Hike

This morning we went on a little family hike through the wash in our neighborhood. It wasn't too hot and the boys had a great time!

Kid-isms

There are so many things the boys are doing or saying right now that I want to remember...and since this is my place to remember things, here we go...

While driving, Drew asks "Allen, are you asleep?" and with his eyes closed, Allen will nod his head vigorously. (This has happened multiple times and it cracks me up!)

When singing "The Ants Go Marching" Drew inserts his own words. He names trains at the appropriate time in the song to coordinate with their engine number. Here is verse #1: "The ants go marching one by one for Thomas, hurrah. The ants go marching one by one for Thomas, hurrah. The ants go marching one by one, Thomas stops to suck his thumb, and they all go marching down...to the ground...to get out...of the rain...boom boom boom" And it goes on, for all 10 verses, with a different train for each verse. The kicker is that I didn't even know he knew who had the numbers 8, 9 and 10! But he says Duncan, Donald and Douglas...I'll take his word for it!

When Allen wakes up in the morning or from a nap, he no longer cries or even sits there talking nicely. Now he starts with "Ma ma ma Mama Mama" and progresses to "MAMA MAMA MAMA!" Yelling - at the top of his little lungs!

Train Park

On Thursday, I braved the train park alone with the boys for the first time. The weather was perfect (overcast, breezy, cool...much better than the 100+ degrees it has been for 15 days!!) It went really well so we may actually get to do it again!

Brothers...

This is one of the many reasons we were so excited when we found out 2 years ago that baby #2 was a boy...




The boys have started playing together a lot. While this brings more battles, it is also so much fun!

Why I should be worried when it gets quiet...

This morning I was trying to get some things done that require me to operate on Eastern time and therefore I can't do during nap time, so I was thankful the boys were playing together nicely. I was half ignoring Drew when he kept saying "we're recycling" and "we're reusing" until I realized that buckets of toys and other things were being moved from the back of the house to the front of the house. I knew I was in trouble when Drew came in and said "Mommy, we have a surprise for you!" I went to Allen's room to find this:



A nice assortment of toys, kitchen items, shoes, blankets and stuffed animals had made their way to Allen's floor, along with many buckets used to carry the items.
Hey...if nothing else, they played together very nicely for about an hour and even helped me clean it all up after I took pictures.

Little Gym Graduation

Today, Allen had his graduation from the Little Gym. He has LOVED his class and never had a bad day there. He giggled and moved constantly through every class. They got to show off some skills and get their medals today. He really loved his teacher, Ms. Maria, and even sat in her lap for the last goodbye song today. (He sings his version of the "Bye-bye little birdies, see you soon" song all the time at home!) Patrick was able to come see him perform today and Drew got to come too since school is over already for him. We're going to miss the Little Gym this summer!














To check out Drew's first Little Gym graduation (he was a little bit older at the time, but same concept!), click here.

Last Day of School

On Thursday, May 14, Drew had his last day of preschool for the year. They had "Kid Talk" (chapel) like they had once a month and invited parents to attend. Then the whole school went to the gym for an ice cream celebration. It was crazy but the kids loved it! After, Drew's class went back to watch a DVD of photos from the year that some of the parents put together for the teachers. It was really neat - a great gift idea for teachers. The teachers then gave the kids gifts and hugs and said a tearful goodbye for the summer. There is a chance that Drew will have the same teachers next year - we really hope so!!

Headed in on the last day

Allen needed his picture taken too...this kid cracks me up!

Kid talk in the sanctuary...Drew is on the last full row...I don't know how to put an arrow over his head or I would...

Allen and Daddy headed to the ice cream party

Yummmmy...ice cream...

The class enjoying themselves...

Listening to their teachers one last time

Hugs from Mrs. Fenton

Hugs from Mrs. Parker

Preschool Olympics

On April 30, Drew had Pint Sized PE Olympics at his school. Nana & Grandaddy were in town so everyone went to watch and enjoy the show. It was chaos, but really fun. I was able to help out since Allen was under the watchful eye of his grandparents and escorted Drew and his buddy Cameron around the events. It was a chance for the kids to show off what they practiced in PE class during the year. There was a lot of running, jumping, throwing, obstacles, etc. They had a great time!

