Visitors from Seattle

Andrew's sister Michelle and our 2-year-old niece Madelyn were in town visiting us from Seattle since early last week. They stayed with us at our house and we had such a great time seeing both of them. Our boys had so much fun playing with their only cousin and the three kids just seemed to have the greatest time laughing, running around and doing some fun activities together. Three little ones that are so close in age can certainly get silly together, that's for sure!! :)

We just brought them back to the airport this afternoon and were very sad to see them leave but how wonderful to have so many memories of our visit captured on camera!

Resting in my bed one morning while Michelle and I got ready to go out for the day. Apparently the show I had on for them was much more intriguing to the "over 2" crowd since Nate seemed disinterested in it and instead preferred to make silly faces at the camera :).

Cheese! Of course now that Nate is no longer looking, Maddie is and Ben's smiling...

Michelle and I took the kids to the Crayola Factory in Easton, PA one day and wow, was it a huge hit with everyone! My mom and I had taken the kids a few months ago so I knew my boys would enjoy going back, especially now that Nate would actually be able to participate in everything since he's walking, and we definitely learned that going mid-week while school is in session is a much better option than on the weekend. It wasn't crowded at all - as it was last time - so we were able to do more activities.

Nate greets the giant crayon on our way in...

Madelyn is SO excited for our outing!

Our first stop was the giant sidewalk chalk area, which basically is exactly as it sounds: a huge sidewalk area with lots of sidewalk chalk strewn around, which the kids can use to draw.

Madelyn has two buckets full of chalk and is gearing up to get artsy!

Nate loves drawing and getting incredibly dirty so what is more perfect than this activity? Cheeeese! "

Ben was in serious-mode the entire time and enjoyed drawing pictures and then erasing them again with the big erasers.

Our next stop was a glow-in-the-dark area, which basically consisted of white boards that glowed when a special pen was used to color on them. The camera picked up too much light so you can't really see the kids' creations too clearly but they all had fun and I even learned that you can get mini glow boards for at home. Hmmm, good Christmas ideas for Santa-mom :)

Next up: another huge hit. Finger painting! Ben looks like a deer caught in the headlights here but really was having a great time creating his orange picture.

This was Nate (and I believe Maddie's) first time finger painting. So exciting! They were tentative at first but then dug right in to the orange goo.

The coloring station was another very popular one for everyone (including Aunt Chel!)...

After we tore Aunt Chel away from the coloring station :), we visited the station that Nate enjoyed the most in the entire place. It was a huge glass walk-through tunnel with markers that you can use to color on the glass. He probably stayed here for close to 30 minutes, running through the tunnel, scribbling on the walls, putting his markers back into the bin and then starting all over again!

I literally had to tear him away from this one, kicking and screaming...and managed to pull a muscle in my stomach doing so :(. It is gone by now but hurt so much for about a day and a half afterwards!

Maddie behind the glass wall, working on her masterpiece...

I love this one of the two little ones on either side of the glass!

A few photos of Nate behind the glass in the rare moments that he actually stopped running!

Next, we went to the play area so the kids could work off some steam before lunch. Another fun area!

Nate and Maddie crawl through the entrance tunnel...

The big hit of this area was a ball obstacle course where the kids could drop balls into a slot and they could watch them go up and around the room until they came out at the end again. Even Nate had a great time participating!

It's getting close to naptime and we haven't even finished all of the activities or had lunch yet. So, Nate stops to take a little repose so he wouldn't have to cut the day short for dull things like napping :)

Hugging a tree...

Maddie is having so much fun!

I found these next few photos quite funny! Lesson 1: Hugs and Kisses.

(1) Awww...cousin love!

(2) No, I mean it, I really love you, Nate! (3) OK...Can't...breathe....

Finally, our last major station before we left and Ben's favorite from last time: Model Magic. Maddie and Nate seemed to have just as much fun as the 'ole 3-year-old pro, even though it was the first time for both of them.

A few more funny moments of the day: Lesson 2: Sharing.

(1) So happy creating! Note the tools everyone is using to mold their clay.

(2) Note who now has the fluted tool.

(3) After some cajoling with the equally fun rolling pin, we are back to being content :)

Lesson 3: Frustration.

The two brothers with their Andrew faces on. Creating a Model Magic masterpiece is serious business!

Nate loved this station so much that he finished with various dots all over his visible skin :)

Time to go home. "Come on, Maddie, I'll hold your hand as we cross the street since I'm your big cousin."

Our view of the giant box of crayons as we were in the elevator on our way to the car. Bye-bye Crayola Factory. What a fun day!

One of our at-home activities while Maddie visited was again something artsy: painting. Yes, I am a brave, brave soul letting three little ones paint in my house together :). Thank God for washable paints and old Daddy tee-shirts for smocks!

Again, this was Nate and (I believe) Maddie's first time painting with poster paints and a brush.

The three kids in the most frequently used room in our house lately: the craft room.

Nate was the only one who would (sort of) let us take a picture of him in his huge smock with dirty, paint-covered fingers.

And the oldest finishes last for a reason: he knows he can get all three cups of paint at once while the others are being cleaned up!

Oh no! Did I mention thank God for washable paint?