Picture This

Colin's first grade pictures came back today and we had to share, of course. He's growing up too fast - where's the little boy in this picture?

New Pictures Posted

I've posted some recent pictures on our Picasa site, so click here to see some more like those below:

Pictures with Claus

I took the boys to the mall the other day and had their pictures taken with Santa. Only took about 7 or 8 takes to get the final result. It seems amazing to me how difficult it is to get two kids to both look at the camera and smile and not blink.

Afterwards both kids told they forgot to tell Santa what they wanted and asked if I told them. Sure hope they get some presents.... :)

Dinosaur World

Our primary purpose for visiting Glen Rose was to go to Dinosaur World. It is a new park next to the dinosaur state park, and it has over 100 life-size dinosaurs on display. Colin is just enthralled with dinosaurs right now, so much so that I don't even dare try to get into a trivia game with him about them. He can name so many more dinosaurs than I ever heard of, knows whether they are a carnivore or a herbivore, and even knows what period they lived in (Cretaceous, Jurassic, Triassic, etc.). As a matter of fact, he started looking at what I was just typing and reminded me not to forget the Triassic period.... so it's now listed above....


For more pictures, click here.

It was fascinating to watch him see an upcoming dinosaur and say, "Daddy, I think that's a styrocosaurus" and be right on target with his guess.


The picture above is of the styrocosaurus.


At the end of the trail, there is playground and also a "fossil dig" in which they get to sift through sand in an attempt to find fossils, three of which they get to keep. None of these are dinosaur fossils, but there are things like small shark teeth, etc.


The boys thoroughly enjoyed this visit, although it was pretty hot that day (97+) and there was very little breeze. We wish we had switched the two parks around as the day before when we were in the truck with the a/c available, it only got up to 92 degrees and had a good breeze.

Fossil Rim Safari

At the end of July, we took a trip south to Glen Rose to see Dinosaur World (which I'll talk about in my next post) and Fossil Rim Safari. We all thoroughly enjoyed this, as we had animals sticking their heads in our car, slobbering everywhere, and a giraffe sticking it's head through our sun roof. And don't forget the ostrich, which can be quite an event as they stick their long necks inside (by the time we got to them, we were out of food and it was a bit unnerving as one searched for food inside the truck.

Here's a link to some pictures - click here




We had quite an eventful safari, especially when we almost ran out of gas. As we were driving down to Glen Rose, I knew I was going to have to buy gas soon. I decided that we would stop at the hotel we would be staying at, drop some things off and then we would go to Fossil Rim. However, we arrived a bit later than anticipated and we decided to go directly to Fossil Rim to ensure we had plenty of time so we wouldn't feel rushed. I completely forgot that I needed to get gas until we were already into the safari and my gas light came on.

At that point, I wasn't too concerned as I had approximately 20 miles of gas to go and the safari was about 9.5 miles. I didn't consider the fact that to do a safari, you constantly stop to feed the animals, it was surprisingly hilly. By the time we were 1/2 way through the safari, my display was showing only 6 miles of gas to go. So I burned approximately 14 miles of gas in just 4.75 miles.

Luckily for us, at the 1/2 way point there is a stopping point overlooking the valley. There they have a gift store. I talked with the employee there and advised her that we were going to run out of gas before we got out of their park. She said that since it was before 5, she could have maintenance bring me some gas. She made a call and then told me that they would bring me gas, but it would be a minimum of 2 gallons at $6 a gallon. Quite the highway robbery, but what could I do since I was the one who didn't plan properly after all. So I paid for the gas and waited. About 5 minutes later, she came up to me and apologized as apparently all of maintenance had left and there was nobody available to bring me gas.

So now we were back to square one. She then told me that we could go out the side gate and down the back roads back to the main entrance and then back into town. As long as we made it back before 5:30 we could still come back through the main gate to finish our safari.

While we didn't have a choice, it was still quite a dilemma. I had approximately 6 miles of gas (and I've never run the truck out of gas, so I'm not sure how far I can go beyond 0 miles), it looked like it was about 2-3 miles back to the highway and then 4.5 miles back to Glen Rose. I was showing 0 miles remaining at least 1 mile short of Glen Rose, but we managed to make it to the gas station and back to the safari before 5:30.

Needless to say, the second time through the safari was much less stressful for me, as I wasn't having to watch the gas gauge and wonder if we were going to make it.

Little Thinkers Think Again

It's been a while since my last post, but hopefully I'm going to catch up over the next few days. It's just been so busy.....

