Old School Treehouse

My sister Kim recently moved to a new house and the kids and I went out for a visit and a tour of the new digs. As she was showing me one of my niece's closets, I spied the old FAMILY TREEHOUSE that she and I played with as kids!!! Oh, how I loved that treehouse. I must have spent countless hours with it as a kid. "Yeah," said Kim, "I got it from Mom's house, but my kids don't really play with it that much." So I took it out to show to AJ and he was into it! I think all the kids played with it for a while before we left with it in hand. AJ liked it so much that he wanted to play with it on the way home. Here are some pics I took of him with it on his lap. I had to just hold the camera up and click since he sits behind me, but I think I got pretty lucky with these!

Intent concentration is needed to play with the treehouse tipped at such an angle I suppose.

He eventually fell asleep with it still on his lap. :)

As the treehouse has been on our dining room table since it came home with us, many of my friends have come in and exclaimed, "I had that treehouse when I was a kid! Where did you get it?" Alas, I have looked online and have not been able to find it. Maybe that's because things really were made to last back then? Other than that the drop-stairs have gone missing and the rope for the swing must have broken, the whole thing is basically still in tact and working! The treetop still pushes down and locks shut and the button release still works and allows it to pop back open. The little tree-trunk elevator still goes up and down when you crank the sawed-off branch crank, and even the swing is back in action with a little dental floss and some tlc from moi. I have big plans to restore the paper flooring and walls, but I also have big plans to make dinner one of these days, so we'll see how far I get...maybe I'll have it all done for Lizzy to enjoy. Anyway, here's a picture that AJ took of the treehouse when I told him to take pictures of some of his favorite things around the house.

Note the little man (there's also a lady and a dog) standing outside admiring his yard. Maybe he's looking for the doghouse? "Psst, it's in the treehouse, dude! And by the way, mustaches are so 1975!" Oh, maybe that's why he has one...that's when this toy was made! LOL

Easter 2010

This Easter, we had two celebrations, one with my family in Roselle and one with Andy's family in Rockford. We did the Roselle Easter one week before, on Palm Sunday. So here are the pics from that celebration first:

Karly, Kyra, AJ and Grayson, lining up to go out for their egg hunt!

AJ finds an egg.

It was kind of cold, so Pa hung out with Elizabeth inside.

Did Karly tell a joke? AJ and Kyra got it!

Oh! Not sure what was so funny this time, but it must have been some punchline!

I can't believe we got one with all 4 kids (plus Kim) looking! Happy Easter!

Kim made a bunny cake. mmmm...

Lizzy didn't get any cake, but she still had fun hangin' at the table with the big kids.

The colored eggs. I loved the egg sandwiches we made with them!

(sorry this one's dark)

Uncle Taf and Lizzy were having a deep conversation about the pros and cons of jelly beans...

AJ got to open his birthday present from his Aunt Kim, Uncle Brandon and his cousins...they gave him a set of discovery tools and a big, cool magnifying glass.

Later that day we came home and got a shot of Lizzy drinking from her cup, a skill that was still pretty new at that time. Good girl!

She sucks in her lips and makes a smacking sound when

she eats something she likes. It's so cute!

Yes, so darn cute!

And here's AJ with his discovery tools. He didn't put them down for several

days and they are still high on the favorites list!

The next weekend, we headed to Rockford. We went to see Andy's dad, Grandpa John and Renee first and AJ hunted for eggs around their house and learned to play croquet (ok, maybe just to hit the balls around with the fun mallets). It was so nice to relax and visit with John and Renee with both kiddos. Then we headed over to Gooma's house for Lizzy's nap and to play outside a little bit and spend Easter the next day.

Here's Gooma and Lizzy on the neighbor's swingset. Elizabeth LOVES swings!

AJ thought the tire swing was cool!

Easter morning, AJ was surprised to see that the

Easter Bunny had found him at Gooma's house!

He followed the trail of eggs down the hallway and all the

way to his and Elizabeth's basket(s)!

Here's a shot of the goodies...

And of Liz lounging with all the treats.

A precious moment with Dada.

Brother and sister. :)

Figuring it all out

Here's our best attempt at a family portrait!

AJ got to wear Cheri's big birthday hat...

...and blow out his 3 tall candles as we celebrated his birthday. :)

When we got home from the weekend, AJ pretended to be the Easter bunny and wore the bunny ears around the house.

And so did Liz!

Splish Splash

The kids have been bathing together for a while now, but Liz is finally out of the bath ring. (I should have sold it at the garage sale!) AJ is generally good about being careful not to knock her over and he refrains from splashing her, which I think must take a lot of restraint on his part! Especially since she is a super-splashy baby! He knows he gets his turn to kick and make waves after I take Lizzy out. And, just in the past week, AJ has gotten over his LONG TIME fear of laying down on his back in the tub! It makes washing his hair SO much easier and I think now that he get's that, he's more than happy to oblige. Our bathing beauties have been in heaven since it's gotten so hot out, since Andy or I have been doing much more frequent bathtimes for them...sometimes 2x/day since they have been getting so sweaty every time we leave the house! Here are some pics from a dunk a few weeks ago when we still put Lil Bit in the ring:

AJ rockin' the Mohawk with his fire extinguisher

Cheeks and Chong

What a cutie!

Just look at those arms and cheeks! Smoosh!

First trip to Tastee Freeze, 2010

(For the kids, I mean...Andy and I had already had TF delights twice this season!)

We walked over to Tastee Freeze last night and Elizabeth had her first lick of ice cream. She loved it. What a big surprise, huh? Hahaha Our friend Alyssa met us there and took pics of the kids enjoying their treats. She's a pro photographer, so of course I'm thrilled to have such great images to mark this fun little outing. Check out her blog post to see the cuties in action!