Smoke Rockets

The boys have now moved from smoke bombs to smoke rockets. Heaven help us!

Smoke Bombs with Daddy

The boys have found that they really love smoke bombs. Oh, brother!

One Cool Cucumber

Here's my little, cool cucumber enjoying a... well... cool cucumber on the porch!

Bubble Blowing Craziness

Porter loves his new bubble blowing gun!

The Naughty Chair for Stella

We recently started putting Stella in the naughty chair when she makes poor choices. In the picture below, it seems Stella is taking her time out very seriously. Don't be fooled. The naughty chair may in fact be Stella's favorite place in the whole house!

Check out the video below:

Cedar Point 2014

It's that time of year again when our family gets the opportunity to go to Cedar Point for free compliments of the J.M. Smucker Company! This makes Porter's 5th visit to the park, and Stella's 2nd. Here are our babies basking in utter luxury in their wagon fully equipped with a canopy and padded seats:

Of course, the Ferris Wheel is always our first stop at the park.

Porter enjoyed several rides throughout the park. The ones with horns were his absolute favorite!

We also got to enjoy the carousal ride as a family. It was fun!

Check out this short clip of our babies riding the carousel:

Cooling Off in the Sprinkler

When it's 90 degrees outside, nothing seems to make a red-headed wonder happier than playing in the sprinkler!

Check out the video below of Porter and Stella enjoying the sprinkler in our backyard:

Daddy Ought to Take Some Notes

I love this picture of the kids! Even though they're little, they managed to look at the camera. Daddy ought to take some notes!

Watering the Plants with Stella

Here's our baby botanist at it again:

Flower Filled

We had a beautiful and flower-filled afternoon at the Secrest Arboretum in Wooster, Ohio!

Check out the video below:

Fun Little Suckers

I have been looking for a new toy for Porter. He loves to build, and I wanted to find him a fun and innovative way to create structures. I came across a toy called Squigz that won the Best Toy for Kids Award for Constructive Play in 2013. In my opinion, it's a pricey toy, so it took me weeks of debate before I finally bought it off Amazon. 

After a few minutes of play time, I realized this toy really sucks... in a good way! Each piece is able to suction together to make anything that a red-headed boy could desire. So far, Porter is quite pleased, and I feel this was a good purchase. If nothing else, Stella absolutely loves chewing on these little suckers!

Noah's Lost Ark

Today, the kids and I met up with our Aunt Darleen and visited the Noah's Lost Ark Animal Sanctuary located in Berlin Center, Ohio. Noah's Lost Ark is a non-profit organization that rescues and then cares for unwanted and abused exotic animals. 

We were really impressed with this facility. Noah's Lost Ark has taken in so many hurt and abused animals, many of which are blind due to maltreatment from their previous owners, and given the opportunity to live out their lives in peace and in dignity. I love the picture below of the lioness enjoying a pleasant nap on her back with her paws in the air.

There were so many great animals to see at Noah's Lost Ark including several tigers, lions, leopards, bears, zebras, wolves, horses, monkeys, a camel, and lots more. There were even goats and donkeys that you could feed. Porter made friends with a goat who refused to allow him to feed any of the other goats in the pen. It was pretty funny.

Before leaving, Great Aunt Darleen spoiled the kids and bought them stuffed animals to remember the day. Porter picked a reindeer, and Stella chose a little monkey that she loves to love on. Thanks, Aunt Darleen, you're too good to us.