Once again, in a continuing series of humorous or thought-provoking comments from our kids.

When the boys were in the hospitals recently (Noah having tubes in his ears, Colin's broken arm, Noah's chin), there were some amusing comments, mostly due to loopy medicine they were given:

• Colin, the day after getting the loopy medicine for the doctors to set his arm - "When I was in the hospital, my eyes were out of control and it was like I was in a dinosaur museum. Then I opened my eyes and it was like the doctors were in a cartoon show, and then they looked original again."
• Colin, after coming up from his loopy medicine. It was pretty late at this point, but the medicine hadn't quite worn off yet. "I'm ready to go to bed. I know when I see two mommies that I'm ready to go to bed."
• Colin, a few days after Noah was in the ER for the cut on his chin. We took the bandage off and Colin did not like it. "Mama, I want Noah's bandage back on. Please get it back on." Tammy asked him why and he said, "I'm afraid that I might catch it, like sneezes and coughs."
• Noah, after getting his loopy medicine prior to tubes being put in his ears. Noah looked at me and said, "Hi Colin". I said, "I'm not Colin, I'm Daddy." He gave me a strange, amused look and said, "Hello Nicky, Hello Nicky". (Nicky is Colin's friend)
  

Noah was tested a year or more ago due to a reaction to a cashew and it was determined he was allergic to nuts, specifically tree nuts like cashews, pecans, etc., but it also included to a lesser degree peanuts. While he was under for the tubes in his ears, we had them draw blood and perform another allergy test. We discovered he is no longer allergic to nuts, but they identified other allgeries, such as some trees, bermuda grass and cats. One day soon after we were talking with the boys about how Noah was no longer allgeric to nuts and started discussing the nuts he could now eat. Noah asked what else he was allergic to, and Tammy told him he was allergic to cats. With great concern in his voice, Noah said, "Mama, I don't want to eat cats because I love them!"

The other day, the boys spilled something and Colin told me about it. I asked him to show me where they had spilled it. He got up on his bed and jumped around and then stopped and said, "My research tells me that the mess is right here."

After a birthday party for his friend Emily, Colin asked Tammy if there would ever be a time when he wouldn't see Emily anymore. Tammy said that it was possible, for example if we ever moved. She told him that we don't plan to move, but that it was always a possibility. Colin said, "If we were married, we would see each other all the time."

On Colin's first day of First Grade last week, almost all of his friends from Kindergarten were in different classes, so there was definitely some uneasiness the day prior to school beginning. However, he had already met his teacher, so that was good. But on the first day, his teacher wasn't going to be there as she had a family emergency. So we took him into his classroom and I was talking to him a bit about having a great day and advising him that it would be a substitute. I thought maybe he would need some assurance that it was no big deal on the first day. Colin grabbed some crayons and started coloring a picture they had set out for all the students. He didn't even look at me and said, "Excuse me Daddy, I need to get busy." Maybe it was just Daddy that needed the reassuring....

Colin and Noah were playing some super hero game they made up. Instead of saying Red Alert, Noah was running around saying, "Red Alerp! Red Alerp!"

A few weeks ago, Noah was asking for some mosquitoes. I asked him what he meant and he said he wanted some mosquitoes to eat. I couldn't figure it out, so I asked him about the mosquitoes that fly and he said, "No, Daddy not the bug mosquitoes, the candy mosquitoes." We went to the pantry and he finally cleared it up when he pointed to the bag of Skittles.

Noah asked me, "Daddy, do worms have slides in their tummies?". Still not sure where that one came from.

One night, I was putting Noah down for bed and he told me, "Daddy sometimes I use my finger in my nose to check for boogers. I'm going to do it now."

Frequent ER Miles?

I think maybe someone should offer some kind of Frequent ER Miles, as we might qualify soon. Especially if the program offers more points when the visits are closer together.

We decided the best way to spend our Friday evening was the same way we spent our Sunday evening. However, to change things up a bit to make it new and exciting, the best thing to do was to have a different son be the focus of attention and get a different ER room.

Noah was playing on the bed and took a sheet and wrapped it around himself, apparently on his head as well. We're not completely sure, but Colin says he fell off the bed and busted his chin on the nightstand.

After we hear screaming and run into the room, we could see blood everywhere but had no clue where it was coming from (I first thought was his tongue or lip). And just like with Colin's arm, once I got a good look at the actual injury, I knew we were off to the ER.

He ended up getting 7 stitches in his little chin, but was a trooper just like his brother.

