Spins, Slides, and lots of Smiles with friends

It's so nice right now that we can mostly pick our kids' friends, and I love that they play with my good friends' children.  On Valentine's Friday, we met one of my best friends and her daughter at a wonderful park on a gorgeous February day.  The girls weren't so sure about the photo -  

But soon they were running around playing, and Maya was scooting around on the quest for the most tasty leaf -  

The stunning Katelyn on the playground - 

And my little beauty, double-fisting it with leaves -

Collin wasn't sure if this spinning cup was fun or terrifying.  Though he was smiling most of the spin, he claimed when it stopped to be scary, so we took a dramatically sad photo -

Happy to be outside and practicing pulling up -

On Saturday, we met my friend Amber and her three kiddos at another park. 

Amber had them spin and then run to a tree and back, to not only burn energy but also engage their brain to stabilize them after spinning -

The kids had no idea it was beneficial to their brain, but they knew they were having a great time -

Collin loves playing with these three -

Thankful for a beautiful weekend to get outdoors with my kids, my best friends, and their children!

My Little Loves on Valentine's Day

I spent Valentine's with my two little loves and away from Cas, who was out of town for work.  Dressed for the occassion, we took lots of pictures in their red -

I gave Collin a "polliwop" [his word for lollipop, and we think it's cute so we perpetuate the wrong word usage] and he assured me it was his favorite Valentine's ever!

Maya assured us she was quite pleased with the leaves she found all over the yard -

Brother and sister laughing at each other- 

Sweet big brother . . . until Maya started to reach for the polliwop -

Natural smile with sugary gift in hand -

Smiles and kicking feet greet Collin in the morning as soon as Maya spots him -

We spent time at my parents' in between play dates and dinners with my friend Kelly.  Collin - and my dad - were equally excited about Collin's new rocket - 

The rocket of course got stuck in the tree, so we had to fire tennis balls at it to free it -



Collin got bored being the ball boy for the tennis balls, and went to his fighting men - 

We tried to get a cute shot of my mom and the kids in their Valentine's shirts, but Collin's hug over my mom's shoulders was a choke-hug and Maya wasn't having it -

Maya is happy now, but my mom was still fighting for a breath - and this is the best we got!

Oh this girl, I cannot stop taking her photo!

Crawling Lessons and other snippets of our life via an iPhone download

Collin knows he can catch a ride in the front footrest area of the stroller, so we keep him moving by encouraging him to find sticks to defend us from the bad guy trees.  He got a little ambitious with his stick collection on this walk.

One Saturday in December, I was hoping to meet up with Amber and her family at a park, but it was cold and rainy.  We ended up at a bounce house place, where shockingly, Collin asked me if he could ride the mechanical bull.  This is the child that at three, I had to accompany him on the slides at bounce house birthday parties.  However, he didn't want it to speed up so much that it threw him off, so eventually I had to enter the ring and carry him off the bull!

A few weeks later, we tried to meet up with Amber again at the bounce house place, but it was packed with kids from daycares.  So we went to Chuck E Cheese instead.  It was Collin's second time there, and though he probably would have been content "playing" games without the tokens, Mackeon, Holden and Esmae quickly filled him in on how it works and how you earn tickets.  He had a blast and with his socialized share of tickets (thanks to Mackeon winning 100 but splitting them with the younger kids' meager winnings), Collin was able to get these vampire teeth.  Which two minutes after this picture was taken were dropped on the floor of the bathroom at Chuck E Cheese and haven't been worn since.

We send messages like this to Daddy when he's traveling for work - 

We send pictures like this to Grammy and Brownie as thanks for the foam toys - 

Collin started back to gymnastics class right before he turned four.  We had been in a parent-child class when he was three until I reached two weeks before my due date and we paused.  I was ready to go in the fall, but Collin wasn't ready to take the class without me.  A few months later with a noticeable increase in confidence, Collin enjoys his Monday gymnastics while Maya and I wave and smile to him from the viewing area.  Some days he listens, some days he tends to run around like a maniac, but I appreciate that he's getting to be active, adventurous, and learn new skills.

Maya's new trick . . . which we learned at gymnastics, I'm sure much to the delight of the other waiting moms who listening to us imitate and me cheer as she figured it out!

