What a Sand Pit

Collin and Max played together this afternoon.  Max is JP's older brother.  Collin went over to play with JP a few hours after he left this morning but JP was getting a bath and then taking a nap.  Max wanted to play and came over to play with Collin.  After playing in the playroom, they went outside to play in the sand pit.  I noticed that Max was putting up the smaller of the three umbrellas because he said it was hot outside.  I got out the other two so they could play in the shade.  Huge sand pit, umbrellas to make some shade, fountain in the pool in the background, great weather = a perfect day.  I sat inside watching the boys from the breakfast room writing some of the earlier posts.  I have a lot of blog catching up to do....for the past two months so it was perfect.

Saige's 4th Birthday Party

This evening, we went to Saige's house to celebrate her 4th birthday.  Collin had a lot of fun jumping in the princess bounce house with the other kids.  They took a break to sing Happy Birthday to Saige and then eat pizza and cup cakes.  They then watched her open her presents.  There was the expected hurt feelings/fighting going on as the presents where open.  They quickly forgot and forgave when they remembered there was a bounce house outside.  Collin loved it when Daddy would push him back from the side of the bounce house walls so that he fell back and would bounce or even fall onto the other kids.  We were there for over three hours enjoying the company of the other parents and watching the kids have fun.  Collin played hard but did not pass out when we got home.  He was actually hungry and wanted to eat again.  The eating continues....but I don't see that he has grown any.  I patiently wait.

Of course, Collin picked the table with all of the girls

Saige did not want to miss any of the icing on her lips

Happy Poo

Collin cracked Daddy and I up this afternoon when he announced that he had to poop.  He did his normal get his stool and then climb on the potty.  Daddy and I were having lunch when we were unexpectedly serenaded by Collin sitting on the potty.  Collin started signing most of the verses for God Bless America.  If that was not funny enough, he belted out the chorus each time.  Daddy and I could not eat anymore because we were laughing so hard.  He did change up a few words of the original song adding a few "farts" such as "God bless a fart" and "fart sweet home!"  Collin did eventually finished his "business" and the song.  Great timing....and entertaining altogether.  What a boy!

Tent Sleeping?

Collin continues to LOVE sleeping on the top bunk bed.  He still does not like having to go to bed but does not mind the part about getting into bed because he gets to climb to the top bunk.  The other night, he wanted to sleep in his tent.  The tent is too tall to put on the bottom bed so I put it on the top.  This is what he looked like an hour later when we went to check on him before going to bed:

First Sleepover

Saturday night, we had a block party.  I am not sure who has the best time at these....the little kids, middle-aged kids or the big kids aka the adults.  Collin and JP either played with each other or watched what the other kids where doing the entire time.  Past 10pm, they actually looked like they were getting tired.  The mommies were about to take them to their house to get ready for bed when I thought it would be fun for JP to sleepover.  We have talked about having him do so since we put up Collin's bunk bed.

JP arrived with his soft PJs on like Collin.  I read them 3 books and then tucked both of them in bed.  Because it was so late, they went to sleep fairly quickly.  Collin did wake up around 3am because he was coughing and having a hard time breathing out of his nose.  Daddy took care of him and he went back to sleep.

The boys slept until 8am (thank you!!!).  We had the monitor on so we could hear them talking to each other as they still laid in bed.  Daddy was proud when he heard Collin say "JP, I farted.  Did you hear it?"  They were so cute talking to each other about what they wanted to do.  Collin finally came in and woke me up.  JP wanted to play in the sandpit outside.  I showed him where the toys were in the living room while I made biscuits for breakfast.  I was going to make pancakes but that would have taken too long for these hungry boys. 

Yes, that is an entire biscuit Collin just shoved into his mouth.

The boys played until it was time for JP to go.  We all enjoyed having JP over at the house and look forward to the next time he sleeps over.

Timmy's 3rd Birthday Party

Collin was so excited to finally go to Timmy's 3rd birthday party.  I don't usually tell him plans too far in advance mainly for selfish reasons....to save me from having to answer the question, "When are we going to.....(fill in the blank)".  However, Collin went shopping with me to get presents for the parties this weekend so he knew birthday parties were coming up.  When the day finally arrived yesterday, we met the extended family at a local Chuck E Cheese.  You know, the place we have been to three times in the last two months.  Instead of wanting to play the games right away, the kids had a blast playing on the stage in the party area.  There was a camera set up that they could dance in front of and did this for about 45 minutes.  We ate pizza, sang Happy Birthday to Timmy, ate cake and then even opened presents before the kids decided they really wanted to play the games.  Collin did fantastic with any of the games that involved throwing balls.  He did OK with the "shooter gun" games mainly because he was too short to see the screen.  He did not care.  He had the best time walking around with a container of coins selecting and then playing any game he choose.  He said his favorite one was the one that dumped eggs into a basket when he hit the button. 

He and the rest of the kids had a great time.  I had fun holding baby Leah and watching her dance to the music.  She liked it when Chuck E Cheese came out to sing to the birthday kids and the strobe lights from the ceiling.  There were no problems trying to find someone that was willing to hold her.  She is such a happy little baby.

This picture captures how excited Timmy was about blowing out his candles on his massive pirate ship cake

There's the bashful Timmy I know

Timmy had lots of helping opening his presents

Collin determined to play this "shooter gun" game

Collin playing with Leah

Me with little Sopapilla





Scary Pumpkin

Today I worked from home so I got to see Collin and Daddy this morning.  I helped Daddy get the sleepy boy out of bed and dressed for school.  Since today's show n tell was about Halloween, I let him wear his pumpkin PJ shirt and shorts to school.  As soon as he was dressed, the boys headed out the door for Friday donut day.  As he was going out the door, Collin was making ghost sounds and trying to be scary.  Here he is when he turned around and gave me one last scare before heading to Daddy's truck:

Since I worked from home, I planned to meet Collin for lunch today.  When I told him that before he left, he let me know that Daddy already had lunch with him this week.  Oh really?  Did that mean he did not want me to have lunch with him?  He said I could come to school.  I was happy to hear that.

Now that he is not a napper, we don't have to eat lunch with him in his classroom.  We get to eat at a bigger table in the gym.  When I arrived, I was a little early.  The kids were sitting in a circle ready to be dismissed to get their lunches.  When it was Collin's turn, he got up and grabbed a small basket that had flowers and what looked like cloth napkins in it.  He turned, looked and me and smiled.  He opened the door to meet me and told me to follow him.  What was in the basket were place mats and flowers for our center piece.  He told me I was to sit by him but wait because he wanted to put our place mats out so we could put our food on them.  He then got his hot lunch which consisted of pizza, carrots and yogurt.  I brought, from home, a grilled cheese and two apples knowing Collin might want some of my lunch.  He saw the apples and wanted one of them.  He slowly ate the apple and talked to me about his day.  I could tell that he liked me being there.  He did eat a few bites of my sandwich and half of his pizza.  He only wanted one bite of his yogurt.  At least he ate probably more than usual because I was there keeping him focused on eating lunch.  When it was time to clean up, he thew his food away, and the started folding up our place mats.  He put the flowers back in the basket and walked back to his class.  He put the basket away, came back out to give me a kiss and then went back in his class because they were headed outside to play.  What a huge change from when he first started school.  No tears at all.  He knew that it was time for him to go back to school and for me to go back to work.  I loved being able to see him for lunch today.

Folding the place mats.  See the flowers in the background?

International Day

Collin's school is celebrating International Day next Friday.  Part of the celebration includes his participation in the International Grand Parade they will have behind the school.  As part of the parade, he will hold a flag of his native country.  Last year, he made a US flag out of crepe paper.  He was just proud to have something to hold in the parade.  This year, because his parental grandfather's parents were from the Czech Republic, Mimi helped Collin with a flag from that state (plus, it's an easy flag for a 4 year old to make....rather for Mimi to help him with it).  He also had to make a paper doll representing the culture from the Czech Republic.  He used markers, glitter, stickers and glue to make his doll with Mimi's assistance.  I had Mimi start him with these projects thinking that I would need to help finish them when I got home.  Not the case at all.  I was thoroughly impressed that the paper doll AND flag where by the front door ready to go when I got home.  Not only were they finished, they looked great!  I thought that Mimi and Collin did a great job.  Don't you agree?

Here is Mimi's account of what happened when they made the paper doll and flag:

After bike shop, I picked up Collin who was taking his turn in class putting a puzzle together.  On the way home, Collin said he would point out where to turn to his house.  He fell asleep in front of it and I woke him up carrying him in the house because I suspected poo in his pants.  I was right so he took a short bath so he could eat before we did school project of decorating a cutout body and making a flag.  We did a costumed boy and flag from Czechoslovakia since it was easier than German or English.  For the flag, I used construction paper since it covers a large area faster than  colors or markers as we found out on the boy doll.  On the boy was black for boots, red pants and white shirt.  Pipe cleaners were for collar and belt.  Collin put red/white/blue stars and glibber places.  By himself, he put a dot for the nose and a smile.  Collin glued on bought eyes.  We practiced saying the country but Collin needed me to prompt him by saying Czech and he finished it best he could.

"Let's Wrestle Daddy"

Collin still loves to wrestle with Daddy and I.  Yesterday when Daddy picked Collin up from school, Collin announced in the car that he wanted to wrestle when they got home.  Daddy was fine with that.  He looked in the rear view mirror less than 5 minutes after that announcement, and Collin was asleep.  Maybe they will have to wrestle another day.  When Daddy pulled up to the house and turned the truck off, Collin did wake up.  By the time they got out of the car, Collin asked, "Are we still going to wrestle?" which they did do....right there in the front yard in the grass.  Wish I could have been there to see it.  Daddy said that Collin put on a "mean" face with is fist up in the air near his face before he would dive in and start wrestling.  When I got home, Collin showed me the "mean" face, but not for long.  Guess he did not want to give a "mean" face to his Mommy...and the person that was about to feed him dinner....or so I thought.  Daddy man Ramen noodles and shared some with Collin.  Yep, that's all either guy ate while I had a salmon salad with butter lettuce, tomatoes, feta cheese, steamed green beans, almond slivers and carrots. 

Growing, growing.....growing?

Collin must be in a growth spurt right now.  I have already commented how he is eating more than usual...but only for a day or two here and there recently.  The past two days, he has eaten much more for breakfast and dinner than he usually does.  For instance, he had 4 scrambled eggs for breakfast and was still hungry.  I am sure that he had not given his tummy time to digest but he insisted he was still hungry.  Daddy gave him a drink to take with him to school because they needed to go.  That's because he has also been sleeping more than 12 hours at night.  So....he is getting up later and does not have as much time to eat the amount of food he wants to eat before he needs to leave for school. 

Besides Sunday night staying up late because we were finally home from the week, he went to bed close to his normal time of 9pm but did not get up until after 8am the next morning.  Last night, he was so tired that he announced "Mommy, let's go to my room and read books" just after I finished eating dinner.  It was only 7:15pm.  We usually don't start reading books until an hour later because he has finally calmed down enough from the day to sit and listen to books.  We read four books.  He climbed into bed and was asleep in less than 10 minutes.  The clock read 7:48pm.  Wow!  I was not sure what I was going to do with this "found" hour (yeah, right!  I have plenty of things I can do....and did).  He slept through the night and was still sleeping this morning close to 8am.  Daddy tried to wake him and Collin told him "it's going to take awhile for me to get up".  HAHA....Daddy, I guess you were warned.

"I will read to you Mommy"

For the first time last night, Collin "read" to me instead of me to him before going to bed.  The first book he chose was his Cars book which has several stories in it about Lightening McQueen and his friend, Mator.  He looked at the pictures of one of the stories and told me what was happening.  Most of the time, he was very detailed with his descriptions of the pages and what the cars might be doing.  I could tell that he had heard this story many times before because he used the phrases during his "reading" that were written on the pages.  The next book was about Dumbo.  Even though we had not read this one in awhile, he did a great job looking at the multiple pictures and coming up with his own story.  As he read this book, he would hold it up to show me each page as his teacher does when she reads to the class.  The last book he chose was Where the Wild Things Are.  I thought for sure he would get tired of "reading" and have me take over.  He did not and read the entire book.  I loved every minute of it.  Daddy even got to hear about a few of the pages when he came in to get a kiss goodnight.  I cannot wait until tonight to see if he is interested in "reading" to me again.

Collin and His Grandmas

The blog has been quiet because Daddy and I were on vacation in Napa Valley, California.  Collin got to spend six days with his grandmas while we were away.....probably trying every trick he could to get his way. 

Grandma H flew in to take care of him for the first three days and Mimi took over for the next three days.  Grandma H came the night before I left so she could drive him to school while I was in the car with her.  We also ran errands so she would be set with groceries and gasoline while we were away.  I am sure she was nervous about driving him to school but she did great.  She picked him up earlier than usual so they could play at a nearby park or just spend time together.  I am sure Collin loved it.  After school one of the days, they went to the grocery store to get dinner and breakfast.  When we called that night to check in, he told us that he was eating "banilla" ice cream.  What?!?!?!  He was eating ice cream.  That stinker.  He also told us that he was going to have donuts for breakfast in the morning.  I thought they might be the little donuts we used to get in the back.  Turns out that they were fresh donuts from the bakery...or that's what he told us.  We did hear that Grandma H was challenged when it was time to give him a bath.  He STILL does not like to take a bath...until he is in the tub.  He also hates to have his hair washed.  Grandma H was only up for washing his hair one night because he put up such a fight.  She did like reading books to him at night.  I think she said that he even read books back to her.....by looking at the pages and telling her what they said. 

The next morning, he crawled in bed with Grandma H.  She said to climb in so he could snuggle with him.  He did not know what snuggle meant so she showed him.  I beat they both enjoyed the snuggle time together. 

Mimi drove Grandma H to the airport on the third day and then it was her turn to watch Collin.  The next morning, Collin was surprised to see cousin Leah in bed with him.  She arrived around 6:30 a.m. so Mimi but her in bed next to Collin where he was sleeping from the night before.  He woke up and saw Leah next to him and then looked for Mimi. He so sweetly held sleeping Leah’s hand and at least once put back her pacifier that fell out. Collin asked why Leah was here. Mimi said her parents were working just like his. Collin said his were on a plane. Then Collin asked how Leah got here.  Mimi told him that her Mommy dropped her off. 

Collin had fun playing with his cousins Timmy and Leah while their parents worked.  Later that evening, Collin crawled on the couch where Pappy was sitting so he could "snuggle with you Pappy".  When they went to the grocery store the next day, they were barely inside when Collin  announced the he wanted a donut.  Mimi asked where they were and he pointed in a direction where he thought thought they might be.  Hmmmm....Grandma H, did you start something?  I guess I will have to see the next time Collin and I go to the grocery store together.  Collin also later tonight told me that he liked sleeping with Mimi. 

We are so grateful for our mother's being able to help us out while we went on a much needed vacation.  Collin had a blast.....and is still up after 10:30pm tonight talking about what he did while we were away...and coming up with any excuse to be in the same room with us.  I guess he missed us maybe as much as we missed him.

Pumpkin Patch

This afternoon, we went to the local pumpkin patch that we have gone to the last 3 years.  Collin asked about going to the pumpkin patch all day and was excited to finally be looking for a pumpkin.  We walked around little looking for the pumpkins we were going to bring home to paint.  I laughed listening to him describe the pumpkins he was looking at at why he did not pick it.  "This one is too small", "The one has dirt on it", "This one has lots of bumps on it.  It's old, right?"  He finally finally picked one because it was not too big.

While looking around, we saw one of his friends from school, Charlotte.  She was with her sisters also looking for pumpkins to paint.  Her and Collin climbed on the back of the wagon and then on the saddle up front.  The kids played a little together before she had to leave.  We hung around a little longer taking pictures.  I had to take one at the pumpkin cut out because he has put his face in there every year. 

Here are pictures from every year.  He sure has grown...but I already knew that.  :)

Here is 2 year old Tigger looking for his pumpkin

This is 3 year old Collin

This is 4 year old Collin.  It's hard to tell the difference between the two however his face is more mature.

Charlotte and Collin

This one made me laugh because he sat on the top of the pumpkin and announced he poked his butt.  His face sure does say it all.

This one reminds me of Aunt Lisa when she was this age.  She always had these types of smiles.

