The children's museum....

Matthias and Grace (driving the fire truck)
Josiah and Emily (building)
Leighton and AJ (unlimited banging on the keyboard and clicking of the mouse....something they can't do at home!)
AJ and Gehrig (she just had a tortilla taken from her...so she doesn't look happy, but she really did have fun)
At DQ after spending a couple hours playing.

We've made it a habit of going to Sebring to go to their children's museum at least once a month or so, mostly with friends from the library. We went yesterday and had a great time. It was the first time in a while that I've gone with all 5 of my kids. They all have fun, but the big kids can definitely play for longer than the babies (and AJ)...so it makes for a hard dynamic when the big ones want to stay and play longer and the little ones are melting down. Just another balance I need to figure out in my search for loving all of my children well. :)

So, the funny part of the trip..... we loaded up the kids in the car (plus our friend Emily) to make the 35 minute drive over and after going 20 minutes Kylie informs me that she has forgotten her shoes! She had socks on her feet and had forgotten to put her shoes on!! I couldn't believe it. We ended up stopping by a store (my friend who was following us stayed in the parking lot with her car and mine) and I ran in to get the least expensive pair of shoes that i could find. I'm a little surprised, actually, that that hasn't happened before...and in the midst of the inconvenience I was very amused.

Our latest Japan update: We are trying to figure out all the details, but are definitely planning on visiting Japan in September for a vision trip. We haven't bought plane tickets yet, and we're not positive if it'll be just Tom and I or if the twins will come with us. Honestly, I can't imagine being away from the babies for a week...but it really might be the best thing. We have really good friends who are planning on flying down to be with our kids while we're gone (which is a total answer to prayer). We're also going to be gone over Kylie's birthday, which she has (for good reason) been upset about. I know that she'll be okay, though. Anyways, that's the latest. We'll continue to keep you updated! Thanks for checking in. :)