She didn't stay this sweet!!

Yesterday, I took Alec and Kaleigh to the dentist.  Alec is an ANGEL at the dentist, even better than I am.  But, Kaleigh has some doctor/stranger issues, so I was prepared for TOTAL MELTDOWN...  Needless to say, brother went first.  Sister hopped right up on the table with him and was perfectly fine watching the TV while it was brother's turn.

BUT, once Dr. Drew asked her to open up, it went downhill in a hurry. Notice how all the kids are in one large room together, well once Kaleigh started screaming, we were quickly moved over to the private screaming kid room! He was able to check her out just fine since she was screaming at the top of her lungs and her mouth was WIDE open.... Sister checked out just fine, but poor brother's got BAD teeth like his mommies! The poor baby has to have 4 fillings!

Aquarium, Insectarium and the Audubon Zoo

Dustin is leaving soon to go to Fort Jackson for training until May, so we planned a fun little weekend family trip to have some fun with Dad before he leaves.  Dustin went down to the camp to fish a little on Thursday and the kids and I drove down Friday after work.  Kaleigh hasn't been to the camp since last summer, so I'm not sure that she remembered it at all but she was really excited!!! As soon as we got there, Alec got out the sand toys and they started digging!!

Kaleigh thought the game was to throw all the sand in the grass or on the pier!

One of the many funny faces of K-bug!

We stayed at the camp Friday night and then drove down to New Orleans Saturday morning for the rest of the weekend.

Kaleigh wasn't scared of this scuba diver at all!

Hummm, Parents of the Year here!!  Note to self:  Always check the distance between cars before putting kids in the stroller!  And this was just the beginning of the troubles for this cheapo "duds for doodlebugs" double stroller!  It dumped at least one kid out every time it hit a bump, got stuck in the elevator, all four wheels squeeked constantly and has crappy cupholders that spill drinks all over the stuff that's crammed in the bottom!  Needless to say, I'm seeing a new double stroller before our next trip!

Dad liked all the attention from the ladies while pushing all the kiddos in the stroller!  Note to self, the overloaded stroller may have been one reason the kids kept falling out!

Running down the RiverWalk!

After a quick stop for lunch, we were on to the Insectarium.

Mandi caught one of the butterflies for the kids to look at.

Alec was the only one brave enough to sit by this aligator! The girls wouldn't get near it!

 

Finally Kaleigh thought a nap would be a good idea!! It was a busy day for these three little kiddos (and us parents!!)

Of course, everykid LOVES to jump on the bed in the hotel room!

Hummm, looking back on it, I'm not sure all of the free hawaiian punch and chocolate chip cookies were a good idea, Kaleigh was up half the night!!

We spent Sunday at the Audubon Zoo, one of our most favorite places!  Kaleigh was pretty tuckered out from Saturday and not in the best mood, by the end of the day, we were all sick of it!!  Dustin said it was the Zoo from hell that never ends! We thought we would never get to the end of it!  Dad might have even threatened to leave during the middle of the zoo trip several times!! Sis threw several Princess fits and got a few pops on the leg.  Yep, we were those parents that everyone was staring at for spanking their kid!!

Dad with Kaleigh, 19 months, and Kara 2 1/2

Here's a picture of Dustin with Alec and Drew when we went to the zoo right after the boys had turned two in 2010.

Uh oh Goats, naptime is OVER!!

Alec and Dad talking sister into touching the snake!

Kaleigh LOVES animals!!!  We could hardly get her out of the petting zoo!

Kaleigh on the slide!

And Alec on the slide in 2010!  I love seeing the pics of the kids in the same places at almost the same age!!!

This is the entire reason we picked New Orleans for this trip!  Alec has been learning about dinosaurs at school and wanted to go see some!   He was THRILLED when it got time to see them!  He was a little upset that there was no T-REX!

Kaleigh even liked them!  The dinosaurs were VERY life-like.  They made sounds and moved around!  I can't believe she wasn't scared!

Alec climbing one of the big oaks!!  Even my Grandmother played on the Live Oaks in New Orleans as a kid, so these pictures are pretty special to us!

All three kids got to feed the giraffes!

Alec and the white Aligator!!  Please don't let the glass break!

This was called the "Kid Trap"

Somehow the mommy ended up in the KID trap too because Sister has to do everything that brother does!

Whew, we made it through!

Needless to say, after all this fun the kids slept the ENTIRE ride home!

Can they stay this sweet forever?!?

Alec and Kaleigh LOVE each other almost all the time!! As long as Kaleigh's not re-arranging his cars or legos and he leaves her babies and stroller alone, they are best friends!

A few nights ago, he was shooting his water gun and she was trying to catch it in her mouth!  Gross, I know, but she was squeeling with joy!  We haven't quite mastered the "don't drink the nasty bath water" thing yet. 

Bedtime cartoons in mom and dad's bed is a must every night!!

The Calm Before the Storm

Saturday was a gorgeous but chilly day and we decided to get the boat out for the first time this year.  It was Kaleigh's first "big girl" boat ride, she still couldn't be talked into the life jacket thing, but that will be a work in progress this year...  Brother is a great example and wears his constantly with no complaints!!  Sunday at church, Alec was asked how the fishing went, he says, "They just weren't biting."  Yep, that pretty much sums it up.  And once sis realized that she couldn't tee-tee off of the boat like big brother, she was pretty much down for the count and threw a "sister sized fit"!! 

My two fishermen are really serious about it!

Watching Dad's line!  Brother was extremely worried about sis falling in but we kept a good eye on her!

Sunday after church, we went for a quick bite to eat and headed home before the weather got bad.  Little did we know exactly how bad it would get.  An F4 tornado went though Oak Grove and continued almost straight down Hardy Street into Petal.  Thankfully, none of our family suffered any damage but we know several folks whose homes were completely destroyed!  It's a blessing from God that no one in Hattiesburg was killed from this storm.

The University suffered massive damage!  Today it's 3 days later and Hardy Street is still closed for clean up and replacing traffic signals. 

The tornado passed about 50 yards to the North of my office.  Lots of shingles were ripped off and we've got several leaks in the building.  One of the rooms was totally soaked!  Power lines and trees were snapped in two all around our block.

Schools and my work were closed on Monday after the storm. It has been raining for what seems like YEARS and the kids have been dying to get out and splash around.  YES, it was in the 60s and COLD but they acted like it was 80 degrees!

Kaleigh HAD to join in the fun too!

Sweet Kaleigh looking like a homeless child!