We start April Fool's Day off right.

By dressing the baby in long sleeves.

On a warm day outside

Turns out this one is smarter than I am - at least she's comfortable.

Of course, we switched her sun hat for a tiara!  Ha!

Joke's on you, baby!

Nothing like heat stroke for your first April Fool's gag.

He seems to be happy, though. Probably delirious.

Oh, man.

Look at those flushed cheeks.

Poor kiddo.

What is so distracting that he's not eating?

Oh, duh.

Who knows what she's looking at.

I asked for a smile and this is what I got.

She's "pushing up her cheeks! To make a smile!"

Jonas gives her a hand for most creative interpretation of the phrase "Smile for the camera."

Thank you, thank you.

Mmm.  Pizza.

Mmm. Neon Budweiser sign.  Seriously - he could not take his eyes off the thing.

Joe and his princess picked some lemons.

"Some" meaning six-thousand.

She put this one on the tops of her feet and announced "I'm a Daddy penguin!"  I love educational films. =)

Warning.  Laying down in the vicinity of a naked baby could result in getting a fat butt to the neck. 

What?

You don't wear your Snow White dress to play T-ball?

Look how well it coordinates with the T!

Looks like that one got away from her.

This is promising...

Ah.  The trick is to close your eyes!

Hmmm.  So you take this ball...

And you put it on that red thing...

Then you hit it.

Ok! I can do that.

Here he comes.

Watch out, Jayne.

Your brother wants a turn.

Ok, so I've got the bat...

Hmm.  I feel like I'm missing something.  Something important.

Ok.  Ball on red thing.

Hit it with bat.

Ball flies off. Red thing stays up.  Easy!

Please note that while I wouldn't let her wear her little Snow White slippers out in the yard, she brought them down in a bag to carry around while she played.  Because, what's T-ball without your Snow White ballerina slippers?

Ball goes on.

Swing this yellow thing.

Ball comes off.

Right.  I've mastered this game.  Next?

Hee.

It's like alphabet soup!  Only soapy!  And cuter!

Oops, Dad!  I spilled mine, so I'll just have a little of yours.  Mine's all melty anyway.

Joe, while TOTALLY willing to share his, helps a Twinkie out.

By teaching her *this* charming trick. 

Hey! Why is everyone else having gelato but me?

I'll just console myself with the binky.  Hmph.

Ooh - that's attractive.

What happens when you drink melted chocolate gelato from the bowl?

Gelato smile!

Look how happy she is.

We should just let her shoot back the sugar all day long.  Or not.

Back at the homestead...

Jonas explores a puddle.

He won't go anywhere near a sprinkler or running hose, but still water he's cool with.

Awwww.  Walking with assistance.  Those were the days.

Look how pissed he looks here.  I have no idea why, but it cracks me up.

Because why find another chair?

Sharing is WAY more fun!

Who cares if I can't feel my feet? 

I put a cranky baby on the couch in front of Blue's Clues...

and 5 minutes later had this.

One of them is faking.

Hint - its not this one.

Its the one who didn't like being left out of the picture taking.

Hey kiddos!  How are we feeling about being strapped in the car today?

Eeesh.

Is the sun in her eyes?

Is the ice cream too cold?  I don't know, all I know is these pictures are hysterical.

Eh.  Should have gone with chocolate.

Oh!  The camera's out?  Cheeeese!

Dear Joe - I tried to tell you this hat was too small for the kid.  You wouldn't listen.  Now it's immortalized on the internet.  Next time, listen to your wife.  Love,  your wife who is always right.

Yeah!  Cruisin in the sidecar!

Whoa.  Look how much fun she's having.

WHEEEEEEE!

It is definitely possible to rock faster as a 3 year old than as a fat baby.

Let's check out the view.

Why don't you guys check out the view, I'll check out what trouble I can get into.

Gorgeous boys, gorgeous view.

Another magazine shot.

Now they're laughing at my inability to control the Twink.

Me: Jaynie, do NOT climb up on that.  I don't want you to fall down and get hurt.  Jayne: Don't worry, Mommy!  I'll just stand in the middle, then I can't fall off!  Such a good listener.

Another expert roll by our littlest bowler (pay no attention to that grown-up there.)

Few things set off an outfit like maroon bowling shoes.

Checking her score.  No doubt adjusting mine.  She's freaky smart with the computers.

I don't know what to say here- she just cracks me up.  Note the scraped knees - this was not an easy summer for her legs.

