Cowabunga, Dude!

Andy and I spent Sunday afternoon at the Kids' Museum with some friends from Charlotte. We missed the 'physical activity' exhibit during our last visit and Andy was very excited to embrace new opportunities. He entertained me with his antics on the surfboard, complete with classic
Andy facial expressions. In the words of Bart Simpson, "Cowabunga, dude!"
He can certainly roar like a lion when he feels like it. Check out those guns.

One of our favorites, the water feature complete with plastic boats. This area always makes me laugh. All the parents hover about, anxiously trying to prevent their children from getting too wet. Meanwhile, the children dodge said parents, trying to get as wet as possible.
I was glad there was at least one other boy plugging his finger in the end of the water hose and giggling with delight when it sprayed everyone around him. I just smiled to myself as the mothers of little girls frowned in dismay. Boys will be boys.

It wouldn't be a trip to the Kids' Museum if we didn't stop by the train table. It took some cajoling but I was able to entice him away from the trains without making a huge scene. We saved our dramatic presentation for the cars exhibit as well as the hockey rink. Man, this boy is d-ra-m-a-t-i-c.

Stubby Rides Again

Andy's class mascot lives with us this week. We decided to show him a rockin' good time and went to Red Robin for dinner. Apparently he loves to color.

Stubby has excellent table manners. Andy took the whole outing very seriously. Although he refused to eat and complained about the noise at least 137 times. Steve and I inhaled our dinner as quickly as possible and tried to bribe Andy with Red Robin's cupcakes. No sale. In sharp contrast to Andy's urgent need to leave, Eli savored every moment of his first trip to the Robin. Well, his first trip in which he was able to sit at the table and participate in the consumption of french fries. I'm sure he went in his infant car seat a time or two. He looked around in awe, ate a few coasters and threw anything he could reach on the floor.

Andy insisted we stage this photo the minute we got home from pre-school. Wanting Stubby to have a spectacular visit, I complied with Andy's request.

A Friday of Firsts

Eli recently started physical therapy to strengthen his muscles and learn to pull up and stand. His therapist had a novel idea: why not wear shoes? I knew I liked her. This is Eli, proudly sporting his new kicks for the first time. He loves standing at the Lego table, just like his brothers and he claps for himself every time he pulls up to stand. What a cutie.
First day in the sand box. He wasn't quite sure what to think of all this mysterious, grainy stuff but at least he didn't scream like some other little boys did when we plunked them in the sand for the first time. He did eat a fair amount, which is just gross. This is a good rehearsal for the beach, I guess.

Andy and Luke were delighted to see their old sand box toys. Although we played at this park before, they insisted it was their first time in this particular sand box. We stayed as long as we could on Friday afternoon, but it got a bit chilly after 4pm. The weather here is a bit cooky...we woke up on Thursday morning to a light dusting of snow. I think this is the first time we've seen snow on the ground and then played in the sand box 36 hours later. Maybe we'll have the sprinklers out by next Friday.

A Little B-ball, A Little Cousin time

We made a quick trip to Charlotte to celebrate a special birthday... Eli had a grand time riding around in the back of this truck. There was always a cousin willing to take him for a lap.
My little home boy. I'm lovin' the roller skates.

Luke had his first Upward basketball game on Saturday. Taking good pictures in this gym is going to be a challenge. This pic is lousy but we are so stinkin' proud of him for trying something new.

This was my favorite part: the players are announced one at a time and they get to run out of this tunnel while the cute little cheerleaders cheer. So great! This is Luke making his grand entrance.