On Friday, May 30th, Colin turned 2 years old! We started off the morning with our birthday tradition of Krispy Kreme followed by a trip to the park.
After the boys’ naps, we had the first “Fun Run” of the season followed by Dairy Queen for ice cream.
I’d say it was a good birthday for him.
Over Memorial Day weekend, we took the boys to the Peoria Zoo (and Chick-Fil-A for lunch, of course!). The last time we came here was shortly after Colin was born and there was a large area that was under construction – the tigers, the walkabout, and the budgies. It was a perfect day as it wasn’t too busy and the weather wasn’t too extremely hot.
We had a pretty busy month of May leading up to Colin’s birthday. We got the boys a haircut and then visited a small train event that was taking place in Uptown Normal.
The following weekend, we went to church early on Sunday morning and were headed up to get some projects done around the house. Colin is going through a stage where he does not want to get out of the car (silly, I know). Anyway, I got him out, was holding him and closed the car door…right on his finger.
Poor kid. It had quite a slice and even needed four stitches. I certainly don’t wish this experience on anyone. He was fine if it was covered and no one wanted to look at it or touch it. They gave him a shot to numb it followed by x-rays and then time for the stitches…all at convenient care. It’s just horrible watching your son screaming for you to hold him when you are holding him down so they can stitch up his finger. He was such a trooper. He kept a bandage on it for a couple days then the stitches came out in a week. The nail fell off about six weeks later and we’re still waiting for the new nail.
Drake had his last day of pre-school for this year. We loved the Iron Kids program especially his “Big Kid Buddies” Chelsea and Claire. He will still see Chelsea next year, but Claire was a senior and graduated.
I’m WAY behind updating our blog so I am going to back date some posts since this is what I use to work on the boys scrapbooks. At the end of April, we took the boys to St. Louis for a couple nights. We stayed at the Drury Inn — highly recommend! They have a free breakfast plus a free happy hour which was basically dinner.
We drove down on a Thursday morning, got lunch and went to the Magic House.
After our time was up at the Magic House, we got checked into the hotel, swam for a bit, and then got dinner. The boys were ready for an early bedtime since they skipped naps.
On Friday morning, we hit the St. Louis Zoo. It’s free! Plus, for the first hour they are open, the Sting Ray exhibit, carousel and train are all free, too!
We spent about 5 hours at the zoo and still didn’t see everything! But, the boys needed naps. I was hoping to go to the Science Center after naps but the boys didn’t wake up in time to make it there before they closed. So, we just got dinner and then went to Ted Drewes Frozen Custard.
On Saturday morning, we took the boys to the Arch.
On our way home, we stopped to meet our friend’s newest little one – Avery.
It was a great trip with gorgeous weather. We’re planning to take the boys to Chicago later this year, too.
We had a gorgeous day for Easter this year! This was also the first year that I actually hid a “basket” for the boys. My parents sent a bucket with a few things for each one, and I had a bucket for each one so they got to find two each. I only really hid one of the baskets and Drake was freaking out that he couldn’t find it.
After their buckets and monkey bread for breakfast, we went to church with Kali, Shawn, Karen, Cody and Tim. We had lunch at home, naps, then the boys played outside with a pizza picnic in the backyard.
I managed to get a few pictures, but you can see that Drake wasn’t up for smiling. 🙂
Happy Easter all!
My friend, Janell, and her son come to town for the Gamma Phi Circus! We went to the matinee show this year. The troupe did a fabulous job – one of the best year’s.
And, they had the first all female 4-high in the 85 year history of the organization! Way to go ladies!
Of course, Drake was not in the mood for pictures so I only have the performers. Maybe next year. He cannot wait for camp this summer!
Trying to get these boys to sit still for a picture these days is pretty rare!
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Over the past few weeks, we have gotten quite a bit of snow. The boys and I were able to go out and play in it for a little while on Monday night. We even got the sled out and went down our driveway. They had a blast!
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Of course, it hit the mid 30s today and it’s starting to melt into a slushy mess. I wonder how long before it’s all gone.
For Drake’s 4-year pictures, we decided to try another photographer – Kara Knuth Photography. She was very friendly and really tried to engage with Drake. These are my favorite pictures from the morning.
If you haven’t already heard or seen (I posted this on Become a Coupon Queen), I cut my hair on Friday and will be donating it!
Over a 20 month period, I only had my hair cut twice – mainly due to lack of time and planning after having Colin. So, at my appointment back in May 2013, I decided I would let it grow and donate. Here are my before and after pictures:
It feels great, but I do miss some of the length.
I’ll probably grow it out again. 🙂
The Patterson Family 