Ultrasound!

It's been a while since I posted, but I was waiting for something exciting to post about! Today I had my ultrasound and found that we are having a healthy girl! Mike was a little disappointed, but I really didn't have a preference so a girl is great! Calvin was a little bit sad because this means he isn't eligible for a bunk bed in a couple of years - but he is happy to have "another baby like Madeline". Anna Elise didn't really care, she plays with Calvin and this baby is for Madeline to play with so in her mind it doesn't really affect her much. Now that I know the gender I can start reorganizing the rooms and getting everything ready.

I do have more news to get caught up on. This passed weekend all three kids were invited to a birthday party at 'The Little Gym'. The kids all had a great time, however, it took a few minutes for everyone to settle in. Anna Elise was very shy at first, Calvin was too rambuncious, and Madeline wanted ALL the balls. They did introductions by having all the kids sit in a circle. They had to say their name and do a 'birthday trick' and give the birthday girl a high-five. After hearing the rules, Calvin just stood up and shouted his name - even though it wasn't his turn. By the time they got to him, he'd shared his name several times. He was so excited when he could introduce himeself and do his summersault and give Ava a high-give. On the other hand after the first person went and the second person was going, Anna Elise realized that she would eventually have to take a turn so she left the circle and hid behind my back - she tried to climb in my shirt, she was trying so hard not to be seen. The difference in their personalities was so stark it was laughable. Calvin calmed down and Anna Elise warmed up and they both did very well playing games and having fun.

Last week we also took a trip to the National Zoo in Washington DC. We drove up in the afternoon, stopping when Calvin threw up. We stripped him down, took the cover off his car seat, wiped everything up and continued on. He was fine the rest of the trip. We parked and went to the aquarium. The kids enjoyed it. We came back out to the car to find a parking ticket. In other parts of DC and in other cities a sign that says 2 hr parking from 9-4 means that after 4pm it's free - right? Not in downtown DC, it means it's prohibited. We had a $100 parking ticket - have you ever heard of such a thing? I mean really? We wrote a letter asking for the fine to be reduced, so we will see....We went to dinner and to a hotel with an indoor pool. Even though it was late, we found that the pool was only open at night and not in the morning so we had to take the kids swimming - they were promised swimming and so we went! We were disappointed that we couldn't swim more, but we survived! We had a great breakfast the next morning until Anna Elise threw hers up! Atleast it was less of a mess for me! We went on to the zoo and had a great time watching the Pandas, elephants, and tiger. There were other animals as well, but those were the favorites. I know Mike took pictures but I can't find the camera - so I will post those later.

Strawberry Season

We took the kids to pick strawberries at a nearby farm. They LOVED it. We picked about 25 pounds of strawberries - so now I get to make jam.

Here is a family picture at the entrance of the farm!

Tractors pulled wagons with hay bales to carry us out to the strawberries. Calvin loved the tractors and we all enoyed the hay ride.

Anna Elise did a good job helping us pick the strawberries. She liked looking for the biggest and the reddest berries!

Madeline did very well. She didn't pick any strawberries. She just followed mommy around. She would take a strawberry out of my box, hand it to me so I could take the stem off and then eat the strawberry from the top. She must've eaten almost a dozen strawberries!

Here's Calvin kickin' back on the hayride back to the car, eating our strawberries.

Happy Birthday Calvin!

Calvin is trying to hold up three fingers, but he is having a hard time getting them to stay up!

Calvin turned 3 last Saturday. I'm a bit late posting about it. It was kind of a crazy day for us, but most days are! We had lunch at Red Robin so Calvin could get two balloons and get sung too! Anna Elise loved it, he seemed a bit oblivious. We went home and had cake and ice cream and opened his presents.

Later that afternoon the kids played in the water. We hooked Calvin's new water volcano up to the hose and the kids had a great time. Anna Elise loved it. Calvin ran circles around it until he got used to it and Madeline sat on my lap scared. Calvin had a great day!