Happy Father’s Day to the best daddy Steven, Sammy and Amaya could ever have!

I think the highlight of the day was probably this special afternoon treat. Ball cards and Tigers Baseball in bed with Daddy!

Morning cuddles for the boys.

Father’s Day brunch at Deadwood, our favorite family spot.

Steven, Sammy and Amaya love their daddy!

On Monday we had the great pleasure of going to the zoo with the Lee family. Once again, penguins and seals were a hit. The kids were a little nervous about the penguins at first but warmed up quickly and didn’t want to leave. The area with the kangaroos is an open area where you walk through a path right in the kangaroos’ habitat. Before we went in, I asked Steven if he wanted to walk or ride in the stroller. He said, “Ride the kangaroo.” I explained that we don’t ride the kangaroos. He nodded and said, “Just horsies.” His memory is unreal.

Amaya was wearing a dress with a button on the back. The boys were so fascinated by it and kept trying to undo her button. She had to throw out many “all dones” and “no thank yous”. Who’s in charge of Amaya’s body? “Amaya!”

We’re rotating through puzzles and this is a great one for SSA’s age. It requires them to match the colors and all of the pieces are the same shape.

Wednesday was our end of the year picnic at school. One last hurrah and one last chance to thank our amazing EI teachers. At the picnic we learned that all of the kids can eat raw baby carrots without issue. (Though we made a point to give them thin ones so they’re easier to bite.) They also do really well with mini bell peppers. Much easier than cutting the big ones!

I love, love, love this picture.

Sweeping with crayons.

You can see how curious Amaya is about the thing in her hand. It’s a piece of cylindrical foam but it was in with a bucket of chalk so she’s trying to figure out exactly what it is.

Lots of water table time this week. We’re working on keeping the water in the table. The big game is just dumping it out one cup or bucket at a time. Which is fine, from a play perspective. Who cares, right? It’s just nice when you don’t have to keep refilling it again and again. (And, yes, I could just tell them that if they empty it they’re done but I don’t feel that strongly about it. It’s a great way to pass time and they love playing with water.)

Steven pouring water on Sammy’s back. Two seconds later Sammy was “all done” with this game. Of course, later in the week Steven was annoyed because Amaya was putting water on his back.

We do still play indoors. Here’s a quick snapshot of three gloriously independent kids. (Don’t poke the bear!) Steven is working on some puzzles. Sammy is playing with balls by the slide. Amaya is calling Nana and Savta.

On Friday we had our bi-weekly play date with  Anna, Ben and Sam. This week big brother Joe joined them, as well, and it’s been reported that my kids were totally enamored with Joe.

Amaya is on a mission. Like a boss.

On Saturday we went to our friend Julia’s house for a play date with Austin, Caleb and Lucas. There were three other families there which made for 2 sets of triplets, 3 sets of twins and 2 older siblings. Steven, Sammy and Amaya were definitely tentative at first, Sammy in particular. After a short while he came and told me he was ready to go home. My sweet boy. He sat on my lap for a while until he got more comfortable and then he was off!

Steven is telling me about his pine cones.

I asked Sammy to hold his pine cone up for a picture. He’s literal.

Grilled cheese and berries for lunch! The kids did great eating picnic style.

Ninety degree heat doesn’t stop us from dress up time. Steven put on his hat and everyone else needed to follow suit.

When it’s not hats, it’s headbands.

Recently I mentioned that we dropped Amaya’s crib to keep her from climbing out. The transformation is complete! It was very easy with the boys. After seeing Amaya’s “big girl” crib they were excited for “big boy” cribs of their own. No toddler beds here. I’m on team #CribsForLife.

Steven this week!

Sammy this week!

Holding something up for the camera. 🙂

Amaya this week!

This girl can focus.

We always bathe the kids together but Amaya was at the grocery store with Jason when I gave the boys baths on Saturday. As a result, Amaya got the bathtub to herself. Holy cow, she was in heaven! She made use of every square inch of space in the tub. I’m going to have to think through options for the kids to have solo baths a bit more often.

Final photo of the week! Our stuffed animals. I swore we’d never have a ton of stuffed animals in our house but there you have it. The kids love them and legitimately play with all of them so here we are.

Have a great week!