Collin-isms

Collin continues to be a great, loving little boy.  I say "little boy" but he is not so little anymore.  Just this last week, it seems like he has grown because he is not that much shorter than some of his friends.  Also, his face seems more mature.  Daddy and I are not ready for him to grow up so fast....but we are also enjoying it at the same time.

Here are some of the things he has been doing lately:

• Just before I leave for work, he gives me "butterfly kisses" on each cheek...and I am to do the same to him.  Most of the time, he is up already and runs over to the front door to do this.  Sometimes, he is not awake.  I kiss him on the cheek, leave his room and head to the front door.  Most of the time, this does wake him up because it's about the time he is to get up anyway.  He runs out of his room to give me butterfly kisses.  I really love this part of the day.
• He still loves to cuddle with me when we are on the couch or sitting down anywhere because I am "warm and cozy". 
• He cannot stand to have a piece of either his fingernail or toe nail hanging off.  He will either pick or pull a the nail until he gets it off or file it down with my fingernail file.  At least he likes to stay groomed.
• He does not like for me or anyone else to cut his hair still.  I did figure out that if he watches a movie while cutting his hair, at least I can get 15 minutes of stillness before he is ready to get off the chair.  Since the last haircut, I have not been able to get him back in the chair or even stand still so I can get a few sections in the front that I missed.
• When he was little and tired, his legs where "broken" because he did not want to walk or do what we asked him to do.  Lately, his legs "don't have any air" and he collapses to the ground.  He does get A+ for Creativity.
• When he brushes his hair, he wants to brush it himself.  He stands in front of the big mirror in our bathroom and concentrates while brushing each section of his hair.  He misses the back but really works at the front parting it down the middle and brushing each section off to each side. 

Camp Update #2

Since I wrote last, Collin did spend a week at gymnastics camp.  At first, he did not want to go because he thought he was going to do gymnastics all day.  After he selected the cubbie he wanted to use for his shoes and lunch, he saw that the kids were playing in the foam pit.  That's all it took.  He looked at me and then ran off to the foam pit.  Yep, no kiss at all.  He did do some gymnastics that day but also watched movies, played games like crab soccer and swam in the morning on the last day.

This past week, he was at the gym camp again which seems to be his favorite one.  At least, he talks about this one the most.  He is learning to run faster, more yoga moves like Warrior 1, 2 and 3 (I did not even know there were 3 Warrior poses), Happy Cat and Mad Cat, swimming and watching movies.  Both Daddy and I peeked at him when he was swimming.  Even though he is the youngest camper by at least 2 years, he is doing great mingling with the kids and not being shy at all.  He is acting like his is one of the kids and really loving it.

Next week, he is in Tae Kwan Do (TKD) camp.  His friends Alex, Ellie and Oliver are in this camp.  I bet he will at least like to see them there.  Not sure if he will be interested in the TKD based on his last experience with it.

Dentist

Daddy took Collin to the dentist on his most recent visit.  Collin did not mind going because he got to watch a video while the hygienist and the dentist looked in his mouth and cleaned his teeth.

He got a great report!  The dentist said that his teeth looked great and they we were taking really good care of them.  We do need to floss his back set of teeth because they are really tight (like mine).  As his new teeth come in, they will push even more on these back teeth. 

Also, Collin is not brushing for 2 minutes at a time and has gotten sloppy with his brushing.  I bet the rinse he uses saved him this time.  Now, we are timing him when he brushes his teeth.  He does not like this and tries to distract us or other tricks to not have to brush as long. 

Cousin's Trip To Memaw's House

I have not been able to post in a while because of computer problems....so I know I have some catching up to do.  Two weeks ago, Aunt Lisa, me and the kids loaded up in my car to see Memaw for the day.  On the way there, the kids did not sleep so......yes, they asked every 10 minutes if we were there yet or when we where going to get there.  Lisa and I did our best to distract them from how long they had been in the car.  At first, we pointed out cows by yelling out "cows!" and then the kids did the same.  Then, we were silly and pointing out "car", "dog", "grass", etc.  The kids thought that was funny and had a great time on the way.  Lisa got a headache from the yelling and put a halt to it about 20 minutes away from Memaw's.

