Happy Father's Day

Despite Daddy having bronchitis, I think he had a good Father's Day.  Last night, he decided he wanted to take a drive North and eat at a brick oven pizza place he saw a few weeks ago.  Grandma H met us at the house and we took off early so we could beat the crowd.  The pizza was fabulous!  Collin must have been hungry because he ate three large pieces of pizza and then wanted ice cream...probably only because we talked about it during lunch.  The rest of us needed to walk around a little first before we could eat anything else.  There was a nice water fountain area by the man-made river.  Collin wanted several "monies" so he could throw them in the water.  It was a little more challenging to do this because the bodies of water were next to each of the steps.  Here is Grandma H going down the steps one by one as Collin makes a wish (he had no idea what this meant) before he threw the money in the water. 

At the bottom of the steps was the river.  Collin liked watching a little girl throw bread to the fish and watch them all go for the bread.  Then we saw a HUGE turtle swimming over to eat too.  Daddy met up with us and we started walking down the path along the river.  Collin and I thought it was funny that the fish swam with us as we walked thinking that we were going to feed them. 

We did eventually make it to the ice cream place.  Collin picked his usual "banilla" and wanted some sour candy on it.  He ate all of the candy and, each time, made a hilarious face when eating it because of the sour taste.  He then only ate 7 or so more bites before he announced he was full.  Daddy was exhausted so we went home so the boys could take a nap instead of shopping like we originally planned.  Well...Grandma H and I still shopped while the guys slept. 

Here Daddy is opening his presents from Collin before we left for lunch.  Collin colored on the gift bag and included a drawing of him, Daddy, me and Nicholas (not sure why he included Nicholas).  We were standing by trees and on top of a truck.  Creative, right?

Daddy first opened the piggy bank truck that Collin painted at a local pottery place.  He picked out the truck and it had to be a piggy bank because "Daddy used to drive a truck" and "He needs a place to put all of his monies".  Collin picked out the colors he wanted to use which were red, black, grey and brown.  I thought he did a great job with it. 

Here is the picture frame that he picked out for me to paint.  He also picked the colors.  When he saw that I wrote Dad, he wanted wanted me to paint Dad on the bumper of his truck in red, which I did.  Daddy seemed to really like both of his gifts. 

Here are the gifts closer up.

Now that Daddy knows what we got him, I can post the pictures of Collin painting his masterpiece.  We did this a month ago after I picked him up from school one day.

I am sure he is giving me instructions in this picture

I love his concentration when he is drawing or doing anything artsy.

Birthday Party x 2!

We had two birthday parties to go to today.  One was for Melia and the other for Mila.  How confusing is that, right?  They both turned 5.

We first went to Melia's party at Monkey Buziness.  Collin wanted to wear a monkey shirt because he was going to the monkey place.  Even though he did not know anyone there, including not remembering the birthday girl, he had a great time climbing and sliding for an hour before the pizza and cake was served.  At one point, he was in one of the bouncing things throwing balls over the top to try and hit me.  I threw them back to do the same to him.  The other parents stood and watched because they were amazed at how accurate and hard he could throw.   That's my boy!

After the party, we came home and Collin took a two hour nap.  I went swimming in the lake and came back just in time to pick him up to head to Mila's pool party.  Collin played in the water with his friends for 45 minutes before asking if I would get in with him.  During that time, he was jumping in the water like his friends Rafe and Jacob where.  He would jump in and then dog-paddle back to the side of the pool.  He did not jump out too far each time until the last time.  He jumped out as far as they did and spooked himself trying to swim back to the edge.  He did make it and wanted to continue swimming.  He dove for some toys that other kids brought and swam around the step area until it was time for us to sing "Happy Birthday" to the birthday girl and then have cupcakes.  We then left the pool area for the kids to take turns hitting the pinata.  Collin normally hits it hard but barely tapped it when it was his turn.  Maybe he was tired or he was trying to be like the other kids hitting before him...which were girls.  When the pinata did finally break, he ran in there and grabbed up his share of candy and then had a lollipop opened before he came back out of the pile to show me the candy he picked out.  The first one he showed me was a Kit Kat.  Now, how was I going to sneak that one out of the bag without him noticing?  It was the first candy he wanted to eat when we got home.

Elementary School and the Blue Band

See the blue bands that Collin has on his wrists?  We had to wear these to be admitted into the pool during our Memorial weekend vacation.  We did not have to wear two of them like he has but he wanted two so they gave him another one.  On the last day of the trip, Daddy and I took our off and Collin wanted to know why we did this.  "We don't need them anymore" was Daddy's reply but that did not satisfy Collin.  He wanted to know why we did not need them.  "We are leaving and do not need them to get back into the pool".  I went to take Collin's off and he put his wrists behind his back.  Oh, what was the harm.  He would probably want them off later when we got home.  Nope....he is still wearing them today...over three weeks after the trip.  I asked him why he was wearing them and he told me "I am going to wear them until I go to school."  I thought he meant to his Montessori school but he meant until he goes to his new Elementary school.  I explained that was many, many weeks away and lots of nights.  He said "I already know that" which is a typical response from him. 

