Amazing Race!

On Saturday the Little Mister participated in the Splash n' Dash, a 25yd swim and 1/4 mile run.  I was a little worried for awhile because he really didn't seem that thrilled to be there at first.  I wasn't sure if he was nervous, or scared of all the people there or just tired of waiting for his turn since his age group went last.

But half way into our swim, after I got him to look up and see Dad and Baby Sister cheering for him, he perked right up and said "I'm winning!"  He was all smiles for the rest of the race.

After the swim we traded off and Brad took him to the transition area to get on his shirt, race number, and shoes and then they ran together.  He held Brad's hand for most of the race.  Baby Sister and I got there just in time to see them run the last bit and cross the finish line. 

Everyone got a medal at the end but Little Mister didn't seem to let that deter him from calling himself the winner.  The rest of the day it was "Mom, I can't believe I won my race!"

Poor Baby Sister, she wanted numbers drawn on her too, and she wanted to race but she was too young.  Maybe next year. This year her consolation price was playing in the locker room and checking out her  new kicks in the mirror :)

A couple of days later he had another chance for competition with his buddies at an Olympic playdate, thanks to my good friend Angela.  It was some fierce competition!!

Baby Sister even got a medal. Since she didn't participate in any of the events, I like to think it was for the cutest pig tails!

Two!

Baby Sister had a pool party this year for her birthday. Even though a couple of her friends were sick and couldn't make it, we still had a good time. Her party was much simpler. No handmade gifts for the guests, or games, but come on now, I've got two birthdays in six days people!

She definitely knows what a party is but I don't think she completely understood that it was her birthday or even what a birthday is. Her face just lit up though when we sang her Happy Birthday and she was more than excited to open her presents.

We are so lucky to have such good friends to celebrate with!

Some thoughts on being two:

"What's the best thing about birthdays?"
Answer:  "Cake!"  (I couldn't agree more)

"How old are you now?"
Answer:  "Two weeks!"  (almost right)

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"
Answer:  "Astronaut.  And maybe, I'll see you on the mooooon."

And that's about all I got out of her before she became distracted.

And now some of my thoughts:

It's true that Baby Sister is clingy.  She loves me more than anything,except maybe fruit snacks, and hates if there is a closed door or gate between us.  She likes to sit on my lap while I do almost everything and DOES NOT like me to hold other kids.  She is more shy than her big brother but she is so cute and just so sweet.  Her smile and her laugh can turn around even the worst day.

Some of the cute (and not so cute) things she says and does:

"Great job!"

"Awoven" (eleven)

"No sir, no sir!"

"Bad baby!" (she learned this from her brother who learned it from his Dad - telling the dogs they were bad)

"I'm going to go to a time-out".  And she does.  She will actually put herself in timeout.


She also likes to ask for permission to do things.  So all day long I hear "Mom, can I run/take off my pants/open this cabinet/pull everything out and make a huge mess and you can clean it up?"  Ok, so she doesn't actually say the last one but I know that's what she's thinking.

She will interrupt the song I am a Child of God to specifically request that you sing the "walk beside me" part.

She will say the prayer now, with help, but she does add her own parts as well.  She whispers most of it so softly you can hardly hear it until the end where she yells "amen" and throws up her arms.

In the cutest, sweetest voice you've ever heard she says "Mom, do you want to put me to bed?" 

She adds an "y" to several words...juicy, coldy, hotty, bibby, snacksy.  And sometimes she adds and "ing".  So, instead of saying "it's getting dark", she says "it's darking".  It's actually quite effcient.

And when she is really sad she says, "I want to cuddle".  Who could say no to that?

Calling All Superheroes!

For his 4th birthday, we gave the Little Mister a superhero birthday party. This is my favorite party that I have thrown to date, probably because it's the one I put the most effort into. I guess up until now, although I wanted my kids to have a party with friends and feel special all their birthdays, I've had a hard time putting a lot of thought and time into a birthday theme that they really weren't old enough to appreciate yet. But, four was the year. The Little Mister was all about his birthday party and helped me plan and make the invitations.

It was small, we only invited four friends. It was pretty much his regular playdate buddies, plus his super sweet friend Myah, because really what is a superhero party without a Wonder Woman?

I made capes and masks for each of the kids, loosely based on several of the Justice League characters. When they arrived I gave them their capes and they got to decorate their masks (or crowns/headbands for the girls) and color their superhero pictures. I also had them tell me what they wanted their superpower to be - but only Benjamin seemed to be really interested in that. Oh well...

