"Stop the Race!"

In the mornings after breakfast, Collin and Daddy have a race to see who can get dressed faster.  Daddy usually wins or could win, but he dresses slow enough to push Collin to try and win.  The result....Collin dresses himself!  It has worked really well.  When I come home at night, I can tell where Collin gets dressed because his PJs and wet Pull Up are in a pile.  This is either in our bathroom or, most of the time, in the living room.

This morning, they started the race and then Collin announced, "Stop the race.  Stop the race.  I have to pee".  What?  That is not part of the race.  If you have to pee, then you loose buddy.  He will know for next time.

Boys Love Forts....well, Farts Too!

For the last two nights, Collin has slept on the bottom bunk bed with blankets hanging front the top one to cover the opening of the bed....fort style!  Daddy did this the first night and Collin requested it again last night.  He and I read books in the "fort" with a flashlight...that kept moving because Collin was in charge of holding it.  After reading, I turn on the music and lay by him for about 10 minutes.  I know he loves this because he throws one of his legs over mine and wants me to put one of my arms over him.  He has not fallen asleep during this time but he is relaxed enough for me to leave the room.  He knows I am leaving and does not fuss about it.  I must say I like the fort too if this is the outcome.

Room 1114

Our room number on vacation was Room 1114.  When Collin saw this, he said, "This is our number because we all have 4 in our age.  You are 42 (pointing to me), you are 42 (pointing to Daddy) and I am 4!"  When we walked by the other rooms, he assumed that kids were in there with the age on the door.  He would walk by and say "The kid in there is 3, the one in there is 2....and that room does not have kids (because there was a zero in the room number)".  We explained that this is not how it works but he did not care.  All of this discussion was repeated every time we left the room...which was several times a day for the three days that we were there. 

Treasure Hunt, Smores and More

Yesterday morning, we went on a treasure hunt around the resort.  We used a GPS and a guide to help us find each of the treasures.  The GPS lead us around the resort and even inside which was fun because we got to see some of the resort we had not explored yet.  While on the hunt, we learned about the types of trees around the area, the animals and their foot prints and the history of the land and surrounding areas.  Collin and Daddy had the GPS units and read them to lead us to each clue.

The first clue lead us to a gigantic puzzle. Collin helped us in the beginning put it together but we had to finish because the pieces were large and heavy...plus it was already getting hot out. The puzzle showed us pictures of different trees and leaves around the area.  This was helpful because the next stop had us find the different trees and identify them based on the different leaves. 

This stop had us name the different animals that left the foot prints.  We had clues that I read and Collin pointed to the foot print based on the clue.  We then looked at the picture of the animals.

Hot on the trail to the next clue

Identifying the different foot prints

Here are a few more pictures from the hunt that lasted almost an hour and a half.  Collin was engaged most of the time.  He was a little slow at times because it was hot outside and hard to focus a few times.

Looking for the way to the next clue

Heading to who knows where.  He got used to the GPS quickly and did a great job locating the targets.


After the hunt, we rested for a long time because it was sooo hot out and then headed to the pool.  As soon as we got there, Ashland greeted us.  She hung out with us the rest of the time we were at the pool going down the lazy river several times before talking Collin into going down the large, twisty slide.  She went down by herself and I held onto Collin.  I was surprised when he wanted to do it again and again.  I think some of it had to do with Ashland wanting to do it over and over.  We then went to the big pool to play "fishes and sharks". I was the shark trying to eat the fishes.  This is where Collin started going under the water a lot because she was.  He wanted to show me over and over again that he was doing it.  Not only was this trip relaxing and exactly what we needed, it helped him learn to have more confidence in the water.  Yeah!!!

After another rest, were the boys slept and I read, we had dinner and then Collin road his bike around one of the main areas.  Daddy would time him to see how fast he would go around the circle.  While out there, Ashland and her mommy walked by headed to the pool.  Ashland wanted to play with Collin "for just a little while" before heading to the pool.  They never made it.  :) 

Next was smores.  The kids heated their marshmallows up over a HUGE fire pit and then I helped put the smore together.  Collin was only interested in the uncooked marshmallow and the chocolate separately.

Next was movie night under the stars featuring Alvin and the Chipmunks: Shipwrecked. Ashland stayed through most of the movie. Collin wanted to stay all night and sleep outside. I must admit that it felt great out with a nice breeze (notice I did not say cool breeze).

