Is it warm enough to...

Swim??

Last weekend was the first weekend the pool was open at Grandma Eileen's so Alex decided to check it out while Mommy, Grandma, and Aunt Nicci were baking. Alex got in farther than Brad did, but that really wasn't saying much as Alex barely got his swim trunks wet!

Time to get ready for my party!

Just Grandpa and Me

Last Saturday night when we were in Cincinnati, we were able to join Grandpa and Patti for dinner. We had a fun time at the restaurant where Alex kept himself occupied by licking the salt off the outside of the peanuts (who taught him to do this...so bizarre).

Looking for bugs and worms in the dirt--with our walking sticks! Alex now uses the supports for his train tent as "walking sticks" all over the house.

Watching Daddy set off fireworks.

This may not end well...

Happy Birthday Alex!!

Alex was lucky enough to celebrate his 3rd birthday twice. Once with all our family in Cincinnati and then again last night (his actual birthday) with his friends on our street. These are just a few of the many many photos we took. I'll be sure to send out an updated album ASAP. Both were "construction themed" parties, hence the hardhat cupcakes and truck cake. Trucks are one of Alex's favorite things at the moment.

About 35 of our family and friends joined us at Julif's Park in Cincinnati on a lovely May day! The weather was nice and warm and Alex played on the playground equipment until we had to drag him away (once to open presents and once to go home).

I'm not sure this was really the color of grass, but I tried my best :)

Alex's buddies Vanessa, Josh, Emily, and Baby Jaydon joined him for cake and ice cream last night. They had a good time running around burning off all that sugar and playing with the new toys.

Raising a Bargain Hunter!

This morning, out of the blue, Alex asked if we could go to a few garage sales. He volunteered to sit in the stroller, just like last week, and look for some new toys and books. Glad to see I'm rubbing off on him just a little bit :)

Imitating

Alex is very much into modeling the behaviors of others. For example, last night at dinner, a man blew his nose (loudly for certain, but unavoidable) and Alex then imitated the noise himself. Brad and I just froze with embarrassment and quietly scolded the behavior but laughed about it later. When Alex hears funny noises he immediately repeats them because he thinks people make those noises with the intention of being funny. If someone sneezes, about half the time Alex will say "bless you" and the other half he mimics that person by saying "ah-choo". We'll continue to practice good manners and stress their importance with him...

Shucking Corn

Brad taught Alex how to shuck corn this weekend. Right after I took that second photo, Alex picked up the corn on the cob and took a bite out of the top of it. Then we showed him how we boil corn :)

A Busy Week for Dad

This photo sums up Brad's week.

Happy Mother's Day!

I simply cannot believe it has been 3 years since Alex was born! I'm pretty sure if he tried to sleep on my chest like this now, he'd collapse my lungs! I had a lovely Mother's Day and my darling husband prepared both breakfast and dinner. It was a very relaxing day, rainy as it was. Today is beautiful and sunny and we can't wait to get outside and soak up some sunshine!

Zoo Fun!

Tuesday the weather here was in the 80s! Today it is back in the 60s, but I digress. Alex and his friends Josh, Reese, and Rylan visited the zoo and enjoyed seeing all the animals! Alex really enjoys the movie Madagascar, so seeing the lions, zebras, and giraffes had him quoting lines from that movie. Our favorite line is "Wakey, Wakey Mr. Alex" since the lion in the movie is named Alex.

Making Muffins

I'm embarassed to say, but this was the FIRST time I've let Alex help in the kitchen. He truly had never shown any interest before, but I think when he saw that these were chocolate muffins, he suddenly wanted to see what was going on. So, Alex pulled up a chair and helped me stir. I told him if he ate all his dinner he could have one for dessert and wouldn't you know he ate every last bite!

The Latest Rambling...

We did some yard work over the weekend and Alex was most helpful! He wanted his own little shovel to do some digging under the gas meter (really is there no better place in the yard to dig?). Brad asked him which shovel he wanted and Alex exclaimed "the one in the fridge Dad". After some back and forth, Alex showed him what he was talking about. The tall, plastic storage cabinet in the garage does have side-by-side doors similar to our fridge... We tried to tell him this is a cabinet but he's insistent on calling it the fridge. We'll go with it.

Pilot Pete's

Saturday night we met up with our friend Karen in Schaumburg, IL and had dinner at Pilot Pete's. It is a restaurant that overlooks the Schaumburg Regional Airport and there was plenty for Alex to look at! There were planes outside, planes hanging from the ceiling, even model planes in a small glass case that Alex really really wanted to open :)

These planes were "sleeping".

While waiting for our dinner, Alex took in some pictures on his viewmaster. We bought this for the plane ride to FL and he seems to enjoy it.

At Pilot Pete's they bring Atomic Fireballs with the check, instead of mints, and Brad thought it would be funny to give Alex one. He was good for about the first 30 seconds, then he spit it out into a water cup :)