Three Rings of Boredom

I often get free tickets to events in town through work, just a perk of slaving away at a TV station I guess. So in the past couple of years we've taken Ellie to Care Bears Live, Elmo Live, stuff like that. But this past weekend, the Circus was in town. I don't know the last time I'd been to a circus, and Ellie likes animals and stuff, so I thought, "We're not paying for it, we might as well just go."

(That's us before we headed out)

Carrie stayed home with the boys, and Daddy and Ellie had a date night. But after about 30 minutes at the circus, I knew we wouldn't be staying very long. It started with the tigers and a big lion. She liked that for the most part. It was a little slow, but they jumped through a ring of fire, so that was cool. There was a huge elephant that did all sorts of tricks. She liked that, but otherwise the show was a bit lame.

It didn't so much hold her attention, but overall we had a good time. We got one of those glow in the dark sparkle toys (i.e. Daddy's a sucker) and had pop and popcorn and made some memories.

At the intermission Ellie says, "Daddy, I don't really want to be here anymore..." So I said, "Wanna go get some ice cream instead?" Her answer was pretty obvious.

So we headed to Dairy Queen to finish off the evening. We had a good time and some good stories to tell Mommy when we got home. I think she had fun. At least (as you can see) she liked the pop, and besides the refreshments (and the stupid $4 sparkle toy) it was free. And we learned that we can probably leave the free tickets for somebody else next year!

This is Spring? Seriously...

So we have a lot to talk about since we haven't posted in awhile. So here it goes. This is what our front and back yards looked like after yesterday, and we were the lucky ones. Some people in towns around us had about 10 inches of snow to deal with. Luckily we only got a couple, but it was still depressing! April 25th snowstorm? Ridiculous!
We got to take the boys to their first ever baseball game this week! SDSU played the Minnesota Gophers in Sioux Falls, and the Jackrabbits won! It's the first time we've ever beaten the Gophers, so it was pretty exciting. The boys couldn't be there to see the win though, since it was past their bedtime when it got over (past Daddy's bedtime too...but I stayed anyway. Hard to believe I know).
We took our first big trip to Brainerd in the "Mini" last weekend. This picture was taken while driving...a little dangerous I know. But we were all packed in there pretty tight. The boys were in the back, Ellie and Carrie sat in the middle, and yours truly chauffered. It should be noted that Carrie didn't sit on one cheek the entire trip though...just to check on the little fellows. Ellie however DID watch movies and eat snacks the entire trip as you can see. The inventor of portable entertainment is a genius.
Ellie got a balloon when we stopped for ice cream on the way, and had a little static goin' on. The ice cream stop was strategic in nature though too. It was about halfway, so we fed some babies, all hit the bathroom, and what better place to get all of that done but Dairy Queen?
The trip home was full of family time, and it was outstanding. Alex and Maguire got to meet Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Eiesland for the first time. They know exactly what holding twin boys is all about too. These two raised a set of twin boys themselves (there's the family connection with twins!), plus had three more boys to contend with at the same time!
Great-Grandma Alice couldn't get enough of the little guys, and they loved being cuddled up!

My big bro and his family came over to Brainerd to spend some time too!

Alex getting some love from Auntie Heidi!

Maguire fell fast asleep in the arms of his cousin Alyssa too. He can sleep for a long time when he's being held...he's the one that craves the cuddle.

My mom played host, and got a little baby holding time in too. She got a little smile from Maguire in this one below too!

And we'll finish this post off with a few random pictures of the boys and Ellie the last couple of days. Sorry about the length of this post, but we had a lot go on this past week!

Carrie finally snapped a picture with a smile from both of them! Hurray!

Girls' Day Out

Ellie and I celebrated the arrival of spring yesterday (FINALLY!) with a Girls' Day Out. Well, more like a Girls' 2-1/2 Hours Out, since we had to be back in time for naps!

Chris stayed home on baby duty....

...while Ellie Bean and I hit the town for some new haircuts:

Some new summer sandals and toenail polish:

Ice cream at the Dairy Queen with her best friend Mariana and mom Amy (sorry, forgot the camera on the actual outing!) and then back home to relax and cuddle with babies. It was a great day!

Virtually Impossible!

The art of photography is something neither Chris or I are particularly gifted in, and we will be the first to admit it. We have gained a new admiration for those who make a living trying to get kids to smile. And all at the same time! I am getting stressed out just thinking of our upcoming family picture session with our photographer friend, Amy! Anyway, the other day we were snapping some shots of the boys, and as you can see, getting two babies to look at the camera at the same time (let alone smile) is a task we haven't quite mastered yet...

Bath Time Fun

Sorry there's not many great Ellie shots -- we had to make sure there were bubbles in all the right places for modesty's sake....

Momma's Milk Factory

I've been meaning to post this picture for awhile now, but just lost track of it. My brother and his family were gracious enough to bless us with a new deep freeze a couple of months ago now, and here it is. Just out of the blue, a receipt shows up in the mail. They're awesome like that, so now we have a big freezer to store...hmmm...let's think...what should we put in there? Oh yeah...the ridiculous amount of milk that Carrie produces!

Those bags she's holding? Just a tiny fraction of it. The whole side of the freezer is full, and since this picture was taken the supply has obviously grown significantly. But thank the Lord for it, it's a blessing to have too much rather than not enough. Thank God for my brother and family too, because we'd have NO room for it without them!!

I tried to upload some more pictures, but for some reason they won't go on...so this post is short and sweet!

Brothers and Sister Shots