The Cousins

This weekend we took the boys on their first overnight trip....anywhere...

We went to "The cousins" (as Parker would say) near Des Moines.  We figured we would start with an overnighter where there were already young kids and young kid "stuff" so if it flopped completely at least we'd be among family! ;)

I am pleased to say that it was not a flop, indeed, I dare to say it was a success, minus a few bumps along the way...such as:  Carson not sleeping AT ALL the whole 4 hour ride...no wait, I take that back, he fell asleep the last 15 minutes..

or, 

Parker taking 2 hours to fall asleep the first night there..with me reading on the bed next to him...

or, 

Carson not sleeping the first night there and needing to be drove around by Heather and me (I'm not complaining about this, I got to see the area ;)

or 

leaving at 6PM so the boys would sleep most of the way home only to have Parker talk, literally talk, the ENTIRE 4 hour drive home, much of it through a blinding rainstorm....no wait, I take that back, he fell asleep when we got on the 34 ramp 5 miles from our house...

anyway 

these were small in comparison to the fun memories we made watching all of  "The Cousins"  interact, watching Carson really get his "scoot on" with the flooring at their house, having great nutritious meals (and recipes) to bring home and quality time with family!

On Friday we went to the Blank Park Zoo!  I love zoos and so do the boys in my family!  We had a great time and I'd love to go back again soon!  If you're in the Des Moines area, I highly recommend it! And, if you have a Naibi Zoo membership, you can get in free...just don't leave your membership card at home they have no data base to look you up...not that I'm speaking from our own personal experience or anything....

 They have this great area where mechanical animals randomly shoot water out at you.  Parker thought this was a RIOT! 

Carson and Parker and Mommy were fascinated the whole way through the zoo....

All in a row (minus Carson) Oldest to youngest. 

 

"Hey! Give that back!" 

Picnic lunch...YUM!

The rest of the time, minus a great excursion to a furniture MEGA store, we just hung out! 

Making ice cream in something that looks like a hampster toy....

Reading books....

Sitting around enjoying the nice weather....

and 

Celebrating someones upcoming birthday... 

 

OHHHHH! I've always wanted some of these...

 

HOHHHHHH!  Fuzzy Chickens!!

Thanks Miss Heather, Uncle Kirk, and all the Cousins for a GREAT first overnight getaway!

Why can't I keep this updated?

I can't seem to keep things updated so here are a TON of things we've been up to:

Play dates:

Parker is having Play dates on Tuesday and Wednesday with some groups of friends.  This is our Tuesday group, minus Carter and Lucas.

Marriage Mondays

The boys go to Kim's on Monday's to keep them in the routine of daycare for when the fall comes around.  Travis and I have been using the time for "date days".  Marriage Monday's have been a lot of fun, it's nice getting to run around once in a while like we did before the boys.  We have grown to love American Pickers on the History Channel and one Monday we went to their store in LeClaire. 

We didn't see Mike or Frank and it's a lot smaller than it seems on TV but it was a lot of fun!

Tents

The boys have been loving playing in "tents" in the house.  We actually have a small tent that we got out a few days ago, but blankets and chairs work just as good! :) 

Almost 1

 This kid has decided to spring up a funny personality that rivals his brothers!  He is coming up with tons of facial expressions that crack us up.  Here he is playing with a sand bucket while big brother is sleeping. 

 Hey!  I've got an idea...

Watch this guys....

I'm the orange headed masked superhero....

Dad...you can be my sidekick!

Walks

Travis has been taking the boys on walks in the mornings...it's quite a work out!  Not only the cardio, but he's pushing over 50lbs.!! One morning I caught them coming back up the walk...look closely... 

Out like lights!  Must have been a relaxing ride! :)

Father's Day

Travis had a great Father's day!  He got to take Parker on his first fishing expedition...I don't know who was most excited...Parker, Travis, or Grandpa Stecher... 

Ready to go!  Parker had been practicing his "casting" out in the back yard a lot!

Parker has indicated that he "does not like worms!"

Parker caught a fish on his first cast out!  There actually were many fish caught that day and I'm sure it will make Parker want to come back again soon! 

After fishing we enjoyed a BBQ and an ice cream cake from DQ!

Happy Father's Day Trav!

Summer Break is HERE!

We love teaching, we really do...but with our own children now...we LOVE summer!

The boys got matching summer crab hats from Gma/Gpa Vancil in the Ozarks.

Parker is going to get his 1st fishing trip with Grandpa Stecher and Daddy this summer!  Here Parker was learning how to "cast" his fishing line in Grandpa Stecher's front yard.  He actually did a really good job for his age and his first tries...I dare to say he already could beat his mama! :)

 We found out that Parker is not allergic to bee stings.

Travis and Parker were outside.  Parker somehow (we're still not quite sure how) touched a bee that was on Travis' jeans.  The bee stung him and Travis didn't know why/what made Parker cry.  Parker pointed, crying, to Travis' jeans.  Parker will tell you that "Daddy screamed and picked me up and ran inside" and Travis did pretty much that.  I heard crying, questioning, yelping, and the door swinging open and closed quickly.   An ice cube later...all was good, but it sure didn't help Parker's dislike of bugs.. 

We had the Vancil's down for a lunch cook out on Sunday and everyone was able to come.  It was fun having Uncle Justin, Sara, Grandma and Grandpa over to watch the boys play and run...it helped with afternoon naps too! ;)

With the start of summer is Vacation Bible School at Church! 

Parker is allowed to partially participate this year as he is not quite to the 3 year old/potty trained requirement.  

He started the night slightly nervous but by the time we got home he was non stop talking about his new tee-shirt and his toy "Pat the Bat" (the bible buddy from Day 1).  He and Carson were up past their bedtime by quite a bit but both did fantastic at VBS and both slept until 7AM...a HUGE deal in this house! :)

Happy Summer Break!

Memorial Day

Look what I got at the Memorial Day parade! 

Parker was allowed 1 piece of candy from the parade to eat before lunch.  He chose a sucker.  Look carefully where it landed in our photo shoot... 

Carson was not amused.

Happy Memorial Day!

Two in the tub...

The time has finally arrived...Carson is old enough and stable enough to have bath time with brother.  Of course it takes both Travis and I to supervise this fun activity! 

We have discovered that Carson LOVES water.  He loves to splash in it, lay in it, drink it, and when he's with his brother it's twice as much fun! 

Look here boys, look at mommy, let's get a picture.  Parker smile, Carson look here...Parker, Parker, Carson, Uh-Oh, Carson...Parker smile, Up here Carson..

These were my attempts to get both boys (2.5 and 11 months) to both look at the camera and smile simultaneously.  Unsuccessful.

 

This is more realistic...

1st Haircut

Curly was in need of a haircut...bad.... 

But Mommy couldn't get past these sweet baby curls...

Saturday was the day to go to the big boy barber shop.  This is the same High School friend of Travis' who cut Parker's hair for the first time.  

Bye bye curls! 

Whatcha doing up there?

It feels so light! 

I'm a big boy now... 

All 4 Stecher boys in front of the Barber shop!

He looks a lot more like Parker now....

Before....After...

Ear Tubes part 2...

This is Carson right before surgery a few weeks ago.  Happy as can be riding in the little car at the hospital up and down the hallway making elderly people smile...ahhh

but WOW!

After the tubes....

we have a different kid!

In a totally great way!

His is giggly, jabbering all sorts of sounds, attentive, engaged in activities, just truly, TRULY happy!

He is sleeping in his crib (FINALLY) flat on his back for most of the night, and he is just Mr. Smiley!

This makes me wonder why don't they just do this at birth? ;)