I asked him over the weekend when he was going to take them off and he said he would after his birthday.  Well, that's also close to when school is starting.  This kid is determined .... I did already know he was determined, I mean stubborn, like his Mommy.  I will be interested to see how long he really does leave the band on and if he changes his mind once school does start.

Collin's First 5K Race

Sunday morning, Collin competed in his first 5K race.  For those of you that don't know, 5K is 3.1 miles.  This was a charity event that supports friends of the bike shop.  I ran it with him in the jog stroller last year.  This year, I thought he was old enough to at least try it on his own. 

While we were waiting for the race, he loved listening to Daddy on the microphone making announcements. Collin got to say something in the mic a few times which he thought was great.  One of the times, Daddy asked him if he was excited about the race, and all Collin said was "Yes!"

We lined up for the race towards the back because I knew we would be slower.  Collin did not like this and moved us to the front off to the left.  That's my boy!  When the starting gun went off, Collin took off!  He ran without stopping for at least 10 minutes.  Then, he did stop to walk for a little before running again.  He did this running/walking combo the entire 3.1 miles.  I did have to carry him some of the last mile but he wanted down when we got closer to the finish line.  Throughout the race, there were water stations.  He has seen these before but from the volunteer side and never as a participant.  He knew to grab the water and drink it.  He then saw people pouring it on their head and wanted to do the same.  At first, he did not think he could and then I encouraged him to if he wanted to.  He did it and thought it was funny.  He ran so he could get to the next water stop and do it again.  This time, I got water poured on the front and back of me.

When we got close to the finish line, he took off running.  I saw Daddy off to the side announcing the names of people crossing and saying "go, go, go!"  Collin heard this, looked at me, and then started running faster.

Here we are close to the 5K finish line.  Look at the energy he still has left!

I thought for sure he would be too tired to run in the kid's 300 yard dash but asked if he wanted to do it just in case he did.  He did.  While waiting at the starting line, he looked around at the other kids and copied what they were doing.  Some were stretching and then getting in the "start" position.  He did too.  When the horn sounded, he took off again.  I ran along the grass with him.  He looked over at me a few times, smiled really big and kept running.  He ran the entire dash and did a great job.  He is a little runner so I knew he would enjoy this.  I cannot wait for the next time.

Close to the finish line of the 300 yard Kid's Dash.  He is focused.

Here he is very proud of his "medals" from both of his runs.  These were buttons they gave each finisher.

Can't you tell that he had a great time?  What a smile!

Donut Friday!!!

Collin and Daddy have had a tradition for possibly over 2 years now of having donuts on Friday morning.  Collin usually gets a bag of donut holes (you can see it in this picture) and chocolate milk or orange juice.  They have graciously let me join them a few times if I am working from home that day or happen to be home that morning.  This is a great time for the boys to hang out, eat donuts and talk about the day ahead.

Collin was REALLY excited about donuts this week because on Tuesday afternoon, he asked me when it was Friday.  I said it will be three more days and then realized why he asked.  "Do you want to know when it's going to be Donut Friday to have donuts?"  He said "Yes!"  He did ask again this week if it was Friday yet. 

I have yet to ask the teacher if Collin is more wound up on Fridays than other days because of all the sugar from the donuts.  I probably don't want to know the answer to that one.

Don't they look like best buddies?  Now that Saige is lives on our street, they play together ALL THE TIME!  Saige and her family comes over the our house to swim in the pool....the playroom is not as fun anymore....and Collin goes over to their house to jump on the trampoline and play in their playroom.  On most Friday nights, the families get together at one of the houses to have dinner.  They kids then play while the parents catch up from the week.  This picture is from one of those Friday nights when it was our turn for dinner.  Well...we hosted.  Ms Kristen brought pizza over.  Then we all swam and had a great time.  Usually, the kids are so tired from all of the fun that they go to bed at a decent hour.  That's the best part!

We love our house, neighborhood, neighbors, family and friends.  No complaints here.

"Out of Power"

It was a really busy weekend with Collin being a HUGE helper.  Mommy had to work some on Saturday morning so Daddy and Collin worked on chores.  First, Collin helped Daddy clean out the water heater closet on the side of the house.  There were several things in there left from the previous owner that were gathering dust.  This was not safe to be next to a water heater.  Then, the boys started cleaning out the garage.  At one point, Collin came into the house saying, "Mommy, Daddy and I need sweat rags.  We need two of them because I am really sweaty."  He did go back outside armed with the sweat rags and worked at least another hour.  Next, they headed to the park where I was racing in the morning to help set up.  Daddy said that Collin continued to be a big helper there too.  I met them for lunch and could tell that Collin was tired but thought he might pick up some energy when he got home. 

When home, I asked him what he wanted to do.  He said "I have ran out of power and need to rest.  If I watch a movie, I might get more power".  He sure did look like he did not want to do anything.  Grandma H was coming over soon to pick him up and take him back to her house for the day and night.  We would see him tomorrow after the race.  He did not nap while on his way to Grandma H's and continued to not have much "power".  Chores are hard work little buddy, huh?