I was dreading our six-ish hour car ride to and from Sioux City. Dreading! We planned where and when to stop for lunch, brought countless snacks/activities/distractions, put on the mindset that we were going to be in the car all day, most likely with two babies fed up with being in their car seats, and it went...just fine. Huh. Okay. These guys showed me. They hardly fussed at all and I didn't even need to pull out some of my distraction tools. They mostly napped and looked at books.
We left just before 9 am, so they slept for the first hour or so, which only gave us another hour or so to kill until we stopped for lunch. Lunch took about 45 minutes to an hour, so we could eat and have them burn off some energy, after which we packed them back in the car, where they proceded to sleep again, no problem, waking up with maybe another hour to kill until we made it to our destination. On the way home, Caden took an almost two hour nap after lunch, waking up when we were only about 20 minutes out, and Brooklyn sat and played with her shoes. The lesson I take away from all of this is that if I would have had no distractions and nothing planned, they would have been the fussiest babies on the planet, but since I had everything planned, it wasn't necessary, and they were totes fine, thank you very much.
So.
Anyway.
We attended a baby shower in Sioux City. Brooklyn got to attend with me, while Caden stayed back with the boys and did...well. I don't really know. Boy things, I guess.
(The baby shower was baby-friendly.)
The basketball hoop was also baby-friendly, and they took turns pushing the ball through the hoop.
Brooklyn LOVED this horse (thanks grandma and grandpa's neighbors!).
Caden...
...was less sure.
"What are these fools making me do now?"
Though that may have been because he had an ear infection, (courtesy of his continuous runny nose from a tooth he cut two WEEKS ago), and I ended up bringing him to the urgent care clinic while we were gone. I am now waiting for the doctor's bill to arrive saying that we owe approximately four frillion dollars for that little visit, since our insurance is FANTASTIC for our local in-network care, but, if I remember right, is pretty lousy for everything else.
Anyway. Ear infections, bah! That didn't stop us from enjoying being outside. It's the midwest, so you can bet that as soon the snow melted, it was sunny, and slightly above freezing (okay, so it was actually unseasonably warm while we were there), everyone was outside.
Grandma also spoiled them rotten, deciding that they each needed their own little riding toys to take outside to enjoy the nice weather.
(Let me help you, Brooklyn!)
(What the heck are you doing?)
Of course, like any good set of twins, they mostly made do with one of the riding toys. It's more fun to share constantly annoy your sibling by always playing with the same toy!
Caden and Brooklyn marked their territory both outside and in:
Grandma and grandpa had their carpets cleaned before we arrived, but I think they might want to consider having it done again. They're probably still finding stray Cheerios in their carpet (and in their couch, and in their garage, and in their beds...).
We made it home and took advantage of the nice weather by investigating our own neighborhood park. Though, holy WIND! We only managed to stay about 15 minutes or so before giving up and going home. The wind gusts near about knocked some very toddler-looking babies over.
(Caden is in awe of the big kids playing.)
Caden: Wait a minute...I know I had a graham cracker here a minute ago.
Hmmmppphhh. I dropped it in the sand. *super pout*
(He looked through the leg hole of his swing almost the entire time he sat there, trying to see where on earth his graham cracker had gone.)
I think the highlight of my weekend was the new carts at Target. They had these carts at the Target in Sioux City and I was totes jealous. I came home to see that our Target got the new carts, too! They both fit! No stroller required! I can do ALL THE SHOPPING! Yup, this is my life, now. Excitement over the local shopping cart variety.
Caden loves Brooklyn. And I love Target. Amen.