Luisenpark

Lauren and I took the kids to Luisenpark over the weekend. Its a botanical gardens with awesome playgrounds, birds, aquarium, beautiful flowers, river boat rides etc. The kids had a blast and we ended up spending over 6 hours there and didn't even see the whole park.

Loved the Guinea Pigs...Hailey wanted one and then we moved on to the turtles and she wanted one of those too. She said, "Mom, I can't stand it! I want one!" Hailey, Nora, and David waiting so patiently for a butterfly to land on them. We were in the Butterfly Garden forever...they loved it!Relaxing before lunch...wish they would have stayed like that for more than 2 seconds! :) This heron walked right up to us looking for some lunch...of course the kids shared! He hung around until a bratty kid chased him away.Their MASSIVE nest on top of a buildingZoomed in on the nest (with a baby inside!)Fake crying because I took a stick away from her...Hmmm...guess it isn't working...
I suppose I'm over it now...Taking a break from running around
She loves flamingos!
On the boat ride
Those are crazy wide mouth fish streamlining for the boat. A sign says not to feed them, but people must because they come right up to the boat with a their huge mouths open. We didn't chance it but they must not bite because we saw people sticking their fingers in the water and flipping the fish by their mouths (meanies)

Madeline and Kailee love each other!!!! Kailee still sings "Happy birthday, MaaMaa" even though her party was a few weeks ago!
Box cars
They had a really cool water play area with a dam, pumps, and these wheel wells. I didn't know what to expect for the water area so I didn't bring swimsuits for the girls only a change of clothes and towels although all of the German kids were running around naked or in their underwear.
The baby girls crashed on the walk out...they fought it though and both sat forward in their seats until their eyes gave out on them! :)
The big kids
And some video snippets...

Major MacDonald

I'm finally getting around to posting about Leevi's promotion ceremony last Wednesday! We are so proud of him!!!! The ceremony was quick and then he had to rush off to a briefing so we didn't get very many good pictures. After work his co-workers took us out to dinner at a quaint but fancy Italian restaurant. I turned to Leevi as we walked in passing table settings with long stemmed glassware and said, "this is going to be a nightmare!" (We had the girls with us!!!) When I came out of the bathroom Kailee was crawling under the table playing kitty. I grabbed her and excused us and drove around the block and got her to sleep...we payed for it later that night because she was up late but it was oh so worth it to have a peaceful, stress-free dinner. (Hailey did a great job coloring quietly during the meal)

Col McBride promoting Leevi (his boss's boss)
Kailee had been playing with his new pin (the oak leaf) and wanted it backThe reception line...the best we got of a family shot! Kailee was ridiculously adorable and wanted to shake everyone's hands too.The best we could do for a family photo! :) Hailey drew this for Leevi to hang in his office. The top is night and day; the family order is Kailee, Me, Leevi, and Hailey walking Leila. Hailey commented that it was hard to draw my hair down so she asked "do you mind if your hair looks like this?" :) This was a two day project and we are very proud of her masterpiece! :)
Just for fun I thought I'd throw in this picture...it was from Leevi's commissioning ceremony almost 10 years ago. 2nd Lieutenant MacDonald and his girlfriend! :)
Can you believe she won this Tigger in one of those silly claw money machines at a store???!!! She did it all by herself on one try! The Promotion BBQ on Friday with our neighborhood friends and the Kents
The neighborhood kids (plus Nora & David and minus Isabella & Noah who had headed off to bed)
Promotion flowers from Major Daddy (thats what Hailey called him) to all of his girls

Creative Movements

Hailey started dance class last week. We really enjoyed it...I thought the teacher, Miss Angel, did a great job moving from one activity to the next at a 3-5 yr old pace. The class is called Creative Movement so they dance, march with instruments, twirl ribbons, etc. Hailey loved it and Kailee loved watching the girls. We have 3 more classes and might take a break from it to focus on school and soccer in September and then maybe after soccer we'll try another months class.


And a video...my favorite part is right at the end when they have "free dance" and Hailey does some booty shakin in the mirror (but then the teacher walks in front of the camera)

Slooze...

We stumbled across this Sloozefest accidentally (there are always events on post!). The activities prior to the actual sliming were a little old for our kids, but they liked watching the "girls" compete against the "boys" in various messy activities in this event sponsored by the Youth Group at the Chapel. At the end anyone had a chance to get slimed (with a mixure of green jello and applesauce!) Kailee probably would have gone but I didn't give her the option! All was fun and games until the sun hid behind a cloud when the kids needed to get rinsed off in the cold water. Tina and I wondered how in the world were we going to get the messy kids home in our expensive double strollers not knowing if this stained or not :) I had a change of clothes for Hailey and got her wiped off enough to make it home for a warm bath.

Every Parent's Dream...

Now that we are finally settled into a normal routine and the girls are busy with daily fun, Kailee has been napping a few times a week depending on how early she gets up in the morning. Yesterday she blew us away when she walked upstairs and put herself down for a nap. I was putting laundry away and Kailee walked into her room and climbed into bed. I didn't think she'd actually stay or go to sleep but when I went to check on her she was out! :)

Crazy Weather

We've had some pretty crazy weather for the past week or so...chilly, rainy, then sunny and warm all in the same day! I still don't have my car so the girls and I have been biking it everywhere. I have a kid seat in the front of my bike for Kailee when Hailey rides her bike or a bike trailer in the back for both of the girls when we have to ride pretty far. I really enjoy biking but the weather is so unpredictable! The post isn't that large so getting to doctor appts, the commissary, preschool, the library, dance class etc isn't more than a 5-10 minute ride. Knock on wood that we haven't been caught in a huge rain storm yet!!! On Wednesday last week, my neighbor Tina and I tried to take the kids (Isabella 3 & Noah 2 and Hailey & Kailee) to Buffalo Park. It's a mile ride from the house and the park has wild bison, deer, boar, and some type of goat or ram in addition to a pretty cool playground. You can feed the animals through the fence. It was a nice, sunny day as we got our things together and then it quickly turned to rainy and cloudy. We decided to venture out anyway because most of the ride is under tree cover...it was a waste because all of the animals decided to take cover. We rode home and just had our picnic at Tina's house. Later that afternoon Hailey was supposed to have her first dance lesson but when we got there we learned that her teacher was injured and class was canceled for the day. What a bummer of a day...the only good news was that we made it home from dance before another afternoon rainstorm hit!

Decided to play at the park since dance was canceled


Always a monkey

While we were at the park I noticed a dark cloud forming and thankfully we made it home 5 minutes before the pounding rain came!
Our 2nd attempt at Buffalo park the following morning...the boar and Kailee, Noah, Isabella, and Hailey
The bison and deer from afar...it was their feeding time so they stayed pretty far away and ate
Kailee feeding the goat or ram...I should probably find out what they really are


At the playground...but guess what...it started to rain!!!!!!
A quick trip on the zipline and then we had to take cover to let the storm pass
The rain finally let up after about 20 minutes and we started our ride home but guess who fell asleep?? Maybe she has narcolepsy ! :)
The girls had doctor check ups (part of their in-processing if I ever put them in child care at the CDC) so since Kailee fell asleep we rode from Buffalo Park to the library and then to the doctor. Kailee stayed asleep at the library and then after the doctor appt we rode home as fast as we could because another storm was coming. We turned on our street as the pelting rain started!!