Splash!

As I prepared for our trip to Orlando, I kept reading comments from parents that when they took their kids to a Disney park, all they'd hear from their kids is that they wanted to go back to the hotel and play in the pool.  Not surprising, I know.  But it did cement our belief that we should make sure we had plenty of pool time in our agenda.  And we did; it was difficult to get all three of my boys out of the pool at the house we rented!

Charlie loved the little kiddie pool that was attached to the regular pool; he spent a lot of time dumping water from bucket to bucket to bucket.  Over and over again.  That is, when he wasn't trying to just walk straight into the big pool; this boy does not have a sense of danger around water!  That also meant he loved it when Scott jumped into the water holding him, or threw him up in the air, or did just about anything else.  He's a little fish, like his brother and dad.

Zach got to practice his swimming skills, and after a day or so remembered he's not afraid to jump in the water on his own.  He and Scott invented all sorts of games to play in the pool, since the homeowners were kind enough to leave a variety of balls along with the swim noodles, buckets, and floaties.  Dodgeball, basketball, baseball (swim noodles make decent bats), football, tag, racing, and, of course, all the games that involve Scott throwing Zach across the pool!

Yes, I did get in the pool, once, for about 30 minutes.  Mostly I enjoyed lounging in the sun, watching my boys' antics and reading a book.  The perfect vacation for all of us!

Up next... the Magic Kingdom!

Happy Friday

Charlie wishes you a great weekend!

About a 5 year old boy

Our boy had yet another birthday celebration!  My parents would have preferred to come up on his actual birthday weekend for the festivities, but instead they once again did us a big favor by coming up the weekend after.  You see, we needed them to watch the boys for us so we could curl in a bonspiel that is incredibly fun and always right around Zach's birthday.  So while we had a great time on the ice, Zach and Charlie had a blast with Grandma & Grandpa for three straight days.

I can't tell you much about that celebration, since I wasn't there for much of it, so instead I thought I'd take the opportunity to catch you up on all Zach's latest stories and funny quirks.  There are a few, let me see what I can remember!

The last couple months have felt like the end of an era around our house.  For years, since he was about 2.5 years old, Zach has been all about cars, with a capital C and regular old cars.  And the other day, he told me Charlie could have all his cars!!!  He does still occasionally play with them, but he has definitely moved on, and yes, it appears anything Super Mario Brothers is his new obsession.

The other change that I didn't expect this soon is the desertion of good 'ol cowbungadee.  I'm a little sad about this one... he's been toting that little blue cow with the yellow stars around since he was a baby.  I knew he wouldn't go to his first sleepover with him, but I also didn't think there would suddenly come a day when he was just unceremoniously replaced.  First he was replaced by the plush round reindeer he got for Christmas from a friend of ours, whom he called "meatball."  But now, he's cuddling at night with a stuffed Yoshi.  If you're not familiar, you can probably guess - it's a Mario character.

Zach loves the show Phineas and Ferb.  But it makes me laugh that he can watch that show, with its humor that I suspect often goes right over his head (and makes us laugh), and then watch Max & Ruby, a show that is a bit like nails on a chalkboard for most adults!  He wobbles back and forth between being a "big kid" and a little one, I guess!

This story is an old one, but it illustrates Zach's disdain for anything that is considered for girls.  His class at preschool this year is much more divided; the only girl he seems to play with is one that is willing to join in the chase games outside.  Anyway, while we were shopping for the little Xmas gift for a girl in his class (he was randomly assigned her name), I asked him if he knew what she liked to play with, if he had noticed what she liked to do at school.  He told me she liked ponies.  I said something about her liking My Little Ponies, and he said:  "I don't know, ponies are pretty much just like dolls" in the most disgust-filled voice possible.

On the other hand, Zach is starting to pick up that most boys don't like the color pink (it's still his second favorite color, behind gold).  I was pretty proud of him when he told me that none of the other boys in his class ever picked the pink choice (I don't remember what they choose...?) when they are the helper at school, they always pick the white one.  But he was still going to choose the pink one.  Stay strong buddy!

