Dad's Birthday

Today was my 28th birthday, so in the spirit of including more material with the girls and me I thought I'd make a quick update. Abby was thrilled to remember to tell me, 'Happy Birthday!' when she woke up. Nora told everyone it was my birthday but refused to say it herself. The girls gave me an old fashioned milkshake maker in the morning, which we used to make chocolate milkshakes with breakfast.

(Note the chocolate mustache.)

Nora actually just went back and forth between her glass of milk and milkshake. I think she forced down one bite of omelet, but who can blame her. She and I tend to agree that breakfast is the best meal of the day.

Throughout the day Abby told me happy birthday whenever she thought to. I lost count after ten separate times but there are several more, and Gingham usually told me happy birthday as well.

Kristin made a delicious french silk pie for dessert. You can't quite see it in the video but it looked (and tasted) great.

(They're singing so well because Mom threatened not to give them any pie if they refused to sing along.)

When we put Nora to bed she insisted on saying, 'Goodnight Dad, and we can have another milkshake tomorrow.' I told her that it was just a special treat so she said, 'Okay Dad, maybe we can have another milkshake tomorrow.' She is certainly my kid.

A Mid-Summer's Mid-Morning Movie

Monday was a first for the girls - their first movie in the theater! Our local movie theater has kids' matinees all summer, and this week they're showing Puss in Boots. So on Monday morning, we skipped our usual Dora the Explorer habit and headed out to the theater.

(It was kind of windy, so I couldn't get them to look at me for a nice picture.)

Although they were a little nervous going in, both Abby and Nora quickly decided that the giant screen was great. Poor Nora doesn't weigh enough to keep the seat down, though, so she spent most of the movie on my lap. When we got out, they both agreed that this was a pretty great experience and wanted to know when we could go again. Success!

I (Adam) also just wanted to note that Abby completely finished potty training the other day. Given her love of ice cream it seemed the only appropriate celebration.

(I think/hope the sun is in her eyes here.)

And, just to record for posterity that I'm not completely incompetent in the kitchen I thought I would show everyone the key lime pie I made for dessert the other night. Abby loved it, she apparently has my love of tangy desserts.

Indy Zoo 2012

We seem to have a psuedo family tradition of taking the girls to the zoo for their 2nd birthday (not that that's the only time they go to the zoo though). Since it's a little cold in December we put off Nora's trip till today and I think it's safe to say we all had a better time because of it. Since we went to Indy we met Grandma and Grandpa VanDuyne and saw uncle Alex before he heads off to Denver.

We started out early after a big breakfast, the trip was long and the girls were thrilled to have a chance to burn some energy.

We started out at the aquarium. Not our best choice since just as we went in the Boy's and Girl's club showed up.

(Flotsam and Jetsam).

The penguins were one of our favorites. The babies were separated off in their own exhibit and for some reason shunning all the visitors.

From there we went to the forest exhibit. Surprisingly the tiger decided to get up and prowl around the window when we arrived. I think he was seriously contemplating eating the girls, but lucky they didn't notice. We also saw the bears, though they didn't bother to get up.

(The bear did lift his head up briefly when Gingham roared at him, I think that made Gingham's day).

After all that we were ready for a lunch break. I think it was mostly chicken fingers and fries for everyone.

From there we went on a brief safari through the African plains. I think we had the best animal interactions in that section, but the girls were getting very tired and cranky. They did get to stand within a foot or two of a mom and baby giraffe.

Finally, we decided to stop for some ice cream on the way out. I believe both girls later mentioned this as their favorite part of the day.

And, as the measuring stick for all such adventures, by the end the girls were completely spent.

Mission Accomplished.

Father's Day 2012

I was looking at our blog the other day and realized that since I take most of the family pictures I don't have as many of the girls and me as I would like. It seemed like Father's day was the perfect time to fix the problem.

We had a great Father's day, Abby got up early and helped me make pancakes. Afterwards we went to church and at lunch the girls gave me my gifts, a project, some squirt guns, and a tea press:

For dinner we had steak, home made onion rings, grilled vegetables, and individual lemon meringue pies. All in all it was a great day, and I have a few good pictures to show for it.

What awesome pies!