Rock Chalk

The day before yesterday might be the last warm day of our North Carolina summer.  So, I had to dress Benny in this outfit before the weather got too cold. 

This post is a tribute to all of my Jayhawk fan readers!

"Rock Chalk, Jayhawk!"

Just me and Ben

One of the added benefits of having Evan go to preschool three days a week has been getting to spend a bunch of one of one time with Benny.  He gets plenty of attention when Evan is around, but he really opens up even more when you get him one on one.  Since Evan has been at preschool we've headed to parks, created works of art at home, and been to the airport, and we're just a few days into preschool.

When I get Benny one on one, he is so happy and communicative.  On the first day of preschool I heard him say 2 or 3 words that I'd never heard him say before.  When we went to the airport, he absolutely had a ball.  At first, he was a bit scared of the noisy planes, but when we had a chance to go up on the observation deck and watch a few, he got really excited.  He just started babbling and taking excitedly every time a plane landed or took off in front of him. 

I can't wait to get to know my little boy even better as the year progresses. 

(Benny enjoying a little mommy time)

Just Call Me Soccer Mom

So, I am officially a soccer mom.  Evan had his first soccer practice tonight, and I have to say that it was one of the cutest things that I have ever seen!  His friends Quinn and Nathaniel were on his team, but I was still worried that my little bookworm might not want to get out there and play.  However, he did start getting excited the minute we bought the shin guards.  As long as he got to wear the shin guards where ever we were going, he was happy to go.

Practice was very warm, and Evan managed to fall and scrape up both his knee and his elbow on his way down to the field-not a great start.  However, turns out he had a great time!  The coach was great with all of the little three year-olds running around the field.  They warmed up, played games, practiced kicking, and had a lot of fun.  Parents were there to herd the kids back on to the field when they just kept on running off into the trees, chased balls in the wrong direction, or just would rather sit down and have a little break. 

Evan actually stayed focused for most of it and enjoyed himself.  He was a good little dribbler and could kick the ball pretty well for his first practice.  He was also fairly pragmatic, instead of chasing around the one ball that everyone else was fighting over during the "scrimmage", he wandered off and found one that was not nearly so popular.  When they were playing capture the flag tag and everyone was chasing each other trying to pull off their flag "tails", Evan just wandered around picking up the ones that had dropped on the ground that no one was paying attention to. 

Most importantly, Evan had a great time.  It will be and interesting season, and I can't wait for the first game!

 (Evan arrives at the soccer field and eyes his competition.)

 (The team has a pow-wow.)

 (Evan listens to the coach with his friends Quinn and Nathaniel.)

 (Evan runs with his team.)

 (Evan takes a big kick.)

(It was a good practice mom, but boy was it tiring!)

First Day of School for the Boys

It's that time of year again, the weather is getting cooler, September has begun, and so has school.  I can't believe it's Evan's second year of preschool.  This year he will be in the 3's  classroom at Resurrection United Methodist Preschool going 3 days a week.  Evan wasn't the only one starting something this Wednesday, Ben had his first official Kindermusik class.

Evan has been to preschool twice since we started on Wednesday. Both times Evan has fussed when I dropped him off.  I hate leaving him upset, but apparently, he's happy two seconds after I leave, and by the time I pick him up he is wearing a big smile.  Today, he was also wearing two stickers and beaming because he had used the potty twice at preschool!  They've also been making placemats, reading stories, hanging out on the playground, playing blocks, investigating the class fish, and having countless other adventures.  I think it will be a great year!

Benny also had a great Kindermusik class.  Not only is his girlfriend Amelia in the class but also 4 or 5 other kids that are 16 months old as well.  It will be a whole class full of trouble.  He was as entranced as Evan by the teacher, Catherine, and loved listening to the music.  It's been really great to have this one-on-one time with him. 

The boys are both starting off on new adventures, and I can't wait to see what the new school year will bring.  They are both getting so big!

 

 (My little boy on his first day)

 (Our tradition of touching the preschool sign-he does it every day.)

(Our first picture with the sign a year ago-He looks so little!)

(The brothers pose together.)

 

(How much do I love my boys?!)

Wine Tasting, Zip Lining, and Hiking-The Perfect Weekend

So, I surprised Ian for his birthday and dragged him out of the house with no idea where he was going.  Once he was in the car, I let him in on his surprise.  First, we would drive up to Asheville slowly stopping by any good wineries that we found along the way and finding a bite to eat when we were hungry.  The greatest part of that plan was that we wouldn't have to stop at a McDonalds, a Chick-Fil-A, or any other restaurant that had kids' area for the duration of the trip.

