What's wrong with this picture?

Besides Landen being irritated because he wants me to be holding him(always), or Mikayla's strained face as she tells me, "He's slipping! I'm going to drop him!"

Or Zachary becoming completely disinterested in having his picture taken when he could be in the pool! Take a close look above Mikayla's shoulder. Do you see that man? I remember glancing at him when we got there, but didn't really think about how funny it is that he was just standing in the water reading. He was in there the whole 2 hours we were there. Even funnier that he got in our picture. I never thought about reading that way, I guess he's really good at multi-tasking.

We always go once or twice every summer to this amazing water park that's actually only 5 minutes from our house. We really should go more, but it does cost money($13 for all of us) and it can get crowded and getting sunscreen on four people takes forever! We went at about 3pm and it wasn't bad at all. Landen absolutely loved the water and wanted to be in there the whole time. Love his sweet curls!

I decided to let him try this slide with Mikayla.

Didn't go over so well, but he was just fine a few seconds later.

This is the first year Mikayla and Zach have been brave enough to do the big slide. I was surprised Mikayla was up for it, but they both loved it and ended up going like 10 times!

Zach did the big orange slide too. It's totally pitch black the whole way down. He told me he's not afraid of the dark anymore!

We could have stayed all day, but his little guy got tuckered out after 2 hours of swishing around in the pool with mommy. I just love his pruned up feet and the way he curls his toes!

I must have blinked~

Because I wrote that Mikayla was 5"1' on her 10th birthday, but apparently she was already 5"2'! We weren't even trying to match each other this day. Picture by Zach.

And it is still cool to be a big brother. A year ago he was cradling Landen in his arms, now they are sitting on the deck like best buds. Zachary made up a song about it while he was sitting there. Wish I could remember the words. Something about brothers sitting together and being best buds...

Silly boy who was supposed to be napping, decided to rub noodles in his hair.

And without my permission Landen is acting very much like a toddler.

He loves to ride around on Zach's old scooter!

Walking with one hand, about 2 weeks ago. Gotta have his phone, of course!

He walked back and forth on the deck watching daddy. He wanted to be down there so bad! Soon enough.

Finally trying some milky. Took a few sips, but not all that interested.

He discovered the pantry! I love his reflection in the fridge.

Almost climbing up stairs.

Had his first ice cream sandwich. Loved it!

And last Tuesday Landen took 5 steps! In true Landen style it was almost 10 o'clock at night, wearing his night owl shirt. I finally found the perfect shirt for our little night owl. The thread on it actually glows in the dark(and it was on sale). I really think he just wants to be the last kid in bed and have some alone time with mommy and daddy. You can also see his molars and eye teeth in there, and the drool all over his shirt. He had a constant runny nose and tons of drool last week, which made for a lot of bad naps and rough nights. He seems to be better this week. He's back to sleeping 10-11 hours a night. Praise the Lord! Really was a big week for him. He mimicked a lot of words and started saying dada more, like he knew what he was saying. I think Landen thinks daddy is hiding somewhere in the house when he's at work. He always looks around and says, "Dada?"

On Friday he took 8 steps and Saturday 10 steps! He loves to walk and is so proud of himself. Before he goes he says, "Ready?"

A Day at the Park~

A couple weeks ago we had some perfect weather and so we headed off to our favorite park. Actually I packed a lunch and said, "We're going to the park! Quick get in the car!" The kids thought that was really fun and they love this park. We call it our secret park because it is kind of tucked away and not ever crowded. Most of the time we are the only ones there. Initially I liked it because it is low and I didn't have to worry about Someone being afraid of heights or Someone Else falling from heights. Five years later we still love it.

It has an outdoor theater where they sometimes have concerts, a covered picnic area, sand v-ball courts(aka a giant sandbox), and it's right next to a horse stable.

It was so gorgeous that day I begged everyone for a quick photo shoot. The first shot was the best!

Then Landen ran out of patience.

Almost!

He didn't understand why Mama kept sitting him in the prickly grass.

But I ended up getting some great shots! Love this one!

Crazy Zach!

He wasn't sure about the swings at first, but then loved them. If sissy pushed him too fast he would shake his head "no." If she pushed him too slow he would grunt and lean forward. Such a smarty pants.

Happy Friday!

What time is it?

Summertime! Mikayla went to a theater camp early in July and it was high school musical theme that week. She was one of the skater dudes. She is second from the left in the middle group of kids standing on the stage. She did such a great job and even had a singing part. You could tell she had a blast. She came home everyday exhausted, but on cloud nine. It's amazing to see her get to have an outlet for her creativity. She was definitely happier that week, singing and dancing around the house all day. She was so confident on stage and clearly enjoying it, not nervous at all. It always surprises me since she tends to be the more introverted one of my kids.

A Thiesen Fourth~

The California Thiesens came for a visit for the fourth. Zachary kept Grandpa busy playing volleyball and 4 square in his cowboy boots.

Zachary and Mikayla decorated the flag cake.

Landen took his sweet time getting aquainted with G&G Thiesen, but was a charmer as usual.

I don't have many pictures of the fireworks, because despite 3 kinds of bug repellant we were getting eaten alive by mosquitos!

We had a great time visiting, eating out, and shopping!

Grandpa Tim, Zachary, Landen, Grandma Barb, & Mikayla ~ July 2010