When we got back to the hotel room, Collin wanted to sleep outside.  I could tell that he was not tired even thought it was after 10pm.  We went out our patio door and laid down the blanket.  We looked up at the stars.  Collin wanted to shooting stars so we both looked for one.  While doing so, I did point out the few constellations I knew.  There was Draco, the dragon and Orion, the Hunter.  We were out there for at least an hour talking about the stars and the sounds we were hearing.  What a memory!  I enjoyed every minute of it. 

We head back home today.  This was a much needed and fantastic vacation.  Ahhhh........ready for the weeks ahead that will be rough.

Not Just a Pool

We were in the pool for several hours today.  It's not hard to understand why when you see the pictures of the pool area.  There is a long lazy river, a beach front entrance to the pool on one side and a large multiple step area on the other.  Plus, there is a water fountain park for the little ones to play in.  Collin really likes the steps because he can stand on all of these and then walk several feet out from the steps because the depth is 3ft for at least 8 feet.  We would alternate playing in this area and then floating around the lazy river a few times around because Mommy and Daddy would get tired of watching him play on the steps. 

While on the steps, he did play with his friend again that he met last night.  Taylor is a 3 year old little girl.  Most importantly, she has a beach ball to pay with.  They had fun throwing it back and forth.  Collin's aim is much better and he ended up hitting her in the face several times...but it did not seem to bother her as much as I thought it would be. 

I brought him a life jacket that he wore towards the end of the pool time so he could practice swimming AND because there are so many kids jumping and playing around him.  He could easily get knocked over or pushed under.  He did not want to wear it at first but then like it because he could tell it was helping him float and swim.

We did take a small break from swimming to make a tie dyed shirt that the hotel arranged for the guests.  Instead of us both doing one each, we both made one for Collin.  He picked the swirl patterned and helped me put on the rubber bands.  Then, he selected the colors.  Each table had a different color on it.  He did help poor the colors on the shirt...and missed a lot.  We managed not to get any of the dye on our bathing suits.  Not sure how we did that but I was grateful that we came back out with the same color suit as we went into it. 

Here are pictures of the shirt before and after.  I was not sure what it would look like right after we finished but I was impressed when I took the rubber bands off and opened it up.  So was Collin.  When I showed it to him, he had the biggest smile on his face.

Breakfast and then......A Pony Ride?

I told Collin last night that on vacation, he can wake up whenever he wants.  I was just hoping for an extra few minutes of sleep this morning when I said that.  Well, I did get to sleep in until 7:45am.  I heard Collin get out of the roll-a-way bed that he was sleeping in, walk over to the window and look outside where he road his bike yesterday.  He came back over to me and said he slept in but it was time to get up.  We all did eventually wake up. 

After eating a quick, small breakfast, we got into the shuttle and headed to the Ranch so Collin could ride a pony.  Before we got there, he announced that he wanted to ride the white pony.  Not knowing there would be a white pony to chose from, I told him that we would have to see if one was available.  Well, there was and his name was Strawberry.  Strawberry was the a big pony but Collin still wanted to ride him.  So far...so good.  He was not scared to get on the pony either.  Instead of walking around in a circle, the ponies were lead around the woods and the ranch for about 20 minutes.  There were times that we could not see Collin and then times we could.  When we did, he always had a big smile on his face. 

Petting Strawberry

Heading out for his ride

Coming back from the top of the hill

After the ride, Daddy found some lasso's and started playing with them.  Hmmm....did he know what he was doing?  Sure looked like it...at first until he threw it and missed his target by several feet.  After trying a few more times, Daddy did get it.  Collin tried just one or two times and gave up.

Tangled up in the rope

There was another little girl there named Ashland that also rode a pony.  Collin did not think anything of her or even notice her, at least I thought, until we were waiting for the shuttle to take us back to the hotel.  While waiting, the two of them introduced themselves and put a puzzle together.  The shuttle did arrive.  As we were getting on, Collin told me that he wanted to sit by Ashland and he headed to the back to sit with her.  Listening to their conversation was entertaining.

