Bring on Summer!

On the first Saturday of summer, we shortsightedly decided to go to the Denver Zoo. And so did everyone else. After driving around looking for parking spots (we were meeting Nana there) and finding none within two miles of the zoo, we decided to give up. As a consolation prize, we decided to get Little Man ice cream! Yum.

Aubrey, ever the art lover, asked for a photo of her and Carter in front of this weird mural.

And then the kids took turns going down the slide they have there. I had never noticed it before!

When I asked the kids to pose for a photo together, they got a little silly...

I took a bunch of pictures, so I got this great little animation from them.

After ice cream, we went back to Nana and Papa's house to play for awhile. The kids had lots of fun playing in the playhouse, but they had the most fun walking through the gutter splashing in the runoff from a neighbor's yard (they had been watering it).

And while the kids really enjoyed the warmer weather and all of the outdoor activity, I started to wilt. I never wanted to be pregnant during summer, but... yeah. This is where we're at.

So in attempts to stay cool as it got hotter, I did things like sit in the shade while the kids played at the splash pad.

And since it was summer, Daniel got to join us when we went places! You can see him there in the background as Carter steals his seat. (Carter was very proud of himself for doing that.)

And here is Daniel helping the kids climb down into the little creek bed near the splash pad. I stayed up at the top because of my sore hips. And after just a few minutes, it started pouring rain and we had to run back to the car!

The kids have also spent a lot of time in the back yard this summer, which was exactly what we wanted them to do!

And, of course, there has been regular hiking. I'm sad I've missed out on all of the hikes because of being pregnant, but I just can't do it with my hip/pelvic pain. *sigh* I definitely never want to be pregnant again!

But Daniel has taken the kids hiking regularly, and he's been good about taking photos, thankfully.

One of the common occurrences during the summer here is the afternoon thunderstorm. Usually we just get rain and lightning, but one afternoon we got crazy hail.

It was nearly the size of a mandarin orange!

And afterward, we got a beautiful rainbow! I love all the hail in the foreground of this photo with the rainbow in the back.

Anyway, we took lots of trips to Nana and Papa's house once Daniel was done with school, and one of the times we took family photos with the whole Jibson clan. It was kind of awful, thanks to Carter. He threw a fit and refused to cooperate. Yet somehow, we managed to get one good group shot. I'm just sad we didn't get any shots of just the four of us. :(

After the photos were done, Carter got a lot happier (of course). He even played catch with Daddy, which was so cute. D'awwww. These cute moments are why I don't drop-kick him when he's a jerk.

Though they fight like they hate each other sometimes, Aubrey and Carter also play so cutely together. I try to get photos/videos of them being sweet whenever I can in order to preserve the moment and remind myself that they aren't always fighting. Here are some favorite shots from the first few weeks of summer.

In this one, they're pretending to ride motorcycles.

And here they randomly sat down together at the farmer's market while they waited for us to buy something.

But sadly for Carter, Aubrey had adventure camp in June, where she ended up spending eight hours a day for five days. He missed her; it was cute. I tried to keep him entertained while she was gone. We went to play dates at the park, and one time he rolled down the hill.

We also went to the splash pad together, and he met a police officer who gave him a police badge sticker. Carter actually chased the guy down to say hi but then ran away scared when the officer tried to talk to him, haha.

On one of the afternoons after adventure camp, we took the kids to the mall for a pay-your-age event at Build-a-Bear. It was Carter's first time there, and I think he definitely had fun.

Her particularly liked stuffing his Bowser.

And here is Aubrey stuffing her mermaid bear, with Carter hugging Bowser in the background. Cute!

Carter gave his new friend a cursory bath...

... but Aubrey got really into it (of course).

After adventure camp was all over, and before we left on our big road trip, we decided to take one last drive up to Nana and Papa's house. We went to a big splash pad nearby, where Aubrey was very much in her element.

Carter was a little more hesitant but got into it eventually.

And then he played his favorite game--running around with wet feet on dry pavement to see his footprints.

On our way back home, we were treated to a long-lasting double rainbow. It was hard to photograph, but you can kind of see it here.

And finally, the day before we left on our trip, I had an ultrasound to check baby girl's growth. I was happily surprised to get to see some 3D images of her! Look at that nose! Those pouty lips! I can't wait to meet her.

