Lucas Turns 3!

Lucas turns 3 today! I can't believe our baby is growing up so fast and is going to be a big brother soon.

It is amazing that the same little boy that needed speech therapy because he wasn't putting 2 words together at his last birthday literally talked non-stop on a three hour car ride this week. Some of his favorite phrases right now are, "What you say?", "No, I do it" and "Oh wow".

 

Daddy did another amazing birthday video to recap Lucas's last year:

(You can click on the  YouTube at the bottom of the video to go to YouTube to watch a larger or full screen version.)

Memorial Day

We had a nice Memorial Day at the pool with Glammie & Papa, Uncle Mat, Aunt Beth & Cole. To celebrate the opening of the pool they had a DJ, various games and a bounce house, rock wall, balloon animals and face painting but the kids didn’t really care about the activities and just wanted to play in the (ice cold) water.

After the pool and naps for the boys (and mommy!) the Cochran family came  over for dinner. Glammie and Papa also stopped by with a special surprise they’d found.Tommy the Turtle pays a visit. The kids had fun watching him for awhile until it was time for Papa let him go out in the forest.

Holiday World

I’ve heard great things about Holiday World in Santa Claus, Indiana (3 hours away) and we finally made the trip with the Cochran family. We drove down on Friday night and spent Saturday at the park before driving home that night.

The kids had so much fun and Tyler begged to come back the next day. It was such a great trip, even for the adults, that I think we will be doing it every year.  The weather was perfect and there were minimal crowds and virtually no lines. The park was clean and a nice perk is they offer free sunscreen, free parking and free drinks all day. It’s a great park for little kids and there was so much for them to do. Lucas is 36” tall which was perfect since it was one of the height requirement for several of the rides. Tyler is right at 42” tall which was the next height requirement.

(You can click on any of the collages below to enlarge the image)

 

L-R top to bottom: The Cochran family with Santa (the kids found all the Santa themed stuff extra fun!); Tyler and Lucas really liked the kids playground; This canoe ride was Lucas’s favorite; The carousel is always a must stop; Lucas was thrilled he was able to drive the antique cars.

 

 

The grownups got a chance to sneak in a few rides; Brian holds on tight to Lucas for this roller coaster ride. He met the height requirements but since he was sharing a lap bar with Brian it wasn’t very tight on him.;  This Santa sleigh ride was one of the only rides I was able to go on.

L-R top to bottom: We visited the attached waterpark later in the day when the sun came out. There were lots of great splash zones for kids with slides and areas to play in shallow water; Tyler and Daddy relax; I love this picture of the boys! After the waterpark Lucas feel asleep for about 30 minutes. When he was sleeping Tyler reached over and put his hand on Lucas’s.

 

Tyler rides his favorite ride for a second time; The boys loved the park maps and studied them as we strolled the park; It’s funny to have pictures of them with Santa while wearing swimsuits.

Another Red Robin Post

Tonight we ate dinner with Glammie & Papa at the kids favorite restaurant, Red Robin, to celebrate the end of school and and Lucas’s upcoming birthday.

Lucas is wondering why the waiters are clapping, singing and embarrassing him

but decides it’s all worth it when he gets his birthday ice cream.

Lucas playing in the dollar section at Target after dinner.

Last Day of School

Lucas’s original teacher, Ms. Kerri, moved during the school year so Ms. Stacey took over as his teacher. 

He came home with a picture of his classmates in a frame he painted.

And this picture with his measurements.

Tyler made an alphabet book that he loves to look at. He has a turtle painted on his check from the school carnival. His teacher also sent home a CD of pictures  from the school year. Here are a few:

Riding big wheels at the indoor playground; making Auntie Anne’s pretzels (he says he really like the pretzels he just didn’t want to smile for the picture); I LOVE this picture of  Julia licking icing off her fingers.

Mommy visiting for class parties.

Taking a hayride at the fall festival.

They had a visit from firemen and a chance to climb on the fire truck. This picture was taken in October and Tyler looks so much smaller to me here.

Schuette Kisses

Papa and Grandma Schuette came by for a visit today. The boys always love when they come by especially when the bring bananas, cookies or  grandma’s pineapple bread.

Lucas's 3rd Birthday Party

We asked Lucas if he wanted to have his 3rd birthday party at the zoo or the Grizzlies game and he choose baseball. Leading up to the big day he was so excited for “my baseball party” .

The weather forecast called for rain all weekend and there was a tornado watch in effect during the game! In the end the day turned out perfect and the cloud cover kept everyone comfortable.

