Saturday, April 30, 2011

School Update

We could not be more pleased with Colin's school! It's so comforting to know that while Chris and I are busy at work, Colin is well taken are of and loved! He adores his teachers and his friends. But most important, he is growing and learning beyond our wildest imagination. It's so interesting to have him come home and say something new or sing a song we've never heard. He's very confident and curious- a good little package!

As of today, Colin can count to 20 and he can put on his own clothes- including zipping up his own coat. Little things, but he continues to take us by surprise each and every day. We can't take credit for any of it- the most we've taught him is to finally say that he's two:

Thomas the Train



Silly Faces








Easter 2011

Storyline to follow when I have more creativity...
















I Want To Ride My Bicycle

Chris and I both have bikes and we recently decided to get a bike seat for Colin so that he can go on rides with us. He asks for his 'bike seat' every chance he gets. He absolutely loves to go for rides with us and is such a sport with his helmet:

Look out for us on the road!

New Kicks!

The Little Man may not grow much- but his feet sure do! We've been searching and searching for a good (attractive and durable) pair of new shoes with little success. Until these:


SO glad I got a few pictures of them before he destroyed them running around at school! 

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Cleveland ROCKS (Day 1)

I talked to Aunt Michelle this weekend and told her we were on our way back home from Cleveland, and she said, 'you road trip more than anyone I know.' This is true. Then it got me thinking, what are Chris and I going to do once we retire if we do all of our road tripping now? I guess we'll have to wait and see!

Chris had to work a convention in Cleveland this weekend so he took us along for the ride. We stayed downtown in the Ritz Carlton and were pleasantly surprised at how accommodating they were to children! They went above and beyond for us and made the ho-hum trip that much better. When we first arrived LATE Friday night, one of the bellhops gave Colin a little stuffed elephant. Very thoughtful!

While Chris was away on Saturday, I got to spend some alone time with this guy:

Aren't I lucky? We went downstairs to have breakfast together, just the two of us. Colin was very well-behaved. One of the servers brought him a Crayola coloring book with markers. Again, they went over and above for us!

After breakfast, I decided to take him on a walk to explore downtown. Not much to see. We were very disappointed in the overall city. Kinda scary in places. I went up a few blocks to see the lake and stadium, then headed back to the hotel.


After Chris got out of the convention, we headed over the Science Museum. Again, very disappointing. Kinda dirty and not very child-friendly. I don't mean to sound so negative but we were so shocked about the overall condition of the city! But that didn't stop us from having a good time. The space exhibit was pretty interesting. Colin and Chris tried their hand at building a lunar fort:


And I had my own fun. Who said a lunar fort can't have a great front porch for guests?

We did a little bit more exploring before closing:



For dinner, we took Colin on his first trip to Hard Rock Cafe. He loved the music and the attention! One of the servers took him on a special trip into the kitchen to pick out his drink. He chose Raspberry Iced Tea. Luckily, he took two sips and wanted his milk. He did finish his cheeseburger and fries, though! He had a great time!

Cleveland ROCKS (Day 2)

Saturday night, Colin tossed and turned in the bed next to us. Finally, at around 9 pm, he requested that we turn off all the lights and the TV. We obliged, thinking we'd give him some time to fall asleep, and then we all woke up Sunday morning at around 7:45 am. Sometimes you just need it. The Little Man may have liked the big bed a little too much:

After quickly getting ready and packing up the car, we headed a little south to the Farmpark just outside of Cleveland. Colin has been going through a little Farmer phase lately so we thought we'd treat him to the real thing:





Colin complaining about the 'mess'




LOVED it! We only wish that we had one closer to home so that we could go more often. Colin was in heaven and could have spent all day exploring. It was definitely the highlight of our trip to Cleveland.