Happy 4th Birthday, Tyler!!

It's hard to believe that Tyler is 4 years old! In some ways, he seems older, but mostly, he's still our baby boy. Much of his day was the same as normal, but he seemed perfectly happy with that. He was confused as to when his "actual" birthday is, since there was no party, yet.

We got him a green Razor scooter, which he had sort of asked for. He received a few trains, and a pirate art kit. David went to the coffee shop down the street and got us treats for breakfast. Tyler had school, and brought in mini brownies to share with his classmates. For dinner, he picked The Old Spaghetti Factory. All-in-all, I'd say he had a great day.

Steppin' Up & Mad Science

We had a busy weekend planned. And, it still is, but we dropped one event this morning. We were going to take the boys to a practice race at the Seattle Center, but since it started at 9am, we opted to sleep in a little, and have a low key morning.

It was nice to take our time with breakfast, let the boys play while we cleaned up, both adults got showered, and then we left.

Here's the good part. The part where we're "steppin' up" in our lives. We bought a new refrigerator!! A fancy one, with water and ice in the door. A first for both David and I. David said that the day he buys a fridge with in-door water, he will feel like he's made it in life. Well, Mr. Hunt, I guess today is your day, cuz you got both water and ice. Aah yee-uh! 

This is a super big deal for me, too. This would be the third refrigerator purchase I've been involved in in my life. But, definitely the best. And, I told David that if we are to move again, I'm taking this fridge with us. We had our last one for only like 6 months, before we moved out of our old house. I was so sad to leave that thing behind. I've since had to endure the last 3.5 years with two different crappy ass fridges from the 80s. 

Now, we wait for delivery. In the meantime, David's in the pantry right now, putting back together the metro rack that he just took apart. We've had to down-size it a little in order to fit the fridge. It's a good excuse to organize (and toss things out).

After the appliance store, we went to lunch at Little Taipei for Taiwanese food. Yum. Service wasn't great, but that's expected. I know I shouldn't say that about my people, but I speak the truth.

Once we were good and full, we headed to Redmond for a birthday party. The boys had a great time, and learned some science. They had a "mad" scientist come entertain the kids. I learned some neat things myself, too. 

Since Tyler missed his nap, I put him to bed earlier than Vincent. We let Vincent stay up until the regular bed time. He took a shower, then I played a couple of card games with him. We played a very long game of "War" that we had to stop because it was going nowhere. Then, I taught him to play "Go Fish." At least, what I think is the game. I might have the rules wrong. He quite enjoyed it, though, and that's most important. He was sort of giggly afterwards. Cute.

Austin, TX, 2/13-2/17

We took our mid-winter break in Texas, again, this year. We had to pull Vincent out of school 2 days, but one of those days was a half day, and they mostly just celebrated Valentine's Day. The day we were leaving, Vincent and I went to school to drop off his Valentine's cards to his classmates and teachers.

So, here's a review of our trip:

 We bought two new games for the boys' Leapsters, and didn't tell them about it until we got on the plane. That kept them busy for a while.

We got in around dinner time, so we had a later dinner at Whataburger (a first for David, myself and the kids). We got settled in at the house, then David and Don went back out to pick Tiffany up at a different airport.

Day two, we pretty much took things easy. The boys were excited to see their grandparents and aunt. Since it was Valentine's Day, Nana started our day off by making us all pancakes and sausage. We gave the boys a few small gifts, and Vincent spent the day making Valentine's cards for everyone. PopPop and Tiffany took the boys to the pool in the afternoon while David, Alice, and I went grocery shopping for dinner fixings. David and Don were planning on making Valentine's dinner for everyone. They stayed home in the late afternoon, watching the boys and making dinner, while the ladies went for a pedicure.

Day three was our Innerspace Caverns adventure! Back in the 60's, while working on I-35, the workers discovered these caverns. There's a huge sign off the highway for it, and our boys have been asking about them the last two years. We finally checked it out. 

 Tiffany had made plans to see a friend downtown that evening, so Alice drove her into Austin. They had dinner together, and I had dinner with the Hunt men and boys at La Playa Mexican restaurant. We had to wait a long time, and Vincent complained of a stomach ache, but it all turned out well. Vincent even ate his whole meal.

Day four, I'd have to say, was probably the best for David and I. The rest of the days, were all great, but this one especially. First of all, the sun came out and the temperature went up. We ventured into Austin, where we remembered that there's a farmers' market on Saturdays! We picked up a little onesie for 'Penguin', aka Baby #3...And, here's a pic of my belly, too.

We then got a refreshing beverage at a nearby coffee spot, and enjoyed the sunshine on their patio deck.

Of course, we had to visit the South Congress area. We were surprised with how busy it was in the area. The next day was the Austin Marathon, and apparently, all the participants had the same idea as us of having lunch in South Congress. We managed to find a nice parking spot a few blocks away, but the burger joint we planned on going to was so packed, there was a line out the door, around the corner, and down the street! So, we walked the 1/3 mile to our old standby: formerly Izzo's Tacos, now called Mellizo's (name change due to threatened lawsuit brought on by an out-of-state chain with similar name). Same great menu and food, though. Well, I was a bit full from my milkshake earlier, so I had garlic fries, but David had a couple of (yummy) tacos. We followed that with a Gourdough's donut. Ours was a fatty with cream cheese and toffee bits on top.

