Rumples visit - 2011

Aunt Val, Uncle Luke, Caity and Clark came to visit again earlier this month and we had such a great, great time! We look forward to their yearly visit so much and just hate it when it's over. The kids had a great time together. Well, mostly. Christopher and Clark fought like long-lost brothers. Three year old boys can be so tough! Sometimes, it was kind of funny (arguing over silly things, like who could correctly identify their own father - "That's my dad!" "Well...that's my dad!" Both were correct, but somehow it was a point of contention).

Playing in the sand box (did not include the pic of Christopher and Clark throwing sand at each other)...

A jam session on the deck...
Hanging out at the playground one day...
Pajama-jama time...
Uncle Luke reading a story to everyone off his (very cool) Nook...
Entranced by a movie...
Sprinkled donut morning. Always a good decision...
One day, we got to picnic at the water park with Aunt Michelle, Isaiah and Ayla, too. It was a Chipotle picnic and worked out pretty well...
The boys goofing around at the water park...

Cooling off his little piggies...

He started to lose his britches from that water spray...

The obligatory cookie making night. Caity's turn to stir the batter. Everyone had to sample the chocolate chips and M&M's, just to be sure they were to everyone's satisfaction...
A cousin squeeze...
Already looking forward to next year's visit! We love you!

Soccer

Chris just started taking weekly soccer classes with his friend, Kai (orange shirt, below) and he seems to really like it! He got a little offended when he was told repeatedly not to use his hands to pick up the ball ("But I WANT to use my hands!"), but I think he'll get the hang of it...

This is his soccer class. The kid in the black cowboy hat did actually wear the hat the entire time he played soccer. I'm still not sure how he kept it on.

Heading for the goal...

Score!

Taking a break at the end. He was tired!

First day of preschool - June 1, 2011

Well...he did it. He started preschool. He was very excited. He chose his own outfit and really wanted to wear his Yankees shirt. And he's very happy with his new Spiderman lunch box. First day of drop off went well. Chris didn't shed a single tear. Mom, on the other hand, essentially cried all day and counted the minutes until it was time to pick him up. By the second day, he gave Mom the old "Time to go already? But I'm still playing/coloring/etc." routine. Good for him!!

It took him a couple minutes to warm up enough to the idea of preschool to get off his chair and join the rest of the class, but he did. And I know he had a great time!

Preschool blanket

Christopher will be starting preschool on June 1st (someone hand me a tissue, please). Neither one of us (well, maybe none of us at all) is ready for this next step. But...we've been slowly gathering everything Christopher needs in preparation. One thing he needs for preschool is a blanket for nap/rest time, so...Mom and Dad made him a fleece tie-together blanket, hoping it will be comforting for him to have a hand-made blanket from us with him at school. I think he likes it!

Mother's Day 2011

We got to celebrate a belated Mother's Day last week. We went out for breakfast (mom's favorite meal) and then we took Christopher to see his very first movie in the movie theater. We saw "Rio" and Christopher had a lot of fun!

New York visit!

So...just a couple weeks ago, we got to go to New York to see Grandma and Gramps and of course, we had a great time!

Smart folks at the Dallas/Fort Worth airport have a play area for kids near the terminals - great way to burn off a little pent-up energy between flights.

He is such a good traveler! He genuinely thinks getting to ride on the airplane is fun...
Playing in the sand at a park near Grandma and Gramps' house...
Thanks for the lift, Dad...
This was a very cool (and huge!) playground...
He loved spinning on this thing. Was it the sheer joy of spinning or the fact he was the only boy in a sea of girls?
They have chocolate sprinkle donuts in New York, too? Score!!
We had lots of fun at the Riverhead Aquarium. He's checking out the seahorses...
Brian took this pic, I love it. Chris was looking at a sea lion swimming toward him...
Hey, monkey - whatcha lookin' at?
Christopher was so, so happy to get to spend time with his beloved Grandma and Gramps!
His first Peter Lugar experience. Can't say he ate much steak, but he did have a good time...
And the chocolate gold coins were, as you can imagine, a big hit...
Three amazing generations...

Thanks, Grandma and Gramps, for letting us visit - we love you!

Easter 2011

Like last year, we got to celebrate Easter with Aunt Michelle ,Uncle Trevor, Isaiah and Ayla. This was the Easter egg hunt and one difference from last year - Christopher was sporting a mohawk in honor of Christ's resurrection.

Just getting starting with the Easter egg hunt. Once he remembered the idea was to collect as many as possible, he was off and running...

Very full basket, but quite sure there are more eggs around here...

Checking out his loot. Took less than two seconds for the first piece of chocolate to pass his lips.

Happy about the candy inside each egg...
Cutting out the ears for his "bunny ears hat" he's making...
So maybe the ears ended up just a little too much on the sides. Oops...
Carry an egg on a spoon and not drop it? That's not so hard...
Learning to blow bubbles. Fun!

Playing a little basketball (with a lot of determination) at the end of the day...