Thursday, August 26, 2010

Ryan's wedding & Cincinnati

My cousin Ryan was getting married in Cincinnati, Ohio & we decided to make the trip to support him. We managed to book direct flights and borrowed a mini DVD player, so the flights went smoothly. The trouble was, we left our carry-on with all the boys' clothes in the overhead compartment. We realized within a half hour, but the plane had left for DC already. The attendants refused to call and ask DC to put it aside (horrid Delta customer service! I was upset and crying and she still refused to help-telling me a passenger had probably stolen it by now-a bright red Thomas the train bag with little boys' clothes), so of course, it was 'lost'.



















The next day we headed to Union Terminal to check out the museums there. We first went through the Natural History Museum. Alec loved all the interactive exhibits.



















They had a great tunnel that took you through the Ice Age, ending in a dinosaur exhibit (not sure why it wasn't the other way around). I had the camera, so took a self-portrait with James.

































After we had played with all the dinosaur toys, we went to the Children's Museum. It was much larger than the one in Vegas and Alec had a blast! After getting soaked in the 'water works' exhibit', he started climbing. He loved the giant tree house especially.


We found a mall that evening to buy the boys some clothes & a pair of PJ's, but they didn't have suits for them.

The next day we visited the Cincinnati Zoo with my family. We went immediately to the giraffe enclosure, so Alec could feed them. He had a hard time waiting in line, but he really enjoyed the experience.



















The weather was really humid and in the high 90s whilst we were there, so we really appreciated all the indoor exhibits with air conditioning! We actually missed the dry desert heat. Alec was especially fascinated with the manatees, he kept talking to them.


Alec really enjoys carousels, so the zoo having one was like a dream come true for him.



















My siblings with spouses & children, and James, enjoying a ride with Uncle Kevin:



















We took the train ride around the zoo, which was fun as it drove over some exhibits and by a large fountain. Alec was glued to the sights and refused any picture-taking, but James was happy with daddy! Alec actually told us the train's name was Thomas and we were allowed to go do other things, but Thomas would watch him, so he was going to stay on the train. Nice try, little buddy.





































Even though I dislike birds, I took Alec in the lorakeet exhibit to let him feed them and have them crawl up his arm.


Saturday was the reason for the trip-the wedding! We had family pictures at 2.30, so we spent the morning running around trying to find dressy outfits for the boys. Two malls later, we'd finished! I managed a quick swim with Alec in the hotel's pool to cool off before we got dressed up.















My cousin Ryan looked SO happy, it was great. His bride Chrissy looked gorgeous! My favorite part was when he teared up as Chrissy entered the ceremony. He said later he'd never seen her look so beautiful.



















After the wedding is that unavoidable lag-time when the couple takes photos and we have to entertain kids for a few hours. Poor Alec was really squirmy at this point, but he tried his best.

































Then, the traditional 'decorating' the car. Kari, Kelsey, Carly & I had fun:















We flew home the next morning. Once again the boys did great on the flights. Just as we took off, James decided to make a big mess in his diaper that began to leak on his clothes, so that was funny, but we got him cleaned up. Alec was tired and slept in a strange position.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Wrong Shirt

Alec's growing independence means he wants to dress himself. It backfired when he found James's matching polo and wore it backwards.
James is so big and Alec is so tiny, he could still put it on and was NOT happy when I insisted he take it off.

Friday, July 30, 2010

Little Handyman

Paul & I bought Alec a workbench & some little projects to make. It's been a fun father-son activity. I have a hard time not laughing when Alec tells me seriously, "I got to go make a airplane, mommy. I be back later!" He is getting good with the electric screwdriver, it's fun to see him concentrate so hard.

He enjoyed playing with it so much, Paul's begun taking him to the free kids' craft mornings at Lowe's & Home Depot. He's enjoyed making a monster truck, periscope & alien spaceship.














My favorite handyman trait is the helpful/cleaning side. Alec always offers to help me when I'm cleaning the house:


Thursday, July 8, 2010

Happy Fourth of July Weekend

We had a lot of family plans over the holiday weekend-Saturday was my sister's birthday so I had a cake to make (well, brownie-ice cream cake) and Sunday was the blessing of baby Ben. Alec gets a treat if he can sit still during the passing of the sacrament and he got a bit impatient waiting, so he stood up and shouted, 'Go sit down now, boys!'

Between all the family stuff and both of us teaching right now, Paul and I didn't plan much for the 4th, so we drove out to a great vantage point where we could see all the fireworks going off across the valley and parked the van. Paul and Alec got out to do some pop-its, but James and I opted to stay in the air conditioning. Not very exciting, but we had fun anyway.















Paul had Monday off work, so we got to do some swimming with daddy!

Saturday, July 3, 2010

James in the Bath

Now that James is old enough to take baths, we stick his little tub in the bath with Alec who LOVES bath time with his little brother. He's great at playing with James and James always smiles at Alec's antics.

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Swim! Swim! Swim!

Alec began swimming lessons this summer: 4 days a week with 'Miss Sandy" and he LOVES it! I managed to snap a picture his first day of lessons. Little Mr. Fearless loves just jumping in the water with no regard for his safety, so I need him swimming for my own sanity.



















My two little monkeys!

Friday, June 25, 2010

Fresh Orange Juice

While we were in California a few weeks ago, my grandma gave us two large bags full of oranges off her tree. We clearly weren't going to eat them all before they'd go bad, so Alec and I decided to juice them.

He took the job very seriously and would throw the dried out halves in the trash solemnly, declaring, "That one's dead."



Tuesday, June 8, 2010

2 Month Old Comparison

James looks so much like a mini-Alec that we wanted to put some pictures next to each other for comparison.

James has darker hair and more hair than Alec did as a baby and James is a lot larger, but you can definitely tell they're brothers.

Friday, June 4, 2010

Father Son Campout

Our ward hosted a father-son camp out and Alec had been excited for over a week about going camping. It must have seemed like heaven to him-camping with daddy, grandpa, 2 uncles & his best buddy, Cannon.

Uncle Ben figured out that the lantern attracting bugs scared Alec:
Sword fighting with s'mores sticks:



A stick has two ends, so why not eat two marshmallows?
Playing in the 'lazy river':
Rides from grandpa:

Beach!

Since Paul had Monday off for Memorial Day, we decided to take advantage of the 3-day weekend to drive out to California and spend a day relaxing at the beach. We'd all been a little sick, but decided it was worth a rough drive. We drove out Friday and stayed at my grandma's house. Saturday morning we got to the beach about 10 and Alec immediately dug into his sand toys.
The water was freezing, but Paul and Alec didn't seem to mind.
Here's a cute shot of Alec:
And here's one that better shows his cheeky personality:
Paul kept building sandcastles with elaborate moats and Alec enjoyed crushing them, then laying on them:
James and I hung out a bit further back most of the time, I wanted him completely hidden from the sun: