Carter Turns 2!!

Since we were expecting our third little man to come any time, we didn't have a lot planned on Carter's actual birthday.  Ethan has preschool in the afternoon, so we were kind of limited by that as well.

We started the day off with a special birthday breakfast.  Carter decided that he was a big boy and wanted to help with the pancakes.  Making the birthday boy work for his meal I guess!

A special pancake for the special boy!

Diggin' in!

Later that evening Carter opened his gifts.  He and Ethan couldn't wait to get the new sheets on the bed to try them out!

He fell in love with this stuffed seal when we were down in Westport in July, so we grabbed it for his birthday.  As you can see, he was very happy to see it again!

And his new "big boy" comforter with Elmo on it.  He was very excited!

We got an ice cream cake from DQ this year.  Carter prefers ice cream over cake, so I figured this fit the bill (and allowed a very pregnant, very tired mama a break!).

Listening to his birthday song

Making a wish!

So excited!

Yummy!

We are so thankful for this completely goofy, loving, rowdy boy.  I can't imagine our family without him.

A Pre-Birthday Trip to the Zoo

We decided to make a quick trip up to the Point Defiance Zoo the day before Carter's birthday for some fun.  Ethan has preschool on Tuesday afternoons and we didn't want to be rushed to get back for that on Carter's actual birthday.

The resident peacocks greeted us as we arrived.  We found this other one huddled in the corner napping.  Summer is definitely disappearing quickly!

 We were really lucky with how the weather turned out.  It rained the night before and drizzled on the way up there but it was sunny and nice while we were there.  The boys wanted to wear their  rain boots and it was a good thing they did.  They took advantage of the puddles and did some puddle-spalshing!

 We hit up the aquarium first.  It's always a favorite for both boys.  We hadn't seen the new stingray touch tank yet, so it was fun to do something new first.

Carter peeking in on the stingrays.

 Carter was super excited to pet them, but Ethan was kind of standoffish.

 Finally, right when we were getting ready to go see the sharks he changed his mind and really enjoyed touching them, too.

 Checking out the shark resting on the sand

 Carter loved all the colorful fish tanks

 The octopus was actually visible that day.  She is usually hiding and hard to see!

 We stopped by the tide pool touch tanks, too, and the boys had fun touching the starfish, sea cucumbers, crabs and sea urchins.

 Stopping for a photo op!

 We also managed to see the baby clouded leopards--finally!  Every time we go to the zoo it seems like they have them put away.  This day they were out playing and attacking each other.  It was a lot of fun to watch.  (Sorry about the glare.  I had a hard time getting a good picture!)

 Carter and Dad visiting the elephants

 This is the younger of the 3 baby Sumatran tigers at our zoo right now.  She was napping in the sun but I managed to get a picture of her furry little head.  She was super cute!

 We also stopped by another new exhibit at the zoo where you could be in a room with free-roaming birds and feed them.  There were flying all over the place and I think I almost got hit a couple of times! The boys really liked being able to get so up-close and personal with them.

 Carter was really excited about the meerkats!

 Wrestling with the polar bears

The birthday boy and his big brother on the way back to the car

 On the way home we stopped at Sonic for happy hour to get the boys a birthday treat.  Ethan and Carter shared a Slush and I got a yummy peanut butter cookie milkshake.  Soooo good!

Look at that happy face (and chubby chin!)

 Slurping it down!

 When we got home the boys wanted to use spoons to get every. last. bit out.  And, yes, Carter is using a tablespoon to do it!  :)

 High on sugar!

 Ethan was lovin' an excuse to have a "Slurpee".  He loves them!

It was fun to get out and go celebrate our little man as we prepare for our next little one to join our family (hopefully soon)!

