Arch

I have been wanting to take Caleb up into the arch for a long time. He see it quite often when he go to my grandmas in IL and I guess he has probably seen it somewhat close up, but he had never been to the actual base of the arch and up inside it. I was excited to take him since most places I get to take him he has already been to. I had not been there since I was about 10 so it was I didn't really remember what to expect either.

His whole focus was on getting up to the top and then to get dippin dots on the way out. Oh, and he wanted to take a picture for Mark. Once we got in, we had to wait about 30 minutes for the next available tour. We checked out the museum and then got in line. Once in line we had to wait and watch videos which of course for Caleb was a lifetime.

Once at the top Caleb was a little nervous he was going to fall, but then he got the lay of the land and was excited to check it all out. We were only up there for about 5 or so minutes, but enough time to see what we needed to see and get on our way to get those dippin dots.

I have to be honest that I was REALLY nervous about the capsule ride and looking down from the top. As I have gotten older I have become anxious about small spaces and heights, but I was a big girl and did just fine. It actually wasn't bad at all. We were lucky though because we were with another mom and dad and their 5 year old little girl. I was envisioning several other large people with Caleb and I.

Mom and Caleb waiting for our ride back down

Caleb and Busch Stadium
Caleb in the capsule

Caleb and the Arch

Daddle

I think everyone needs a daddle and Aunt Sarah thought the babies needed one too so she gave it to Mark for Christmas. We have had it out several times since and it was more fun for Caleb than anyone else, but most recently everyone joins in on the fun. The daddle is a dad saddle and straps ever your shoulders and around your waist. Mark is more like a bull when Caleb is riding, but a gentle pony with the little ones. Caleb is usually on crowd control and helps the riders on a off.

Even though it is called the daddle, during the day I have to step in a play horsey. I find it more fun to watch and it is definitely easier on my knees.

Christian - Woo hoo!! Cohen - Giddy Up! (Caleb and Cecilia in the background)

Caleb

The lake..take two cont

More pics of the kiddos.....

After Cohen crashed the neighbors kiddie pool the day before we decided to just legally take them all over to play and they were diving in before it got too wild and we brought them back to play with the hose.

Cohen

Cecilia (little red), Cohen with the hose and Christian
Christian making his dog bark..hoo hoo

Cecilia being the wild woman that she is.

The lake..take two

We had not been able to make it back to the Lake of the Ozarks since memorial day and were getting a bit frustrated. So last week things fell into place so that we were able to not only go, but leave early on Friday and not come back until Monday. The extra added bonus was that almost the whole family was there with us. We have yet to be there by ourselves since the triplets were born and I'm sure we could do it but it is so nice to have the extra hands and eyes around especially for Caleb. At home Mark or I can handle the babies but at the lake many time we both need to be with them and Caleb's agenda is not always the same.

This weekend seemed to be so much more relaxing than memorial day was. I guess it is because we got over the hump of not knowing what it would be like with all 4 kids and are past the nervousness of it all. The babies seem to do really well with big groups and on the boat they just sit and chill. The boys in particular love to drive with Mark but someone is usually always standing looking out at the waves and water. It was a hot one so we were sure to have a cooler full of ice for them to play in and eat and all was well. Caleb spent a lot of time in the water and fishing. Grandpa put some steps into the water from the grass so the kids like to walk into the water and swim around to the ladder. I enjoyed driving the boat while Jacob and his friend tubed. It was fun to try to knock them off and I was successful two times. I decided to tube after they were done and 3 days later was still sore from it and I don't think I had nearly as rough ride as they did.

Caleb seems to really appreciate his time at the lake. This year on boat rides I have caught him relaxing in the back of the boat. This is the good life!!

Caleb, Caiden, Preston and Nolan

Our chore this weekend was to get a picture of all of the grand kids regardless of whether they were screaming or not. Lots of pics were taken and I think this was the best of the worst.

All 10 Gardner Grand kids : Jacob, Caleb, Cohen, Caiden, Cecilia, Nolan, Christian, Aliyah, Preston and Noah

Daddy and his helpers, Christian and Cohen

They're all mine

I know they are all mine because they love salsa & chips, Jalapeno cheese dip & chips and kettle cooked jalapeno chips. I have corrupted them all at a very early age!

Whipped Cream!

Caleb found the spray whipped cream in the fridge and we had some fun with it. He made whipped cream cup cakes with sprinkles for his 'friend' Caiden. We froze the cup cakes and took them to Caiden last night and he was very excited to get them. Caleb insisted that I have a whipped cream nose too and that we take a picture to show dad.

Monkey off my back

I think I am finally caught up with the blog. 18 posts in two weeks..whew! It has been a big weight on me and unfortunately I know I have missed a lot of funny great stories over the last few months by not updating on a regular basis, but hopefully I can keep up now. yeah for me!!

This is what it has come to....