Loaded up and ready to go

 While there, the kids had fun playing on the swing set, exploring the outdoors around her house and swimming.  Here are some pictures of when they were actually sitting still while the sunscreen dried.  You can see that Collin ran away from me after I put the sunscreen on his face because I did not get to rub it in enough.

Wonder what they are both thinking?  "Can we swim yet?"

Great picture of Leah and her smile

Timmy and Collin playing a game on the Leap Frog

Petting the donkeys. 

Camp Update

Instead of asking how his day was at camp, I ask more direct questions like “What was your favorite thing you did today?” or “What would you not want to do again?” This usually starts Collin talking about his day…which can sometimes last the entire way home. Yesterday, when I asked these questions, I learned that he really likes the running part of camp but that the older boys are still faster. He also said that he was wrong and that Lucas is 10 and another boy is 6. Ummm….OK, that’s good to know.

He also learned yoga and him describing it made me smile. I asked what yoga positions he learned and he said “We did this” and he closed his eyes and laid back in his seat. He said when he opened his eyes, “I forgot where I was”. That’s yoga for you Collin! I asked if he learned other poses demonstrating some of them and he said he did not.



This morning as I was kissing him goodbye, I told him to have fun at swim camp. “Mommy, it’s not swim camp”. I’m confused. He told me he wanted me to call it swim camp Tuesday but now it’s not swim camp. Fine with me…..just as long as he is still having a good time.

Favorite Camp So Far?

Even though Collin had a big week last week out of town, he recovered really well and was ready for camp this week. When packing him up Sunday night, I told him about the camp and that it was going to be at the club where Mommy works out (or used to…I need to start again). I mentioned some of the activities and he was only somewhat interested: Running, crafts, swimming, art and other activities. I thought for sure he would want to talk more about running or swimming but he didn’t. Also, this camp last longer every day compared to the other camps. Because of the swimming, running and other activities, I thought for sure that Collin would be worn out and go to bed early….see where this one is going?

When he got home, he was really tired. He said that he needed to watch a movie and rest while I made dinner. During dinner, he talked most about this camp than the others on the first day.

• This is his favorite camp so far

• There is a 6-year old named Lucas

• There are girls in the camp

• He does not run as fast as the older boys

• His favorite part was swimming. They got to swim in the outdoor pool. He has only swam in the indoor pool before.

• He colored a picture for me

• He got lots of snacks in the afternoon…..which explained why he did not eat all of his lunch. I don’t normally do it, but I packed three medium sized marshmallows in his lunch because these are his favorite. However, he did not eat them at all. I asked why and he said, “too much sugar”. Well, true….

After dinner, which he did not eat much of, I thought he would want to return to the couch to rest. He help me in the kitchen instead. After juicing, he rinsed all of the dishes. This gave him energy because he did not fall asleep in his bed until 8:45pm. Now, that’s not 9pm or after, I know…but it’s close enough.

This morning as I was leaving, we talked about him having a good day and returning to “the camp at the club”. He said we should call it “swim camp” instead.  Guess he is really enjoying it and that swimming is his favorite.

Day 7 - Hike to Lake Cecret

During the night the last two nights, it's rained.  One the first night, Daddy and I got up around 3am and watched the storm.  The lightening show on the other side of the mountain (the Park City side) was amazing.  Even though I was tired and ready to go back to bed, it was worth getting up to see this light show and rain.  Yesterday, the night rain did not affect the day activities.  Little did we know that it would affect today.