I eventually bought her a pair of knee pads and let her wear them with dresses.  I am not making this up.

Uh oh.

Baby at the wheel!  (Look at his face.  He refused to point that huge smile my way.)

I just kept getting these "Watch your feet!  I'm driving here!" looks.

Moo?

Aaah.  These would be panties with no tags - it makes it hard for her to tell which side is the back.  When Joe asked her what she wanted him to write on them so she could tell, she picked her first name on front, last name on back.  At least now she's ready for camp.

This would be my Twink, carrying one baby in the sling while pushing the other in the stroller.

Look - she's even got the "How long till nap time?" look on her face.  I can't imagine *where* she got this from.

HOLY COW DADDY LOOK AT THIS FOUNTAIN!

Here we are at the tiniest castle in Germany.  Schloss Linderhof. 

Tiny, but beautiful.  Check out these gardens.

And look at this beautiful model!  I'm sending this one off to Linderhof's brochure maker. 

Right in the mountains.  It really was gorgeous. (And again with that model - how cute is she?)

Question: How does one get to Cinderella's castle?

Answer: Horse drawn-carriage, of course!

Once in the courtyard, we had a quick wardrobe change. Really - why would you wear anything other than your Cinderella dress to visit Neuschwanstein?

Some kind people asked if we wanted a family pic in front of the view.  Unfortunately the lighting was such that we were just silhouettes.  We lightened it up enough to see our faces, now the view's pretty much gone. Sigh.

They didn't allow pictures inside the castle (unless you were taking one out the window) so this is it.  Trust me - Cinderella in her castle was adorable.

Madam poses in front of a typical painted house in Oberammerau, Germany.

And looks angelic in an old church.

These feet were made for walking.

And this poor face is paying the price.

Jonas literally started walking the day we arrived in town.

Unfortunately, the house we were staying at was so far from level that I fell down a couple of times.  Poor kid would take two steps, then break into a little awkward jog, then fall on his face.  Stupid downhill living room.

There were more wildflowers in Germany than Jayne ever hoped to encounter in her lifetime.  We spent the week picking weeds.

She loves them.

They are her "wedding flowers" for when she marries her "prince" (that would be Joe.)

Woohoo!  We found a park!

Who does this kid think he is?

Look at his disgust.  "Mom, I got this.  Can't you just go swing or something?"

Can we admire these armpits for just a minute?  Made for kissing.

KITTY CAT!

Look at it go! Come back, kitty!  I didn't mean to squash you!  You just looked like you could use a hug!

This is how we spent our mornings in Oberammergau while Joe was at work.

The house we were staying at had this swing. Jonas would try and give me a heart attack each and every day by refusing to hold on.  What's with that foot?

Show me "hippo"!!!  (I love baby signs.)

I don't know what she's looking at, but she sure is pretty.

Ok, *here* I know exactly what she's looking at.

It's the Grand Canal!

Venice, baby!

Jonas was pretty into it, too.

Water! Boats! Birds!  What's not to love?

Speaking of what's not to love - this is one cute picture. 

Ahhh. St. Mark's square.

Now we see how many pigeons,

and how many kids,

we can attract with a 10lb bag of birdseed.

Notice these birds are smart enough to keep their distance.

I mean, she's got food,

but she's still a dangerous 3 year old. (In the upper right of this one you can see the weirdo lady that kept stealing Jayne's birdseed.  Get your own, crazy lady!)

We were incredibly popular with the venders.

You know, the ones who sell a tiny bag of seed for 1 euro.

Hmmm.  Maybe a little *too* "low rise".  Honestly - why are they even making pants like this for 3-year-olds?

Gorgeous, huh?  And that gold-plated basilica isn't bad, either.

This head-tilt thing makes me nuts.  What's with the tilt every time I try to take a picture?  Do all little girls do this?

Why pay 57048579487 bucks to eat at a fancy restaurant...

when you can get pizza and sandwiches and sit in the shade in this beautiful piazza to eat them?  Bonus - kids can run wild and nobody minds.  Double bonus - when you need to change a diaper you just do it, and there are no other diners to get disgusted.  My life - how different it is now than when we went to Venice the first time.

"I want to get my picture taken WITH THOSE PRINCESSES!"

All wiped out on the ride home. Getting carried around all day must really take it out of you.

Difference between one and three - one passes out, three stares groggily at me while still asking for more ice cream/birds/princesses/boats.