We started off and had a great time just talking to each other which we never have time to do.  Soon, it was time for our first stop-Westbend Vineyards.  We started off their day as their first visitors and had a great time.  Their grounds were beautiful and the wine was lovely.  They had Ian's favorite wine of the day.  Next, they directed us to little neighborhood cafe for lunch called the Battle Branch Cafe-Yum!   Our next winery was Raylen.  We had been there before, and we remembered it as having good wine, and it didn't disappoint.  Onward for a little more driving to Lake James Cellars.  This one didn't have its own vineyard and was in an antique store, so we didn't know how the wine would be, but they really had some interesting wines.  They directed us to our final winery of the day-South Creek.  They had recently won a bunch of awards and were very proud of their wine, and it was good as well.

After that, we figured we had sampled enough wine for the day so we headed on in to our final destination, Asheville.  We checked into our hotel which was nice, except the room had the largest jacuzzi tub you've ever seen in the actual room-strange!!  We relaxed a bit and then headed out to dinner in downtown Asheville.  When we checked in at the Tupelo Honey Cafe they said that there was a 1.5 hour wait.  We were fine with that because we didn't have any kids to entertain and we had noticed a festival a few blocks away.  So, we headed down to explore.  We decided that the people of Asheville definitely reminded us of Seattle and Portland and had a great time!

(Our colossal bathtub in the middle of the room.)

Finally, our seats were ready for dinner.  We proceeded to eat WAY too much for dinner and enjoy every minute of it.  They had some delicious homemade biscuits with honey and jam for us while we waited for our food, and I think those were the best things we ate the whole dinner.  For our starters we had hot pimento cheese dip and pulled pork spring rolls.  Then, we tried the chicken saltimbocca and peachy pork chops for dinner.  While their desserts also looked fabulous, we were too full.  So, we headed out and down the street to a neighborhood chocolate shop where we bought some to enjoy later when we weren't quite so full.  Then, like the old people we are, we headed back to the hotel early and got a great, uninterrupted night's sleep.

The next day, we were able to wake up on our schedule and eat at the continental breakfast at our hotel.  Then, we headed up into the mountains to Navitat for a little zip lining adventure.  Neither of us had ever tried anything like it, so we were interested to see what it was like.  It was a lot of fun!  They had 10 ziplines stretched between platforms up in the trees of the forest.  The ziplines ranged between 100 and 1000 ft. and were 250 ft. off the ground at the highest point.  I was a little nervous about being able to stay on course and brake correctly when I was supposed to, but it turns out that it wasn't too hard.  We got to whiz through the air at up to 40 miles per hour and tried suspension bridges and rappelling too.  It was a great adventure!

(The course map)

(One of the platforms)

(One of the longest, highest ziplines-Ian is actually the little speck in the middle of the picture.)

(Ian and I adventuring)

After our zip lining fun we headed further up the mountain on a LONG windy gravel road to check out a waterfall.  Douglas Falls was about 70ft. and it was really neat to see.  Immediately after we got in the car from our adventure the rain started to fall, so it really was perfect timing.  One more adult meal at Outback and then we drove home.  We had a fabulous time, grandparents and grandkids all survived, and most importantly, Ian said it was the best present I could have gotten him.  I'll have to start coming up with ideas now for next year!

 (Some tree roots we passed on our hike.)

(The waterfall and I)

Surprise!

So, I never know what to get Ian for his birthday.  He comes up with a list that has exciting things on it like nose hair trimmers or a new kitchen gadget.  I know he really wants those things, but they certainly aren't very interesting.  So, a couple of months ago, I asked him if he would mind a surprise for his birthday instead.  He said, "it depends on what the surprise is".  I had an idea brewing, so I decided to go with it.

I planned and worked and worked and planned until this weekend rolled around.  I had Ian's parents come up as they usually do for his birthday.  Then, when he woke up Saturday morning, I handed him a card saying that his bags were packed.  We hopped in the car and left the boys with Gram and Gramps. 

Turns out it worked out perfectly.  He had a wonderful weekend, and so did I.  It was great to have the time to reconnect and actually talk to one another.  We also had some great adventures along the way.  While I need my sleep and don't have enough energy to post on all of our exploits now, I will not leave you empty-handed.  Here's a little preview of what was in store for my wonderful husband on his birthday weekend...

Happy Birthday Baking

Yesterday my wonderful husband had a birthday.  So, of course we had to have a big family birthday celebration.  This involved spending all afternoon in the kitchen.  I even had to bring in two very talented assistant bakers to help me with the cupcakes.  I was trying to make some Mexican chocolate cupcakes with sunflowers on top.  The boys helped me with every step from cupcake making to the frosting.  At the end of the whole process I realized that I am not an expert cake decorator, but the birthday boy seemed to enjoy them, and I think the whole family had a great celebration.

Happy birthday Ian!

(Evan carefully decorates his cupcake.)

(Ben decides to sample the frosting as he decorates.)

(The finished cupcakes)

 (Benny enjoys his handiwork.)

 (I think he likes it.)

(Happy birthday Daddy!)