Our plan for the day was to go back to Park City.  This time, instead of shopping all day, we thought it would be fun for the boys to play on a play ground or go to a park and then we would drive around the area.  After breakfast, we loaded up in the car to head out.  We did not get far because the second avalanche gate was down blocking the road.  The officer explained that there were several mud slides that covered the road and at least one of them took the road out.  We could not get out until at least 1pm.  Now what?  Fortunately, the day before, some of us drove to Alta (the town and ski mountain is east and on the other side of Snowbird) to see what was in the area.  The area was amazing!  There was a dirt road that was closed that day but scheduled to be open on July 4th.  This road led to a hiking trail to Cecret Lake.

Because the road was closed and we had several hours "trapped" in the area, we decided to head to Alta and hike the 1 mi trail to the lake with the boys.  Most of the trail was flat until we got closer to the lake when the switchbacks started.  It also got really rocky at this point on the trail.

Just starting off on the trailhead

Because the mountain has over 100 inch snow base in the winter, we thought this sign was interesting because of how high and out of place it looked when there was no snow.

Collin, Foard's daddy and Foard

One of the many streams crossing the trail.  The boys loved how cold the water was.

Still looking for the lake

A small stream crossed the trail at several points and the boys had fun walking on the rocks to cross or jump over the stream.  They also wanted to climb most of the big rocks they saw.  There were several points along the way that we wondered if we would ever get to the lake.  When we did finally get there, I am glad we did not give up and turn around.  It was beautiful!!!  I did not linger long close to the lake because there were TONS of mosquitos.  I was expecting fewer bugs in Utah but there were more than I expected. 

To rest from the hike up and to enjoy the lake area, we sat for a little on one of the largest rock formations around the lake and then we walked around the lake.  Collin tried to skip some rocks with little luck.  The cool breeze was wonderful.  We all needed it because we worked up a sweat.

Collin looking over the trail we just used to hike to this point.  The valley below was breath taking.

Happy to have made it to the lake

View of the entire lake

The boys did great hiking on the way down.  Collin did scratch his leg on the initial decent and I thought it was all over.  Neither Daddy or I was about to carry him down.  He did continue to hike down but the cranky factor was getting higher and higher.  By the time we got to the car, we had been gone 2 hours and hiked 2 miles.  We thought the boys did fantastic for what we just did.

Day 6 - Shopping

In the morning, the mommies hiked Snowbird mountain while the boys stayed at the house and relaxed.  We set out to hike 2 hours or less but ended up hiking 6.2 miles which took us 2 hours and 23 minutes.  We probably could have gone faster but I took my time and needed to rest periodically.  It felt great to be out and hiking like that.

When we got back, we loaded up in the car to head to Park City, Utah for some shopping.  We arrived just as the July 4th parade was ending which we were all fine with (I am not fond of large crowds like that).  We missed the parade but got to see the "parade" of people wearing all sorts of July 4th attire.  Some was really cute and then there were other people that should have stayed inside.  There were definitely some interesting people walking around like the guy with a parakeet perched on the top of his bike. 

We parked and planned to eat, walk and shop along Main street.  The boys had a good time counting all of the dogs.  They ended up counting over 55 dogs.  There were probably that many but they both forgot multiple times what count they left off at when they found the next dog to count.  We were going to have lunch at a local pizza place but the wait was 45 minutes to an hour so we walked across the street to a deli.  After eating......the shopping began.  We all ended up getting something to remember Park City or our trip by.  The boys pick out matching T-shirts that looked like the Batman logo but was a bat in the yellow oval with "Park City, Utah" written underneath it.  At one point, it was time for a snack so the boys picked out a cookie that looked like a cow while the parents had ice cream or a cool drink because it was unseasonably hot outside.  We walked up and down Main street shopping for over 4 hours.  By the time we got in the car, we were all pooped and ready to head back to the house. 

On the way back, we did drive around Olympic Park to see what activities they had available for the kids for tomorrow.  There looked like a lot of fun things to do but we decided that the boys were still too young to enjoy it or too young to be allowed to participate in the activity.

