first outings

all three kids were thrilled to wake up and find big pop and grandma here. they were also pretty excited about having manning home!

daddy stayed home in the morning but went to work after lunch. while he was home he tackled the assembly of one of the kids' birthday presents - a water table! papa and nana picked a great beach one that the kids love. they also loved 'helping' daddy put it together too.

maddux took a break from 'helping' to snuggle with big pop.

maddux and his stool. he finds it so liberating. today he was using it to test out the swing once madelyn and mason cleared out.

the kids played out in the yard with the water table (apparently i didn't bring the camera down with me). they got pretty wet too. it was a very warm day (for here) so after lunch we took big pop and grandma down to the pool. the kids were all excited to show off their swimming skills. manning and i watched - basically i sat there sweating. there was a very nice breeze so with the stroller shade manning was comfortable.

manning is a 'sucker' like madelyn was - he just needs something to suck on beyond feedings. today her got hold of his fingers and went to town for at least 10 minutes.

everyone got ready for dinner and manning and mason wore skull caps (or whatever you choose to call them).

we were going to go to a wing place but there was a huge motor cycle event going on - who knew it would be packed on a wednesday night. instead we went to red robin (it was a first visit and turned out to be kid friendly). there were a lot of birthdays at the restaurant tonight and we added madelyn and mason to the list. madelyn was so surprised that she had almost no reaction until i confirmed that they were singing for her - then there was a huge smile.

maddux handled being the odd man out very well. he got a few bites from mason's and a sip or two of my milkshake. and manning slept the whole time.

three happy kids with balloons on the ride home. we had to shuffle car seats around again to fit manning in too. madelyn isn't thrilled to be in the very back again, but she can do her own buckles.

a very full first day with lots of outings for manning and mommy. we stopped to order the kids' birthday cake from dairy queen on the way home (madelyn really wanted ice cream cake and mason agreed). love.