Happy birthday boys!

It's been almost two years since posting in our blog! Life is hectic and wonderful and blogging needed to take an extreme back seat. Being busy certainly makes time move faster and today we're celebrating Carson's 9th and Elias' 7th birthdays. Every day these boys amaze me and our journey continues to be an adventure.

 

Carson:

58 inches tall and 77 pounds of pure energy. He has developed a love for running and basketball this year. Two weeks ago was his first basketball camp and his team won a medal for winning the overall tournament! Track camp starts tomorrow and he cannot wait to participate in the track meet on Friday. Carson is a sweet and compassionate boy. His dream is to become an engineer for LEGO after college and create elaborate building sets. Blue remains his favorite color and he has dicovered music and psuedo break dancing this spring.
 

Elias:

50 inches tall and around 45 pounds of sass. Always the comedian, Elias discovered the fun in sarcasm this year. He has his own style and insists on wearing full suits with a tie to school about 30% of the time. Math and reading are his strong subjects and he is a constant chatterbox. He is going to track camp this week as well. One day he would like to be either a train conductor (yes we are still a train lover!) or the President of the United States. With his sweet talking skills and sly smile, I wouldn't put it past him. Green is his favorite color and pepper and mangos are his favorite foods.

 

Happy birthday boys! You have come a long way and I can't wait to watch you continue to learn and grow.

No Training Wheels!!

Elias made a huge step in development this afternoon at Gigi and Bobpop's house. He is officially riding his bike without training wheels! The begging began about two months ago to get out the wrench and take off the safety net. We raised the wheels around June and then again in August. He has been practicing riding down the sidewalk without either training wheel "making noise" for the past month. Finally today my dad decided it was time and off he went! He didn't struggle and was zooming up and down the hill for about 20 minutes.



We kept warming Elias to SLOW DOWN and not ride like a kamikaze. He didn't listen and the result wasn't pretty. Rounding a corner, he clipped a patch of grass and spun out. I heard his skin scrape across the sidewalk from my parent's front porch. Once I reached him he was crying and bloody. Carson walked his bike back to the house for him and I carried the soon to be band-aid boy.

Once he was bandaged up and had sufficient hug time, he was back on the bike and zooming down the hill again. Lesson NOT learned but boys will be boys and Elias is ALL boy!

National Museum of the United States Air Force

Al's parents were up for Labor Day weekend and instead of sitting around the house and twiddling our thumbs, we decided to pack up the cars and head off on an adventure. The National Air Force Museum was within driving distance and as an added bonus is free so it won first prize on our trip list. We all had an amazing time learning out the history of our U.S. Air Force. The boys couldn't believe how big the planes were and even were able to experience a flight simulator. There was a model airplane air show on the base during our visit and those plane were fantastic! Carson and Elias loved when the models flipped and zoomed past our heads just like real fighter jets. Ohio also blessed us with the perfect early fall day for our excursion.

Great family. Perfect weather. Free admission. History. Learning. Who could ask for more?!

Give me a K!

Elias began kindergarten this morning after a long week of waiting. Every morning during the past seven days, Elias woke up, ran to our bedroom,and asked if it was his turn to go to school yet. The official day finally arrived and he couldn't have been more excited. After deliberating over three different outfits he settled on a pair of jean shorts and a green polo shirt. Since green is his favorite color Elias decided it would be easier for his teacher to remember if he wore it the first day.



Breakfast consisted of mango juice and wild blueberry oatmeal in addition to his usual gummy vitamins. With his hair properly moused and his teeth brushed we headed out to the front porch to take the obligatory first day of school pictures. After countless cheesy grins and a few squabbles between the boys it was time for Carson's driver to pick him up and Elias and I to walk to school. We stopped two doors down to pick up one of his good buddies who we are fortunate enough to have in his class.





The two boys enjoyed walking to their first day of "big kid school" together and walked hand in hand into the elementary school by themselves. I thought I would be sad to see our teeny baby growing up and heading off to kindergarten but Elias is enthralled with school and incredibly ready for the year ahead. I can't wait to see the explosion of learning that will take place in the next nine months. Kindergarten is so much fun!

We're going to the

ZOO, zoo, zoo! Today was a gorgeous late August day in Ohio. The sky was perfectly blue and it was only in the mid 80s. Al and I both were off from work so we packed up the boys and headed to the zoo. It seemed like most of our neighbors decided it was a great day for visiting animals too. The zoo was packed!


Carson and Elias wanted to head straight to the aquarium to see the manatees, stingrays, and sharks. They even were able to touch a few various sea animals with the help of zoo staff.




Next up was the reptile house. The boys both pet a snake right off the back. We carefully observed all of the pythons, vipers, rattlesnakes, and gila monsters before heading back out into the sun.



The primate area was calling our name so we walked down the path to the sounds of monkeys and gibbons. One of the large silver back gorillas was putting on a show. We were able to watch a few of the baby monkeys and see two red river hogs. Elias thought it was awesome that the monkeys had a playground with monkey bars! That is until he saw there was monkey poo all over the slide. Then he kept calling them dirty little monkeys.


Carson was tired at this point so we headed towards the car. Thankfully our zoo membership allows us to pop in for a few animals here and there and not worry about wasting money on a short trip. Until next time animals!!

First day of second grade!

Today was the first day of second grade for Carson. He was very excited this morning and couldn't wait to get dressed, eat, and head out the door. Last night he carefully picked out his outfit and draped it over his desk chair. This morning he was starving and ate two strawberry waffles and two servings of apple cinnamon oatmeal washed down with a large glass of milk. Our obligatory first day of school pictures took place after face washing and teeth brushing. Elias had to peek his head in a couple of them too. I will have more information about his new school, IEP, and wonderful staff in our new district. Let's keep our fingers crossed for a fabulous school year ahead.

Four eyes

Today's eye doctor appointment added another small complexity to our lives. Carson is getting glasses just in time for the start of second grade. With a father who is nearly blind without assistance and a mother who has a killer astigmatism, Carson didn't stand a chance. We must have tried on a thousand pairs of frames this afternoon. After much debate (and a little whining), he decided on a nice, navy blue pair. The finished product should arrive in about 10 days and training on how to care for glasses begins. Carson only has to wear them at school and while watching television so hopefully recess/play/sport accidents won't be an issue.

Here's a sneak peek of our new little bookworm