Twin Falls

My sister and her family are in town so that means we have to take my nephew, C, for a hike to see a waterfall. This year we decided to try a different waterfall and settled on this Twin Falls. I am so glad we did. What a perfect hike and impressive waterfall. Directions can be found here.

It took awhile to get there, but the hike length was perfect for our age group. Andy and AM ended up being worn:





James and Grandma did a little "bushwacking":



Halfway there, there was a nice little rock over the stream. The kids like to thrown sticks in:







Off this rock, was a great view. This will be great for a picnic this summer and some swimming:



I am not going to lie, there was actually a sign here that said, "no eating, drinking, or swimming" What a buzz kill!

Post hike gloat by C and James:



and the dumb look by Andy:

Proof it doesn't get better

I just love this picture



That is Mr. Tony with brand new baby Christopher. He is 6 weeks old. It is indeed expected and apropiate that he would need to be held and walked around at a preschool Christmas program.

There is me with OH, ANDY! He is 18 months old and weights 30 pounds. He walks and talks and really should not need to held and walked around like this. In all fairness, I am pretty sure he got suddenly ill during this program, so that plays into it...but even when he is not sick he wants mommy to hold him and walk around.

We caved

Perhaps you remember this post about a trip to the new Greenville Children's Museum. You can think of this post as PSA II.

This past saturday it was cold and rainy. Oh, what to do with two active kids on such a day? Decisions, decisions. Mark mentioned the Children's Museum, yeah...but for $50...not sure... When Mark was checking out another option (World of Engery at Duke Power, free, but only open 12-5 on Saturdays) he looked at the Children's Museum again. Guess what, they are no longer charging for the ages between 0-2. Andy would be FREE. We could go for the bargain price of $36. Ok, still a little high, but at this point, anything to get out of the house.

We walked in. It wasn't crowded and there were volunteers just milling around. He was SO EXCITED as soon as he walked in and saw the exhibts. Even one of the workers commented "you look more excited then your kids!" I am talking of course about Mark. Mark had a great time.

However, so did the kids. There was climbing:



Yes, there is a sticker on his head. He liked it. We left it there. James climbed all the way up.



Andy liked recycling. Good thing because the rest of us hate the earth.



The rotating exhibit was on fairy tales. It was really great.



We hit the music room again:





If it looks to you that Andy had an Unscheduled Outfit Change, you would be correct. That is due to this area:



Andy was really anti-smock, and usually anti-bib for that matter. Couldn't get to him fast enough. More water:





We actually ate on site. They had a great little cafe, with a bakery case. What are they doing to me? The good news is that they had this cute little cupcakes for $1. I mean, $1, that is practically FREE.



There is also really large elevator, but the purpose of this picture is to show that James also had an Unscheduled Outfit Change. Same reason.



Lastly, Andy in the wind tunnel.



We could have spent more time there, and I wish we would have. Not sure why this outing was more succesful than the last one. Andy is just at a great age where everything is fun, but James had a great time too. Mark is already planning on going back.

Shining Star(s)!

So, I totally signed James up for theater class. If you have met James, this should not surprise you. This class was only 6 classes long and met on Monday afternoons. It was a good introduction to the performing arts. At class, they usually started out with a little coloring. The first class was spent learning some basic moves: the wave, the bounce, the smile, and the kick. Then they started putting these moves to music: "You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile", "Getting to Know You", "It's a Small World", and "So Long, Farewell". They even got to make up their own choreography and teach it to the rest of the class. For the last class, they put on a little show for their final performance. They got to wear costumes. Here is a picture before the show. There were three other students, equally divided between boys and girls. The ages ranged from 3 to probably around 5.




Here is a video from "Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile" This is a good song. I like the message.


Here is "It's a small world" This is the one where they showcases their original choreography.


Finally, we came to the curtain call. About this time, Andy had threw down his wheat thins to distract me and ran up on the stage. He was suppose to be my shy kid!