After a potty break, we did pick out two little pumpkins and one big one to bring home and paint.  It was a good thing too because the little painter was wiping his eyes and getting tired.  I thought we might need to rest first when we got home.  However, Collin was ready to paint.  He knew where I keep the paints and headed right to them.  He even started taking them out before I had the paper down on the table.  He hollered out from the other room for me to get it.  At least he was thinking about painting neatly.  :)

He painted the two smaller pumpkins and I painted the larger one.  He saw me painting the face on mine and wanted me to paint faces on his so I did.  He loved blending the colors together and painting the pumpkin....even the stem.  I think they turned out great....plus they wore Collin out.  He napped for 3 hours after that. 

Yes, he is painting with his right hand.  I noticed in the last week that he prefers his right hand now.

Here's how they turned out.  I love 'em!

Air Show

Yesterday, Collin and I joined the Harrises at a local airport to watch the air show and check out the airplanes and other fun things on exhibit.  This was Collin's first air show so I was not sure how he would react to the loud planes flying overhead.  Before the first air show started, the boys walked around and checked out the grounded airplanes.  They were so cute because they held hands while walking around or stayed really close together.  Mason and Timmy went to the air show last year but this was Collin's first time. 

This is one of my favorite pictures of Collin and Timmy talking about what they see

Collin could not figure out why there was a hole in the airplane

Timmy, Mason and Collin

The boys, who quickly became best buddies, followed each other around checking out the airplanes.  If one wanted to go one way and another the opposite direction, they figured it out and went together.  I loved watching them work things out. 

We got hungry around the same time that the first show was about to start.  With a corn dog and Coke, Collin was set to watch a great show.  It did get loud at one point and he wore the big ear muffs to block out the noise of the jet going by.  They did get bored after finishing eating so we packed up to walk around some more.  They found a boat, helicopter and Humvee to climb in and explore.  They both liked the helicopter the best. 

The last flying B29 bomber.  The boys got to climb in the cockpit.  We saw this one fly later in the afternoon.

Ready for the planes to take off.

In the back of the Coast Guard's helicopter

Timmy and Collin driving the helicopter

Peeking out the window of the Humvee

The next air show was a reenactment of the bombing of Pearl Harbor.  This included real, big, black smoke and the sounds of bombs and guns.  Timmy, like last year, was scared of this and not interested in seeing it.  Collin, on the other hand, wanted to get closer so he could see the fire.  When a "bomb" was dropped, he would say "Can you feel that Mommy?  That was loud.  Look at the fire!!!"  The people around us were enjoying his comments as well.  I turned to leave at one point and he quickly let me know that he was not ready to go. 

Once that show was over, we walked around with the rest of Timmy's family and then sat down under the shade of an airplane wing.  The boys entertained themselves by playing with the free foam airplanes they got or the toys Collin brought.  The parents visited and watched the people and the next air show.  I actually got a 15 minute nap that I REALLY needed at the time.  When I woke, Mason was showing the other boys the dog tag he got with his information on it.  I could tell that both Collin and Timmy were really interested in it so I got both of them one when they were playing in the grass with Aunt Lisa watching them.  The tags were a hit.  The boys talked about them the rest of the day. 

I also had to buy Collin his own show program book.  He had already walked around 2 hours before with Paul's either in his hand looking through it or under his arm walking around.  He did not want anyone else to hold it.  When we would sit down or stop for awhile, he would turn the book to the middle page where the map was and ask for one of us to show him where we were on it.  I am not sure where this map fascination comes from but did think he was really cute doing it.  I also knew he was having a great day.

The shade we sat in mid-afternoon to get out of the sun.



The finale.  It was worth the wait. 

We arrived at the air show at 9:30am and did not leave until after 4:30pm.  That was not the plan at all.  Each time I thought that we should probably leave, I looked over at Collin smiling and having a great time with the boys, watching the plans or visiting with Aunt Lisa.  Plus, he was such a good boy. He used his manners and did not throw a fit all day.  After we left, we were all hungry (I cannot imagine why) so we met at a local restaurant.  Collin said he was not hungry but he ended up eating a third of my pasta and most of Timmy's french fries.  I really do think he is in his next growth spurt. 

