The Zoo

We had beautiful weather the other day so Candice and I decided to take the kids to the zoo. It was a fun outing, even with the minor fender bender I got into in the parking lot. It's cute to watch three little kids run around looking at the animals and getting so excited to see them.

Matthew now refers to Candice as either "Mama" or "Mama Candice", sometimes even walking right past me to go to her. We think it's completely adorable/funny-I think it's nice that Matthew has two Mommies :).

They really liked the tiger and it was a treat that it was up close this time. Usually it is in the very back of the exhibit.

On Site At Extreme Home Makeover

Yay, we were able to go to the Extreme Home Makeover site and volunteer today! Candice and I helped by cutting concrete reinforcement wire to the right size, which was fun (but also hard work, especially out in the hot sun). We were so glad to be able to help out and be a part of the whole thing. We even saw Ty, Paul, and one of the girl actors while they were filming. I wasn't able to get pictures of the house or property due to all of the production crew and filming going on. Here are some pictures from the boiler Matt and Bill installed inside the boxer training facility.

There was a huge fan-the biggest ceiling fan I have ever seen-in the facility that was pretty cool. I watched Ty "help" put up some blades, which was really just filming him pretending to put blades on.

Candice and I were goofballs in the car on the drive to the house.

Chuck E. Cheese

The guys were busy all evening with the Extreme Home Makeover house, so Candice and I took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese for some much needed fun. They all had a blast; Matthew played a ton of games and rode on several rides. He ran around like a little maniac, having the time of his life. This was his first time there, but Sam and Billy were old pros at everything-they showed Matthew the ropes.

Extreme Home Makeover

Mattie visited Dad and Bill at the shop while they worked on the boiler for the Extreme Home Makeover house. Matt's company is doing the work for the gymnasium/boxer training facility that will be behind the house. It should air on ABC sometime in the fall. Matt and Bill have been on site several times now, and will go back several more times (hopefully I'll be able to get out one of the days to be a volunteer). They have yet to meet Ty or any of the other actors, but maybe tomorrow or over the weekend the actors will be at the house actually doing work. It's interesting to hear all about how they film the show-which is completely not in the order they show on TV. Can you believe they actually put down sod for the filming of tearing down the house?!

Even More Park Fun

Matthew went back to a different park today with Savannah, Billy, Sam, Candice, and Mommy. It seems like fall is just around the corner so we are really trying to enjoy the warm, sunny weather while it lasts.

The Park Continued

After spending time at one area of the park we met up with Brittney, her new boyfriend Aykut, Papa, and Nana at a different part of the park to have a cookout and go fishing.

Aykut cooked us all some yummy food and treated us to a Turkish spice that was really good.

Matt caught some fish and it was Matthew's job to throw them back into the water.

He throws them like they are baseballs!

Matt, Matthew and I stopped for ice cream on the way home for the perfect way to end a nice day. Of course Matt had to get a Trash Can Sunday, which had pretty much everything you could think to put on ice cream thrown into a plastic trashcan.....it was surprisingly tasty :)

A Day At The Park

We spent a fun-filled afternoon at the park with Matthew and Lily flying kites and playing on the playground. It was Lily's first time at the park; she was a little anxious but did enjoy herself.

Matthew ran all around the field chasing Lily while Matt flew his kite.

Matthew has really become attached to Lily, and vice versa. Lily is not biting him, although it kind of looks like it.

There was just enough wind for the kite to fly. Ignore the ominous clouds in the sky, they blew over and the sun came back out.

What fun would a trip to the park be without swinging on the swings?! (Random-I can't believe I'm already 15 weeks pregnant!!!)

Jump! Jump! Jump!

Lily even had her own fan club. It's amazing how many more people talk to you when you bring a dog with you.

The bean is becoming quite the little bike rider!

Matthew had a busy day playing with Billy, Sam, and Savannah yesterday. Besides running all around inside and out with Billy and Sam, he played cars with Savannah and held the kitty Snickers. He had such a busy day that he passed out on the floor while Mommy and Daddy were talking with Bill and Candice.

Chef Matthew

Matthew "cooked" spaghetti with Nana this afternoon. He loves helping me cook/bake stuff in the kitchen, maybe he'll be a master chef one day!