First Day of Preschool 2010

Waiting at the door!
King Brothers Primal Yell
Cheesers
Walking in!

Today is the first day of the King Brother's reign of happiness at University Primary School's pre-k classroom! They have been so excited about today! These cutie-pies even chose to where matching shirts because they are brothers! Sam gave them the Brothers pep talk, so they know that they never-ever let anyone pick on or hurt their brother! They are adorable! All I could think about when they walked away is that they used to be my tiny babies! My mommy heart is a bit sore today! Sob!

Chicago: Navy Pier and the Chicago Children's Museum

You would be cranky too if your fireman pants were that tight
Awesome Eli climbing up the two story pirate ship rigging
My worried fireman!
Nate with the house and nearly naked! He is definitely going to be in the annual firemen's calendar
Two tough guys
Two jokers
Yes! A dino dig!
Because that sweet face just melts my heart!
Eli, Patches and his Pirate Friend warming up for Pirate Exercises
Reach for the sky
...and touch your toes!
Navy Pier on a gorgeous day!

Chicago! We love you! We headed out to Chicago on Sunday morning with the Lincoln Park Zoo on our minds. We had a tiny change of plans when a huge storm hit (not in the weather forecast) right as we pulled into Chi-town. So we headed over to the Chicago Children's museum which is located on Navy Pier (an indoor fun area).

The children's museum was completely fun! The fire truck exhibit was the biggest hit, followed by the dino dig (shocker), the water table (of course) and the pirate rigging climb! The boys really couldn't get enough of the fire area and we had to force them to explore the rest of the museum which they did love.

After we were done with the museum we went to the Family Pavilion in Navy Pier and watched Patches the Pirate dog and his side kick do their show. The theme on Sunday was "exercise" and it was so adorable! They asked for volunteers and Eli's little hand just shot up! He wasn't picked for the first volunteer but his was picked second! He was so brave up on stage and did a terrific job! Nate had absolutely no intention of going up on stage with a life-sized stuff dog. Uh-uh, no way.

We finished the day with a walk on the outside of the pier where we got to see the giant ships, including a pirate ship named "Windy" that we will be sailing on in September! What a wonderful day!

Champaign County Fair

The King brothers in the Engine of the little train!
Dino Boy
Seriously, could they be any cuter?
Nate on a motorcycle makes me very nervous
The little dragon roller coaster was a huge hit with Eli
Look at that face!

We had a great time at the Champaign County fair this year! The people watching was awesome, the kiddie rides were perfect and it was only 90 instead of 95! It doesn't get better than that. The boys LOVE all of the little rides and I have to admit it is so fun to watch their happy little faces!

Orpheum Children's Museum: Here we go again

Paging Doctor Eli
Cheesy Eli and his mommy

Vet Eli taking care of the kitty
Nate is a muppet
Making a point about his dino discovery
King Brothers: Paleontologists

We spent a lovely Saturday afternoon at the Orpheum Children's Museum here in town. It was so fun to watch the boys explore this old favorite. Every time we go they discover something new. The big favorites are the dino dig and the vet clinic! These little boys sure are fun!

Tennessee

Building a tree-fort on the front porch
Nature walk with Gromma
Mountain Man Eli asleep after a hard day exploring
Super sick baby Nate

Dear Tennessee,

Thank you for one of the most amazing vacations! It was such a treat to stay in our gorgeous cabin in the Smokey Mountains with Gromma and Pop Pop, Uncle Chris and Auntie Becca and cousin Emma. We loved tubing down the river, fishing, hiking, swimming and exploring. We loved every minute of our trip (Except where Nate contracted the plague and Eli developed Pneumonia on the last day). We can't wait for our trip next summer! Love, The Kings

Happy 4th of July

Waving the American Flag and waiting for the parade
Oh, Nate!
Pre-kids race warm up! This is their stretching!
Please mom, stop taking pictures of us!

We had such a fun 4th of July! We started the day off with another kids fun run! It was H-O-T!!! The boys were troopers though and had a good time. I may or may not have had to bribe Nate with ice cream to get him to run the home stretch. We then went to the big parade and waited and waited and waited. Just when we saw the first float the sky opened up and soaked us for the next 45 minutes! Eli wanted to stay and he and Sam watched the whole parade! Nate was over it about 5 floats in and he and I went home and dried off! We finished the day off with a completely fun BBQ at a friends house! Good times!

Brother Picture: July 2010

This cute picture was taken after the parade. Eli with his puppy spots and Nate the kitty. Immediately after this picture was taken they started scrapping and fell down three steps. You might not see another brother picture any time soon.