Its no secret that we breed monkeys here at the Gardner house. Caleb scaled the pantry to get to the hidden treats at a very early age and the triplets are not going to be any exception to that rule. Most recently they have been climbing on the kitchen table. We had been doing our best to keep the chairs pushed in until Cohen and crew figured out how to move the chairs out and over to what they want. What they want is to get whatever is on the counter, in the sink and on the stove, most of which is dangerous.

Today was the last straw. I decided to make bacon and was SO looking forward to a BLT sandwich for lunch. I needed to run to the store and when I got back there was no back and guess who ate it?? Mark admitted to having some, but the rest was eaten by the little monkeys.

Mark and I discussed it and we needed to take further action. The plan was at nap time for me to go back to Lowes for bungee cords. According to Mark I got the fancy kind but I was worried about them getting hooked on the regular ones. Plus, the ones I got would be easy to unhook so that we could let Caleb in and out of his chair easily. The straps did not go so well....for some of us.

Cohen very upset about the straps on the chair.

Boom! Boom!

The weekend at the lake was SO much fun. Tons easier than we thought it be. The babies enjoyed all of the steps up and down. They have very plush carpet so by the end of the weekend Cohen would just slide all the way down. Cohen is a HUGE dog lover so he was super excited that there were two there. Cecilia liked the
a lot too, and Christian really was indifferent. Everyone loved to play pool or similar games with the pool balls. The trick was to keep the kids off the table and the balls on it.

As usual the babies went to bed around so they unfortunately did not get to see any fireworks. That was fine with me since Christian, even though he looks and acts a whole lot like Caleb is afraid of his own shadow.
The kids all loved to play at the sand beach and I even convinced Caleb (well actually it was a bribe/threat). The babies were left with Mark and when we got back I was instructed to not ever leave him and the babies alone on the beach again. Apparently it got a little stressful since they loved the water so much. We loved that they loved it, but sand is such a pain in the butt to clean up.

The fireworks display is always the highlight of the weekend. Other highlights were the karaoke machine and the Breathalyzer. We were all up too late and got up way to early, but hey, it was fun. My only regret is that I did not get any pictures of the kids in the sand or really anything at all.

Bath time- Christian and Cohen

Bath time-Christian, Cohen and Cecilia

Nolan, Caleb and....all of the fireworks
Blue lipped Caleb and mom on the boat waiting to watch the awesome fireworks display

Road Trip!

Every year for the 4th of July we go to Mark's Aunt Lisa and Uncle Steve's lake house right outside of Columbia, MO. This year I talked Mark into going and as time got closer he was the one reassuring me that it would be ok. Going there is really not much different than going to the lake of the ozarks, but it is closer to home so that is nice. There are usually about 30 or so people there which makes for an exciting time. WE decided that we would not wait until closer to the babies bed time to leave since Cecilia refuses to sleep in the car anyway. We went ahead and turned all of their seats so they were facing forward and that way we could throw food at them at dinner time. As it turned out Mark actually got off work early so we were able to load the car while they were napping and on the road by 3ish. They weren't sure what to think about sitting forward, but they had little devilish grins that showed they were really excited about it. They were fine for awhile, but were not interested in their sandwiches or fruit I brought so when we stopped so Caleb could go to the bathroom I pulled out the m&m's. They were a huge hit and stopped the crying for a little while. The M's tied them over until we got there but Cohen was not happy.

When we arrived we were given the coveted 'cave room' This is the room below the garage that is cold, dark and quiet. The bonus is that it is also the play room so it has the roller coaster and tons of toys/books. On the way to our room there is a sunk in fire place that we were worried about falling into, but they were really careful around it.

While Mark unloaded Cohen discovered that they had a dog (who quickly wanted to be away) and the steps up to the loft and down stairs.

Caleb watching a movie trying to drown out the screamers with his headphones
Christian and Cecilia which chocolate covered faces

Cecilia and Cohen (very unhappy..screaming for more m&m's)

Bows!!

The babies have really started to want to play with all of Cecilia's bows. Keep in mind she has a whole basket of them along with a hanging ribbon full and has no hair. I really shouldn't say that she has no hair, but most of it is on the back of her head and the little hair that she has on top only holds a small bow. When I put the small bows it is like sharks attacking and it is immediately ripped out. Some days I am worried that the little bit of hair on her head is going to get ripped out with the bow, but so far so good. I actually have just given up on putting bows in her hair for the time being.

This particular day was different though because everyone wanted to wear bows and lots of them. Here is Cecilia modeling 3 or 4 and yes, we do know that Christmas was 6 months ago.

Christian has the best hair for bows and seems to like his white one. Caleb kept yelling at him to take it out so it became a funny game.

Oh, and mommy can't be left out. Caleb is photographing the models.

