We have had an absolutely gorgeous weekend.  Cool nights and warm days.  Chris' mom came this weekend, so he and I could have a long overdue date night.  Both Saturday and Sunday morning we took the girls to parks.  Lots of time to run around and get some fresh air.  Yesterday we took long walks on paths and explored some new area.  Today we hit up a familiar park and played on the playground and swings.  I took so many more pictures of Lena, because Maddie sat nicely with Grandma for quite some time just eating her snack and sipping her juice.  Both of these girls love to swing (and eat Oreos according to the last picture).  There was a little whining when I told them it was time to get down and go home.  It helped that I bribed them with seeing daddy when we got there.   

Picture from my phone during our bike ride.

We went to the zoo with some friends again this morning (Chris and I just took M and L last Saturday, too.).  The weather has been awesome, so I couldn't turn down an invitation to spend the morning outside.  These are the only pictures I took- I'm sure you have seen enough of the girls at the zoo anyway.  I let them out of the wagon for only a short time.  They just wouldn't listen, and they kept wandering off.  Needless to say, they were pretty pissed when I strapped them back in.  In the last picture Lena is screaming, "My baby elephant!" and trying to hit Maddie away from the statue.  This was our first stop.  Kind of a prediction for how the trip would turn out I suppose.  Overall, it really wasn't too bad, but all the kids were melting down by the time we headed for home.  M and L fell asleep in the car, which means that 20 minute cat nap was all they took today.  I knew what was happening...I rolled down the windows, turned the music up, and tried to talk to them, but I just couldn't keep them awake.  

This evening I took the girls for a ride in their trailer behind my bike.  We rode all over town and through the country club.  We hadn't been on the road for two minutes when Maddie bit Lena.  Tears started flowing immediately.  Lena cried herself to sleep almost instantly.  Poor thing.  Maddie was gone about five minutes after her.  After that it was a nice, peaceful ride. 

As I cleaned up a scrape on Lena's hand this afternoon I explained to her that the medicine and Dora band-aid would make it all better.  Maddie watched very closely while rubbing her knee.  She tried to tell me her boo boo hurt too, but she hasn't had a mark on her knee in weeks.  I told her she only got a band-aid if she had a boo boo.  She said, "Want boo boo, please!"

M and L's birthday buddy Maya came over to play last week while her mom took her brothers to the doctor.  We "ate" cupcakes, tortured the dog, and watched  a little Dora.  They repeatedly asked for Dora, so I finally turned her on.  Wow!  These two year olds went wild!  It was like a group of teenage girls at a Justin Bieber concert!  They all danced and ran around and sang the theme song.  It was really cool to watch the three of them together.  The girls are getting to the age where they want to actually play with someone instead of play next to them.  All three like baby dolls, so that is what they played with the majority of the afternoon.

Last Saturday we had a family and friends get together for Maddie and Lena's birthday.  We invited a few of our neighbors and their kids over, and all of the grandparents were here.  We had lunch and Dora and Boots cupcakes.  The girls opened more presents (they are starting to think we have a present opening session once a week).  Besides me spilling an open container of pizza sauce all over the kitchen, everything was perfect.  We had great company, a sunny day, and two very happy two year olds.

Two year stats:

Madeline- 36 1/2 inches (95%), 33 pounds (95%)

Lena- 36 1/2 inches (95%), 33 pounds (95%)

Pretty amazing, huh?  I can't believe they are exactly the same.  The doctors just laugh at the fact that they were preemies.  So do my arms when I try to carry them.  One of the girls said, "Hola!" to the doctor when she came in the room.  Dora strikes again.  To put it mildly, the girls were very active while we were in the room.  There is  a little ladder that the kids climb to get up on the table, and there is a mirror lining the wall behind it.  I wouldn't be surprised if the ladder was completely worn out after our visit, and they needed to replace it.  M and L climbed up and down that thing so many times.  Fortunately, my mom went along to help...thank God.  As soon as the doctor asked if they were stringing words together, one of the them yelled, "My turn!"  Awesome.  At least she knows they are on the right track.  She did say these are two of the most polite two year olds that she has ever met.  I think they were showing off by saying please and thank you, since they were receiving so much praise for it.  M and L both did really well with their exam and shots.  The tears stopped as soon as I offered ice cream.  The Dora stickers helped, too.

There is this really cool place about ten minutes from our house called Inniswood Gardens.  I can't believe I didn't realize it is right down the road.  My friend Katy and I took our kids there a couple weeks ago.  She had just discovered it the week before.  The girls love tromping around the grounds.  The are free to go pretty much anywhere and climb on anything.  There are tons of flowers, lots of water, and cool things to play on.  It is certainly not your typical kid's park...no playground.  But who cares when there is so much other fun stuff??  M and L particularly like the wind powered water feature, the swinging bridge, and the tree house carved out of an old tree stump.  This would be an amazing place to take pictures of the kids if I really knew how to use our camera.  I think it is about time I study up.  My mom, Steph, and I took them on one of the hottest days this summer!  That is probably why Maddie ended up laying in one of the water tubs.