Party, Party, Party

That is all we did....all weekend...party, party, party. Friday afternoon, my cousin, Brianna, and her two cuties, Owen and Emma, came down from Iowa for the weekend to help celebrate G's second while Daddy flew to DC for the Army 10 miler (where he kicked arse with an impressive 1:08 finish!).

Saturday was G's birthday and it was quite a whirlwind. We let the kiddos hang around the house while I made Banana Bran muffins with chocolate chips for breakfast. With three boys ages 4 and under, we decided that lunch at Fritz's Railroad Restaurant would be a hit and so headed out the door on our birthday adventure. The restaurant is an old 1950s style place with a quirk...servers bring the drinks, but trains drive around tracks near the ceiling and deliver your food to you. It was a HUGE hit! While George spent most of the time watching the trains, I did catch him (James in hand) taking a quick sip of milk.



Afterwards, we headed out to Science City for a few hours of good old fun. All four seemed to enjoy exploring and trying out all the neat stuff they have there.







That night, I made G two of his favorites: mac and cheese (homemade) and hot dogs. All the kiddos seemed to enjoy it.



But, of course, the biggest hit was dessert.







We let G open a few gifts while chatting with Daddy, Mimi, and Tooey on Skype. He really likes this truck that Liam picked out for him.



On Sunday, Liam was invited to his first birthday party (aside from Ben's). Of course, Taylor is gone so it was destined to be a tricky party to take to kiddos to...horseback riding. I was not sure that Liam would ride the horse, but to my amazement...





George ran out to the horse when it was his turn, but then just wanted to give it a pat pat. He did participate in the sugar consumption, though....



...while big brother told me that "he would just have one of our cupcakes at home" and skipped out on the cake so he could hang out here for a bit longer.



I think he spent about 90 percent of the party climbing around on the two tractors they had. Both boys LOVED them!

Taylor came home today and we did a redo of G's birthday with Nick and Sidonie present as well. George seemed to enjoy unwrapping his gifts and definitely playing with them. Hard to figure what his favorite is, but definitely he LOVED all the trains, trucks, cars, planes that he received.

Oh, and he liked the cake, too.



It's hard to believe the my little G is two already. I'm loving every day with him and watching him grow and learn and definitely love the friendship that is growing between he and Liam. Everyday with George is a treat and he makes everyone he sees smile. How can he not with this face?



Happy Birthday, Big G! We love you so much!!!

First Field Trip

Liam had his first field trip today. The class went to the farm since they were studying that unit. One of the best parts was that my neighbor invited George to come play with her 2 1/2 and 1 year old boys...he had a BLAST and Liam and I got some good time together.

The trip was a load of fun for a small local farm. They learned about pigs, goats and sheep and then got to go through a maze.



He had so much fun, he even went twice.



Next, the class went on a small train ride to the pumpkin patch to pick out a pumpkin.



Before I knew it, Liam jumped out of the train, ran to a pumpkin, grabbed it and jumped back on the train in maybe 30 seconds flat. All the other kiddos took their time and posed for cute little pumpkin patch photos while my punk was content to just make sure he didn't miss his ride. He was still pretty cute though.



They then had snack and afterwards did a small craft activity where they made a candy corn man and ate some candy corn then got to meet a donkey. After some bean bag tossing games, the trip ended with a fun hayride.



All in all, a very successful first field trip for my little man. We had so much fun and some much needed quality time together. Good times!

Gymnastics

George had his third gymnastics session today. He loves it and calls it "bouncing". I first thought it would be some sort of Gymboree set-up where it's basically a padded place to run and play with some direction. I couldn't believe it when 2 minutes into the class, we learned about G's first circuit. As an example, today's first circuit was:

1) Roll down an incline (has summersaulted down this in the past)
2) Run and jump off a spring board into a hula hoop
3) Hang from a high bar, walk your feet up a mat in front of you, and swing yourself
over the bar.
4) Do a back handspring-type move with the help of a huge semi-circular mat.
5) Do a summersault over a circular mat.
6) Jump your way through a hopscotch board.

