Gardening

What do you do on a BEAUTIFUL Sunday afternoon?  Garden of course.  Today we spent the entire afternoon outside enjoying the glorious weather.  The boys played in the backyard, dug up rocks, buried them in the sandbox, rode bikes and played ball.  Cody got the sprinkler system up and running which means everyone in the family was wet sometime during the day.  Our little helpers even assisted in cleaning out the flower beds and watering the potted plants.  We watered….and watered…..and watered.  As you can see we spent a lot of time watering. 



Case’s newest obsession is hunting.  He wants to hunt morning, noon and night.  It can be 6 am and he wants to go hunting.  Our hunting sessions include driving in a pretend car over rough terrain, using binoculars to spot an animal, figuring out what kind of animal we have spotted, loading the gun with bullets and aiming.  At this point the animal may or may not run/fly away.  If the animal flees we go back to the binocular step.  If not we shoot the animal, retrieve the animal and then start all over.  The trip takes us all over the house and even baby Cole will join in and make pretend shooting noises.  I hope this phase doesn’t last as long as his obsession with dinosaurs did because I am going bonkers with his unrelenting talk of hunting.  God bless his little hunters soul.         

Sorry, No More

This is what happens when we don't get our way at the Gray household. 

Easter Story

Here is Cases rendition of the Easter story.  Not bad for a 3 year old if you ask me.  At first I was very impressed of my toddlers extensive knowledge and understanding of what Easter is all about.....that is until the next day.  Case got in trouble by the babysitter and told her he was going to shoot her and put her on a cross.  I guess the details are a bit difficult to understand. 

Coles "Oh" Face

One of Cole's favorite expressions lately is to show shock and disbelief by saying "oh" and pretending to be surprised.  He pours water out of the bathtub on the floor and sees the mess.  "Oh!"  Dumps food on the floor and looks over to see the splatter.  "Oh!"  Throws the remote and everyone looks to see what made the loud noise.  "Oh!"  Cole makes his "oh" face at least 10 times a day and even though it is typically preceeded by a naught event I still crack up when I see his face.  

Nana's Easter Box

Easter weekend has been full.  Full of egg hunts.  Full of candy.  Full of fun.  Full of presents from loved ones back home.  This box came from Nana.  Case couldn't wait to open it up. 

What is inside?!

Whoa!  This was the mother of all eggs! 

Chocolate kit kats are always a winner in this house. I think Cole was in a chocolate coma by the time the day was over. Thank you so much Nana! Your thoughtful presents are always such a joy to receive.

Giggles

Cole's giggles are the greatest. His laugh is a combination of a giggle and a scream. I couldn't resist filming a tickle session a couple weeks ago when everyone was feeling particularly exuberant.  Don't worry, despite his screams he is having fun.  I promise.  Hope it makes you smile because his laugh always makes me smile. 

 

Easter 2012

We had a great Easter in Colorado Springs.  The morning alone was active enough for an entire day.  Cody and I started off the morning by making both the boys cry because no one wanted to wear their Easter duds.  Then it took at least 20 attempts to get one decent picture of the boys before church. 
 

After church and naps the Easter bunny made an appearance.

Case drew crosses on the sidewalk with his new Easter chalk and retold the Easter story better than most adults. 

I think the boys ate candy and sweets for breakfast, lunch and dinner the entire weekend.  Cole was just grateful the Easter bunny didn't eat all the carrot cupcakes.  In case you can't tell, that is an entire mini cupcake shoved in his little mouth.  Cole likes carrot cupcakes. 

54 eggs were hidden in the yard for our house hunt.  Case found all of them!  Expert hunter in training. 

Cole particiapted.....some. I think he collected 3 eggs.  Hey, at least he didn't cry. 

Whew!  I think I will take a break.  Finding that one egg was exhausting. 

The entire weekend was about family.  Spending time together and enjoying each other to the fullest.  The weather was beautiful and as I sat out on the porch this afternoon watching Case water flowers and Cole scribble with chalk I felt very lucky.  Lucky to have a good husband/father and two wonderful boys.  Very lucky indeed. 

Candy Fight

Easter fun turned sour yesterday afternoon after a fight broke out over the candy basket. What started out as a tug of war session ended up as an all out on the floor brawl. I'm afraid when brothers fight, no one wins.

Pre-Easter 2012

Case knew exactly what to expect when I said we were going on an Easter egg hunt this morning.  In fact he was so eager the wait was painful.  You can see the frustration in his face as he waited for his age bracket to be called. 

Last year he was so excited when the announcer yelled “go!” Case ran with the pack in a frenzy and stepped over dozens of eggs before stopping to pick anything up.  Rookie mistake.  Not this year.  When the announcer yelled “go” Case efficiently hunted in a 5 foot perimeter and once his basket was full he was done. 

Hershey kisses, m&m’s, peanut butter cups, starbursts and other goodies filled their eggs.  This morning was a good warm up hunt before the hunt we have at the house tomorrow.     
  

Nightmare on Easter Street 2012

Today was the first of several Easter egg hunts for our family.  This was Cole's first actual year to participate and everyone was excited for the hunt.  After arriving we lined up with baskets in hand and eagerly awaited the hunt to begin.

Everything was fine until this riff raff walked past. 

Then it was time to hide in the protection of mama’s legs.

It took a few minutes but Cole finally warmed up to Mr. and Mrs. Easter Bunny.  Cole would hoot, holler, smile and wave as long as we stayed a healthy and respectable distance away.     

There were plenty of eggs for everyone in the 0-2 age bracket. 

Dispite hundreds of little eggs of fun all over the ground we should have anticipated Cole's reaction after seeing his encounter with the Easter Bunny.  Cole cried if I sat him down, threw the eggs and wanted nothing to do with his basket once the Easter egg hunt began.  Our little fun hater. 

Holding an egg long enough to take a picture is the most hunting Cole was willing to do.  Maybe when we search for eggs at the house tomorrow Cole will be more willing to participate.  :)

Zoo Party

Case went to a birthday party for one of his classmates this weekend at the zoo. First order of business was checking out and listening to a monkey demonstration. The monkeys were very vocal, doing back flips, swinging all around and overall generally entertaining. Even Cole was riveted.

Next the birthday party took a ride on the carousel. This was Cole’s first carousel ride and even though his look was very stern the entire time, he obviously enjoyed the ride because the water works began when it stopped.

Once in the party room the leader showed everyone a turtle.  Notice how Mallory (little girl in a white shirt with a white bow in her hair) and Addison (little girl in a blue shirt with a yellow bow) are both very concerned over Case's well being.  These are the little girls in his class who like him. 

After the demo everyone sat down to eat cake.  Mallory was standing in between Addison and Case but there was not a chair to sit in so she had to move over.  The jealousy begins. 

Cole particularly liked the cake.  He ate almost an entire piece and after every bite would chirp 'more, more, more.'

The zoo was about to close after the party was over but of course we had to make a trip to feed the giraffes before we left.  I will never get over how massively long giraffes tongues are when fully extended.  

In case you can't tell, the giraffe's tounge is reaching all the way down to Case's hand to grab a piece of lettus he is offering.  The giraffe display is great at this zoo.