Campbell's Dairyland

So we had the perfect day on Saturday. I started out by getting up at 5:45 with Jeff to help him find a screw for his glasses. Luckily he found it and we fixed his glasses before work. I was able to take a shower, get ready, have a cup of coffee and make breakfast before the boys woke up. They have started to wake up at the same time and so right at 7:45 they both started yelling and talking in their rooms. We ate and then headed out.

1. First stop, Cracker Barrel to deliver some food to Jeff.

2. Some great yard sales that had a few toys for a few bucks. Some great finds that Nick really enjoyed. This racer went with a set and it crashes and the top pops off. Pretty cool if you ask me.

3. To the library. We returned some books and got some new ones. The highlight of the trip is a ride up and down in the elevator. My current reading selections for myself: Flags of Our Fathers and Left for Dead. I have a current obsession with WWII Pacific battle with Japan. James Bradley is an incredible author and the books read like fiction. Very good! Nick's top choices: Raisin and Grape (a book about a grandfather raisin and his grandson, Grape, very cute!) as well as What does Rain Say? Amish Horses and various others with excellent illustrations (my top priority!).


4. To the park, after Nick's pleading I gave in, it is around the corner from the library. It was brutally hot so I talked Nick into leaving for some bribery of Ice Cream!


5. Campbell's Dairyland. They have great food, great ice cream and some cool old toys. It is like Tastee Freeze but better.

Nick, drinking water over my milkshake or his sugar free ice cream! Definitely my kid!

Alex's first cone!

Great toys, nice and classic!

6. Back to Cracker Barrel to deliver Jeff some ice cream while he was at work (aww, what a good wifey!)

7. Home to play and rest. Nick is skipping his naps so we had to keep him up and happy.

After Jeff got home we decided to have some pudding for a snack. I choose to look past the horse hooves on this subject so please scan down if you are sensitive to the subject.

Mmmmm, horse hooves never tasted sooooooo goooood!

Alex fell asleep playing later, what a cutie!

And, alas, a video of Alex since he has learned to clap. He loves to have kisses blown to him and I am trying to teach him that and some other signs. He gets a kick out of all of it.


And then Jeff and I watched "Hitcher" after the boys went down at 6. What a scary and really good movie, really gave me the creeps!

A trip to the old West

West Palm Beach that is.

I know, it feels like yesterday we were just there, and it nearly was. But in the opinion of Uncle Milton, it has been FOREVER! (literally about 6 weeks). He is completely in love with Alex and extremely annoyed by Nick and his 2 year old behavior. Although, I can't fault him, Alex adores him and his huge nose and glasses and Nick, well, not so much.

Wow, can you see the love in Nick's face! Milton yells at him for literally everything and there is almost nothing he can touch in his house, including the remote!

Check out these guns! We were bored so we did tattoos, a few times, especially since they kept washing off.

We went swimming, A LOT! To escape the heat and the boredom.

"We have to wait for the old people to stop swimming WHY?"

Today, I will go swimming, its just what I do.

Splashing and trying to blow bubbles while playing in Bother's floater. We got some great Mommy and me time during the trip.



"Are you looking at me!"

Look how big brother is getting (and fat!)

Both Brothers got tired and hot fast!




It was a good trip, a little hot and tiring but swimming helped a lot. Nick listened to the best of his ability and tried to ignore Uncle Miltons disparaging comments while I defended him constantly. Now I am a doting mother who always protects her kids and has nothing negative to say, OR, I just don't want a kid with a complex that he is a bad person and his brother is a shining star. Either way, I don't think Nick cares what Uncle Milton says, but I'm not taking any chances. We are all still really tired from the trip but Uncle Milton loved it and had a great time wtih us. He wants to know when we will be down again, most likely another 6 weeks (long for him, short for us).

So, until next time Uncle Milt, we will think of you often and talk about your noisy clock, your great singing door bell and remember all of the wonderful breakfasts for $3.50 including coffee.

Don't cut your finger off!

Nick got his first pair of scissors. He did extremely well NOT cutting his fingers off. He had a lot of fun with them though, although his little hands aren't big enough yet.

Brothers!

It is really great that the boys are getting old enough to play together now. Nick loves Alex and Alex really adores Nick and everything he does.

Nick and Alex riding the car/bike together, fun for a couple of minutes! (Nick is concentrating on holding on so hard, you can see the expression.)

Nick and Alex in the swing. Nick loves any baby toys, Alex loves anything with Nick.

The boys playing with the laundry basket.

The boys and me swimming at a birthday party on Saturday. I asked Nick to hold onto Alex, he wouldn't let go after that! (Alex and I are really white!)

Nick.

So today is the second time I have been able to work in Nick's room at Church. It is very interesting because I always assume he will be wild and not listen and they always tell me how much of a joy he is and he is their favorite, blah, blah, blah. Not that I mind, I just didn't really believe them. So I have now had the opportunity to work in his classroom with other kids that are within 3 months of his age and wow. There are some really great kids, and then the other ones. Nick was one of the great ones and really loves to talk to the teachers to put his point accross (tell stories). I read a few stories and he really loves that, actually, he really loved everything! He shared with all of the children, went potty, ate his snack (a few times over) and was just a really good and happy little boy. He gets so excited sometimes that he can't contain himself, he starts dancing and yelling, almost like a little seizure. Most of the kids listen really well, it is interesting to see the girls vs. boys and the differences there. Girls sure do whine a lot but they listen and speak much better. There were two little girls that just rubbed eachother wrong and I don't think they ever even spoke to eachother! What a great morning!

The Man!

Our budding artist really has some talent!

I love the angles!

I let Nick play with my cheap camera all the time. He is very careful with it and loves to take pictures. He has recently started to look through the view finder and take the pics. He also turns the camera and does all of these vogue-esqe poses while taking the pictures. Here are a few he took - completely on his own! I can't believe how straight he got them and how nice they turned out.

We will continue our training Grasshopper. . .

Happy 4th!

Well I have been sick since this last weekend so I wasn't much in the mood to do anything. I have been really sore and have had a fever a lot. It is miserable, I feel like I just got done running a marathon, typing a book and jumping up and down a million times. It is worse in the morning, before my medicine and coffee (Alex doesn't mind it so I just keep drinking it - organic of course). So we missed the parade but Jeff got to go see Transformers with his brother and a friend and then we went to Grandma's house for a barbeque. We left with the intention of putting the boys down for a nap and then coming back but I told Jeff - nope, the boys need their sleep (me too). So he headed back over for a night of danger and explosions. I heard the fireworks all night and the girls were really scared but it is over now. In Florida the fireworks last about a week or two and they are EVERYWHERE!! It is soooo dangerous and obnoxious but the boys (Jeff and his brothers) really love it. You could easily blow $300 on fireworks and get a huge extravaganza or you could go to a show, but where is the danger in that. I told Nick the dangers of fireworks and really hyped it up as being a gun in your hand that will blow limbs off, he wouldn't go near them after that - too bad.

I hope everyone had a good holiday and enjoyed themselves.