Superhero Soccer

Today at preschool and soccer the boys dressed up as superheros before soccer time so we played superhero soccer! Katherine's house is a boy toy wonderland and her superhero costume collection casts a huge shadow over our meager collection! My sons love it at Katherine's house. The above photo is TMac playing soccer as the golden Power Ranger. I made the mistake of congratulating another boy S on making a goal and he said, "No, I'm Optimus Prime! Optimus Prime made the goal!" Good times with creative boys.

The lone superherione. Poor I - she is always the only girl at preschool but she handles the boys well and is always willing to share her snacks with Tot the thief. She is so pretty.

Sharing grapes with the dog.

Superheroes work so hard that sometimes they get tired and have to throw a fit. When Tot starts a fit he likes to go straight from a standing position to a full out belly flop which makes a loud noise and can't be easy on his body. He doesn't melt down like most kids. When he started a fit today in costume the sudden action made the cape flare out and then float down which was hilarious but I didn't have my camera on me the first time so I had to purposely annoy him to try and get him to start another fit which he was more than willing to oblige me with. Too funny! I should have taken some video.

TMac is serious about his superhero poses.

Not anywhere in the world is there a more ripped, muscular 2 year old!

"I'm a creator kid!"

Above is what TMac's room looks like every day and when we clean up for bed we pick up hundreds of little pieces of cut up paper. TMac is constantly bringing me creations to look at during the day that come with lengthy explanations, games, questions, plays, shows, etc. When we got home from a several day trip to the river this week, TMac went straight to his room to color and create. Today I mentioned how pleased I am that he loves to color for hours and is so creative and he said, "Well yeah - I'm a creator kid!" Translation - duh Mom! Today the project was Power Rangers. Yesterday it was all of the insects that he could think of which resulted in 30 plus drawings which were cut out. It keeps him really busy and quiet in his room but poor Tot wants in there so bad and will stand at the gate in the doorway and whine. Poor guy. Thankfully my Mom gave TMac the huge roll of paper (Sam's club if you want some too) for Christmas which we have only used 1/3 of and it gets used almost every day (I use some for preschool too) and we have tons of old paperwork from Tracy's home inspection days because the creator kid goes through a ton of paper. Now we need a bulk package of tape because he's using all of my tape lately. It's so great when kids are old enough to cut out all of their drawings themselves instead of needing you to do it. Keep on creating kid!

Our 1st annual Easter egg hunt at the river.

This Easter we had many Easter egg hunts but TMac wanted to know why we have never had an Easter egg hunt at the river. I don't know why! We just never have! TMac pointed out that we should have egg hunts at all of the places we live and hey, he's right! I enjoyed it and I love the combo of swim trunks and egg hunts.

I hid the eggs near 3 trees like this that had really cool hollows and nooks and crannies to hide the eggs in.

It's fun to start new traditions. Next year I want to hide some along the actual river banks and shores.

River R&R - the best way to relax!

It's relaxing for me just looking at this picture. My river rat boys enjoying their spot. We returned from almost 5 days at the river this evening and we are reluctant to get back to reality. It was great to have a lot of time with Tracy.

A chairs and towels fort on the deck.

Someone added this beautiful green wrought iron bench to a road next to the river recently and I was so happy to see it and instantly planned the photos I would take with it. There is some of our stretch of the Colorado river that we love.

Look really close - there is a white shell on the end of his pointer finger.

Dana, Genni and my little baby niece who took her first trip to the river this time.

Flyin' kites and hangin' out at our favorite river beach.

It was windier than normal on this trip so we got several good kite flying sessions in.

TMac and his cousin flying kites. They were really good at it.

There are 5 little black tadpoles in this sand bucket. Usually the tadpoles swim away too fast and we can't catch any but there were hundreds of tiny tadpoles that were really lazy and totally catchable. It was weird how they didn't move at all, even when you were going to step right on top of them. I bet we did step on some because they were that lazy. In almost 7 or 8 years of going to the river I have never seen lazy tadpoles like this. TMac was loving it.

Tracy was able to get some good fishing time in several times and one afternoon Tracy and TMac fished for almost 4 hours while Tot and I napped which was so great for me!

The boys loved to run on Dana's boat while it was anchored on the shore (don't worry - you can't tell from this photo but below the grass is several feet of dirt/sand and then very shallow water for a few feet so no lifejackets are needed). I love how Tot is just laying down and relaxing while staring at the water. It was a simple trip this time with no pontoon boat or jet skis because it's maintenance time for all of our toys but it was great to have Dana's boat there to cruise in.

