Will plays soccer

Will started Start Smart Soccer last Monday night. It's a six-week session that happens every Monday evening at a school in Colchester, where I work. I couldn't find a session that worked for us in Burlington this time around. He was so excited to wear new sneakers and "soccer pants." Love this boy!

 

 

 

Patrick's 2nd Birthday!

Patrick had a happy birthday weekend, starting with his new toddler music class on Saturday and ending with opening packages Sunday evening from Aunt Kerry, Uncle Tim, Jack, and Ella AND Grammy and Poppi. Grandma and Grandpa's package arrived a few days later. Thanks, everyone!!!

Here are some of the highlights of the b-day festivities...

Anna's birthday cupcakes took care of Patrick's sweet tooth for the weekend. YUM!

Ha ha ha! Now THAT'S a BIG BITE!

I think Will could eat a cupcake every day.

Patrick opened up new toys boats and a cute outfit from the Anderson family on Sunday morning. They couldn't wait to take a bath, so that's how Patrick's actual birthday began!    

Birthday boy and his modest brother. ;-)

Trying on his "soccer clothes."

I think Will's going to need a new bike this spring!

I take total credit for this. Patrick loves pushing strollers, so I had to get him a stroller and baby doll. It's shocking how all the strollers I found came only in pink. Oh well. But I think he wears pink very well!    

Patrick's signature look when he's not sure about something.

Don't worry--Justin's right next to him. 

It took a few tries and a little help, but he did it!

He was a little too full from our dinner of pizza puffs to eat much cake. 

Jammies and gift opening. It was a weird day time-wise after losing an hour of sleep due to daylight savings. We did things a little late that day. Oh well! Both boys love Patrick's cool turtle nightlight!   

Opening the big box from Grammy and Poppi. Very exciting!

The Grover phone is a little scary to me, but they love it!

Get in there, Will!

Trying out his new shoes. Patrick likes putting on shoes and boots. He wears his boots around regularly, because he can put them on himself. I have a feeling these crocs will replace those boots. :-)

Toddler music class...bonding with Mommy!

Hooray for bubbles!

Sometimes I think Patrick gets the short end of the stick being second born. His baby book is incomplete(OK, I'll just admit it, it was never started), the majority of his clothes are pre-worn, his crib slept in by another baby before him, his milestones celebrated but not as carefully noted on this blog, and his one-on-one time with  mommy/daddy very limited.

On the flip side, Patrick gets the benefit of being the second born in some ways--we're smarter parents and we know more now than we did with Will. One example is the wealth of fun things to do around here for babies and toddlers. Who knew there was a fun toddler music class right in Colchester?! Not me--until about 6 months ago and I FINALLY got in after missing registration and being on a waitlist again and again...So, Patrick is having an experience unique to him--something that Will never did. We'll go to the Colchester Meeting House for six Saturdays at 10:00 for toddler music and movement. What fun! Today Patrick was a bit tentative at first...until the parachute and bubbles came out! Then he was really into it! And after we left, we spent a bit of time at my school. While there, he was hopping along the rug, humming, marching, and clapping his hands--things he refused to do in the class today. I guess he needed to take it all in first. :-) I snapped a few pictures...enjoy!

Joy and wonder. 

Get it, Patrick!

Patrick was so curious about the other kids! 

Blurry but too good not to share--Patrick and his almost-birthday-mate, Anna. They are two days apart--hard to believe with that height difference!

I think a bubble burst right above them! Love the expressions!

Catching up--the end of February vacation

Here's a glimpse at some of the other February break activities we did, after the water park visit. The water park and stay in Jay was definitely the highlight, but the rest of the week had high points too. :-)

I love when they sit together for activities. Patrick is getting more into drawing/art.

I'm trying to start good handwriting habits with Will. We shall see how it goes!

Both boys love boots. Will told me he was ready for preschool in this get up! 

I had some school work to do, and I think Patrick just got bored. He feel asleep on the floor, winter boots on. (He LOVES putting his boots on all by himself!)  

This one's for Uncle Tim. :-) Patrick loves Will's GFS truck!

We did get some snow...enough for Justin to use the new snow blower. This has not been a good year for having a new toy like that! Will begged for this shovel every time we were at Hannaford (our grocery store). I told him I'd buy it whenever we finally got snow. He remembered. :-) We took a walk around the block like this. I pulled Patrick with the rope around my waist. I felt like a horse! 

Happy to have snow!

    

After walking all the way around the block by himself through a few inches of snow. I guess it's tiring when you're only three feet tall!

We went to an open gym at a gymnastics center. The boys loved the foam pit! Patrick was a little tentative, though, and stayed in this corner the whole time. Moving, but not much! Sorry these photos are blurry--hard to get those action shots with a phone camera!

Will did not hesitate and he loved the foam pit!

Lots to explore!

My sweeties!

The long trampoline--great fun (but hard to get a good picture!)

At Burlington's Mardi Gras parade...Will was very excited for it to start!

Waiting...

Patrick loved the parade, especially the beads!

Check out the beads they collected!

We met up with our neighbors by chance, and ended up spending the rest of the day together--parade, then dinner at the Crafts' house! Awesome!      

Checking out the action on Church St. Always interesting...even more so on the day of the Mardi Gras celebrations! 

"Jay"cation!

Hooray, it's vacation week, and it's been great so far! We started with a relaxing Saturday and then hit the road Sunday for a short stay in Jay, Vermont (home of Jay Peak Resort). The draw was a brand new water park at the resort called The Pump House. It's HUGE and totally awesome. It just opened in the middle of December, so it's practically brand new. Justin snuck away Sunday for a day on the slopes to take advantage of some long-awaited POWDER! It finally snowed and Jay reportedly got 47" of snow. I packed the car and kids and made my way to the fabulous rental house--we met up with our great neighbors, the Crafts and McCleary families. As always, my photo taking could have been better--you'll have to imagine the fun times and yummy meals that happened in the house both days we were there--but I did manage to capture some of the great moments we had. I'm SO glad it's vacation week!

Front of rental house--it was such a gorgeous day when I drove up on Sunday.

The boys enjoyed running around the big, open spaces when we first arrived (especially after being in the car for almost 2 hours). We arrived first, which was nice. They ran around, I unloaded the car. 

Still a gorgeous house, even on a cloudy day.

Life jackets were provided--YAY--and it was bright, cheerful, and WARM inside! 86 degrees!

The largest lazy river in the country, apparently. 

We all spent a lot of time in the lazy river. I couldn't get photos when it was all of us together, though!

View from the 2nd floor entrance. What you can't see from this angle is a great area for small children...fun but totally impossible for me to take photos there--too much splashing water! :-)

Contemplating our next move. 

Justin signed a waiver and bravely took on the surfing ride...

This pool had a basketball hoop and climbing wall. So cool!

Love.

Snowshoeing with the ladies. We saw a MOOSE!