Ruby and Ephraim visit

My sister-in-law Liz was going on a cruise with her sisters for a week. Dewey had time off and kept the older kids in school, but with all the baseball practices and games, it would be hard for him to keep track of Ruby and Ephraim too. And besides, what is more fun than a cousin sleepover for a whole week? Well, we were excited to have them and we partied a lot while they were here. Liz dropped them off on Saturday afternoon and they all donned capes and we headed to the park. 

 Double slides were made for races!

 Super Hero Ephraim! The best part was that another boy showed up with a mask and cape and so good defeated evil all over the park that day!

 Ruby training to fly.

 Speaking of training...Ephraim figured out how to give Ruby rides on the elliptical. 

 But when it was Ephraim's turn, he was all business. 

 On Monday, we met Karen and Ben at the zoo. It was lots of fun, even though it was pretty chilly and I only had jackets for the kids since I didn't find their coats in the closet til the day they left. 

 I love all the statues that you can take pictures on/with. (Elliott and Ruby took turns in the stroller. Elliott just didn't like walking, but Ruby was freezing so we wrapped her up in the blanket in the stroller.)

There's nothing better than relaxing with your buddies for a rice krispie treat break! 

 Ephraim posing on the polar bears.

 Mmmm, Cheetos and grapes and capri suns for a yummy snack to hold us over til lunch.

 Of course we had to have a turn on the carousel! Elliott is still kind of terrified of this thing and prefers to sit on the benches. Luckily, his giraffe didn't bounce up and down, so he was able to cling on for the ride and I was able to stand between him and Ruby. 

 Over by the tigers. The zoo was lots of fun and thanks to Karen for getting us in for free on her pass!

  On another afternoon we drove over to a cool park in our neighborhood. 

 It has lots of cool features like this twisty slide.

  And a climbing wall that Ephraim quickly conquered.

 Ruby with whatever these are called....the telephone or echo poles? You know, you can talk into one and can hear through the other one on the other side of the park. Wht do you call them?

 Ruby and Ephraim walking up this ladder.

 Then Elliott following behind Ephraim. It was so good for Elliott to have playmates!

 Ruby desperately trying to climb this pole. Notice that both her feet are off the ground. 

 Ephraim sliding down the pole.

 We usually read books as part of the bedtime routine. With Elliott's Me Reader, adults are not needed for this. The kids took turns turning the pages and pressing the buttons. Here Elliott is turning pages and Ephraim is pressing the buttons. 

 And switch! Now Ephraim turns the pages and Elliott presses the buttons. Awesome teamwork and turn taking going on here!

 Trains are always more fun with buddies, unless they take your train, then watch out!

 We also spent an afternoon at the Hill Air Force Base Museum. Outside you can walk all around the planes and even touch them of you can reach.

 These propellers spun around and then the kids got into character by spreading their wings too.

 And off they go!

 I had to bend in half to get under this airplane wing that extended over the sidewalk, but Elliott and Ruby just walked right under. 

 By far, the coolest thing besides the awesome airplanes everywhere, is the Ace Kids Learning Center tucked away in the second hangar. There you can climb into several cockpits and pretend that you are flying the plane. There are screens of a virtual landscape that you can see you are flying over. Plus, lots of buttons, levers and gears to imagine your little heart out.

 There are flight and astronaut suits you can wear.

 And helmets too!

 The suit makes it much more authentic, don't ya think? Future Pilot Ephraim reporting for duty. 

 Elliott was much too busy flying to ever glance at mommy who kept saying, "look at me Elliott" to no avail. 

 Ruby concentrating on flying too. 

 Now, Ephraim didn't mind looking up for a cheesy picture.

 Ruby kept telling me to shut the door with her inside, but happily the doors can't close so I was able to get them out, eventually. 

 It was a good thing it wasn't crowded because we took very long turns playing in the cock pit.

 Elliott was out of the napping habit, but Miss Ruby definitely needed her nap. So finally I figured out that it was more fun to bring their pillows and blankets into my bed and nap together. I sat on the chair reading and stopped them each time they raised their heads or tried to talk to each other. I love that it is an inevitability that if kids hold still for 5 minutes with their eyes closed, they will fall asleep!

 We spent another afternoon having happy meals and playing at the playplace. When Saturday rolled around, we took Brian with us and headed to our favorite Treehouse Museum. And yes, all 3 kids are wearing capes again. Ruby driving the fire truck while Ephraim and Elliott put out fires along the way.

 Cowboy Ephraim

 I love the props and costumes that make everything more exciting and real!

 Up in the loud part of the Treehouse - the music room.

 Brian played along too.

 Drumming on the loudest drum.

 Ephraim and Brian "playing" chess.

Elliott and Ephraim moving the chess pieces. 

 Princess Ruby ready to reign.

 Sir Ephraim trying to remove the sword from the stone. Sadly he is not meant to be the next king of England.

 All the kids sleeping by the fire in the tepee. They are worn out. Ok, they are just pretending, but I was worn out after a week of having 3 kids! 

We enjoyed having them so much and Elliott missed them when they left. Liz picked them up on Sunday and went back to Pocatello and the rest of the family. I'm glad we could have so much fun with them while they were here and that Elliott can make some fun memories with his cousins.