4 Different Things to Share

1. Ever since we decided to sell our house, we put a bunch of Vincent's toys away, and we stopped buying him toys. Now that we aren't selling it anymore, we decided that he needs a few bigger kid toys. So, we went shopping, and came home with a water table, a t-ball set, and this lawn mower! 2. Tyler turned 4 months yesterday. Today, he went to his check up. Here are the stats:
Height: 25", weight - 15 lbs, 1 oz; both 50-75%. Not bad. I thought he was going to be off the chart big!

3. Tyler got Sophie when I was barely a couple of months pregnant from a couple of my mommy friends. We introduced him to Sophie over the weekend, and he has taken to her happily. Today, we found Sophie after Stella (our cat) got a hold of her. Poor Sophie.

4. Vincent will be starting a preschool summer camp next week. It's just for a few days, but it's 4 hours long, and he's being dropped off. It'll be the first time I've ever dropped him off anywhere. To prepare for it, we got him a backpack. He was very excited to try it out, and wanted me to take his picture.

Addicted

A new business opened up in our neighborhood - Old School Frozen Custard Oh man! We are addicted. To counter all the fat and calories, we walk there from our house, which is probably about a mile??? Probably less. But, getting there and back must add up to at least a mile. They have 3 flavors each day; there's always vanilla & chocolate, and then there's a flavor of the day. Yesterday, they had orange creamsicle. That's what I got. David got a "concrete" which is basically like a Dairy Queen Blizzard, only better.

We take the kids in the stroller.

Wading Pool

Volunteer Park wading pool opened last weekend. I actually thought it was this weekend. Nonetheless, when the boys got up from their afternoon nap, we took them there. We were out of the house in an impressive 30 minutes - sunblock slathered on both kids, bathing gear & all!

Vincent had a great time, and unlike last year, he actually ventured away from the edge of the pool today. He did it all on his own, and eventually did a little "swimming". Basically, he would put both hands down on the bottom, and float his whole body, belly down & head out of the water. He was so pleased with himself, and kept saying, "I'm floating!" We're proud of him for being so brave in the pool.

Cute

Some Pictures

Quick update:

-Sunday, Vincent finished his second year of Mandarin school at Sponge. We forgot the camera, so there are no pictures. Sorry, V.

-David's back at work. Check out what he's been working on! http://www.bing.com/

-We've gone to dinner at other people's houses 3 times in 4 days. Score! Yet, I've gone grocery shopping twice in 5 days, and we ordered from AmazonFresh. Hmmmm...not so good with the grocery list, huh?

-We've taken our house off the market. Long story.

Okay, here are the pictures!

The boys in our bed

Vincent gives Tyler a hugMy Fathers' Day gift to David, matching T-shirts for the boys that says, "My Dad Has Super Powers!" This is what Tyler does between 8pm & 9pm every night

We Caught It!

The ice cream truck, that is.

Today's David's last day off work for his paternity leave. Ever since the beginning of his leave, we have been hearing the ice cream truck drive by, but we are never prepared, and always miss it. Not today. It was parked down the street for some other people, so I ran out there with Tyler and stood in line while David and Vincent grabbed money (and keys to the house). We told Vincent he could pick whatever he wanted, but he seemed really confused by all the stickers on the truck. So, we picked for him...ice cream sandwich. David shared it with him, and I shared mine with Tyler. Since Tyler doesn't eat food, yet, I had to eat his portion.

This is how Vincent shared with David: After David took a couple of large bites, Vincent wanted no more of this sharing business. Instead, he pinched off the tiniest bit of cookie & offered it to David.
David kept asking Vincent for another bite...

And, he finally gave him a last bite.

Some Photos

June 2, 2009 - Upon returning from Leavenworth, we head to the park across the street for some water fun...Vincent get's nailed & is soaked... & Tyler goes on the swings for the first time.

June 5, 2009 - David and Vincent are about to pick the first strawberry from our garden.

June 7, 2009 - Vincent plays air guitar to music by Recess Monkeys at his school's end of the year picnic...

Here's a close up of David enjoying the music with Tyler (did you see him way in the back in the previous pic?). I think he looks hip.

June 11, 2009 - This is how Tyler reacted to being introduced to the ol' exersaucer today.

No Editing

It's been over a week since that family photo was taken on our way home from Leavenworth...I can't remember what happened that day!