Popsicle time!

Nap time!

More playin' on the boat at the shore. The photo looks so dangerous but it's just the angle of the shot. I have plenty of photos of crying boys who are unhappy in their lifejackets!

More kite flying.

Blanket fort in one of the motorhome bunk beds.

I don't know why I get such a kick out of cutting open those little cereal boxes to make the cereal boats where you pour the milk right in but I do!

Strawberries, marshmallow dip and some TV after a fun filled day. Life is good.

When we get to our park and motorhome we usually just drive right by it to go straight to the water and see what the water level is and say hi. Well, when we got to the water the boys wanted to go straight in without changing out of our driving clothes and into swim trunks first so that is what they did. It's still a little cold this time of year in the water since it is snow melt run off from the mountains of Colorado but that doesn't stop my boys. Look at the joy on their faces (it took TMac a little longer to get out to Tracy's depth from the shore because he was reluctant at first but Tot was laughing and all smiles). Another side story is that whenever Colorado is getting bad snow storms Tracy is so happy because their snow becomes our river water so when he hears on the news that there are blizzards and schools shut down in Colorado he is cheering!

The very first dip of this trip = happy boys.

Good times. We hung out, we swam, fished, ate, BBQ'ed, napped, slept in, laughed and lot's of playing and relaxing. We can't wait to get out there again!

One other story that cracked me up - One of the nights TMac had played hard all day and right before falling asleep said to me, "Mom, I want to go home." I was shocked. Then tears start rolling down his face and he's doing an honest, heartbroken cry and he says, "I have to color every day!" He really does spend hours every day coloring and cutting out his paper creations so he was upset that days had gone by without coloring. He told me that we could never go on a trip again without his art supplies and huge roll of paper. It tugs on my heart when he is honestly sad. It was so cute that I was trying to be serious and not laugh. We did so many fun things while we were there but he must color every day!

Happy 2nd birthday Tot!

Our little man turned 2 today! Our baby is officially a toddler. When we were at the party supply store the section that made him most excited was the Backyardigans. He was pointing and screaming with joy so that answered the question of what type of decorations/theme he would want. On TV the Backyardigans and Blues Clues are his favorite right now and he can sing most of the Backyardigans intro theme song. We had a party with the four of us today with a Backyardigans theme. It was so fun. Tot was really into opening presents and especially into wearing the birthday crown which he was also really excited about at the party store (I have been looking for just the right hat for awhile and I love this one).

Eating cake and ice cream and using a big boy birthday cup with the food on his new Backyardigans plate.

TMac helped me frost and decorate the cake. He was so excited to help throw his brother's party. He loves planning a party just as much as I do. Tot loved being sung to several times that day by friends, Grandmas and family.

I love my star shaped cake pan. I've gotten good use out of it over the years!

Present - new PJ's. (Old Navy - $1 - heck yeah!)

Garage sale dinosaurs that got a loud dino yell when Tot opened them.

TMac helped put up the Backyardigans birthday banner and streamers. He was so excited for his little brother and wanted to help with everything. So cute! He even wrote out a check list on paper that I forgot to take a picture of but it was the cutest thing. He walked around before the party checking everything on his checklist. He takes parties seriously!

Present - dinosaur hoody jacket. (Crazy 8 - $1 - I am the bomb shopper!)

It's not a birthday without a new train to add to our Thomas the Train collection.

Isn't this the cutest bathing suit? I can't wait to see his big lizard belly and tiny little legs sticking out.

He couldn't get the presents started when it was time to make the first tear so he had a system where he would pick one off of the table, take it to brother to make the first tear, then open it, yell about the present, run it over to Dad to show it to him, drop it off in the opened presents section of the floor and then go immediately to the coffee table to pick the next present to open. It was so funny. When I would try to spend time with an opened present it was no way - open more!

It is amazing how much joy kids can get out of Dollar Tree balloons!

We took cupcakes to preschool in the morning.

It was cute when the preschool kids sang Happy Birthday to him. He had a look on his face like - ok, that's cool if you think I'm special and want to sing to me.

It was a great day and I can not believe that my baby is 2. He's been acting like he is 2 since he was 1 so the tendencies and age related things I am used to but he is officially 2 years old and that is weird. I love you son with all of my heart. When you smile at me and rub my ears I melt.