Easter Cookie Decorating with Cousins

We spent Saturday afternoon watching the Kelsey perform, as a monkey, in the Hollidaysburg Elementary production of Jungle Book.  Kelsey was an awesome monkey!  After the show we went back to Shelby's house and decorated egg cookies.  Lots of sugar and creative decorating ideas.  We told the kids it was a contest.

David wasn't too interested in decorating until we said it was a contest.  Then he found his creative spirit.

Kelsey still had her monkey whiskers on her face.  She was a monkey all day!

Ryan and Kaitlyn spent the most time decorating. . . and eating the decorations.

Shelby and I had to decorate too.  We let the kids pick the winner . . .and then decided they were all so pretty, so everyone was a winner.  Yum!

Lunch at School with David

Ryan and I joined David for lunch on Thursday.  We took Chick Fil A in for lunch.  David was very excited all week about us coming in, but he choose to hide his excitement once we arrived at school.  Ryan and I got there a little early and spent about 10 minutes in his kindergarten classroom.  All the kids stared at Ryan and I could hear David telling them "that's my brother Ryan".  Very cute.

David was horrified that I took pictures during lunch.  He covered his face for all but the one above.  After lunch the class lined up to go back to the classroom.  Ryan and I said goodbye and I went in for a hug, but David's face turned to terror and I realized there would be no goodbye hug.  :-(  Next time I'm planning to grab a quick kiss!

Magic and Birthday Parties

Ryan has been having a birthday party every afternoon for his stuffed animals.  All his animals are younger than him, except Bubbles, who is 82.  On Wednesday he added a magic show to the entertainment.  The animals all took their places on his bed to watch the show.

The finale of the show was the magical unveiling of the birthday cake for Boone (he's 3).

Riding without Training Wheels!

On Sunday morning David got some riding tips from Kelsey.  She talked to him about gliding and keeping his balance.  Such a great cousin!  David really paid attention.  

David wanted to get out on his bike as soon as he got home on Sunday afternoon.  Paul took the pedals off his bike and David worked really hard on balance and gliding.  Within a few tries he had it!

We put the pedals back on and he was off!  

Ryan moved up to David's 16 inch bike.  He was very pleased with himself for riding such a big bike.

David learned how to ride in the circle around the cul de sac and then back to our house.  He did that loop all afternoon and evening.    

Kelsey is 7!

Kelsey had a bowling party to celebrate her 7th birthday.  We had a lot of fun at the Bavarian with the whole family.  The kids got their own lane and the adults split up into girls and guys teams.  The kids did so well.  We decided we have to start bowling more often.

Kelsey had a bowling birthday cake.

Kelsey had lots of helpers to open presents.  Lots of Wii games and then a new bike.

The new basement is awesome!  We loved Uncle Bob's new bar and his tap.  Baby Avalene and Kaitlyn thought they were being really silly pouring beers.

Paul and I left the boys with Aunt Shelby and Uncle Bob and they played Wii games and ran around until late into the night.  They love sleeping over with the girls.  Very tired kids the next day.

New Bike - No Training Wheels!

The weather has been really warm.  We decided it was time to get rid of David's training wheels.  We went downtown tonight and picked up a new bike at Paul's favorite bike store.  David was very excited to have the bike fitted and to try out riding without the training wheels.

Things went pretty slow tonight.  David is still afraid of falling and Paul got very tired running around the neighborhood.  We're hoping it clicks on David's next attempt.

Ryan got into the act too.  He tried to keep up with David on his bike.

80 Degrees & Water Balloons in March

It was 80 degrees today!  We had a friend over and pulled out the water balloons.  Ryan was so excited to play water balloon games, . . . until he got hit with a water balloon!  Then we had to  come up with a game that did not involve throwing balloons at each other.  The boys tried to throw the balloons into a basket without popping them.

The game didn't last long and they were running after each other again.

Crazy Hair Day

Today was Crazy Hair Day in David's Kindergarten classroom.  He was so excited to color his hair red and wear a mohawk to school.  We used very strong glue/gel to get David's desired look.  He picked out the red t-shirt to match his hair.

Daddy's Painter Helper

We (David and Paul) painted the office this weekend.  The new color is so bright.  David had fun painting stick figures and his name on the wall.

After being silly he got down to business and learned how to use the roller.

Great Wolf Lodge, Spring Break 2012

We went to Great Wolf Lodge for spring break this year.  We had gone two years ago and David had remembered a lot about the visit.  Ryan said he remembered too, but we think the pictures of our visit helped his memory.

The boys each got to build wolves (Wiley & Silly Billy) and then travel around the resort listening to the story.  The animals had a sensor on them that activated the storybook.  We had fun running all over the hallways looking for the next clue to finish the story.  

The indoor water park is enormous!  David loved the big slides and the lilly pads.  By the end of our visit he was running across without getting wet.

Ryan loved the wave pool and the smaller slides that he could ride "all by himself"!

Both boys enjoyed this area of the park where they could stand in the water and play basketball.  Paul and I spent a lot of time sitting on the side of the pool in this area and watching them play.  Basketball is a big deal in our house right now.

Blue Bear and Boon loved their new buddies!  Lots of fun at Great Wolf Lodge.