Christmas onesie picture.  My dad got these as a gag gift and handed them off to Cas, but he has worn them at least twice, so he likes them for more than just a photo!

It's no surprise that the dogs love to clean up after Maya now that she's predominantly eating finger food.  But I was impressed with Bruno's Pavlovian connection that when Maya starts to get fussy in the high chair, that's his signal to start his stalking, since we'll be taking her out soon.   

 

And speaking of Maya eating, this girl can put it away.  She regularly out-eats her older brother!  Here she is with a black bean goatee - 

Our happy little girl loves spending Wednesdays with her Grandma Libia!  Here they are swinging and giggling on a Wednesday afternoon - 

In Collin's stocking, he received a ticket to a dinosaur movie - and there was a matching ticket in Cas' stocking.  And he also got a certificate for pottery painting with an identical one in my stocking.  So last Saturday, we headed out for our mother-son date.  He chose a robot, and I painted a vase.  He was quite patient as my vase took a little longer than his robot (or I painted all three layers of the colors as instructed and he painted until he got bored).  After pottery, we hit up Marble Slab.  It was a great afternoon!

My girl and me in our matching chambray and polka dots on SuperBowl Sunday - 

And finally, a crawling lesson for Maya . . . that didn't quite take . . . by her sweet big brother -

Silly String Battles on Super Collin's Fourth Birthday

Collin requested a super-hero birthday party to celebrate turning four, and I requested a small, casual party since our sand-filled backyard wasn't ready for a lot of children.  His actual birthday fell on a Friday, and we had a play date with some of our sweet friends from church in the morning.  

The next afternoon, we had our cousins, a few family members, and my best friend and her three kids over for pizza, cake and a little super-hero fun.  Nico and Lorenzo came dressed for the occasion. The cousins on the couch - 

Cas with Lorenzo and Uncle Tony with a mask - 

 

When Mackeon, Holden and Esmae arrived, we headed to the backyard to burn a little energy before dinner.  

Then Cas explained the most complicated obstacle course around our backyard.  I'm pretty sure only 7-year-old Mackeon followed all the instructions.

The birthday boy, still in mask, was the first to complete it.  The course began with a climb over a dirt and sand pile courtesy of our work-in-progress backyard.

Then a tricycle ride from the dirt pile to the balance beam - here's Esmae and Holden.  

Next a walk along the beam.  This was Cas' birthday present to Collin, the construction of a low beam in our backyard.  Our cautious Collin and the speedy Mackeon - 

Up the rock wall, down the slide on the playset -

And over to the highlight of the course, getting Batman away from Cas, the villain, with the help of silly string.

Esmae to the rescue -

Holden and Mackeon were expert silly string sprayers -

On the last round, Collin wanted to be the villain, so Mackeon sprayed him -

Then we handed out the extra cans of silly string for the kids' favorite part of the party.  Amber, my mom and my Uncle Dick were covered with silly string - and sometimes they had to help Collin and Esmae press the spray nozzle to then cover themselves!

Grammy's dramatic reactions led her to be the victim of choice -

Our Super Collin with some help from Daddy -

When the silly string ran out, we corralled them inside for pizza and birthday cake.

Mask back on for birthday cake time.  Blowing out his four candles - it is stunning to me that we have a four-year-old!

And using his super-hero abilities to devour his cake without removing his mask -

After dinner, the girls played together - Esmae is so sweet with Maya!

And then checked out some of his new gifts - 

 Amber and her baby -

Some of his favorite gifts are his musical cards . . . which may be now hidden after being played repetitively for two weeks following his birthday.

Even though she couldn't participate in the party activities, sweet Maya was not neglected, getting some love from her Grandpa Brownie -

And Grandma Libia - 

Before leaving, we made everyone take pictures in super-hero gear -

My Uncle Dick with an impressive sign design - 

Uncle Tony, Nico, Collin and Cas - 

Grandma Libia - 

Grammy and Brownie -

Collin talked my parents into staying for one round of Hedbanz, a new birthday present game.  

 

 

Some good-bye giggles -

 And good-bye hugs -

Happy fourth birthday, our super-hero Collin.  Your family loves you to pieces!