Oh wait...we went to see some salmon at a hatchery after checking out of our hotel. And, I learned about a disgusting creature called a lamprey. Beware! They live in rivers & streams, and will attach themselves to a host. Do not let that host be your leg!

We stopped in Sultan, at a park right off the highway, for a late lunch. I always forget we have a timer setting on our camera, but not that day. I took several photos of us, and that was the best one.

Life since that photo was taken has been a bit interesting, to say the least. Hence, the lack of postings. Unfortunately, it's too private for me to go into details for all the world to read.

However...

This week, we are enjoying the last days of having David home from work. He's been such an awesome help, and so nice to be around.

There seems to be a decent amount of interest in our house the last couple of days. We had someone come by yesterday, and someone today. We have another open house tomorrow, with a couple who said they will be showing up for it. Fingers crossed!

Tyler has decided that he only wants to nurse lying down. Seems easy enough, right? Just put him on his side, and he's lying down. No. He wants me to lay down, too. That's convenient. Um, excuse me, pay no attention to me as I lay down and nurse my baby in the middle of this restaurant. Will make the occassional car nursings more challenging, I imagine.

Have I mentioned that Vincent is the human radio? I bet that kid can sing about 100 songs. He may not actually know all the words to the songs, but seems he can carry a tune.

Be sure when you promise your 2.5 year old that he can pick out a cookie at the grocery store & eat it in the cart, you actually know what kind of cookies they have there (single servings), or you may end up with a box of 36 chocolate chip cookies in your cart (um, 35, since he ate one of them).

Leavenworth - Home We Go

It's late! No time to post...will edit this later...but, here's a family photo.

Leavenworth - Day 2, Part 2

Post-naps:
Tyler woke up first; hungry, of course. I nursed him, and he fell right back to sleep. Vincent woke soon after. The first thing he said when he walked out of his room was something about going on "the car."

We got 25 token for $5 at the arcade & let Vincent go hog wild riding the car & playing racing games. He also played a couple other stuff, which we helped with a lot. I think he won a total of 18 tickets, which doesn't get you much. He wanted this small airplane for 50 tickets, and the guy behind the counter gave it to him! It was probably only worth $1.

Next, Vincent wanted to play mini golf (or put-put). They had a kids price, but the guy let us play for free. We made it through the whole course (only skipped 2 holes) in about 20 minutes. At each hole, Vincent would run up to the cup & put the ball about 1/2 - 1 foot away from it & hit. There were a few hole-in-ones. Watch out Tiger Woods.

After the put-put, we drove into town for ice cream at Coldstones. Vincent picked strawberry with M & Ms. The town was very quiet. We walked around, but most of the shops were closed. We walked down to the river, crossed and bridge, and then I couldn't stand the bugs flying around any longer, so we turned right back around.

Back at the condo, we ordered take out from the restaurant. David and Vincent went to pick up the food, and stopped at the pool on their way. Tyler and I took a bath.

After dinner, we got the kids ready for bed. Vincent bonked his head really on the bed headboard while climbing in. The goose egg was really big, and required an ice pack. Poor little man.

And, now it's time for me to go to bed.

Leavenworth - Day 2, Part 1

How did we sleep last night? Not too bad, actually, until 4am. Tyler had a 4 hour stretch of sleep, and probably would've had another long stretch, but Vincent woke up.

Vincent slept in the other room in a queen bed. We peeked at him before we went to bed, and he looked so sweet & cute in that big-o bed. When he woke up, he was just crying in the room, still in bed. I went in and comforted him a little. After I got back into bed for a few minutes, I heard his door open. Then, I heard crying. When I came out to see him, he was standing outside of the room, as if lost. Mind you, when we first got here yesterday, we made him run back and forth between rooms several times, just to avoid this very thing. Oh well, I would probably get lost, too, if I was him. I decided to bring him into bed with us. Yup, David, Vincent, & myself on the king bed with Tyler in the crib next to us. We didn't sleep too great after that.

Our breakfast buffet was okay. Lots of stuff to choose from, even though it was pretty small. We got to make our own Belgian waffle, which Vincent found interesting (and confusing). We took a short drive, but neither of the kids were very happy about it, so we came back to the hotel and went to the pool.

It's naptime now. We promised Vincent more arcades (well, mainly the car he rode in yesterday) after his nap. I can't believe they don't open until 3pm!