Weekend in Wichita

Zach headed to Buffalo last weekend for his cousin Deirdre's wedding, so the kids and I made a quick trip to Wichita.  I'm sure I would have survived by myself in Leavenworth, but it sure was nice having extra sets of hands around to help.  Plus, my grandma and aunt and uncle came up from Oklahoma and met Hannah for the first time.

I'm so thankful that all the kids are really good travelers.  Dan and Ben like to read their books or play with small toys or just look outside.  Hannah sleeps and sleeps and sleeps.  My dad had been in Leavenworth with us, so we caravanned to Wichita.  He was a huge help on our one stop on the Turnpike.  Without him, it would have been a big production to take a bathroom break so I'm glad he was with us.  And I'm really glad that my mom and sister are going to drive cross-country with us next month.  Four adults watching three kids is probably just the right ratio for a successful trip!

In Wichita, we didn't have any big plans, so the boys played outside a lot.  Hannah and I stayed on the porch in the shade while Dan and Ben dug in the garden, got muddy, hosed themselves off, and ran through the sprinklers.  After a long, cold winter, I'm hopeful that spring is finally here to stay!

Touch-a-Truck Topeka

This post is a little out of order since I wanted to get the cousin pictures up quickly so Granny could see them.  Last Thursday, the kids and I drove to Topeka to go to Touch-a-Truck.  My cousin Julie told me about it and I knew the boys would love it just as much as the one we went to in Wilmington.  We met Julie and baby Jake and my other cousin Kelly (home from grad school in Vermont) and kept our fingers crossed that the predicted thunderstorms would not materialize.  Luck was with us and the weather was gorgeous.  Dan and Ben loved all the trucks, especially the city bus, the chip truck, and the pothole patcher.

After touching all the trucks, we went over to a giant playground in Gage Park and had a little picnic lunch.  Well, Ben and I ate with Julie and Jake while poor Kelly chased Dan all around the very muddy playground.  I thought I was being smart by dressing the boys in red shirts (easy to pick out in a crowd) until a school bus of field trip kids arrived and every single kid was in a red shirt.  Oooops!

Cousins in KC

The Missouri Rashmans were in town for a couple of days so we visited them in their hotel near the Plaza.  The kids (minus Hannah) went swimming and then we all relaxed in the hotel room.  Well, the adults relaxed and the kids had a monster pillow fight.  It was really great to see them and I wish we could have had more visits with them while we lived within driving distance.  Something about having six kids ages five and under makes traveling just a little more challenging!

Olympics, Gymnastics, and McDonald's

No rest for the weary around here!  Hannah is a real trouper and just goes along for the ride, being ferried from place to place in her car seat.  Thank goodness she likes her seat and will sleep pretty much anywhere.

This morning, Zach didn't have to be at school until 10:30, so he stayed home with Ben and Hannah while I watched Dan at the Rainbow Olympics at school.  It was supposed to be outdoors but it was pretty overcast and chilly, so it was in the gym.  Lots of fun stations were set up--a bouncy house, an obstacle course, an area for tricycle riding, etc.  I got to see Dan do three events before I had to leave for gymnastics.  He had a fun time hitting a balloon with a fly swatter, building a tower of cookies, and riding trikes.  I wish I could have stayed to see him pick up marbles with his toes!

Zach, Hannah, Ben and I then headed onto base for gymnastics.  Zach was able to run around with Ben for the first half of class and then I took over when he had to go to school.  Ben loves gymnastics, but he's not the best listener.  Or line-waiter.  Or rule-follower.  But he has fun and works out some energy, so I guess I can't complain too much.

After gymnastics, we came home for half an hour so I could feed and change Hannah.  Then we picked Dan up from school and headed to McDonald's for lunch with a friend from his class.  The McD's in Leavenworth has a giant indoor playground so the boys hit that pretty hard.  And now everyone's napping, so our busy morning was a success!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Our friends, the Tuzels, invited us over for a Cinco de Mayo get-together yesterday.  They have two little girls who are 5 and 2 (Eva and Elizabeth) and Dan and Ben love playing with them.  Somebody else's toys are always more fun that your own!  The weather has been terrible lately (snow on May 2nd?!?) and all of us were suffering from a case of cabin fever.  The kids played a little bit in the backyard, even though it was 50 degrees and overcast.  Zach and Hannah and I stayed inside and ate our body weight in chips and guacamole (Hannah stuck to milk).  We had a great time and will miss our Air Force friends when they move to Virginia and we head to California!