Summer Recap

Well, so much for Sunday!! It's Thursday and I'm finally jumping on here, but that just kind of seems to be my life right now.  CRAZY!! I know everyone feels the same way....

Now that summer is officially over and we're enjoying an absolutely amazing fall thus far, I figured I would give you a quick peek at what our summer was like.

We went to the park. A lot. (no yard to play in means many, many trips to the park):

We met new friends:

We went to the arcade and indoor play places on hot days:

We wished we were older:

We danced. A lot:

We shopped for the new house:

We laughed. A lot:

We imagined what it would be like to have a yard again:

And like good little boys, we brushed our teeth. Together:

Once again, catching up!

Wow!! Almost 2 weeks have gone by AGAIN since I last posted!! What can I say? I am a slacker! :) We have many things to catch up on but right now I don't have time (surprise, surprise). I am going to really make an effort to sit down and post tomorrow afternoon so hopefully soon there will be some interesting things to read!

We are on our annual countdown to Disney World...we leave next Sunday, September 30th!! Cannot wait...we are in need of some fun family time! Check back tomorrow for some more updates!

Weekend Fun

This weekend was Cameron's fishing weekend with the guys. So while he headed out east to catch fish and crabs, the boys and I went back to Leesburg to visit. On Saturday we went to the family safety day event at Center Lake park. There was a ton of stuff for the kiddos to take advantage of...ziplining (none of our kiddos did that, too scary), bucket rides on the REMC truck, face painting, a display of fire trucks that the kiddos could climb in, a helicopter took off and a lot more that we didn't get to! Christy was snapping away so I know she got some really fun shots of all the kiddos and especially of Barrett and Kale (which is good because I didn't get hardly any of the two youngest). Here are a few that I snapped with my phone....

checking out the firetruck

waiting for the helicopter to take off, apparently something else caught the eye of Barrett and Kale

Scheming...these 2, trouble all around!

BATMAN!!

Getting ready for the bucket ride...safety first!

Going in the bucket, Andon is already in! 

The bucket operator picked up Dane so he could see out...otherwise he was too short!

For the rest of the day, Dane asked me "where's Batman?" just to confirm Batman was still on his face!

Kale loving on Manny

First Day of School 2012

Dane started his new year at Crossways Preschool where he attended mom's morning out last year. This preschool is Lutheran based and is actually held at Holy Cross Lutheran Church. He was very excited to go back this morning, however was a bit confused as to why his teacher was different and why his classmates weren't the same. I am sure he'll make new friends quickly and I hope that he likes this year's teacher as much as he liked last year's. Today was just a "half day" to get them acclimated slowly...he starts his full time schedule on Monday (full time meaning Monday, Wednesday, Friday from 9am-11:30am). We know that today he learned about the red line (where they line up to go outside) and that he had cheezit crackers and apple juice. Then he told us that his teacher choked on a cheezit cracker and that her sister (assistant teacher) told her to drink some water...not sure if any of that is true but it made us laugh so I thought I would share!

Libertyville Mainstreet Twilight Shuffle 5k

Shout out to Cameron for finishing 25th overall and 5th in his class (out of 1,000 runners) in the Libertyville Mainstreet Twilight Shuffle 5k. He finished the race in 21 minutes 4 seconds which means that his mile splits were 6 minutes, 47 seconds. I am pretty sure I couldn't run that fast even if a clown was chasing me with a knife!

Kale @ 18 months old

We had Kale's 18 month checkup on Friday. It's funny that everyone that sees him talks about how big he is and no one really ever said that about Dane....their measurements were almost exactly the same.
Kale weighs 27.8 lbs (75th percentile)
Kale's height is 34.5 inches (90-95th percentile)
At the exact same age, Dane came in at 25.6 lbs and 34.25 inches. So far they really have measured almost the same at every checkup.

At 18 months, Kale is definitely trying to show his independence...he doesn't like help eating anymore and he insists on flying up the stairs anytime you turn around. Going up is fine, but coming down he needs help. Sometimes he will actually listen and sit on his butt to go down the stairs but most of the time he wants to conquer them on two feet and so far we've been there so he hasn't taken a tumble. He mimics everything Dane does and thinks that he is big enough to climb on everything Dane climbs on. Thankfully there have been no serious injuries from this. Kale has a funny little personality and loves to make people around him laugh. He loves to dance and ride on their little Lightning McQueen car. He is super speedy on all of those little ride on cars that you push with your feet. He likes puzzles and books and we think he's on the brink of a language explosion! :) He does say between 10 and 15 words and also knows his nose, mouth, eyes and belly. I take full responsibility for him not knowing all that Dane knew at this age, but I just don't have the one on one time I did with Dane. Here is a listing of things Kale likes to say:
- Da (long a, Dane)
- mommy
- daddy
- bappy (paci)
- truck
- hi
- bye
- all di (all done)
- uh oh
- ba (ball)
Aside from that Kale is keeping us on our toes. Dane starts school on Wednesday of this week but that is the only day he goes until next week when he starts his full Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule from 9am to 11:30am. He is ready and excited, but for me it's just another step closer to him being away from me all day long. Why do they have to grow up so fast?

Something I NEVER want to forget....

...the day Dane became a man. When Dane now has to use the facilities, he asks for a magazine. His hunting magazine, Cabelas. I think that definitely puts him in the MAN class.

Messy Boys

We have a very strong willed 18 month old who refuses to eat unless he feeds himself. He will cry and throw a tantrum until you give him the spoon....my annoyingly clean type A personality finally had to relent and just let him have his fun. I have cleaned up more splatters and smears everywhere around his seat at the table...he gets it up his nose...and in his hair....and on his clothes...and...and...and the list could go on and on!! Dane has gotten much better in the last couple years so I have hope for Kale too, but overall Kale is just a much messier boy than Dane ever was.  Case in point:

Dane @ 18 months eating yogurt

Dane after eating cake last week

Dane with a gatorade mustache

Kale @ 18 months eating yogurt (not too bad)

Kale @ 18 months eating yogurt (all over his shirt, in his hair, all over his face and splattered all around his chair)

Kale @ 18 months eating chocolate pudding (EVERYWHERE...straight to the bath tub)

Kale @ 18 months eating dirt...yep, even dirt goes in the mouth!