Cohen wanted NO part of the bow pictures

Happy 60th Dad!! June 20th

My dad turned 60 this year!!! We took him out to dinner with my grandparents, Jason, Sarah, Emma and Logan. We left the babies with my mom so we could actually eat and enjoy our time out.

Being the nice daughter that I am I found this hat and made him wear it throughout dinner. He was a good sport and the kids really got a kick out of the hat since it had 'candles' on top. We wished him many more great years and ate till we were stuffed.

slip n slide

Who doesn't love a slip n slide?? Caleb got a spider man slip n slide for his birthday so I pulled it out for the kids to play with. Obviously the babies don't really know how to actually slide but they loved the water that sprayed on them and the pool where the water gathered at the end.

It was a typical weekend day so Mya, Jen and Abigail came over from next door to play as well. This time was different though because I decided that it would be a good idea to slide...yeah, not so much. I think I knocked the wind out of myself when I hit the hard ground. Jen was nice enough to grab my camera and capture the moment and thankfully she did because I don't know that it will happen again anytime soon. Once was enough for awhile.

Cohen and Cecilia walking the slide and Caleb ducking at the end.

Crazy lady on the slide
Cecilia

Caleb

party time

We went to Meghan's graduation party and there were scattered showers but the kids were able to get out and play. They rearranged all of the rocks in Chris and Barbara's back yard and made sure that they tasted OK before they put them back. Grandma and PaPa brought their pool so they could splash around and play with rocks in there too. Thankfully they didn't do too much damage (I think) but had a great time. Grandma gave wagon rides in the rain. Caleb was at the lake and Mark was watching the world cup soccer game so it was just me and the kiddos.

Cecilia

Cohen

Christian

Ben, Cecilia, Cohen and Christian

The park

My mom, the babies, Caleb and I ventured out to a park that off Manchester Rd that was nestled in a neighborhood. It had a little water feature with was ok...it shot up one stream of water and then crashed down the the kids. I think it was meant to be more like a mushroom sprayer, but not so much. This was the first time that the babies had been to a park. Even with the two of us, it was pretty stressful. The babies are not shy so all 4 of the kids pretty much took off in different directions. Thankfully we were not there very long, but long enough to get a couple of pics of Caleb playing in the water. He and grandma stayed longer and I took the babies home.

I 'got my feet wet' but not sure that we will be doing that very often. The sad part here is that I feel bad for the babies that they don't get to experience a lot of the things normal one year olds would because there are three of them. Its the mom guilt that kicks in, but all the more reason to get that swing set in the back yard. We will have it before the end of summer. Right now I really don't even want to think about putting it up in this heat!!

Polite drivers

Polite and naked. They wanted to take a little drive after a dip in Grandmas pool. Cecilia was not really interested in sharing her car so I guess the 'road' was good enough. Cohen really liked the 4 wheeler too.

The boys

Caleb has throughout the past year definitely had his favorites among the babies. Currently Christian is his best buddy. Here they are one morning giggling.

Egg hunt

It only seems appropriate that I am just past posting about Easter that Caleb had an egg hunt for all of us. He had me close my eyes and count and then we had to race to find the eggs. The person with the most eggs won...hmmm..I wonder who won. He was nice enough to share the eggs with the babies who of course loved the candy inside...yum!

Cecilia Christian

Cohen

Memorial day...at the lake

Memorial Day always seems to be the official beginning of summer and lake time. This year was no different and we were prepared with large gates. You never know what to expect on trips with kids and they were great. We decided to put all of the babies, Caleb and one parent in the bottom room since it has such easy access to everything. This is the room that we have slept in for quite awhile, but we really have outgrown the small room and double bed. Caleb really claims this as his room and always wants to sleep there too.

Caleb is always great at the lake mostly because he LOVES it there. He has become quite a little fisherman this year and can even put his own worm on the hook and take the fish off sometimes. He loves to swim and even jumped off Eifferts dock (two story) with Mark. He's done it before which is still a total surprise to me since he still won't go down the slide on our dock. We hardly hear a peep out of him since he is so occupied with swimming, fishing and playing with his cousins. With most things we do not it always seems that we miss out on our time with him since the babies demand so much. Thankfully we have great family support and he is really good about understanding what the babies need. Our 100% Caleb time is during naps and after 7pm when the babies go to bed.

Babies.....They were all great. I came prepared with two large gates so that we could make a large yard area for them to play in that was safe. AS it turned out we really didn't need them, but it was nice to know they were there just in case. They all took their turns enjoying the view from the front of the boat, but Cohen seemed to be the most excited about the wind in his face. We really went from nap time to the boat for a ride. They played in the sprinkler one day and were ok with that. We put the boys in the water to swim, but they both screamed the whole time.

All in all it was a great weekend. Just getting over the hump of traveling with tons of stuff for just a weekend is the hardest part.

Christian and Mark

Caiden, Nolan and Caleb

Cohen

Cecilia