Lucas holds hands with his friends walking into the park; Lucas “blows” out the candle on his cupcake (it was too windy for it to actually light); They were so excited to see Izzy the Grizzlies mascot again. They have a small Izzy stuffed animal they sleep with and are big fans of his.

His party guests (minus Lily and Cole).

I’m not  the tiniest bit crafty but with some paper punches and brads I made cupcake toppers for the McArthur’s cupcakes. I know he didn’t care at all but I felt better that I did something for his party.   The kiddos went home with chocolate baseball favors.

You can tell Lucas liked his cupcake! 

I love these pictures of him and sweet Lilianna.

L-R: Posing with the other Izzy; wearing the visors they decorated at the kid’s club; With my youngest nephew Cole.

L-R: Climbing on Daddy after climbing on the playground; In the 3rd inning the party guests got to stand on the dugout as the crowd sang Happy Birthday to Lucas and the other birthday kiddos. They also announced his birthday in the 7th inning.; I expected the boys to go straight to the bounce houses and kids area but Lucas and Tyler sat for a long, long time with Papa and watched the game. 

My boys.

After the game the kids were allowed to run the bases. The had the parents drop them off at 1st base but pick them up near home plate. Lucas ran all the way around and then, confused about where we were, turned and started to run around in the wrong direction. This earned him yet another mention over the loudspeaker and a nice personal escort back to us.

Last Soccer Game

Tyler had his last soccer game and “awards” ceremony where they handed out stickers and backpacks. After the game they had fun and inflatables for the kids.

Tyler was disappointed soccer was ending. He loved playing but had a short attention span at the games and probably looked forward to the post game snacks and juice  more than anything.

Lucas got stuck climbing up the inflatable slide so Brian gave him a little push.

Which sent Lucas down the slide face first.

He was fine and promptly got right back in line again. This time he made it up without assistance and had a much more graceful decent.

 

Tyler goes down the proper way.

Daddy has fun climbing on the playground too.

 

Big Bed Time

We moved Lucas’s nursery furniture to the new babies room and got him new furniture. He was excited about it but had no interest in sleeping in the bed and still wanted his crib. Since we have two cribs we originally tried leaving one in the room for him but he kept climbing out so we went ahead and took  it out.

After a few days rough days of  him constantly climbing out of his bed instead of napping he’s been good about staying in bed. He’s been sleeping well and hasn’t gotten out in the middle of the night. He sometimes gets out on his own after his nap but usually stays in bed and calls for us in the mornings.   His furniture is a navy blue beadboard twin over full bunk bed with a trundle underneath and a desk with a hutch. The desk is currently functioning as a changing table although I really hope we won’t need that much longer. We thought the room might be too crowded with the dresser so we put it in the closet for now. 

We didn’t put the ladder up yet so the boys weren’t tempted to climb onto the top bunk. We underestimated our monkeys and Tyler has already figured out how to climb up even without it. We’ve told him he isn’t allowed up without permission first and we’ve told Lucas you have to be 4 to go up on top. So far so good! 

His first night falling asleep in his big bed by himself.

He still moves around in his sleeps as if he is in a big crib so he ends up sleeping in all directions.

Chuck E Cheese

Today was a rainy day with no plans so we ended up  taking the boys to Chuck E Cheese today. Brian has taken the boys to Incredible Pizza company but this was their first trip to Chuck E Cheese. I was pleasantly surprised by how clean (and cheap) it was and the boys had so much fun.  Now they know the logo and when they see it on PBS they get excited.

This roller coaster simulator was Tyler’s favorite. It was funny watching their cheeks shake when their seats vibrated. 
Good thing tokens were cheap because Lucas rode in this car with Chuck E Cheese 6 times.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

 

Tyler forgets the icing is supposed to go on the cupcake.

Daddy blows out the candle on his (untainted) cupcake.

Lucas serenades Daddy. I have to remember to record him singing more because I love his little singing voice.

My Artist

Tyler’s dry erase marker masterpiece on the wall of his shower. He always calls his work his “artist” instead of saying his artwork.

Mother’s Day Pics

We enjoyed a relaxing Mother’s Day at Erica’s house. I didn’t cook or clean a thing all day.

For my Mother’s Day gift Brian arranged for the boys to have their picture taken at Portrait Innovations. With subjects so incredibly cute I think they pics could  have turned out a little better but it was the perfect gift and I am still glad we had them taken.