Looking North down Main Street

Looking South down Main Street

Da' Boy!  Daddy, Collin, Foard and Foard's daddy

Back at the house, everyone relaxed before having dinner.  The boys, and mommies, were too tired to take a bath.  Into PJs they went and then bed.  We did not watch fireworks because we would have had to get back in the car and drive into town.  Because it does not get dark until after 9:15pm in the mountains, the kids would not have gotten into bed until close to midnight.  I was not interested in cranky butt Collin in the morning so we choose to stay at the house.  I have seen plenty of firework shows so I did not feel like I was missing out.

One more full day left in Utah.  Wonder what fun things we will do tomorrow?

Day 5 - Mountain Fun

What a day we had!  I would have thought for sure that the boys would have passed out much earlier than their normal bedtime tonight. 

After picking up Foard's daddy from the airport and having lunch at the house, we went to the bottom of Snowbird mountain to enjoy the summer activities.  First, they tried the Alpine Slide which is the slide Collin has been talking about for days.  Because he is not tall enough, he had to go down the slide with Daddy.  They went so fast down the mountain, I was not sure if he was crying or laughing.  After he got off, he wanted to do it again...and again....and again.  I guess I got my answer...he loved it.  Foard was having just as much fun.

Chair lift to the top of the Alpine Slide.  That's Foard and his daddy in the back.

First time down the slide

Smiling and waving

The boys then tried to do the Climbing Wall.  I thought for sure Collin would chicken out and not want to do it.  He got strapped in and walked over to the wall.  Nope, he did not ask to quit at that time.  He started to climb the wall with the help of the person working there and then proceeded to climb at least 4 feet up the wall.  He was doing great until he had to grab a "rock" with both hands.  That scared him because he did not have enough strength to hold himself up while pulling up his right leg.  He made it up one more level and then was scared.  I told him if he did not want to finish, he could let go which he did.....and did not want to do it again.

The scared face and him wanting to get down

The happy face and "look at me mommy!"

Next to the Climbing Wall was the Air Jumper.  The boys had a great time on this...and wanted to go higher and higher than they were able to jump. 

Foard on the left and Collin on the right.  Collin regularly checked how high Foard was and wanted to be as high as him.

Look at that happy face!

Collin was finally able to jump high enough

After a potty and water break, the boys jumped on the Bungy Trampolines....twice.  Once before dinner and then again afterwards.  The second time, Collin was able to do a flip like he saw some of the other kids doing.  On the trampolines, they were both able to jump MUCH higher than they were on the Air Jumper.

Here he is trying to do a flip.  That's Foard in the background.

One of the times that he jumped really high...with the help of the attendant

The last ride before we went back to the house was the ZipRider.  This was a two-seater ride that pulled you up backwards up the moutain fast and then released the chair back down the mountain.  I could hear Collin screaming with laughter when he was coming back down the mountain. 

After the ZipRider, some of the crew were getting hungry so we went back to the house for dinner.  The boys watched a little TV and rested because we knew we planned to go back to the mountain to ride the Aerial Tram.  Foard's mommy and I went hiking for about 30 minutes because we could not stand being inside the house on a beautiful day.

When we went back to the mountain, we had 20 minutes before the next Tram was scheduled to take of so the boys road the Alpine Slide one more time.  Before getting on the Tram, I don't think at least Collin knew what he was about to do and see.  The boys loaded on the Tram and stood to the side of the car staring out the window the entire time.  I stood behind them and enjoyed listening to them point out things they saw. 

Daddy and Mommy....we really enjoyed the ride up the mountain

Collin and Foard looking for the house we are staying in

View from the back of the Tram

Once we got to the top of the mountain, we had 30 minutes to walk around.  It felt great up there!  The temperature must have been at least 15 degrees cooler than at the base of the mountain...and windy.  We made sure the boys held one of our hands because there were some steep cliffs.  Most of the ski runs on this side of the mountain were double blacks if that tells you what the drop off was like.

