Yes, both boys are sick again.  This time it's just a case of the sniffles.  They are fully active with play and school and such, just cranky around the edges of the day.  Sleeping is rough too so I have both humidifiers rockin' in their rooms.  I guess I'm grateful it's not another GI flu?

Yes, we went on our date.  The movie and the food and the friends were all fabulous.  Yes, I left the sitter with Jack who was complaining of feeling sick again and wanted to lie down.  Apparently he just laid around watching TV then went to bed early.  Whatever.  I got to see some superheros save the world and not worry about anything else for a couple hours.  Relaxing.

Of course the illness is not over.  No ho ho.  Sam has a runny nose today and Jack has had more episodes of suddenly feeling "sick in my tummy."  He lies down for a while, then recovers.  So weird, and so bad for my nerves.

I have been sewing more tops this week.  For some reason, knitting is not doing it for me lately.  I'm waiting for Fancy Tiger to get their new shipment of Madelinetosh yarn, so the things I'm working on are not new or exciting.  I sewed a Sailor Top out of Liberty of London fabric and it's just gorgeous.  At $34 a yard, I'll have to wait for another sale to buy more.

Today was busy for a Monday.  I (finally) had an appointment to get my car repaired, so first thing in the morning we dropped it off and got a rental.  The staff were so nice and let Jack pick between white and red cars.  Guess which he picked?  I feel like a teenage boy driving that red thing.  Then we all went to the preschool for parent teacher conferences.  Jack is doing great, as expected.  She gave me some tips to help him smooth out his handwriting by developing fine motor muscles.  Sam loved that he finally got to play in the preschool classroom.  Usually he tries to sneak in during pick up/drop off.  Next we picked up some playdough at Target (part of his fine motor skills development) and then went to the library for our usual story time.  Sam is a MONSTER there.  Constantly running all over the place, tearing books off shelves, putting toys in his mouth.  I swear, he's going to be the WORST in his terrible twos.  Good thing he's so cute.

Some videos from today and recently, for your enjoyment. 

I finally succumbed to it.  I've been healthy all month despite my germ home invasion. Then I spent most of last night in the bathroom.  Gah.  It seems be all done though - I'm just tired and cautious to eat.  Jack got the bug a couple hours before I did.  By my count we have all four had the latest gastroenteritis in the last week.  I declare us DONE with that and no one can get sick now.  You hear me?!

I've had tickets for the Avengers Friday night for over a month.  If something keeps me from the Alamo tomorrow night there will be hell to pay.  

After that continuous string of illnesses in mid April, there have been aftershocks.  Ben had a day of gastroenteritis last Tuesday.  Then Sam was sick Thursday with the same - coming out both ends.  He recovered quickly by the weekend and I thought we were all clear.  But randomly Ben was knocked out again today with a similar thing.  Grrr.  Germs, germs, go away.  Don't come back another day.

He did really well. Keeping Sam occupied for one and a half hours, during nap time, was the hard part for me. He's happily watching Spider-Man now, lips still a little numb two hours after the procedure. They did a frenectomy too. My idea, actually. He needed one eventually, and I figured as long as he's numbed up we should get it done. The doc agreed and said actually new research is supporting doing them earlier (usually done in preteens). He has a couple stitches from it that will probably hurt more later.

Glad it's over with. Tooth is under pillow, ready for a fairy visit tonight.

A promise fulfilled - we took the family to the zoo!  Sam hasn't been since he was newborn.  We went ahead and renewed our membership.  With the early bird discount (before May) our pass was $69 instead of $80.  Considering the cost for a single visit for us is 17+17+12+free = $46, it just makes sense.

We love the Denver zoo!  Animals everywhere you look, friendly staff, and good kid stuff.  Saturday was extra special because Mike's Camera was sponsoring a free trial.  They had tons of fancy, high-end cameras that you could use for the day and take home all the photos you take.  We decided our hands would be full with the kiddos and passed on the opportunity.  But everywhere you looked there were monopods and humongous lenses.  It made it easy to see where the active animals were - like paparazzi!

Lions and rams are the traditional start to the zoo.





A playful bear, this was Jack's impression.



Map master.



Once the snacks came out they stole Sam's attention.



Zoo classic.





Removing children from aggressive peacock reach.



Feeding time gave us an amazing view of the polar bear.











Finish up with big cats on the way out of the zoo. 



There's more pictures on my flickr photostream if you want to see them all.  I also captured Sam's motto for the day:

The boys looked extra shaggy so I took them out for haircuts on a snowy spring day.  This was Sam's first time in a salon, so I sprung for the good stuff at a special kids place.

No tears in sight!

Not pictured is a visit to the dentist the day before.  Sam did not love it, I'll say that.  But the doc got a good look at his teeth and said it looks fine.  He chipped his front tooth at some point, apparently.  Also, he has a siamese twin tooth.  It's where two conjoined teeth erupted in a single tooth's spot.  There's a definitely ridge, and I always thought it was two teeth very close together.  But he said it would be impossible to floss between them and they are actually a single tooth.  I'd share a picture but he's impossible to photograph that way.  Maybe when he's older. 

Jack on the other hand, had bad news.  That front tooth he chipped at 18 months is abscessing and scheduled to be extracted on Wednesday.  Poor dude doesn't know what's coming.  I've been honest but vague on the procedure and put heavy emphasis on the tooth fairy.  Post-procedure pictures coming later this week I'm sure.