Lola Visits, Magnus Turns 2

Last week we had one of our favorite visitors-- my mom!  I was really excited for her to see how the boys have changed since she last saw them in May.  Magnus talks in 3-4 word sentences, tells stories even; and Linus is sounding more and more like me (bossy-know-it-all).  The best part about having mom visit is that I don't have to apologize for the mess in my house.  On the contrary, we didn't clean the kitchen or sweep the floors knowing she would do it for us :)

One week really flies by too fast.  We went to tumbling class and made dinner for friends one day.  Checked out the Air & Space Museum and bought crabs on another.  But there were quiet moments for books and backyard play, too.

 That weekend was Mattias' company picnic, at a farm with animals and a pumpkin patch.  It's funny because only the employees with kids show up to the picnic.  Fried chicken for the chubby pregnant lady, cupcakes for the kids, and beer for Mattias-- we can't pass that up.

There is a tractor pulled hay ride out to the pumpkin patch, where the kids got to pick out a pumpkin.

 

After pumpkins the boys checked out the farm animals and played around the massive playgrounds.  It was really cute that Linus was super excited to see some of his preschool friends.id I mention that Mattias decided to head back to the bar and drink beer while us women tended to the kids? 

After a while, my back really started to hurt.  So I joined the guys at the picnic area, laid in the grass, and enjoyed the sunshine for a bit.

The kids (with grandmas) came back eventually, and we all took a nice nap on the long car ride home. We managed to get this awesome brother photo before we left.  Can you imagine one more brother in the near future?  We're pretty excited to see how the dynamic between the three develops.

The following day we celebrated Magnus' 2nd birthday.  Little dude woke up happy as usual, and we went downstairs for breakfast and presents.  He seems really touched by all the singing, and really loved having us all together.

Magnus is definitely Mattias' son.  He opened each present and took the time to examine and play with each new toy, not rushing to open the next gift.  Linus, being my son, wanted to open all the presents for Magnus, and did so happily when Magnus lost interest.

 

Being prego and tired all the time, and worn out from life in general, I decided to take it easy on the party planning.  1) I had my mom and Mattias do most of the cooking and I bought a bunch of sides from a local restaurant, 2) Kerstin took care of the decorations 3) I didn't go all nut-zo on activities/games.   This year Magnus had a giraffe themed party (it's his favorite animal.)  Here's this years cake: carrot cake with cream cheese/buttercream  frosting!  

 

Mattias and Mel on grill duty.  Mattias is almost never involved in party planning, instead acting as my minion on the day of the event.  Mel came early, so he became minion #2.

Once the kids arrived they went straight to the trampoline filled with balloons.  Even Willie had a good time hanging out .

After eating, we gathered the kids to break open the pinata.  So much work and effort, all for the kids to bash it to pieces.  Magnus was very gentle during his turn, while Linus opted to skip beating the pinata all together.  Maybe they grew attached to it, after watching me work on it for so long...

All the other kids had no problem beating the crap out the cute giraffe pinata.  Elizabeth did a Tonya Harding and took out his poor legs.

Finn put a good sized hole in his side. Check out the wide legged stance!

Then Hartley offed his head, just like that.  She beat him so hard he came off the string, then continued to beat him as he lay lifeless on the ground.

Mattias was able to safely retrieve the carcass to empty out the booty.

Then it was cake and singing time.  The party went by pretty quickly, and just like that, a storm started to roll in.

 The giraffe's head made it to the mast of the pirate ship, Lord of the Flies style. 

This time saying goodbye to my mom was not so hard.  We talked a bunch about our move back to San Francisco next Spring, and how she would come back after the baby was born, and again to help us move in May. The kids really loved having Lola around, Magnus even called out for her from his crib the morning after she left, and Linus made a sign in our guestroom that said he missed her. But I won't lie-- as much as I make it sound like my mom visits because she needs to see her grand kids, the truth is, she comes out to take care of me too.