All aboard!

This morning we headed downtown to the Maritime Event center (aka Maritime museum) to have fun with our twin friends. The museum isn't that well known and sometimes they have free days on Mondays and today just happened to be one of those Mondays. There is a lot for the kids to do including a boat to play in, pretend fish to load, buoys to haul and an enormous water table. Fun was had by all.

Twin mums

Almost 3 years ago now I looked like this:)
And I was lucky enough to attend a multiple birthing class with a lot of other ladies that looked like that too. There must have been about 15 couples in total and we shared such exercises as "5 things not to say to your wife during birth" and also got to listen to the (terrifying) stories of twin moms that had been through birth. About the end of July 2008 I started to get e-mails from all the couples documenting the arrivals of each set of twins. For the most part our group had good, long pregnancies and straightforward births though quite a few C-sections. Max and Zoe were the 2nd to last to be born and about 4 weeks after that they went on their first outing to meet the other twins from my birth class. Since then I have kept in touch with many of these amazing women and our kids have become good friends. I also joined another twin mum group called PEPS when M and Z were about 6 weeks and I have to say I think I owe all of these ladies my sanity. I got to share the best and the worst ( and in my case it was mostly worse) of early parenthood with them. They got me through tandem nursing, total sleep deprivation, pumping and the world's stompiest baby. Now we share mostly laughs, food and wine, but I am eternally grateful to them all for getting me through those dark days and thankful that I get to share the terrific twos with them right now.

Here are a few pictures from todays adventure with 5 twin moms, 5 sets of twins and baby Nash. We even ventured out for pizza after the open gym:)

Lastly, we missed you Oscar and Sadie, get well soon.

Milo and Nash

Max and Emily

Tate and Adelyn

Max, Miles,Shannon,Gia and Zoe

Max and a very unhappy Jacob:)

Zoe and Emily

Milo,Huston and baby Nash
Group shot

Little chefs

Max and Zoe have a new favorite recipe to cook-banana bread. Cooking with them is actually getting more fun and they love doing it. I find the mess a bit stressful, but overall it is a great way to spend a rainy afternoon.

Bend it like Beckham

Last week M and Z started in a Lil' Kickers class, which is a soccer class if you are a US reader or a football class for the UK contingent. We initially tried the class when they were 19 months old. It was a memorable 45 minutes that involved Zoe climbing the nets, both kids running about like a pair of crazies and one very exhausted mum. However now they are the big 2.5 they seemed ready to try again.

Max loves it and is naturally athletic. He understands the "no hands" rule and is a great runner and kicker. Zoe approaches the class with her trademark enthusiasm and individuality. Does she get the "no hands" rule? Not so much. Does she really care about kicking the balls, when she can lie on the astro turf and eat them? Not really. But they both have fun and it is great practice listening to a teacher and being in a group. The other highlight is that they are in the same class as their BFF's Miles and Gia. It is awesome to see the four kids together and watch them play. The very best bit is that after class we get to play "bouncy castles" (large inflatables) which is the most fun you can have with or without 2 year olds.

Aquarium

Max and Zoe love to visit the aquarium. We always get there early and get lots of time to play in the touch tanks. They are starting to get really interested in the creatures now, instead of just drinking the sea water. They still drink the water, just not by the gallon anymore. They also love the octopus, and this time they pointed out the cool octopus light that I have never noticed. They had a good time dressing up, though you can't tell that by the photo of Zoe! She went from happy to sad in as long as it took me to push the camera button.

It is always a good morning out, and we love to end the morning with lunch at Red Robin on the Pier.

Goodnight Sweethearts.

Because sometimes I just love them best when they are asleep:)

The Children's museum

We recently bought a family membership to the Children's museum. We visited once early last year and never went back. It was a rainy Seattle Saturday and the place was packed. The kids were still a bit wobbly on their feet and it was all a bit stressful. Well fast forward a year and things have changed a lot. The kids now listen (mostly!) and don't run off in different directions. They are able to enjoy all the exhibits now and really love the "ball tube room" and the art room. It is a great way to spend a rainy week day morning, so this week we headed over and Scott came a long too.