Saturday we went to the Eagles Nest. I was building Bennett up for it, telling him the night before that we were going. It actually was a really effective way to get him to leave Brielle's house and go home to bed. Then in the morning, we went over the rules for the Eagle's Nest: we must wear socks and we will take a potty break without objections. He seemed okay with the rules. When we got there, he was bursting with excitement, but did a good job of putting his coat and boots in a cubby while I was paying. And as hard as it is for a 2 year old to be obedient, he asked if he could go play instead of just taking off. I was really quite impressed with him, and I doubt Caroline will be the same.

Bennett was definitely in his element. It has been a while since we've been to an indoor playground. The last time we went was during the summer, and he couldn't get up parts of the structure that had platforms. Totally not an issue for him this time around. At one point he asked me to go through with him and he told me, "I just have to jump up," and would jump and grab onto the next platform, then pull himself up. Bennett has always been such a physical kid, holding his head up from day one, jumping months before the developmental milestones said he should've, and now getting up the play structure. And he's so fearless too, it's so great to see.

Both kids went into a ball pit for their first times. Both LOVED it. I mean, really loved it. Bennett would swim in it, then ask to be buried. Caroline would even jump around and always had a smile on her face. And yes, we parents went  in too. It's amazing the memories that come flooding back went I got in. The feeling of drowning in balls... it was so great to watch the kids experience it.

I forced her to go through the play structure too. She was definitely hesitant and needed me to lead the way. I'm not too sure if she liked it because she showed zero emotion.

The static really got to both of the kids' hair.

Despite the look of indifference on her face, Caroline REALLY loved the ball pit. She isn't like Bennett, where she walks around with a permanent grin on her face, but she couldn't stop smiling in the ball pit. I really don't think I've ever seen her so pleased with her situation.

Crazy static hair:

Towards the end of our play time, August left, so Bennett didn't have anyone to go through the play structure with... although he did spend more of the time zipping through it alone anyway, so he asked me to go with him. It was kind of sweet. He'd zip his way through something, then stop and wait for me to catch up. Or sometimes, he'd go back to where I was to make sure I was following. Then we went down the slide together a few times.

When we left, I told Bennett that we can go back again sometime. He just needs to remember that it's called the Eagle's Nest, and he can even ask us if we can go, like if we're bored on a Saturday morning or something. And Bennett said, "Then you'll say no?" and I said, "No. If we don't have anything to do, we can go. You just need to let me know if you want to go again and we can plan for it." "Then you'll say no?... Don't say no...." So obviously I tell him no a lot and am not a lot of fun... Afterwards, we went to Grandpa and Grandma's because the boys were going to spend the night. Bennett loves going. The first few times he went to sleep over, I felt really guilty about it, because I felt like I should be spending all my non-working time with him. He really loves sleeping over though, especially now that he can do it with August. Actually earlier in the week, we Facetimed Grandma and he first asked where August was. She told him August wasn't at her house, but at home. Then he asked if he could sleep over, and if August could too, which got the ball rolling for the sleepover.

While Bennett was having fun at the sleepover, Caroline got some much needed attention. To be clear, Caroline gets A LOT of attention all the time, but when Bennett's not around, she's ten times louder than normal. Talk, talk, talk, just like her brother. She talks when Bennett is around too, but when he's not, she's constantly jabbering and laughing. She pretty much skipped her afternoon nap, just to play with us and soak in all the attention. In the evening we ran some errands, and she fell asleep in the car, which was fine. Then we stopped for dinner. If Joel ever had a question as to whether the kids were his, their love of malts makes it pretty clear they are just like their dad. These kids LOVE malts, especially chocolate.

There have been some times recently where Caroline clearly needs to suck.  I can tell she finds it soothing, and not just because she's teething. I don't want her to get attached to a pacifier, and I think she's probably too old to do so anyways, but she'll take it for a while when it's offered. So when we read books, she sucked away.

Sunday we spent most of the day at Grandpa and Grandma's. In the afternoon, was trying to find me and disappeared. I had a feeling in her quest to find me, she found the diaper bag, which was open and saw the bag of Goldfish inside. She LOVES Goldfish. Yup, sure enough, when I found her she was holding the bag. I'm pretty certain a kidnapper could easily lure her away with Goldfish cracker and Puffs... a malt or ice cream would seal the deal.