Collin:  "I am 4 years old and will have my birthday in 3 days" .....More like 2 1/2 months buddy.
Ashland: "I am already 5"
Collin:  "Saige is 4 1/2 and she lives in a new house"
Ashland:  "I live in a house.  Oh no, this road is really bumpy"
Collin:  "It's making me roll around and around!"

This went on the entire ride back to the hotel.  They were laughing and rolling around having a good time.  Looks like this vacation is off to a great start.

Let the Vacation Start!

We got out of town for the long holiday weekend to a place that has hiking, horses, and a large water park.  When we arrived last night, I knew Collin would like the place because there was a bounce house outside.  After we checked in, he bounced around in there for 30 minutes.  I did not think he would last that long because he did not nap on the 2 1/2 ride to the place so I expected him to be more tired than he was.  Well, the bouncing woke him up.  He was now ready to go.  We checked into our room, unpacked a little and rested.  Well, Collin road his bike out in the courtyard area while Daddy rested before getting some dinner. 

After dinner, Daddy was not feeling good.  Collin was and had lots of energy still so we went to the pool.  He met a little girl that was playing on the pools steps with a ball.  They threw it back and forth to each other laughing most of the time.  She did eventually have to go so he and I headed over to the lazy river and floated around in it in a double tube float.  He did not particularly like it when we went close to the waterfalls but ejoyed it the rest of the time.  When then went back to the steps to play. He showed me how he could still dunk his head under the water.  He was brave and walked around the 3ft water section of the pool.  The water came up to over his chin and he was not bothered by it. 

After swimming, we cleaned up, changed into PJs and headed to the lawn to watch Puss in Boots on the big screen outside.  There were a lot of people out there but we still were able to watch and hear the movie.  Several times, including this moment, Collin said "There sure are a lot of other people on vacation".  Yes, there sure where.  Welcome to vacation on a holiday weekend son.

End of School Year Picnic

Friday for lunch, Daddy and I met Collin at school to join the end of school year picnic.  We brought sandwiches and Collin had a sack lunch from school.  We all sat under a tree on several blankets because it was already getting hot out.  After the kids ate most of their lunch, the teach passed out popsicles.  The longer a child took to eat a popsicle, the more it melted down their hand and then entire arm.  Collin was one of these kids.  Maybe he was savoring it more than the other kids. Afterwards, the kids started playing and the parents lingered to talk to each other before cleaning up and continuing their day.  This was our last picnic at this school with Collin.  I did not want to be in a hurry so I could enjoy it with him and Daddy. 

Daddy and Collin eating their lunch and talking to friends

My sweet little boy

I had to take this picture because he is eating an apple with the skin on it.  I want to be able to show him this when he tells me next time that he does not like the skin.  Gotcha!

Being the center of attention

There goes his class, PR3, back inside

"We need 4 more"

After he brushed his teeth, I told Collin that I needed to cut his finger nails.  He sat down on his stool and held one hand out.  He showed me the sharp pointer finger so I cut that nail first.  The same thing happened with the other hand.  I then gathered the nail clippings and put them in one of his hands.  He counted the clippings and said, "There are 6 and I have 10 fingers."  Not thinking he would know the answer but I thought I would ask anyway, I said "If you have 10 fingers and only 6 nail clippings, how many more are on the floor somewhere?"  He held out his other hand and, lifting one finger up at a time, he said, "7, 8, 9, 10.  Mommy, we need to find 4 more."  What!?!?!??!  My boy just did math.  I was so proud of him at that moment.  I did look around for the remaining clippings and did not find them....not really caring because Collin just did math. 

Gymnastics Performance and Trophy

Tonight, Collin and his team mates performed three routines at gymnastics and then got to show off their trophies. 

At the beginning of Collin's first performance, he forgot to "finish" properly after each skill ("Finish" is when he holds his arms up in the air).  It's not his favorite thing to do so I was not surprised that he did not do it.  His teacher reminded him and he did it after the rest of the skills.  He tumbled, balanced on one foot, jumped up to a tall mat, spun around the bar and did a cartwheel.  He did great at each skill and I was impressed that he remembered everything he was supposed to do. (I have a great video of him doing this but it would not load...ugh!)

Next, he went to the balance beam and did a V on the beam before doing a forward roll and then jumped off with a V jump and actually did "finish" this time.