As the NFL playoffs approached, Scott asked Zach if he wanted to create a fantasy football team and play against him.  Zach was concerned he wouldn't know who to pick, so Scott told him he'd write out all the players (not meaning "write out" literally... who writes things with a pen anymore?).  Zach said - Ok, but don't write it in cursive - I can't read that!!!

A couple of Zach quotes:
Mom, do you know what I like best about winter?  I get to drink lots of hot chocolate and play lots of Wii.  And you know I love both of those things!

Dad, remember how you have to be a certain amount of high before you can watch a movie on the airplane?  (this was apropos of nothing, and it took Scott quite a while to figure out what he was talking about... different kind of high)

This is perhaps my favorite Zach story in quite a while.  While we were in Montana over Christmas, Zach was outside with his cousins and his uncle Ian.  Bryn, his 9 y-o cousin, told her dad she wanted to talk to him privately.  Zach was confused by this, so Ian told him that sometimes Bryn just needed to tell him some private things.  Zach nodded his head, and said in a very knowing voice, "oh, she needs to talk about penises."

Chop Chop

I've looked back at pictures of Zach when he was about 1.5, and regretted not getting his hair cut sooner; a mullet is just not a good look for a toddler. So when Charlie's hair started growing in the same way, wispy, long on top and in the back, I told myself I would not wait as long this time around. After taking a look at him in his high chair the other morning, I decided that was the day for his first haircut!

^ Before... yikes.

^ He was not thrilled with having the cape put on. But there's nothing like Elmo to distract a little boy.

^After: much better, and a much older-looking boy!

5th Birthday Celebration #2

On Zach's actual birthday, we headed to the Mall of America so he could ride the rides, a favorite activity of his. We met our friends Wendy, Chris, and Vincent so Zach could ride along with a buddy.

^The Wonder Pets ride looks awful - lifts them up and then drops them, bouncing them along the way down. Zach loves it, and thinks he's tough when he doesn't hang on. The bumper cars are always a favorite, of course, there's nothing our boy likes more than crashing into things.


^This little roller coaster is quite fun, even more so if you put your arms in the air! And Charlie got to go on his first ride, driving the trucks. It doesn't show in this picture, but he LOVED it.

In the afternoon Scott took Zach swimming, and then some friends came over for a little party (made even smaller when illness prevented 5 of our guests from attending!). Adam and Sylvia and the Rose family made it for dinner, cake, and some games.



^ Cake #2 was a cookie-dough blizzard cake, Zach's favorite treat. Charlie was also a fan (so was Sylvia, although the look on her face doesn't show it.)




We just played one game; the kids seemed hyped up enough on sugar and were having fun running around as they always do. What is this game we played, you ask? I have no idea what to call it, but you stuff a bunch of prizes inside a kleenex box, tie it to the kids' waists, and have them try to shake everything out. It's quite amusing, especially when Rosie has to give it a try to get all the treasures to come out.

5th birthday celebration #1

Our boy is five years old. And nothing made that sink in faster than watching him at his party on Friday. He had been telling me for months that he wanted to go to one of the local inflatable/bounce house places with some friends. When the time came to make official plans, he had narrowed the list of invites quite a bit, to three boys, one from each of the major areas of his life: Brett, his buddy from school; Payton, his buddy from the neighborhood, and Vincent, his buddy from our old ECFE days.

So off we went...

I didn't take a lot of pictures there, since it was oddly-dark and all the pictures ended up a tad blurry (my apologies for some of these, but the ones like the group shot I just had to include!). After the boys were worn out (and Payton took a little rest on the bench), we headed to our house:

Time for an Angry-Birds themed cookie cake and gift opening, and another cute group picture (l-r Payton, Brett, Zach & Vincent). And then, Zach discovered his dad had set up a scavenger hunt to find his big gift from us. The clues led him all over the house, until he found his way into the basement:

And then it was pinata time!

Looking at Zach in this pack of boys has just really made me realize how much he has grown. He has friends, friends he has picked on his own and likes for their own individual personalities. And they had a lot of fun celebrating his birthday!