On our way back to the car, we stumbled into two places. One was a mix-use space, that we thought was an antique shop. Turns out they had some, but not what we thought at all. Still, a cool space. Next door was a "car museum." Basically, some tycoon has a huge collection of cars and keeps some of them in this garage, which he opens up to the public 2 times a month for oohing and ahhhing at. One of his detail guys give people a tour of the cars for $2 a person. We was going to let us in free, but I'd say it was worth our $4.

Check it out...

Jeff Gordon's first winning Nascar car.

 

 One of the three Ghostbusters prop cars...

There were many other amazing vehicles, including a car from the 1930s that had never been repainted. It was in mint condition.

That night, we went to BBQ at a place in Round Rock called Rudy's. David and I drove by earlier in the day, so we stopped in to see what it was like. We thought it looked fun, so that's where we celebrated David and Tiffany's recent birthdays (both Feb.10). The food was really good.

 

Since we were all "rookies", they gave us a sample of some of the meat. Tyler was so excited for the samples, and even more excited when he tasted them. He couldn't seem to get enough! And, both boys loved the white bread they gave us.

OH MY GOSH! I almost forgot! David, Alice and Tiffany all got up early and ran in a 5K that morning. David's time was better than he expected, while the ladies both ran very well, too.

The last day, Tiffany headed out soon after breakfast. Vincent had requested that we eat at home all day. He's such a home-body, that kid. David and Don took the boys out so I could pack up. They went to a playground, looked a koi fish, and played a little bocce. We mostly spent the remainder of our day hanging around the house. The weather was very nice, so we ate lunch on the back patio, soaking up the sun. Tyler took a nap before we headed out for the airport.

The trip home went pretty smoothly, until we got off the plane. On our way to baggage claim, Tyler puked in the middle of the terminal. I guess, better than on the plane. We changed the kids into their jammies at Master Park, which made for an easier transition into the house, since they both passed out on the ride home.

Teppanyaki!

We celebrated David's birthday tonight with teppanyaki at Mikado. It was a birthday tradition for David growing up to go to a place similar to this one (not Benihana). I have only ever been once myself. It was a fun treat for us, and the kids enjoyed the "show." Tyler did get a little freaked out when the cook set the griddle on fire. And, David missed every single small piece of shrimp the guy tossed in the air for him to catch in his mouth. Oops!

 Vincent was very into the show.

 Look at all that food!

We ended the meal with cupcakes that I brought. I had them put a "5" candle on David's, and we all sang to him...with a small, clangy, gong, too.

In The 3rd Person

In the past few weeks, Tyler has taken to referring to himself in the 3rd person. It's pretty cute, actually. I thought that kids do this at an earlier age and outgrow it by now. 

It's interesting. I feel like Tyler, in some ways, has been more advanced than Vincent, hitting milestones at earlier ages. But, there are a couple of behavior things that I'm seeing has come at a later time. He had a mild case of "terrible twos" when he was 2 years old. Some days are worse than others, but for the most part, age 2-3.5 years was pretty smooth. In the past 6 months, we've really seen a shift in behavior. More defiant, for one. Running off suddenly when we are in public. Whiny. Cries when he does not get his way. And, his energy level has shot up considerably. I've heard of other parents experiencing a similar delayed terrible twos, if you will. I just wonder how long this will last.

In addition to this new behavior, his vocabulary and speech have grown so much. He's becoming more like a little kid than a toddler. He's super funny, too. But, I'm going to save all my Tyler descriptions for a couple weeks from now when he actually turns 4 years old, and wax poetic about it. Stay tuned!

Pancakes, Swim, Airport

This morning, we met up with Andrea, Eva, and Theo at Vios Cafe in Ravenna. I haven't been to this location, yet. Aside from the super long wait for our table, it's quite cool. And, in their defense, they did the best they could to get us seated, but that's how it goes in restaurants sometimes.

Vincent ate a full plate of kids pancakes. He finished before all of us. That's 3, about 5-inches diameter flap jacks. Then, he ate some of my potatoes, and some of my scrambled eggs. He asked for more food, so I ordered him another plate of pancakes, and asked them to box 2 of them up. Drats! We left our box at the restaurant! When we were all done eating, we went to the attached book store for a bit before heading out. I really like their selection of children's books.

After brunch, I convinced Vincent to take a private swim lesson before his regular swim class. He's been having a tough time doing anything but a "doggie paddle" in class. I wanted for him to have a little one-on-one time. All-in-all, he did well. He ended up in the pool for an hour, which is quite long, when you are working so hard, rather than just splashing and playing. I was very proud of his endurance and effort. He's still not a swimmer, but I think if we spend a good amount of time at pools this summer, he'll be there, soon. Maybe.

This evening, we picked up David and Jon at the airport. Jon had joined David down in L.A. to visit Tom, Gabe, and Sarah. Did I mention that? It's David's 35th birthday today. As his gift, I sent him to L.A. He had to take a trip to San Francisco for work (one more before 'Penguin' arrives), so he combined the two trips.

I took the boys to McDonald's near the airport, figuring they could eat and play while we waited for David's flight. I also had Vincent bring along his homework to finish up. I MUST remember that this idea is better in my head than in reality. That place was a mad house. The kids were all so crazy. Even Vincent was a bit amazed by the madness. He did, however, get his homework done rather well, so I guess that's positive.

The kids were so happy to see both Daddy and Jon. They talked a ton during the car ride home. It was quite funny and sweet.

Happy 35th Birthday, David! Happy Chinese New Year!