Sucker Punch

One guess what that means.  Yep, Collin suckered punched a classmate today.  The story is that he wanted to sit were she was sitting.  He hit her in the face and made her nose bleed. The school called Daddy to tell him about what happened.  He did not have to come get him but he chose to so he could talk about what happened.  Daddy arrived and Collin was sitting in the "time out" chair.  Collin saw Daddy and asked if he was in trouble and if Daddy was mad at him.  Daddy sad that he was in trouble, no more talking and they left the school.  They went to the bike shop where Daddy told Collin to sit at the desk chair and to not touch anything.  Daddy asked Collin why he hit his friend and he said because he was mad.  He then asked how it made him feel to see his friend's nose bleed.  He said it made him feel sad.  They then talked about how it was not good to hit anyone and especially girls.  Collin then sat in the chair for close to 2 hours.  He did want to touch a stapler but Daddy told him to not touch anything.  For the rest of the afternoon, Collin stuck close to Daddy and listened to what he said.  When I got home, we talked about it too.  He certainly knew that he was in trouble and why.  This is when it's hard to be a parent.  We both wanted to scoop him up and give him a hug when he was sad and about to cry.  We knew that we could not do that....but it did not make it any easier. 

Rip Van Winkle

Now that Collin is not taking naps, he is more tired in the evenings.  Usually, he will fall asleep on the way home from school but then wake up for dinner.  Yesterday, Daddy picked him up at 4:15pm to run an errand with him.  Collin fell asleep in the car about 20 minutes later in the middle of asking Daddy questions about where they were going, who they were going to see and if they had kids he could play with.   They were home by 6pm.  Typically, when they arrive, both of my boys are ready to eat.  I started getting a snack of strawberries ready for Collin while he laid on the couch......and fell asleep.  He did wake up to eat one strawberry and then fell back asleep.  I knew we did a lot this past weekend so thought he was tired from that. 

I like to keep in awake so that he will fall asleep at a decent hour at night....and because I am working in the evenings right now.  However, he was not just napping.  He was sleeping hard and really snoring loud.  Around 8pm, I got some PJs out and changed him while he was on the couch.  He did not wake up at all.  An hour later, I transferred him to the top bunk bed in his room.....still not waking up during this time. I did check his head for fever and he did not have any.  He was feeling good this morning too.  He went right back to sleep snoring even more loudly. 

Daddy and I were placing bets on when he would get up.....and hoping it would not be his favorite time of 3am.  However, he did not wake up until 7am and very cheery.  I mentioned that he must have been really tired and he told me "I know I fell asleep for so long because I could barely keep my eyes open at school yesterday".  hahaha  His stomach was growling....probably because he missed dinner....so I  made him breakfast and left for work....smiling the entire drive.  I guess my little boy was growing yesterday and his body was tyring to catch up.

Lights Out!

Since Collin has been sleeping on the top bunk bed, he has not gotten out of bed in the middle of the night even close to the amount he used to.  Now, it's maybe once a week or even less than that.  I love it because I can get some sleep this time of year.  Because I am typically working more than 12 hours a day and still working out, I don't get but 6 hours sleep a night as it is...if I am lucky.  When I get woken up in the middle of the night, I do have a hard time falling back to sleep.

If you had not figured out where I was going with this post yet, yes, Collin got up last night.  He came to my side of the bed, sweetly tapped me on the shoulder several times until I woke up and asked, "Mommy, can I get in bed with you and Daddy?"  I thought it would be fine.  I told him it was OK and helped him into bed.  He let me know that he brought Monkey and Penguin with him.  He also brought his water that he got last night before getting into bed.  "Mommy, please put this on the table for me"....referring to his water.  He snuggled close with his guys and fell asleep.....only to ask about 10 minutes later for his water.  I wondered how many times this would happen....but that was the only one.  He went back to sleep and snored LOUDLY the rest of the night.

I did still manage to fall back asleep until I got up to run at 5:30am.  Whew, Collin was still asleep when I got back.  I got dressed as quietly as I could knowing that both of my boys needed their rest.  Daddy woke up when his alarm went off at 6:45am.  Collin was still snoring.  Daddy finished getting ready and went into the living room to work on the computer.  It was time to start drying my hair.....and I thought that this would be when I would get a visitor from the bedroom.  I was less than 5 minutes into drying my hair when the bathroom lights went out.  Thinking it odd that the shower light went out first and then the lights above the sink....but the dryer still was working, I continued to dry my hair using the light in the closet I turned on.  I cannot turn my dryer off or it will go through a cool down process for 10 min so I had to finish drying my hair before I could investigate why the lights were out.  I did not have to wait long.  The bathroom door opened and in walking Collin laughing.  He turned out the lights using his stool from the bathroom.  He wanted to come be with me in the bathroom but not with all of the lights on.  Instead of asking me to turn them off, he took care of it himself.  He did take the stool and turn out the closet light.  I was still blow drying my hair (all of this took place in less than 10 minutes) but fortunately was almost done.  Trying to find my suit jacket and jewelry in the closet strobe light was interesting but Collin was enjoying himself.