The last performance was on the trampoline.  Well, he should be good at this one because he gets to practice A LOT at Saige and Linden's house on their trampoline.  He jumped a few times, then threw his legs out to sit and then jumped back up landing on his legs.  At the end, he got to jump into the sponge pit which is his favorite.

Here he is with is team mates showing off their trophies.  Now, he has two trophies from gymnastics (one last year and this year) and one from Tball.  Not bad for a four year old.

Tball and an Ironman Race

Collin's last Tball game was Saturday.  Daddy and I could not go so Grandma H came to our house to take Collin to his last game.  She did great finding the baseball game location.  She said that Collin did great in the game getting to bat four times.  She said he hit the ball really well and ran fast to the bases.  I saw that he had really dirty uniform so I asked what happened.  he apparently went to dive in for the ball and one of his teammates, Sarah Beth, fell on him.  I am sure I left out the details but he ended up getting dirty.  I am sure he had fun doing it.

I met up with Grandma H and Collin at a local bakery to celebrate the end of the season and so he could get his trophy.  Before the awards, we picked out a bakery good.  Collin picked up vanilla bean ice cream, Grandma H got a cherry cheese cake and I picked out cream brulee.  It was yummy!  Collin played with his teammates a little before the awards.  He was one of the first kids to get his trophy.  He was SOO proud of it especially because his name was on it.  Can't you tell in these pictures?

Receiving his trophy from Coach Brian

Showing off his trophy

After the award ceremony, Collin went with Grandma H while I headed North to meet up with Daddy to volunteer at an Ironman race.  I was there for over 6 hours handing out fruit to the racers running or walking by.  I was in awe at the people racing by because at this point in the race, they have already swam 2.4 mi and ridden a bike for 112 mi.  They were all now running 26.2 mi.  I would never dream of training for something like that but there were plenty of people that did and were doing great at it.  There were many racers I knew.  I was so glad to be there to cheer and, at times, encourage them to keep pushing through to the end.  Daddy and I stayed until the very end at the finish line and finally checked into our room after midnight.  A long day but worth every minute.

Tent Sleeping

Collin has been sleeping in his tent on the top of his bunk bed.  I think I started something when I put it on the top of his bed last week.  Ever since then, he has wanted to sleep in it.  As I have already mentioned, he has a system of arranging things in the tent just right before he lays down.  Here is a video to show this system tonight of including the guys (his stuffed animals) in their spot, covering them up, including his drink and then laying down.  After shooting the video, he did ask for his nightly kiss and hug.  He then asked if I would sleep on the bottom bunk.  Lately, I have not done this and gotten away with it.  I announced that I needed to change into my PJs and talk to Daddy a little.  He said that I could do that but be sure to come back and see him. 

Collin has been practicing tying his shoes since we bought him shoes with laces about two months ago.  We put away his Velcro shoes so he does not have a choice about what shoes he is wearing to school.  We thought that he could also learn to retie his shoes during the day when needed.  We learned, however, early on that Collin has LOTS of friends in school that are willing to help him tie his shoes.  We told him to not let them do that but they want to do it...he does not have to ask.

Daddy and I still worked with him to help him learn to tie his shoes.  Well, today was the first day he tied his shoes this morning all by himself.  We were both so proud of him!  Here is a video of him showing me how he does it.  He makes the first knot, makes one loop on one side and another loop on the other side and then folds them over each other to then tie them together.  Not the way I tie shoes laces but it does get the job done.

Mother's Day

What a fantastic Mother's Day.  I started the day with a 24 mi ride and 2 mi run with other mommies I either recently met or have been riding with for awhile.  When I got back home, the boys had just come back from the grocery store.  I ate a quick breakfast and we left for a ride around the neighborhood.  Collin was on the trail-a-bike behind Daddy.  I switched with him and rode with Collin about 10 minutes into the ride.  We ended up at a local park and stopped for Collin to play a little. 

After coming back to the house, Collin and I cleaned up the back yard that was a mess after a huge rain storm a few days ago.  I knew that Timmy, Saige and Linden would be over later in the day so I wanted to have clean toys for them to play with.  Collin got the water hose and washed down the toys in the driveway.  He had fun getting wet while doing it.  I swept and we both set the toys out in the sun to dry. 

