Its the end of the world

Well, not really. Alec is just not wanting to take his nap. Instead of sleeping, he'll jump up and down, make lots of noise until Charlie wakes up and then he'll climb in/around Charlie's crib playing with him. Ahhhh! So is this the end of my personal time? Luckily the answer is no. My friend, Amy, shared a brilliant space-saving-nap-trick with me. I have a linen closet at the top of my stairs that, with the door open, transforms into a cozy cubby when sectioned off by a baby gate. I've cleaned out the bottom floor and shelf of the closet and filled it with some toys and books. So now, if Alec acts up, I can transfer him to his cubbie where he can just play quietly (inevitably falling asleep) in a small space, apart from "my space" downstairs. Its wonderfully non-apocalyptic around here.

Climbing Machine

Charlie is a climbing machine! His favorite feats are: the kitchen stool, Alec's trike, the bike trailer, the bathroom stool, and any kid chair. I have to be so careful because he is so fast! If I've forgotten to fold up and put away the kitchen stool RIGHT after I'm done using it, I'll usually be reminded 30 seconds later when I hear Charlie whining/grunting because he's stuck at the top. When I rescue him and put him back on the ground he throws a fit because I took him off. Silly, cute, kid. He is growing up too fast.

caterpillars

We learned about caterpillars last week. Here are the kids finding out what it's like in a cocoon.

Here they're painting a caterpillar ( 1/2 an egg carton) on a leaf (paper).


I LOVE PLAYSCHOOL.

Fun with Friends

There are lots of parties, now that our Courtyard Events are in full swing, plus I'm watching my good friend's little girl, one day a week. Alec absolutely LOVES it when Eliza comes to play for the whole day. He usually sobs when she has to go home.

Below is Alec on his first day of playschool this year. He was so excited and loved every minute of it. He can hardly wait for Mom to be his teacher next time.

Walking Charlie

He's been taking steps for a month or so now, but just this past week has he tried to walk more than 2 feet. Check out his moves:

First football game

We can hear the band practicing from our house and Alec always notices and then says he wants to see it. When we got free football tickets, I told Alec a few days before that we'd get to see the band at the football game. He talked about it non-stop. We left really early because we thought Alec and Charlie would enjoy alot of the pre-game practicing and knowing that the game started at 6:00 we'd be ready to go home to bed fairly soon after it started.

Alec loved watching everything. Charlie loved walking down the isle banging on the seats.

We had a blast, until the band came out. He was scared of the Stanford Tree.

And then he was scared of the pre-game show, and then he and Charlie were nervous of all the screaming during the game. Especially since we returned the opening kick-off for a touchdown. We left after the first quarter while we were all still in good spirits.

Jam Packed

Today was jam packed with fun. It started off at 4:45AM when we had to wake up the kids and get in the car to drive the 2 hours to my triathlon. I wasn't as nervous for this one, but still couldn't get my hands to stop shaking as I set out my transition stuff. I started at the back of the pack in the swim b/c I thought I would be in a later wave, but they started everyone at the same time. Utter craziness. I got stuck behind what seemed like an offensive line but eventually made my way along the 500 yard swim. It was soooo long.

My friend, Amanda waited for me during transition so we could bike/run together. I'm glad she did. It was fun to talk and I think she pushed me a bit in the bike and I pushed her a bit in the beginning of the run. The 16 mile bike went well, although it was pretty hilly. The 5K run was SOO hard. It was so hot and I wanted to quit just after 1.2 miles. :) But thanks to Amanda we ran the whole thing and finished around 1.54.

Then we stayed at the reservoir for a BBQ and some swim time for the kids. Then we drove home and got ready for the Stanford / Washington Football game. We scored free tickets and went as a family. It was a blast. (details will follow in a subsequent post) Now, I'll listen to a bit of the RS broadcast then watch a movie with Chris. What a day.