Fun without mommy and daddy

Joe and I are now back in Kansas. Joey and Kylah had a great time at Nana's and Grandpa's house without mommy and daddy. Except Joey's sick...more on that later.

Joey got to stay up late and watch movies with Mackenzie.

Kylah did great without mommy (this was her first time away from me overnight!) She thoroughly enjoyed her spaghetti!

She's just too cute...and ready for a bath!

I usually can't post videos on my blog because my camera doesn't have video. Jennifer got this video of Kylah singing with her. You can really hear her trying to sing!

And, who knew Kylah was such a good helper?! She was told to help pick up the toys, and that's just what she did!

And in this one, apparently Joey thinks his little sister is hilarious! (That's Joey laughing in the background.) And who wouldn't think Kylah's hilarious with that crazy "crawl". Yep, you get to see the crawl/scoot we've been talking about!

I love seeing videos of them! We haven't figured out if we can upload video clips from our video camera at home. I'm tempted to buy a cheap camera with video just so I can upload video of them onto my blog! :)

So, Jennifer told us last night that Joey had a fever. I think at one point he said his throat hurt. I brought up my strep kit with me, and tested him when we got here. (He actually ran away from me when he saw me with the throat swab! I felt terrible...he didn't feel good; he hadn't seen me in two days; and then I made him gag!) Sure enough, he has strep again. I'm not sure where he picked it up this time. Maybe from all those germs at World's of Fun last weekend. Joe is out getting Joey his medicine right now, so I'm sure he'll be feeling better soon.

Happy Birthday Kylah (for the second time)

We had birthday party #2 for Kylah tonight with Joe's family. It was great. All of Kylah's Manthe aunts and uncles were there, as well as Grandpa, Nana, Great-Grandpa, Great-Grandma, Grammy and even a few great aunts and uncles! Quite a houseful, but we loved it!

These are the cakes. I made the one (1) on the left. :) The other one is a yummy DQ cake!

Joey helping Kylah blow out the candle.

Kylah loves her Uncle James!

Kylah had lots of little helpers opening gifts for her again!

Grandpa and Nana got Kylah a baby doll complete with stroller and accessories. Joey opened that one for her. After Joey opened it, he got up (unprompted), went over to Nana and proceeded to give her a hug and tell her thank you. It was adorable (and even cuter because it isn't even his gift!)

Kylah giving a kiss to her new baby from (Great) Uncle Pat and (Great) Aunt Susan.

This might be my new favorite picture of Kylah and me!

*************************************************

And a sneek peak...

We took a Manthe family picture this afternoon. I think we snapped over 100 shots, but did manage to come away with a good one. (There was a little bribery with candy involved!)

****************************************************

We have been having a blast here in Kansas with Joe's family. Luckily we get to stay until Wednesday (and then Joe and I go back to Omaha--sans kids--to work Thursday and Friday, and then come back next weekend.) The down side to all of this fun family time is that Josh and Val leave June 1st to go back to the Philippines. :( But we're planning on making every last second count!

And the winner is...

...well, nobody actually guessed the correct answer. I'll give the prize to Amy, since she knew the answer already, but didn't tell any one else! Problem is, I don't really know what the prize is! :)

Yesterday we went to World's of Fun in Kansas City with all of Joe's family. Joe's parents took all of us (that's 12 adults and 6 kids!)

Here's the whole clan on our way in.

All of the kids had a blast. We got to the park when it opened at 10 am, and left with the kids at 5:30! They did amazing.

This was Joey's favorite ride---the airplanes. (World's of Fun has this wonderful area for kids called Camp Snoopy. There were at least 10 rides just for kids that Joey and his cousins could ride by themselves!)

Joey and daddy riding the rollercoaster. It was great to ride with Joey and hear his laughter during the ride!


Kylah and baby Deacon even got in on the kiddie rollercoaster. It was a little bumpy at the end, but other than that she thought it was great! (The funny thing was, the ride attendant wouldn't let me on with her until I put her shoes on. She wasn't like, 'ma'am, your child is a baby and can't go on this ride'...she says 'ma'am, your baby needs shoes.') We thought it was pretty funny!





Joey loves his Grandpa!

I love this picture of James and Jeff!

We brought our own sack lunches. Best decision ever, since even a slushie was $5!

This was Kylah after lunch. She did amazing falling asleep in her stroller! She just went with the flow the whole day. Bella is enjoying one of the $5 slushies...poor little thing with porcelain skin got quite red!

Joey and his three buddies on the boat ride (cousins Bella, Hannah and Mackenzie.)

Joey and Mackenzie enjoying the swing ride.

