Sibling and Cousin Time!

A few weeks ago we met Brian's family at the Museum of Natural Curiosity.  For months we had talked about getting our families together on a regular basis.  We finally made it happen!

Clearly we need to get together more often becauseI have no idea which twin this is..Crew?  Finn?  

Really I just need to pull a Michael Scott and mark one of their arms so I can tell them apart.

Uncle Jack even tagged along!  Now that he's home from his 5 week Europe trip he has time to grace us with presence ;)  My boys LOVE Uncle Jack.  He is "so tall" and Charlie is determined to be "tall like Jack" when he grows up.  Good luck, Charlie!

Brian and Laura got married while we lived in Arkansas.  I've enjoyed getting to know Laura better.  Brian picked a good one!  Love you, Laura :)

 We drove to our home for lunch afterwards.  In true Messer boy fashion, Jack and Brian wrestled... and Brian got a bloody nose.  Just a little pay back for all those trips to stitch up the back up Jack's head?  Brothers!  Maybe it was a good thing Tony grew up with only sisters?

 The boys loved the trampoline!

So fun to spend the day together.  We love all of our family!

Take Me To the Zoo

Last week we met my mom, Chloe and Trent at the zoo!  It had rained the night before and still had rain forecast, but we lucked out with no rain!  Surprisingly it wasn't totally packed considering it was a really cool summer day.  

The first thing we did was ride the train.  We had only been to the zoo once before and the train & safari sections were under construction.  The boys were SO EXCITED to ride a train.  A REAL TRAIN!  It was very exciting.

 Joey was sooo excited to ride!

 

The great thing about getting memberships to places is you don't feel like you have to get your money's worth out of one trip.  We saw all the animals down to the otters and decided to head back.  We had been there for quite a while and it's always better to leave while everyone is still happy and not tired/throwing fits :)  We will just have to go back soon and see all the animals we skipped this time.

 rhinoceros eating right next to the window

 

   It was a great day at the zoo!  

Fun at the Natural Museum of Curiosity

 The boys love the kid-size doors!

The Natural Museum of Curiosity opened up a few weeks ago and we have been several times.  It is amazing!  I strap Peter into the front pack, wear my diaper bag as a back pack and it's go, go, go! 

 Charlie working at the bank

There are four different areas in the museum: Water Works, Rainforest, the kid city of Kidopolis... there's one more and I can't remember the name....

Joey doing laundry in Kidopolis

Kidopolis is my very favorite.  It's a town with everything small for kids.  There's a bank, train station, movie area, magic shop, hospital, laundry area, etc.  It's darling.

  Charlie and Joey putting on a pirate show in the kid theater

Of course my boys love Rainforest the best.  Climbing through ropes, a massive jungle gym, slides, it's a little boy's dream come true!  I love it too except when Joey needs my help, in the middle of the jungle gym, and I have to climb in there (with my back pack & Peter) to get him out!  If he didn't take his shoes off when he gets mad I would probably let him figure it out, but I'm not chancing a little kid running off with his shoes in there! 

If you look closely you'll see Tony and Joey climbing

Yay! Joey wants to take a break and play in the younger kid area for a bit ;)

 Here's the wonderful place I can't remember the name of.  All I know is that there are couches, by the exit, that you can nurse an infant on.  I was desperate and had to do so.  Thankfully about 5 other moms joined me right after.  Someone had to break the ice and I got to be that lucky person :)  The kids stack blocks while the are moms feeding babies while sitting by the exit.  Maybe this is my favorite place?

Water Works is great but we've only been there once!  You can stand inside a tornado, see an earthquake and figure out how water works with tubes & gravity.

  

One of my favorite things about living where we do is being right by Thanksgiving Point!  We will be at this museum a lot this summer!