Drew's class before the Olympics started

Drew & Cameron

Drew running cones - he was laughing so hard!

Las Vegas

When Patrick turned 29, I promised him a trip to Las Vegas for his 30th birthday. Well, considering Drew was born exactly one week before Patrick turned 30...that plan went by the wayside. So I promised him we would try again when Drew got older...maybe for his 32nd? Of course, Allen came along a month before that and the plan disappeared again. So...since we now live so close to Vegas, I planned a surprise trip for our anniversary. Since I am pretty bad at keeping secrets, I ended up spilling the surprise a few weeks prior, but that was ok. He was excited. Then the great cactus incident happened and almost ruined our plans. But we decided to go anyway and make the best of it. It was mainly a time to get away from reality, sleep in (without little people tapping on your shoulder asking you if they can watch the Disney Channel since they already woke up...at 5:45 am...), enjoy a new place, and just be together. We had a great time and will probably go back...sometime...
(And no, the boys did not suffer while we were gone. My parents came in town and they had a big time together. Drew helped them get around town (he's almost as good as the Garmin!) and they got lots of playtime. It worked out well for all involved!)


We stayed at the Signature which is part of the MGM Grand but separate towers behind it...you can see a white tower to the left of the green hotel...we were in tower 3. It was very nice (huge rooms, very private, nicer pools, non-smoking) but not super convenient. We had to walk over a 1/2 mile to get back into the MGM to then go anywhere else. Either that or walk out the back way and down a back street which was fine during the day but I didn't love it at night. We enjoyed the peacefulness of it but probably won't stay there again...

I thought this lion was awesome! He laid on top of the viewing tunnel in the MGM Lion Habitat and slept all day. He was huge! His paws were bigger than my face! It was hard to get a good picture of him, but I had to try. He kept opening his eyes and watching everyone below him but never lifted his head. Patrick saw him the next day, sleeping again, but this time there was a female trying to wake him up and get him to play. Hah!

The New York, New York was right across the street. I thought it was so cool! Very cool design and nice and open inside. We went to ride the roller coaster but the $14 per person price tag coupled with the very windy day kept us away. Maybe another time...

Probably as close as I'll ever get to Paris...

Hopefully not as close as I'll ever get to Venice! Pretty cool hotel...I had no idea the canal inside was on the second floor. It took my mind a few minutes to process that idea...

Attempting to take a picture of ourselves...if it tells you anything, this was the best one...Patrick was not cooperating at all! And no, he had not been drinking...I think he was just tired of me dragging him up and down the Strip.

My camera battery died while we were out one day so I didn't get any photos of the Bellagio or Caesar's Palace, although I really liked both of those hotels! And Patrick did give in and let me watch the Bellagio fountains one afternoon. His exact words: "You do realize we are standing here waiting to watch water go up in the air, right?" The beauty of it was lost on him...

Our favorite casino was the Wynn and we hope to make it back there one day...maybe when we win the lottery!

There was a big boxing match at the MGM on Saturday night and the hotel was packed with people from England there to watch their guy fight. It was supposed to be a pretty good match...apparently no one told him that as he was knocked out early in the second round! But it was cool to see all the crazy stuff that went on around the fight. And since Saturday was the Kentucky Derby, we took the opportunity to place our first horse bets. We didn't win, but we had picked the horses that came in second and third to win so we were close. Unfortunately they don't give you anything for close. It was fun to experience it, but not something either of us are interested in doing again. Patrick did go sit in the Sports Book to watch the race and he said the atmosphere was really neat.

Isn't he sweet?!

Since we went to Las Vegas last weekend to celebrate our anniversary, we weren't supposed to get each other anything yesterday. But Patrick said he just couldn't come home empty handed...so he came home with these!

Works for me!