a few weeks ago, the girls and i piled in the car and headed to the McWane Center in Birmingham.
one word: wow!
aquarium. science center. discover center. playground. all rolled into one! how'd we miss this for so long?
we met five of the {six} lewis crew for a fun filled morning! that meant seven kiddos between the two mommies! can we say outnumbered? we only almost lost one kiddo in a crazy elevator...twice.
thankfully miss abby is a tremendous help to her sweet mama, therefore, she was an awesome help to me too!
we started in the aquarium, which i'm pretty sure addie is still talking about! there were fish and eels and an octopus and seahorses and even sharks and stingrays you could pet! according to addie, everyone she knows should now come with her to the mcwane center to see the aquarium!
we then headed to another level with a huge maze and a zip line! allison and i were both shocked that izzy and addie both wanted to follow abby's lead and ride the zip line. and they both actually did it! my slow pocket camera couldn't capture any decent pictures when the girls were in motion, but i love the one of abby pulling down on the swing to help izzy off. thankfully mrs. allison was in there by the time addie went down to help her off!
right before lunch, we found the dance floor! the lights weren't working correctly, but that didn't stop our little dancers!
after a yummy lunch, we found the bubble room. everyone made some amazing bubbles...
but i think mrs. allison wins the prize...all done while wearing an almost 25lb sweet baby micah!!!
the four big kids all tried on their scientist goggles, but this was the only picture that turned out where no one was moving/in front of someone else/blurry: addie and izzy. they are about 10 weeks apart in age. (and the twins and micah are about 10 weeks apart in age too!)
below are some dancing videos from the day. i love watching the sweet interactions between the big kids and little kids. and then there was anne perry who shot off the dance floor at record crawling speeds! micah was a happy baby until he mama got up to help restart the music. he's one amazing little boy!
there is so much going on in this video! music. abby bringing anne perry to me. everyone dancing around. and then there's addie. check out those moves of hers! the kicks were strikingly similar to elaine's from seinfeld dancing moves. except addie's never seen seinfeld. hmmmm...she must have picked those up from her daddy ;)
of course i had to include this video. it took going through several before finding one that didn't have the dialouge before she dances (which contained a curse word!). see any similarities?
of course i'm kidding. addie has a little more rhythm than that thanks to a few years of kindermusik! thank you lewis' for meeting us the QwaQwane Center! as always, we had a blast with your precious family!
A few weeks ago (yes, I'm that behind), Addie, the little girls, and I went to Birmingham to visit our sweet friend's the Lewis'. Long, long, long overdue visit!
There's something about this family that when you leave them you feel a bit refueled, encouraged, and always uplifted. They have a way of reminding you that you're loved and valued, that you are doing a good job juggling 3, and that joy comes from being with family and friends!*
(*disclaimer: I am not saying many, many others in our life are not this way as well; but this post is about the Lewis' ;)
It was an absolutely breathtaking day, and the 4 big kids ate lunch outside! Can you see Addie watching Abigail?
The mamas went in and out and mostly chilled inside with the little girls. You see Audrey Kate trying to sit up here? I do believe she was on her 2nd or 3rd outfit by then.
Anne Perry was in our bouncy seat from home, but they both got the treat of playing with a new toy!
If only there were big sisters for borrow. I'd have to have an Abigail visit us on a daily basis. She was so helpful with the little girls and with Addie! You see Addie and Izzy laughing hysterically here at Abigail rolling back and forth?
Well of course Addie had to join in the hilarious fun!
Oh but wait, now all 3 big girls are being silly. I do believe Audrey Kate was amused!
Allison's two younger ones (Jack and Izzy) went down for a nap, so that left Addie and Abigail to watch some videos on the computer and play outside some. It got really quiet though, and then Abigail appeared at the door: Come look what I made for Addie! {Allison and I exchanged looks} And this is what she'd created...
Yes, we did promptly put a stop to the two barefoot girls under the deck playing with the disassembled swing set (nails and all). Considering they weren't supposed to be down there in the first place, they were having quite the time. It was so sweet of Abigail to make Addie a slide though.
That's another reason I love visiting this precious family: what better a role model for Addie to have! I pray she has a heart as sweet as loving and as giving as Abigail's!
And I leave you with these few pictures I took while the big kids were eating. I don't often get a smile on camera and even less often get a smile with eyes...so I kinda fell in love with these!
Last weekend, we met Diane, Tyler, and Ellie at the park for a little while. Addie had fun swinging while Ty and Ellie played on the playground! Here are some pictures:
And this Friday we drove to Birmingham with my mom for her doctors appointment. But we stayed with Allison, Abigail, Jack and Izzy for the afternoon while my mom went to the doctor. Abigail and Jack were SO sweet to Addie! Izzy and Addie are so much closer in size now...it's amazing! We were so excited to get to spend the afternoon with them!
Abigail is such a big girl & sweet helper! Jack, who will be 2 in 2 weeks, is a GREAT big brother and was so gentle with Addie!
On Tuesday, Addie and I rode to Birmingham with my mom for her oncologist check-up. The good news is, she continues to be cancer free! (reason to celebrate #1) Praise God! Addie loved meeting her surgical oncologist, Dr. Bland; and immediately smiled at him when he walked in the room (which was right after she had just finished wailing for 15 minutes because she was hungry an hour before she usually eats! ...growing?...just out of her element?...testing me? Who knows!)
We always love to see our Birmingham friends, and the Lewis' were all well, for the first time in maybe 3 months...whew! (reason to celebrate #2). It's amazing what tubes, an inordinate number of antibiotic rounds, and complete quarantine can do! Poor Josh and Allison. So...we got to meet them all for lunch!
Addie (almost 4 months) and Izzy (closer to 6 months) (we've decided the are approximately 10 weeks apart in age!) (Can you believe they both have Grey's Anatomy name...but neither Allison nor I have EVER watched that show :) As Allison said, the last time we visited, Addie looked like an infant and Izzy looked like a toddler (a huge difference in size!). But today, it was so obvious that their weight difference is closing fast! I hope they'll get to be buddies as they grow up together!
I love all of Josh and Allison's kids, and Jack is just one of those little boys you can't get enough of! He (unbeknownst to him) had my mom and me in stitches watching him (attempt to) eat his mac-n-cheese with a fork from a bowl sitting on a plate. It was too high up on the table and that fork just wouldn't pick up those mac-n-cheese pieces. He was so determine and so cute!
Addie taking a cat nap. I could still just sit and watch her sleep!
Abigail loves to "be shy"...but the cute thing is that she's the farthest thing from shy! Her mom was trying to get her to tell me what she did yesterday. In this sweet little voice, she told her (and me) she would have to wait to tell me when she wasn't shy anymore. When I asked her when that might be, she told me it wouldn't be until she was a big girl (like her mommy!). She did end up telling me with a few prompts from mom and few guesses from me (before she became a "big girl.") She had gone to her 1st swimming lesson at the gym! Fun times!!! I asked her if she would take a picture with Allison and me. After she conceded to sit in Allison's lap, she told us she wasn't going to smile (as she smiled saying it)...but her daddy managed to get the cutest smile out of her! What sweet angels they all are!
