Another "What a Day!" ?!?

We were so excited for our annual trip to the Conference Grounds to visit the Ploegs but this year, the weather just didn't pan out: for the first time in weeks, it was less than 80 degrees and it was rainy.  Since we were all packed in the van with no where to go, we went to a playground with the kids to burn some energy.  Sam was playing superman on the swing and suddenly went down ... face first into the dirt.  While getting dirty is still not either of my twins' favorite past times (at least yet), that wasn't the problem.  The problem was that he has a nice overbite and his front two teeth went thru the skin right under his bottom lip.  So ... off we went (as a family) to Alger Peds to get checked out.  A little glue and some hugs later, we were all fixed up.  For those counting, that makes two boys with Dermabond in about two weeks.  And if we aren't parents of the year in your book yet, just wait:  Lucas has a sweet black eye.  We think it's from taking a ping pong paddle to the face while chasing after the twins.  Yep.  Our baby has a black eye.  Awesome. 
Here's to no more boo boos!

Jump!

I love when they look at each other and jump at the same time on the second jump.  It makes me think of just how fun it is to have a twin brother to do such silly-business with!

And then here they are, after a day at the pool just totally spent.

The Fourth of July

The Fourth of July is filled with traditions for the VanderPloegs:  the men go golfing, the women go to the parade with the kids, we eat burgers and potato salad for lunch, play wiffle ball in the back yard (9 innings, at least), run through a few sprinklers / slip 'n slides, and eat popsicles.  All around, it's generally a pretty fantastic day.  And while it was fantastic this year, it was also 100 degrees.  My sisters, who usually join us for the parade and to watch Grampa Ploeg's trains, decided the lake was a better fit given the weather (good choice).  The parade, usually fun times filled with candy, bands, floats, and a fighter-jet fly-over, was ridiculously hot and ended in about 20 mintues with Tyler terrified of the noises.  The rest of the day followed the script and even with the deviations from the norm, it was a fantastic day.
 

Tony cheering on the twins

Tyler having a riot on the slip 'n slide

Sam & Auntie Brenda

Daddy and Tyler ready for wiffle ball

Sam ready for wiffle ball

Lukie -- Born in the USA

Oh ... and it's official: Lucas is crawling.  And not just scooting, which he has been doing for a few weeks now, but actually crawling on all fours!

What A Day!

Sam & Tony in the sand box

What a day!  Yesterday was a busy, crazy day.  And while, in general, that is the norm over here, yesterday was a little more amplified than normal.  We started the day with hair cuts by mom and some Backyardagains (I just couldn't take the shaggy-ness anymore).  Then it was off to the Holtvluwer cottage (sans Jack, plus Uncle Brian) for the day with all the Ploegs.  We went for boat rides, watched a ski show, ate some hot dogs, played in the sandbox, and splashed around in the water.  It was a beautiful day for fun at the lake.

Mommy & boys

Tyler watching the ski show

Sam watching the ski show

Then we raced home for a long-awaited kid-free night with friends.  I was upstairs with all the boys by the train table when crocs and carpet caused a head vs. table injury on my sweet baby Tyler.  The timing was perfect (is that really the word I'm looking for?) as the sitter literally showed up 3 minutes later and Jack and I were able to leave together for the ER and leave the other kids with her.  Tyler cried, of course, but it wasn't a hysterical cry, nor did it bleed badly ... but it was certainly a nice gash smack on the middle of his forehead.  The children's hospital is great, the people were great, and as far as first encounters with the ER go, this was about as good as it gets. Ty was calm and snuggly, we got away with glue instead of stictches, and the green slushy at the end perked up my little guy.  We went home, ended the day with some more Backyardagains, put the kids to bed and still made it out to see our friends for a few hours.  What a day!

Snuggle buddy watching Elmo while we waited

Mommy & Ty

Ty's boo boo