Great picture of Collin loving on his Daddy

After the 10 minute ride back down the mountain, the boys jumped on the Bungy Trampoline one more time before we headed back to the house.  I could not believe the energy they still had when we got back.  The mommies were smart though and made the boys take a shower/bath and get ready for bed.  That worked because both of the boys were asleep within 30 minutes or less after putting their PJs on.  Collin took longer to fall asleep so I laid with him a little.  Scratching his back helped him relax and eventually fall asleep. 

Day 4 - Friends!!!!

Since before we left for vacation, Collin has been asking when his friend Foard was going to arrive at the house.  "How many more sleeps until Foard is here?".  Well.....the day finally arrived when Foard and his mommy arrived.  We picked them up a the airport ...... and the craziness started.  The boys were so wound up and so excited to see each other.  They even fought a little in the car on the way to lunch. 

When we got to the house, the boys wanted to play video games.  We thought it would be good for them to get out and explore...picking up rocks or seeing what they could find.  They both thought that would be boring....until we went outside. We could not get them back inside. 

We first just hiked outside the house where there were a lot of rocks.  They boys were not interested in the rocks but did at least want to walk around.  Since the area was really rocky and on a steep incline, we got in the car (yes, nothing like saving little boy's energy for later) to walk on one of the mountain paths.  Collin showed Foard the snow patch and they wanted to hike to it. They were so excited about the snow, that they quickly hiked up to the patch....much faster than we did the other day.  Once they got there, they wanted to keep hiking up and not play much in the snow like I thought they would.

Trying to run through the snow

Looking for rocks

Doing a great job hiking down the rocks

After hiking, we went back to the house to rest because it was really hot.  Then, the mommies went to the grocery store while the boys stayed with Daddy.  They "swam" in the hot tub for the two hours that the mommies were gone.  Then, we had dinner and the boys rested while watching a movie.  We did not do much today so that the boys would be rested and ready to play on the mountain.  I cannot believe that Collin was OK with this because he has been wanting to play on the slide, rock climbing wall and bouncy house since he saw it a few days ago.

Day 3 - Not as Planned But Still a Great Day

After breakfast, we planned to do the other summer mountain activities that are available like the Alpine Slide, Zip Rider, bouncy house and Aerial Tram.  We learned quickly that these activities do not start until 11am....and it was only 9am.  We could stay at the house for 2 hours or we could get in the car and drive around.  We decided to get in the car and head to downtown Park City.  There are other days this week that we could do the mountain activities....and with our friends that arrive tomorrow. 

I had not been to Park City in over 10 years so I was excited to see it again.  I remember it being a cute little town with great shops on Main Street.  It took us about an hour to get there.  On the way, Collin was playing one of his games that requires him to do mathematical problems.  I could not predict that this would create Captain Whiny Boy when we arrived in Park City.  We parked and visited several shops before we found one he was interested in.  He only wanted to go in because he saw two kitties near the front door.  I was fine with it because it was a local bookstore.  He got up the nerve to ask the kitties names.  One was Curious George and the other was ..... I cannot remember.  Collin followed the cats around while I looked at several books.  We then stopped at a local pizza place to have lunch and so I could sit for a quick conference call.  I also thought that Captain Whiny Boy was hungry and eating would help reduce his whining....and it did.  After eating, we walked around for another hour before getting in the car.  No pictures because we do plan to return....and Whiny Boy was distracting.

We all took a nap after we got to the house intending to do some of the mountain activities when we got up.  Considering Daddy must have been REALLY tired and woke up after 5:30pm, we thought it might be best to not try to cramp a bunch of the activities in the short time they were still open, but instead, let Collin jump in the bouncy house.  After paying for the bouncy house, he did not want to do it because there were no other kids in there.  We sat there thinking he would change his mind and then walked around.  In the hour we were there, he did not change his mind.  Back to the house we went.....for the evening.

Tomorrow morning, one of Collin's friend's arrives with his mommy.  His daddy will be here Wednesday.  Both Collin AND I are looking forward to Foard being here so Collin will have someone else to play with.....and I will have an early morning hiking buddy.