Never in my life have I wished I had videotaped something like I wish I had this. Grace was absolutely hilarious as she tried to figure out what it meant, and neither Jeff or I can remember all of what she said. It went something like this.Jeff and I: What do you think the surprise is?
Grace: Ummmm...I'm the oldest?
Us:Charlie's shirt says he's a big brother. How could that be?
G: excited, likes she's figured it out He's TWO NOW!
Us: Yeah, but that doesn't make him a big brother.
G: I know! I'm going to get the bigger toy!
Us: No, there's no toy. How could Charlie be a big brother?
This went on for awhile and she said such funny things, but then she was stumped, so Jeff told her the big news. "There's a baby in mommy's tummy. We're going to have a new baby at our house!"
She then erupted into squeals and stopped only to ask, "Where will the baby sleep?" More squealing then, "Do I get to stay at Grammy and Bop's like when Charlie was born?"
We spent some time explaining to Charlie that he was going to be a big brother and he also got quit wound up. They were both running around the room squealing. I asked Charlie if he was excited to be a big brother, and he said, "Yeah! Go now! Go now!" Later in the evening he and I walked to get the mail, but I think he thought we were going to get the baby. When I turned to come home, he said, "No! Baby now! Baby now!" I told him that the baby still had lots of growing to do in Mommy's tummy to which he replied, "Yeah, Charlie's tummy, too," and started rubbing his tummy. The poor boy is quite confused.
Grace continued to be very excited all evening and blurted out many funny things...
"I'm so excited! I'm going to be crazy my whole life!"
"I'm even going to give the baby piggy back rides!" (Oh no, you're not!)
"I'm not going to poop anymore when the baby is here. I'll be too busy being with the baby."
"I'll do all the work. You guys do all the playing."
"I have been waiting for another baby for soooooo long!"
It was so fun to share our exciting news with them and to have them react so positively. I tried to get a picture of the two of them wearing their t-shirts, but Grace was still very wound up. I think they turned out pretty funny though....
Oh, Charlie, this is the most amazing thing!
You and I will rule this house!
You and I will rule this house!
It will be a dream come true!
And for those who are curious, I'm about 9 weeks along and am due January 31st. Jeff and I are so thankful to be blessed with another little one, and since we already have one of each, we're NOT finding out the sex this time!
Grace 
I was happy to discover that Grace "does" the zoo the same way as me. She likes to look at each animal for about 20 seconds, then she's ready to run to the next exhibit. Those people that stop to read every description and fun fact drive me bonkers. 
Charlie was trembling with fear much of the time. That boy has a fierce fear of animals right now. At one point a monkey (sorry-I don't know which kind. Like I said, I'm not into the details) which had been facing away, turn around quickly and made a high pitch scream. Charlie matched it with an equally high pitched scream of terror. Only when he was safely in his daddy's arm, did he began to enjoy looking at the animals. Although he did continue to say, "Go home now. Go home now."I love the look of awe on his face in this picture. It's almost enough to get me to take him back to the zoo soon.
And then we came to the penguins. We all loved the penguins...even Charlie! He's still talking about seeing them. 
As we headed to lunch, we had the great surprise of running into Ryan and Kate and their boys. Grace loved running around with Jake to see a few more animals, and Charlie loved the safety and security of sitting in the stroller with Hudson. I love how they're holding hands. I think Charlie was saying, "It's okay, bud, we'll stick together in this crazy place!" These two are going to be great friends. 
I'll admit it ended up being a really fun day and the kids are still talking about all the animals they saw. Charlie "no like monkeys," but I'm sure that the fact that he's woken up several times this week crying is completely unrelated...maybe.
Grace practices dribbling
Grace got the ball pretty early in the game. All of that dribbling practice didn't help too much as she carried the ball down the court being careful that no one stole it from her.
She made a basket! (Sorry for the poor picture, but it is her sticking it in the hoop!)
Once that was taken care of, it was down the the important business of trying to wear her jersey as many different ways as possible.
After the game, all of the kids were given certificates (or awards as Grace calls it) for participating in the class.
The best of friends!
Then Grace and Clara put on a show of their own.
Checking out an EMPTY pasture.
After visiting the animals, we had a picnic lunch then spent some time playing on the playground. It was such a fun day!!
The next day we spent outside in our neighborhood. We took a long walk in the morning, stopping to feed the ducks and play at a park. In the afternoon, our neighbor came over and the kids cooled off in the sprinkler.
Taking a break for a snack picnic!
Friday the weather really heated up, so we headed to the beach to enjoy playing in the water and sand. My camera died shortly after we arrived, so I only got a few pictures.