Next we had some superhero practice...flying (running) and jumping over tall buildings (jumping from the ottoman to the couch) and then they got a break to play while I got lunch ready. Just as we were getting ready for the cake we realized someone had come and hidden it! The newest little superheroes had to follow the clues to find the cake. They were so cute during that part, running around the house finding clues. After the cake was found a couple of them were really concerned about who took our cake. I think they wanted to find that bad guy and fight him :)

Then it was time to open presents. They were all genuinely happy to give a gift and watch the birthday boy open it - definite progress from previous years!



And now some thoughts on being four:

"What is your favorite thing about being four?"
Answer:  "Playing with my friends, and being four". 
He has frequently said things like "this is the first time I've been to the pool/church/gym being four, right mom?"  And he tells everyone he sees that he is four now.  I guess he's pretty excited about it:)

"What's your favorite color?"
Answer:  "All the colors"

"Who is your best friend?"
Answer:  "All my friends are my best friends"

"But do you have anyone you like to play with the most?"
Answer:  "Benjamin, because he has spy toys"

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"
Answer:  "I told you, I haven't choosed yet!"

"What's your favorite toy"
Answer:  "My silly car"

And some of my thoughts on him being four:

I really can't believe how big he has gotten and grown up.  He asked for, and got, a telescope this year.  Yes, an actual telescope!  And he asked me for weeks if he could get one and was sooo excited when he opened it.  Of course, it hasn't gotten much use yet because it needs to be dark and Brad or I have to help him, but he is so excited to learn about space and can name most of the planets and several nebulae thanks to a calendar from my parents.

And, he's over me.  I mean, not completely.  But, for instance, I thought he would be excited the time that I subbed in his Sunbeam class.  Not so much.  In fact, the second time he told me I couldn't do it  until I convinced him to let me "just one more time" he said.  And when he gave the prayer or read a scripture in Primary for the first time, I thought he would be nervous and want me to be there to help him.  Nope.  He wanted his teachers. 

He asks questions ALL.THE.TIME.  I'm so excited (and a little sad) for him to go to pre-school but I know he will love it.  He loves to learn new things and gets so animated about it.  And he is so good at making new friends.  I'm glad I don't have to worry about that with him.  He makes friends almost everywhere we go - and it's adorable to watch.

He is getting better at expressing emotion.  I'm not sure if he is just copying things he has heard or if he genuinely understands what he is saying but yesterday he told me a) that he didn't want to go to a concert ever because he was "nervous of all the kids in a line" and b) he was "frustrated at Lucy".  Also, sometimes when he doesn't like my answer, he will say "Mom, you are lying to me about that".  Ouch!  But at least he realizes lying is bad.

My favorite part about his birthday was overhearing him say to his friends "guys, I really love all my birthday presents"  BEFORE he even opened them!  So sweet.

Charleston

Earlier this month we went to Charleston.  I love that city!  The history, the architecture, the food.  I could do without the heat and humidity though and I think we chose one of the hottest weekends to go!

We didn't let the heat stop us though and decided to go ahead and see the aircraft carrier turned aviation museum in Mt. Pleasant.  I would not recommend doing that on a summer afternoon again.  But, we did find a couple of cool spots, one being the dining room (or mess hall),  and we stayed in there as long as possible.  Aside from being hot, and terribly nervous that my kids were going to fall off the boat, it was pretty interesting.  We didn't get to see everything (it's a big ship!) so maybe some day we will go back and finish the rest.

The next day we headed to the beach at Isle of Palms to meet up with some friends that were staying in a beach house there.  I really love that beach because the waves are so calm (typically) and it is shallow enough that you can walk out really far into the water.   The kids loved splashing in the water.  The Mister even got to try boogie boarding with his dad.  But mostly, they were intent on digging.

After dinner that evening we went out for ice-cream.  The kids wanted to taste each other's ice-cream and were so cute about sharing that I had to snap a quick photo!

On our third day we went downtown.  Once again it was a scorcher so we let the kids cool off in the fountains.  Silly me, I thought the kids would just splash around and didn't need their swimsuits.  Well, I was wrong!  They got right in and got soaked from head to toe.  Clearly the locals were more experienced as pretty much all the other kids were in full swimwear.  Luckily, we had a change of clothes on hand.

After lunch we went to Charletowne Landing which is the location of the original settlement.  Once again, had it not been so hot I think we might have enjoyed this more.  We didn't see everything here either.  We did go to the animal forest and saw some bison - but most of the animals were smarter than us and had found a shady place to hide.  We also got to see one of the small ships like what they had back in the days of the early settlement.  I think it would be a really fun place to visit around Thanksgiving time.  I guess we will have to go back!