After a quick shower for both of us, we had lunch and watched a movie so that we could rest before the rest of the family came over for Mother's Day dinner.  Daddy picked up food from Hungry's which consisted of spaghetti, lasagna and salad.  They family came over which included Grandma H, Grandma Filla, Mimi, Pappy, Dustin, Lisa, Paul, Leah and Timmy.  After dinner, the kids played in the playroom a little before the Jureks came over to swim.  What a great time everyone either had in the pool or sitting around the pool talking and watching the kids have a great time.  Collin was not interested in getting his hair wet when he first got into the pool.  After watching Saige, Linden and even Timmy get their hair wet, Collin let Daddy dunk him in the water and even catch him away from the slide.  I was surprised and proud of him for at least trying. 

Uncle Paul looking too funny in Leah's hat

After swimming and dessert in the house, we cleaned up and Collin summoned all of us into the living room.  It was time to open presents.  Mimi got a picture frame that included pictures with all of her grand kids, Grandma Filla got a metal tree decoration to hang on the wall, Lisa got a novel, I got a mini cupcake pan and Grandma H got some towels and bathmats (she opened them earlier before she left).

Mimi looks proud of her grand kids, doesn't she?

We went outside after that to take generation pictures and Mimi with her grand kids.  The kids then ran around a little with the little bit of energy they had left.  Timmy was almost asleep before for they left the street. 

Ahhhhhh.....that's me finally with my feet up after a great...but VERY long day.  Shutting down now to go to bed.

Mother's Tea at School

I could not have asked for a better morning!  My son sang to me (and he was signing right at me) during the Mother's Day celebration this morning.  Unlike the prior year's were he was barely singing and looked down, he was in the front, swaying back and forth and singing as loud as he could.  I was so proud!  Several mommies looked back at me when Collin would sing especially loud, look at me and smile the biggest smile.  I could tell he was happy to have me there.  Glad that all of the practicing he has been doing paid off enough to share he singing with everyone.  I was surprised though that his pretend microphone (his hand in a fist close to his mouth) did not make an appearance.  That would have been too funny.

After they finished singing 3 songs, they each brought us snacks of pound cake, banana and a cookie with a small cup of sweet tea.  Collin then brought me a flower vase he painted with flowers included in it.  Collin enjoyed explaining to me why he chose the colors he did and that he did not put the water in the bottle.  He wanted my pound cake and asked me "you don't like that do you?"  I knew he wanted it so I let him eat it. 

He saw his friends getting their picture taken with other friends and he wanted to do the same.  Here he is with Cheyenne (far right) who he talks about all the time.  I am sure he is going to miss her next year. 

Comfortable?

This is what Collin looked like last night when I went to kiss him goodnight before going to bed.  He is sleeping in his Toy Story tent on the top bunk bed.  WAY too cute....until he woke up at 1:23am, 4:14am and for the last time at 6:30am.  My guess is that the tent woke him up when he moved during his sleep.  Guess who will not be sleeping in his tent tonight.

Hair cut at Grandma H's

Grandma H gave Collin a hair cut yesterday at her house.  She was really impressed at how still Collin was for her.  Of course...that's because he has been used to me cutting his hair since his first hair cut.  She figured out quickly though that you do have to have all of the "equipment" ready to go.  As soon as you move away, he does get figgity and wants to get out of the chair.  She was able to finish and did a great job.  Not too much off the length which is actually how he likes it.  He does tell me he likes his hair long.

Mother's Day Song

For the last week, Collin has been signing a song that I recognized a few of the lyrics.  Until the song came on the radio, I could not think of who sang it.  The group is One Direction and the lyrics Collin knows every word to are:

You're insecure
Don't know what for
You're turning heads when you walk through the door
Don't need make up
To cover up
Being the way that you are is enough
Everyone else in the room can see it
Everyone else but you


[Chorus]
Baby you light up my world like nobody else
The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed (Collin says "overwell")
But when you smile at the ground it aint hard to tell
You don't know
Oh Oh
You don't know you're beautiful


If only you saw what I can see
You'll understand why I want you so desperately
Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe
You don't know
Oh oh
You don't know you're beautiful
Oh oh
That what makes you beautiful

I cannot wait to hear him sing this song Friday morning with his classmates during Mother's tea.