This is Val and I. Can you see that roller coaster in the background behind us? That's the ONE and ONLY rollercoaster I went on for the day. Apparently I'm getting old. I didn't really enjoy the ride at all...felt sick a few times during the ride, and then was dizzy and off balance for quite a while after the ride! I still managed to have a great time with the kids (and going on a few smaller rides with Joey!)

Kylah finally got to get down on her own in the huge ball play area. Minus a few sticks she put in her mouth, she loved it!

This is Joey on our way out of the park at 5:30 pm. One minute he was jabbering about all the rides, and the next minute his head was resting on the side of the stroller and he was out!

We all had such a fun time! Thanks Jody and Jennifer (Joe's parents) for such a great day!

*************************************************

And just because these kids are so darn cute...

What we did today...

OK...A little contest today for all of my faithful blog readers. I'm going to give you three picture hints of what we did today. Leave your guess in the comments section. The winner will get something really cool...maybe.

Here's your three hints:

Do you know? Have fun guessing! I'll let you know what we did today along with some great pictures tomorrow!

Cribbage

My Grandpa Stuckwish instilled in me a love of Cribbage. Luckily, I married a man who knows how to play!

On nights when there is nothing good on TV, you may just find me and Joe playing a good round of Cribbage.

We played a game last night after American Idol. (I won!) :)
By the way, the Cribbage board that you see in this picture was my grandparents' and who knows how old. We love it!

Sum-sum-summer time (almost)

With a high of 90 degrees today, we thought it would be a good day to bring out the pool. I had to go in to work for a few hours this morning, but on my way I called Joe to ask him to fill up the pool so that after nap time this afternoon the kids could go in it.

Well, Joey helped daddy fill up the pool this morning and couldn't wait to be able to swim. We are trying to teach him the art of patience, but it's pretty hard for his two-year-old self. Anyway, when I got home around 10, we decided to let Joey in the pool even though the water was freezing cold. He loved it! (Even though he lost his breath every time he went down the slide due to the coldness of the water!)

Pure excitement!

We let Kylah sit outside the pool for a while, but as it warmed up outside, we decided she should have a turn too. It took her breath away, but she was soon splashing and laughing!

Joey is happy to have a playmate in his pool this year.

Every time I blog I tell myself I will only put a few pictures up. Well, 12 pictures later, I realize I have a hard time cutting any out. :)

Not quite as warm as my bath, but still pretty fun!

Joey heard this often..."Joey, you better not pour any water on Kylah's head..."

The slide into the pool is always a favorite.

(Can't you just feel the how cold that water is?!)

It was so fun seeing Kylah in a little swimming suit.

The rear view was pretty cute too.

I love these moments when they are laughing with each other!

Joey was blowing bubbles at Kylah in the pool.

I slathered both kids with SPF 50 two times today, but I think they both still got a little color. (Probably because we went back out to the pool again after nap time!)
Joe is quite burnt. We both need a little base tan before Jamaica! Did you all notice my little ticker in the side bar that counts down the days until Jamaica?!

Birthday Girl!

We had birthday party #1 for Kylah on Saturday. (We'll be having another little celebration next weekend in Kansas.)

We had a little cupcake party. All of the kids got to decorate their own apron and then decorate their own cupcakes. It turned out great, and all the kids seemed to have a fun time.

Here's the pretty birthday girl!

Joey had to wait all morning and after lunch until he could decorate his cupcake. Waiting is hard to do. But finally the time came. He was so precise in his decorating (and kind of a minimalist with the frosting...must take after his dad on that one!)

Four of the little chefs hard at work: Olivia, Joey, Logan and Michael.

Now, this is my kind of cupcake! Look at all that frosting! Way to go, Olivia!

All of the little party guests. Can you see the birthday girl watching from her highchair?!

Time for the birthday girl's cupcake. Happy 1st birthday!

What is this??

That's it!

Yep, it's yummy!

This little boy, Duncan, is 12 days younger than Kylah (but has always been about 10 pounds heavier!) Aren't they sweet?!

Spread 'em.

Logan appointed himself to be Kylah's gift helper.

Kylah was thrilled with her gifts.

It appears to me here that Kylah totally knows what that little basketball hoop is and how to shoot a basketball. Look at that follow-through!

My parents got Kylah this little bouncing zebra. She loves it (as do Michael and Joey!) :)

Michael and Joey had a great time just being boys and hanging out in the tree in the backyard.

Gramma and Kylah. Thanks for coming to Kylah's party, Gramma!

We also had a great time with Andy, Kelly and Michael this weekend. We stayed out way too late on Friday night at my cousin's graduation party. And we still managed to go out to eat Saturday night at Roja!