Whirlwind Trip Home!

We had such a great trip home! I thought one week would be plenty of time, but I didn't get to see everyone I had hoped to or do everything that I wanted. I guess that is why I will need to come back soon ;) Week in review...

1. Sean had swimming lessons with Alli all week! He is a fish and can barely keep his head above water. I used to worry about him at my parents' pool, as he struggled to touch. Now, he touches on the very tip tops of his toes and is able to swim and get breaths...HUGE accomplishment!
2. The babies got spoiled by everyone holding and playing with them. They love all the cuddles and attention.
3. We crashed a birthday party that had a pony there! Sean got to ride it and loved every second of it! Thanks DeMars Family :)
4. Isaac went swimming for the first time! He loved it and smiled ear to ear! Andrew, on the other hand, hated it. Next year, buddy!
5. We were able to celebrate my dad's birthday and had dinner at his favorite place...Charlie's! Fun times, funny faces, and lots of snuggles with family.
6. We had to pack up our "nest" in the basement and move upstairs to make room for my sister's family as they moved back to Mankato! Sean was a little confused, but had so much fun playing with his "friends," and he enjoyed sleeping with mom. We are so glad to have them closer! Love, love, love having them home.
7. Sean got to visit his old hangout, Lisa's house. He enjoyed playing with his old buddies and came home telling big tales!
8. We hit one of our favorite family spots, Westwood, for dinner. The kids love playing on the beach and the adults love the relaxed atmosphere.
9. I was able to get a pedicure in with my best friend, Mandy. Throw a baby shower for a special friend, Andrea. Have coffee with one of my favorite co-workers, Linda. Take my babies in for their 4 month appointment. Hang out with my sisters and parents. I loved every second.
10. Had to say goodbye" to Auntie Alli. We won't see her until Christmas :( Way too long, but we are so proud of her. She is an amazing person and has gotten to do lots of great things so far, and this is only the beginning.

We are resting up, getting back into our routine, and looking forward to coming home again! Oh, and Isaac can ROLL OVER! So proud!

Activity Box

I took some advice from my sister, Amy, and made Sean an Activity Box. This is a box full of fun, new things for him to play with after lunch. Instead of fighting the nap time battles, he gets to paint, draw, use stickers, work on puzzles, and read new books. He wants to play with these things all the time, and it is becoming a good new routine for him. He could paint for hours, loves putting his new puzzles together, and enjoys taking his stickers off and on their respective sheets. Super fun and much less stress on my end! I do want to keep it special, so I only get this box down after lunch. I am hoping it lasts, and I am planning on getting new things to add to it once and awhile. Thanks, Amy!

New Table

Gus and Nala "relaxing."
Turned furniture around.

New table! Extra chairs are downstairs for now :)

Well, we finally broke down and bought a new kitchen table yesterday. We have been enjoying our time eating around our coffee table, but we were getting sick of sitting on the floor...When we were younger, before kids, we always ate in the living room with our feet up. The kitchen table was used to "look pretty" or hold stuff. Now with kids, times are changing.

Here are some pictures of our new set up. Not only did it take forever to put the table and chairs together, we needed to rearrange our entire "great room" area. (I say "great room" only as a term for living/dining area...this room is not great in size :) This involved moving the TV from one side to the other, turning the furniture, and figuring out where to put all the "kid stuff." Still not sure about the "kid stuff," but so far so good. Also, now Sean is unable to sneak up behind us! Bonus!

I should also note that we didn't spend a lot on this set. We searched the Internet and found some good deals at Shopko. So, we went to our local store to find the price even lower! We also needed to purchase an extra chair, since there are 5 of us now. The man helping us just gave us the additional chair! $40 value! Wow, thank you so much! Because of that, I got to get the table set I wanted, stayed under budget with little guilt.

Sneaky...

Yesterday was quite a day at the King house. We had a busy morning of cleaning, organizing, planning, etc. I had totally planned on a trip to the park before lunch, but I just ran out of time. So we fixed lunch, and I put Sean down for his nap. A little while later (maybe 5-10 minutes), I decided to see if he was awake. I thought we'd just skip a nap and go to the park, because he was such a good boy.

As I am walking up the stairs to his room, I start to smell something VERY familiar...NAIL POLISH! I run into his room and immediately start looking for it. He has been sneaky lately and enjoys taking my things. At first I couldn't find it and am asking him frantically where it is. "Under my bed," says the sneaky boy. Found the bottle with the cover on, but where oh where was the smell coming from. "By my window," he says. And there, on the floor hidden by his drape is two lovely bright pink spots on his new carpet. I must say that the Cajun Shrimp color looks a lot better on my toes!

Now our house still smells like nail polish remover a day later, and I have to go get more remover to work on the stain again. Slowly but surely it is coming up. God Bless Graham. He really worked hard on it. (As I had to take the twins to Urgent Care, because I thought Andrew had another ear infection...no infection, must be teeth.)

I have to find more hiding spots even higher than before. Sometimes it feels like I need a secret door where I can hide all my treasures...

It's HOT in Duluth!

We are in the 90's today, rare for up here! I decided to get out of the house and took the boys down to Canal Park by myself. It was crazy down there! It was hard to find a place to park and people were everywhere. We saw the pirate ships (tall ships) leaving, which was a pretty cool sight. Sean got to go swimming, although the spot I picked wasn't ideal. He didn't care, he just loves the water.

We found a new park to play at close to our house. It is at our neighborhood school, and Sean loves it! He learns to do something new everyday. It makes me miss my school and school friends.

Andrew can roll over! He loves to show off his new trick and constantly needs to be rolled back to his back...only to roll over right away again. Super cute. He also has his first tooth bud, so it could be any day!

Isaac is my little lover. He is always smiling and recently figured out how to suck his thumb! It is a game now with me pulling it out and giving him his nuk instead. So cute. They are all growing up so fast!

Oh, and Graham groomed our dogs on Sunday! They look "cute" and did a great job for Graham. We are trying to buy time before taking them to the professionals... ;)