She is such an explorer now. She loves to crawl around everywhere, and this girl is fast! The boys like to time her to see how love it takes for her to get across the kitchen or between the two of them. going, going, going, gone!