For a few pics of our walking wounded, click here

Little Romeo?

This was taken last week at the spring performance at Noah's school (Mom's Day Out). This is too cute, but wait until the end right after the singing is through to see a little Romeo.

OUCH!

Yesterday Colin broke his arm...while watching TV...

While I'd like to have some great story about how he broke it playing a sport or riding his bike or falling off a swing-set, the reality is that he really was just watching TV. We had one of those collapsible TV trays sitting out in the living room, and Colin decided to play on it. He was rocking back and forth on it, with his feet on the couch. And the TV tray lived up to its name and collapsed, catching his arm during the fall.



As soon as I saw the arm he was holding, I knew we were headed to the Emergency Room. During our 4 1/2 hour visit (which really isn't bad compared to some emergency room visits we've had), they determined that he broke both bones in his forearm - one a very obvious break with dislocation, the other a hairline fracture.


Here are the x-rays, in which you see the damage. Click on them to enlarge.

Little Thinkers Score Again

This is the latest in my continuing series of humorous or thought-provoking comments made by the kids.

When we were at the Fort Worth Zoo a few weeks ago, Noah was so excited to see "rubber duckies" swimming in the water along with other birds.

At a friend's birthday party, the boy got some toy that was made by Fisher-Price. Colin was so excited about it for him and was telling him about it. The boy's mother asked Colin how he knew about it, and Colin said, "I know everything about Fisher-Price toys."

As you can see from one of my previous posts, the boys had their pictures taken in polo-style shirts, which turned out really great. One morning before school, I was having Colin put his polo-style shirt on. He was not very enthusiastic about wearing the shirt to school and called it a "parent shirt". I asked him where he got the idea and he said it's because I wear those types of shirts to work most days.

We we out to eat last week and asked the boys if they wanted to go to Fuddruckers or Blackeyed Pea. Colin quickly said, "I want to go to Funruckers because it's a lot more fun."

The other day we were driving and passed a Bradford pear tree. Due to the flowering in the spring, it was very pretty, but I've never heard it described in quite this way before. Noah said, "Mama, look at that popcorn tree!"

Bowling!

Colin was invited to a bowling party of a classmate. Since he had never been bowling (what kind of parents are we...?), he was a bit apprehensive at first, as he sometimes can be with trying something new. But once he watched a few of the kids bowl, he didn't even want me to help him with the first time. The girl in the picture to the right is his best friend Emily.

Noah was able to come as well and he just loved bowling, although the ball was bigger than his head (see picture in the album - not sure how he can see where he is going).

Here are some more pictures: Bowling

We'll definitely have to start going bowling more often now.

Soccer Practice

We enrolled Noah in soccer practice a few weeks ago. He just loves going around kicking and throwing balls, so we thought this would be a perfect avenue for his energy. He really seems to enjoy it and the coaches have noted and appreciated his listening skills.

Here are some more pictures of him during practice. Soccer

He goes once a week and the focus is on basic soccer skills, such as kicking, balance, etc. For example, they put cones on the ground and have the kids kick the over. Then they have the kids use one foot at the bottom side of the overturned cone and attempt to put it back upright.

New Picture Alert!

We just had some new pictures of the boys taken about two weeks ago.

See the link below for all of the pictures.

Pictures

Innerspace Caverns

We recently visited my sister and family in Georgetown, TX. While there, some of us decided to take the kids to Innerspace Caverns. We weren't sure how our kiddos would react - would they be scared, bored, indifferent...? While Noah seemed to enjoy it, he did get tired. That, in turn, made Daddy pretty tired from toting nearly 40 lbs around in the caves. Colin, on the other hand, thoroughly enjoyed it. He told Tammy that this was the bestest adventure he had ever been on.

Here is a picture of the family members that went.
Front Row (L-R): Noah, Colin, Jayden, Brandon and Courtney
Back Row (L-R): Tammy, Brad Pitt, Tim, Taylor, Fannon and Robin (is she on the front row or back row?)

Closed!

Tammy found this Doodle Pad sitting outside of Colin's door yesterday, with the door to his room shut.....

I could be mistaken as time flies, but I don't think he's a teenager yet.

What will you be when you are 100?

Yesterday was the 100th day of school. During the day, one of the assignments was to draw a portrait of themselves as they envisioned they would be when they were 100. They were also asked what they thought they would be doing at 100 years old.

To the left is Colin's self-portrait and his response. Notice his beard, which looks pretty similar to Daddy's goatee. :)