pooltime

after our fun day at glenwood gardens, we took a nap and then headed up to the pool. we are so lucky to have a pool within walking distance to our house. we ordered pizza to the pool and spent the evening swimming and just hanging out.

glenwood gardens

on wednesday we headed up to glenwood gardens to check out their 'big bugs' exhibit. i had never been to glenwood gardens before and really had no idea what to expect. this place is amazing! the bugs were gigantic and pretty cool to see, although they were set up along a 1/2 mile walking path and the kids were exhausted by the time we got to them. the last part of the walk was otto drudging along behind me, whining "mama carry me" over and over.
the rest of the place was great too.....there were ponds and gardens and lots of things to check out and explore. and there was this really neat tree climbing structure with lots of tunnels and caves and stairs. we'll be headed back there soon.
we were so busy exploring that the only photos i got were one of greta and otto with frog and toad (we love those books). can you tell it was sunny? neither of them could look at me it was so bright out. and then a picture of greta reading a book in the visitor center. she is such a bookworm. :)

practice makes perfect

first....a cute picture of greta hugging otto. totally on her own. well, she hugged him on her own, and then i asked them to recreate the moment.

the last two pictures make me laugh. i was telling the kids that we will be getting family pictures soon with grandma and grandpa hansbauer and all the ford cousins. then i asked them to show me how they will smile for the photos. we'll work on it before the time comes....

otto armleder park

this morning we headed out to otto armleder park. this is the park where greta had her fun run/end of the year celebration for school, so i fielded lots of questions today about whether or not there would be a fun run and would her school friends be there.
the weather was gorgeous, although there is absolutely no shade to speak of by the playground equipment. well, that's not entirely true. selma found a spot beneath the climber where she could stretch out. we were the only people there almost the entire time, and the kids kept busy playing, "going on a trip" and "monster attack". these games consist of yelling or singing the chosen phrase/name of the game and then running around. over and over. "MONSTER ATTACK!!"

bubble bath!

i think ellie's got the right idea!

the doctor is in

greta and otto spent the night at grandma and grandpa hansbauer's while joe, selma and i traveled to vermont for johnmark and anne's wedding. here is doctor greta and nurse otto, giving gramps a thorough checkup.

productive parenting

being a mom is hard. being a GOOD mom is harder still.
as a stay at home mom, i treasure all my mom friends but i am really so very thankful for the other stay at home moms. the ones who make me feel sane, or who can relate when things get crazy and all we can do is wait til naptime to take a breather. high on my list of favorite mom friends is anna. we don't see each other that often, unfortunately. maybe that has something to do with the fact that between the two of us, we have six kids under four years old. SIX KIDS UNDER FOUR.

anna is an awesome mom with some really great kids. and she's hilarious. don't believe me? then go to her blog and read about how she put her 3 month old in timeout. :)

anyway, anna is writing and blogging for a very cool website called productive parenting. it's a website FULL of quick and easy activities to do with your kids. and i love it. anna asked me if she could interview me for the productive parenting blog and i was thrilled to be a part of it. check my answers out here:
http://productiveparenting-emily.blogspot.com/2011/06/mom-feature-meet-melanie.html

and then go check out the website here:
http://www.productiveparenting.com/

i can't wait to use some of the activities i've read about!