Spring for Real

For Christmas last year, Nana got the kids a subscription to Highlights Magazine. It came with a 2019 calendar, and Aubrey got really excited about all the different obscure holidays that were coming up over the year. One she was particularly excited about was April Fools Day. As the day approached, she started saying, "I can't wait to see how you prank me!" So we were stuck; we had to do something.

After getting some age-appropriate ideas from Kara and John, we decided to draw mustaches on the kids' faces as they slept. Daniel did Aubrey's first, and I had a hard time stifling my laughter. Then I did Carter's; he was tougher because he doesn't sleep as soundly, so he kept rolling over while I did it. 

When she woke up the next morning, Aubrey thought it was hilarious. She kept it on all day, even when she went to preschool. Carter had already rubbed his mostly off by the time we went to get him from his room. Oh well; Aubrey's looked awesome.

That April 1st was also the day of our anatomy scan for the baby. Everyone but Carter was hoping for another girl. Unlike with Aubrey and Carter, I didn't have an inkling at all; I could have seen it going either way. At the appointment, we got this cute profile shot...

... then we got some balloons at the store and put them in a box to reveal the gender to Aubrey and Carter. Of course, we filmed the whole thing on Facebook Live.

It's a girl! Aubrey was so excited. I really do wonder how she would have reacted if it had been a boy. It may not have been pretty.

After the baby's gender reveal, all of our excitement and anticipation got redirected to Easter. This year, we actually made it to our neighborhood's Easter egg hunt. They split the hunt into multiple hunts based on age group. Carter went first...

Aw, happy boy!

Aubrey actually ran into a preschool friend while we were there, so they got to do their age group's hunt together.

And they're off!

Awww, happy girl!

I got a family photo afterward, and I was struck by the similarity between Carter's and Daniel's facial expressions. Hehe.

There was also a bouncy house, which we had to visit for a bit, of course.

And then it was finally Easter day! I must say, I think the kids looked very snazzy and particularly cute.

Anyway, Aubrey somehow decided a few days before Easter that we needed to have a whole set of Easter games before church. So she made a list of everything she wanted us to do. The streamers were done the day before; she basically just hung streamers around the house to decorate for the party.

Then, on Easter morning, we went down the list. We did pictures (with Rarity the My Little Pony, naturally).

We did the Banana Game (which turned out to actually be a race... while holding bananas).

We did silly dances.

We played the Zombie Game (though its appropriateness for Easter was a little questionable).

We did it all. And then the kids found their Easter baskets, which included Bubble Blasters. Daniel had to fix one that got broken (by Aubrey, ahem), so they didn't get to play with them until the next day. But oh man, they had a blast (no pun intended).

To make the most of the beautiful Spring weather, I tried to take the kids outside when I could. My bad pregnancy hips often prevented me, but we did take a few walks around the neighborhood. That was when we discovered a neighbor's awesome daffodils.

We also got to the park a few times. Some of those times, it was a little bit too cold!

Unlike me, Daniel is not pregnant and pathetic, so he continued to take the kids on our weekly hike. He got some awesome photos when they hiked Castle Rock. It made me wish I had gone, too!

He also got this cute video of Carter waving at the train as it went by. That boy and trains!

Haha yes! Carter has conquered the mountain!

Anyway, since I AM pregnant, I've had a lot of OB appointments. It's been a weird pregnancy in some ways, so I've had even more than usual. But hey, it has meant more ultrasound photos like this one (which was taken when they had me in to see about adjusting my due date since the baby was measuring large)!

And as for baby girl's older siblings, though they were often trying to torture or kill each other, they did also have a lot of sweet moments together.

Carter is obsessed with motorcycles (which he calls elasticycles after The Incredibles 2 movie), so Aubrey let him ride the Aubrey-cycle.

She also read to him a lot. (I love this!)

They built towers together...

... and stole my phone to film weird videos together.

They somehow discovered, as all children eventually do, the joy of sliding down the stairs on a blanket/pillows/sleeping bag/whatever.

And when we went to Ikea--which they completely loved, by the way--they played a cute game where Aubrey pretended to read Carter a bedtime story and then put him to bed.

Finally, to round out Spring, we celebrated Mother's Day. I had to make sure to get a photo of me with my lovies to commemorate.

They are pretty cute...

Now, bring on Summer!