Here is the card he brought home tonight from Spanish class.  The inside of the card says "La mamma es bonita" which means "My Mommy is beautiful".  I know Collin means this because he tells me frequently that I am beautiful.  I might need to remind him of this when he is a teenager.

Baseball, Birthday party and....more baseball!

Busy day for the family Saturday.  Unlike a lot of Saturdays, Daddy spent the entire day with us.  After dropping Mommy's car off at the shop again, we stopped for breakfast at IHop.  Looking at the pictures, Collin ordered the kid's breakfast of 6 small pancakes, eggs and bacon.  I know he usually has a large appetite in the morning so this did not seem like an unreasonable amount of food.  What I did not think about was all of the syrup that goes along with 6 pancakes.  The boy was wound up with sugar in his system!!!  Good thing to since maybe he would have energy for his Tball game at 11am.  Grandma H came over tot he house before the game and got to witness the amount of energy.  I think she was glad that Collin was not coming over to her house like that.  :)

By the time we got to his game, however, the sugar had worn off.  He was somewhat interested in playing in the game but was not as focused as usual.  Each time they came off the field, Collin came over to me and put his head in my lap.  He then either needed a drink, was hungry or wanted the little fan on to blow air and a mist of water in his face.  He did make it the entire game, caught one or two balls that came his way, threw to 1st a few times and also hit the ball.  When the game was over, he did not want his snack or drink.  Yep, there was something unusual about that.  He announced in the car that he wanted to go home and not eat out.  He did not eat lunch at all but, instead, sat on the couch in his playroom resting while watching the movie, Up.  He needed to rest anyway because he had a birthday party to go to in 2 hours. 

Look at that concentration on the ball

...and he's off to first base!

Mommy trying to keep cool while watching the game

He did not sleep at all until about 20 minutes before we had to leave.  I woke him up in the middle of a dream because he was talking to me about who knows what when I woke him up.  He realized where he was and then asked for 5 more minutes of sleep.  I told him it was Tyler's birthday party and we needed to go.  He got up because he did not want to miss the party.  He did not want to put on his bathing suit because "none of the other kids will have one of these on".  I convinced him that they would be and he finally put his bathing suit on. 

When we arrived, he watched the other kids play on the water slide instead of joining them.  I think the reason was 1) that the were older kids doing it and 2) there was a small pool of water at the bottom of the of the slide.  He still does not like water so I am sure he was not interested in sliding into it.  He did climb up the slide, eventually, but did not slide down.  He sat that the top watching the other kids slide down.  They stopped to hit the pinata.  Collin took some really good swings but the other brother of the birthday boy was the one that hit open the pinata.  All of the kids raced to the bottom of the pinata to scoop up as much candy as they could into their bag.  Then....to my surprise....Collin went back to the water slide and started sliding down....and then would not stop.  He did this repeatedly for another hour while the parents talked.  We all had a great time.

Finally going down the slide

Quickly getting out of the water.  He still does not like getting his hair wet or water in his eyes.

Balloon sword fight

Collin taking a swing at the pinata

Candy time!

After coming home, getting clean and resting for a little while, we left when Grandma H arrived to watch the Astros game.  It was a perfect night for the roof to be open.  We had dinner at the stadium before going to our seats because we were sitting on the first row of the second level.  Collin got some purple cotton candy that he just had to have...but then did not hardly eat any of it later.  He, instead, shared some peanut M&Ms with us.  I do think he ended up eating the most.  He sat in his own seat for the first inning and then sat in my lap the rest of the time.  Unlike last year, this year he was really interested in watching the game.  He was not easily distracted by everyone else and did not even flirt with the people behind us.  I thought he might be more interested in the games this year because he started playing Tball but I was not sure.  We all lasted through a great game until the 8th inning.  It was getting late and Grandma H still had to drive back home.

Intensely watching the game

Sharing the M&Ms and Grandma H commenting on the last play

I only included this picture to show the fun-loving husband holding a finger up ruining the picture...but it was anyway because I had no idea that the fan behind me talking the entire time was also goofing off in the picture.  All three of the shots I took are similar to this one.  Collin must be looking at the M&Ms he cannot get to at the moment.

After changing into PJs, Collin and I watched Puss in Boots in the playroom.  He stayed awake a lot longer than I expected...until close to 10pm.  He did get up at 6:45am.  So much for staying up late and sleeping in.