That is just the first of two sets. Let me tell you, this is a workout for both mom and G. But good fun and a great experience.

The second circuit today was a ton of beams that he had to walk on and step over cones or colored rectangles. George did well when holding my hand and was very concerned with the one cone he knocked over.



He then walked on a regular high beam to the end and jumped into a big pile of foam. He was a bit nervous about the high beam but did great!



There are several videos up and the pictures are not the best, but it's all I can get while holding onto G. The maneuvers are so much more than just jumping around or "bouncing" as he calls it and it's a miracle I got what I did today.

Liam is also doing gymnastics and LOVING it, but haven't got decent pics from dad yet since parents sit way off to the side in that class. Mike and I will try to bring my ultra-zoom camera with us when we go next week.

Happy Birthday to Me!!

This week, I was able to enjoy my birthday surrounded by the men I love. And they treated me like a princess, complete with a "fancy flower necklace"...



and full-on, all pink, princess paraphrenalia...



all picked out by my sweet Liam (who confessed to his dad that he thought that they should also pick out some Transformer supplies for he and George). I even had a Tinkerbell candle!

But the greatest gift of all, was spending some time hanging with this guy...



and this guy...



even though it was nearly his bedtime and his mood was mostly like this...



Really, is there nothing better in life than watching your first born enjoy a nice summer day to it's fullest extent?!









That's what birthdays are really about after all...celebrating life. And how can I not when my life includes this little guy.



Thanks for making me a princess. What a fantastic day with some fantastic boys!!

July

It's been a bit since I've written and I thought I'd catch up on all the little boy happenings this past month.

Right after my last post, we headed to Nags Head for our annual beach vacation. Both boys loved the beach. Liam's favorite part was "wooshing his feet in the ocean"



while George enjoyed chilling in his pool.



George probably most enjoyed spending a ton of quality time with his favorite person



who became more and more relaxed as the vacation wore on.



We got to see and do a lot of fun things like visit the aquarium



and take a 2 1/2 hour jeep ride on the beaches of Corolla







which G found extremely relaxing!



All in all..a very successful and enjoyable vacation!

Since we've been back, the boys have really enjoyed spending time with Lawnmow. G named Nick "Lawnmow" because pretty much the first time we saw Nick after he moved out here, he came to pick up his lawnmower which we had been storing in our garage and the boys had been fascinated with. Liam asked us for the past three months which one was cooler...Nick's lawnmower or Daddy's. So, of course, we had a lawnmower-off!

First Nick started up his lawnmower..



Then Taylor...



The contestants nervously awaited by the results of the officials (Liam):



And the winner was announced!!



The best part is that my lawn that got mowed super fast since I had three helpers!



And that is how "Lawnmow" got his name.Needless to say, George LOVES Lawnmow, and gets so excited everytime we see him (which is nearly every day). He is usually close to wherever Nick goes.



Liam has been enjoying camp each morning at the Child Development Center on post. Everymorning, when we drive on, he sees the "No Concealed Weapons" sign at the gate and has been asking lots of questions about it, in true Liam-style. So, recently, he decided he would post a couple of signs of his own in his room.

In his closet (which he likes to hang out in for some reason), there is a "No Smoking" sign:



and in his tent that I made him is a "No Concealed Weapons (or guns)" sign:



Yes, my child is a bit strange, but at least he's not boring. And he does have the best smile in the world!



Monday begins Taylor's first full week back to work since the deployment. Liam has one more week of camp before 2 1/2 weeks off until the start of pre-kindergarten. And, yes, I'm a bit terrified of having all of this happen at once. But, I'm working on getting back to teacher mode and planning out some activities for the boys and I to do during that break while T-man is at work. Plus, the latest addition to our backyard should help keep the boys occupied a bunch. At least I hope so. If I don't post again in the next couple of weeks....send help. I may need it!!