The Van Becks: Birthday and Waterpark fun!

We had a fabulous weekend! We spent valentine's day at home but it was still great because we celebrated my brother, Bob;s birthday (which is on the 14th) with most of my family. We had a nice dinner at our house with steak, wine, etc. It was a great time. Once the kiddos went to bed, G'ma Sally stayed and held down the fort as the rest of the adults went out for a few drinks. I tell you - staying up until 2:00 a.m. just isn't as easy anymore!

Even though we were so tired on Sunday, we packed everyone up and headed to Arrowwood in Alexandria to have a fun few days at the resort and waterpark. Paige and my Dad came with us too. They all had a great time - going down slides, hangin' in the lazy river, playing basketball in the pool and of course warming up in the hot tub. (well the kids and Mike and I had fun - Dad spent most of his time touring the resort and napping with izzie!) Overall the water was very warm this time though, so that was a nice bonus. Olivia was our big dare devil always wanting to go down the slides and most of the time head first! It was great to see her like it so much for her age. Avery surprised me a lot by running and jumping into the pool and going all the way under! I was so proud of her.

We returned to reality on monday afternoon and it has been another busy week. I helped my parents set up their first email address, etc. on their computer! It should be interesting to watch them learn how to use a computer and the internet. The first thing my Dad wanted to learn was how to play free blackjack online! The next thing is to teach them how to use their dish and DVR -they have had this for quite some time now but still watch only 2 or 3 channels. My mom also had rotater cuff surgery today so we pray that all goes well for her and she recovers completely. She will he off work for a while and won't be able to do much, so I am sure the kids and I will be there helping out as much as we can.

The little girls have been talking away!! Olivia says a lot of 2 and 3 word combinations now and repeats everything we say. With her new found vocabulary has also come more sassy talk and faces. I had to laugh this morning when she was yelling NO at me and I just looked at her and she walked herself to the corner. It was one of those times where I had to hide my face from laughing at her. Some of her new favorites are "I don't know", "I want milk", "I want more", " No..don't.. stop", "I do it". She is also obsessed with shoes and purses. She can often be seen in someone's shoes and carrying 2 or more purses on her shoulder. Our little baby Izzie starting talking, well not really talking but she says DaDa! It is so fun to watch her say it - she is so proud of herself. You can tell she forgets how to do it and then once she gets the hang of it again she just keeps saying it. They are so much fun to watch!

This weekend we are looking forward to our annual Valentine's dinner with a bunch of close couple friends. It is a dinner without kids so it will be nice to catch up and play some cards with some of our favorite people.

I have some pics from the waterpark as well as a few videos of the girls talking.