Summer is Here!

Let's not think about why I am up this early in the morning listening to the birds chirping outside my window and instead go to Knoebel's.  We are so lucky to live so close to such an amazing place.  Every time we go it is just a little bit cooler.  The kids are getting older and more and more able to go on rides which makes it that much better.  This whole past week Nona Jen and baby Harry were visiting.  Since they had never been there before and Thursday was about the most perfect weather day you could imagine, it seemed like a great thing to do.

It was.

Eric was out of town for work so he unfortunately missed the first trip of the year, but that just means we will have to go more with him later in the summer.

Otto definitely remembered it all from last year, but I am not sure Mette did.  She hung back in the stroller with Harry when we first got there while Otto ran ahead eager to check everything out.  

When we made it to the Kiddie rides section Otto found one with planes with blasters.  He of course wanted to go on that.  Mette, still hesitant at this point, chose to watch from the stroller.  Despite my warnings, Otto chose to ride backwards.  I don't think he was too down with that and wanted to get off early.  The beautiful thing about going to the big K before school lets out, you have the place to yourself.  The kids didn't wait in a single line and often had the ride to themselves.  Getting off early is not a problem.

Next up, the cars.  Mette was swayed to ride after spotting a pink car.  She was buckled in to the pink car while Otto picked out a shiny red sports car.  Then he saw Mette and wanted to ride with her but to get to her he had to pass a tank.  Just after buckling him on the tank he said he really did want to ride with Mette,

So off they went.

And that was it.  From then on they only wanted to go on rides together.  They did everything together for the rest of the day.  It was adorable.  Picking rides, taking turns, sharing.  It was one of the days when you are so happy they have each other and you get to watch them grow up together.

Of course, a Merry-Go-Round needed to be found for Mette.  And of course, upon seeing it up close she was a bit hesitant.  Then she spotted the bench where she could ride with "her big brother" as she insisted.  Works for me.

I squeezed in and around we went.

It was a huge hit with everyone.

It was so empty, they even got the bouncy house all to themselves.  I was a little jealous over this.  That looks like a LOT of fun!!

These helicopters are really cool.  They have an arm that you pull back and it makes the helicopter go up into the air.  Otto totally remembered how to do it and was pulling the arm back before the ride even started.  I took a million pictures of this, but couldn't get any good ones.  It is really a cool ride and they both had a great time with squeals of delight.

That is them heading up to the trees!

They didn't even want Jen or I to go on the antique cars with them.  Together again.

 Seriously, how cute is this?

 Perfect.

This water spray gun thing is a hit every year.  At some point they will figure out how it works, but for now they love it just the same.  Otto was getting the hang of it by the end.

 Working hard.

I am a huge Dippin' Dots fan and have to get some every time we go to Knoebel's.  Mette picked out Rainbow, no surprise and Otto chose Cookies and Cream.  I chose Mint Chocolate Chip, because we all now that is the best flavor.

When you are only 12 weeks old there aren't a lot of rides for you to go on, but you do get to watch which is sometimes pretty cool.

And then your mom takes a picture of your chunk in front of the Fudge Kitchen!!

I wasn't sure if the big Carousel was going to be too big or loud for the kids so we went to check it out and decide for ourselves.

A girl bonding with her favorite kind of ponies.  "The kind that play music and go up and down."

We had to ride it.

Seated together of course, this time ON the ponies.

Heading back to get a little tank action.  Where does Mette sit when Otto picks the tank?  In the back seat.

Someone needs to know where we are going.

We spent about four hours at the park which was enough to exhaust us all.  Mette fell asleep in the stroller on the way to the car and I was able to transfer her to her car seat and buckle her in without her waking up.  She was a little on the tired side!  Otto even snoozed on the way home.  

The whole week was great and I will get more pictures and stories up soon, but I wanted to start with these.  It was such a great trip.

The kids should be waking up any minute now.  We have a big day ahead of us, the new bunk beds are arriving this morning!!!!