Took me a little longer to get ready this morning but it was worth creating this memory with my sweet little guy.  Fortunately, it was a holiday today so the commute helped me arrive to work earlier than I expected.  Great morning so far.

Children's Museum

We had a FABULOUS time at the Children's Museum today with Aunt Lisa and Timmy.  I thought we might be there, at most, 3 hours.  We were there close to 4 hours....and the boys were not ready to go. 

I am not sure which section was there favorite part.  I would guess that the City was.  We started in the Power Play section which tests hand/eye coordination and other athletic abilities.  The boys loved climbing up and down the Fitness Adventure gym which is a 3-story climbing gym.  It did take both of them a little while to get comfortable in there and not be scared of falling over....but after that, we could not get them out.  Timmy would go up and down and get lost trying to figure out how to get back to us.  Fortunately, he listened to Collin help him find his way out. 

After checking out a few of the other fitness games like jumping on the lights, dancing and following the arrows or jumping over the lights, we went to KidTropolis.  This is where they start with $20 on their credit card.  They can earn money by working at the various places available to work and then deposit their paycheck on the card.  There are also places to spend the money they earn like a restaurant and grocery store.  First, they both worked at the bike shop.  Collin immediately went to the bike and started working on it with the tools available.  Timmy wanted to work the cash register. 



Timmy is getting his paycheck while Collin is still working on the bike



After stopping at the bank and the newsroom, they climbed into the back of the ambulance to "help the dead guy". There was a life size "doll" in the back for them to work on: use a stethoscope, take his blood pressure and give him oxygen. Collin like working on the guy while Timmy wrecklessly "drove" to the hospital and turned on the ambulance flashing lights.

One of the favorite stops was working at the restaurant.  It was good timing because we were getting hungry.  The mommies loved watching the boys fix us lunch and a drink.  They cooked the food, no matter what it was in either the wood burning stove or the deep fryer.  The 3-second rule was in effect too because they did drop the food a few times and pick it up to serve it to us.  They did not wash the dishes because all of the girls where around the sink.  Now why is that?

Nothing like a leg of chicken, a hot dog and a pickle from my favorite guy

Collin's fixing me a Diet Coke.  He also told me they have Dr. Pepper.  Wonder what we regularly drink?

Next stop was the vet.  The boys picked out an animal to weigh it and check it's heart beat.  Then, they took their animal to the back of the room to give shoots and use the other utensils on the animals like the brush, blood pressure sleeve and reflex hammer.  Collin's favorite was putting the kitty in the cage so she could drink her water....and then take her back out to weigh her again.

Collin weighing his kitty.  Timmy is in the background watching the hamster.

Timmy's favorite stop was next....the grocery store.  He LOVED putting the food in the basket.  Collin could care less about this part because he only wanted to check the food out at the cash register.  Guess it's a good thing he has one at home...and enjoys playing with it. 

Timmy watching Collin check out the food Timmy just picked out

We did stop for a break and have a real snack or lunch depending on who was eating.  Collin announced he was not hungry and only wanted applesauce.  The rest of us ate a small lunch and to rest our feet.  After we ate, we checked out the "How it works" section of the museum.  We hung out in this area for over an hour building, looking at bugs, rolling golf balls downs the slopes they built, crawled in cars and "worked" in the factory and lab.

Collin sorting through the different sizes and shapes looking for the right one

Building molecules based on the instructions on the card

We had a great time at the museum, exploring and hanging out with each other.  I was shocked that Collin did not fall asleep on the way home until ten minutes before we were home.  That was probably because he was watching Dora the Explorer.  I was not able to transfer him to his bed like I usually am.  He did lay on the couch while I ate a quick snack....and then joined Daddy and I for a long, much needed nap.