Ethan's First Day of Preschool

After talking it up all summer long, the first day of preschool finally arrived.  We drove by the elementary school pretty often and always talked about how that would be where he was going to school and he was really excited for it to start.  A week before school started we went to the open house and Ethan cried when we had to leave so I figured he would love it.  He goes 4 days a week in the afternoon, which has worked out really well for our family.  He gets dropped off just in time for me to put Carter down for his nap and then I can wake Carter up just in time to go pick Ethan up again.  I'm hoping this provides maybe a little time for me to nap when new baby arrives!  A girl can dream, right???  :)

Getting ready to go--look at that smile!

 Hammin' it up for the camera!

Poor Carter wanted to be included so bad.  He kept wandering around with our church backpack on and wanted to be in all of the pictures.  For the first few days Carter insisted on going to drop Ethan off and also insisted on wearing his backpack.  The first day Carter even wore the backpack into the building so we could go turn some paperwork in.  He wants to be just like Ethan!

Picture with mom!

 Carter wanted to get one with Dad.

 Showing off his backpack that he picked out all on his own

 The night before school Ethan helped me make these fun cupcakes for an after-school treat the next day.

He loved his first day and told us 3 times in the 5 minute car ride that he had a great day.  Here he is enjoying his snack and saying, "PRESCHOOL!"

Carter also enjoyed getting a special treat at the end of the day.

 I guess that's one way to eat a cupcake!

 What a yummy, sticky, mess!

I'm so glad that Ethan is enjoying preschool.  I really wanted him to have something that made him feel like a big kid and that was his own special thing to go and do.  I'm excited to see how he grows and progresses through this first year of school!

Labor Day Weekend

Tristan got home the Thursday before Labor Day weekend and we decided to just dive right in and move the boys into the same room that night.  I had a hard time getting a good shot, but here they are getting ready to hunker down for the night.

 The transition has actually gone really well.  Ethan is always ready to go right to sleep since he doesn't nap anymore and Carter likes to lay in his bed and babble for about 30 minutes.  So sometimes Ethan will come out and complain about Carter asking for us or for water, but usually after about 30 minutes they are both asleep.  I think it helps to have Carter in his crib still.  We will see how smoothly it goes once he's in his toddler bed!

Friday we decided at the last minute to go to the drive in that night.  They were showing a triple feature of Monsters University, Planes and Dispicable Me 2.  We just couldn't pass it up since we hadn't seen any of them and knew our boys would like the movies as well.

 Gates open at 7:30 but movies don't start until dusk so we had some time to kill.  The boys love playing in the back of the car when I clean it out so they enjoyed playing around and going for walks around the parking area.

 Testing out their spot

 So this is when the movie started.  Hilarious!  They were glued to it (for a little while at least).

 We enjoyed setting up outside the car (excuse the angle...my tummy is huge here!).

 The boys did really well overall.  We stayed through all three movies and they didn't end until 1:40.  Amazingly, Ethan stayed awake the whole time!  Even Tristan and I started to doze during the third movie.  Apparently he wanted to soak up every minute of watching a movie in the car and getting to stay up past bedtime!

On Saturday we decided to head down to Tumwater Falls Park to try to see the Salmon run.  I didn't find out until we got home, but the salmon were already down by the bridge so we didn't see any that day.  So we watched the boys run instead!

 The boys also had fun checking out the waterfalls at the park...

 ...and playing on the toy boats!

 Ethan being the captain

 Carter playing peek-a-boo with Dad

 We decided to walk down to the other playground as well and let the boys burn off some steam.

 By Sunday we were ready for a more low-key day.  But on Monday some friends invited us out to Summit Lake to play so we headed out after nap time.  Ethan loved riding on the boat while the adults and big kids wake-surfed and wake boarded.  Carter wasn't as impressed with the boat and just kind of sat stoically the whole time and watched.  After a little while we had them bring us in and Carter and I played at the house and helped with dinner while Tristan and Ethan went back out on the boat for a little bit.

Ethan actually decided he wanted to ride on the tube, which really surprised me.  Apparently he got on the tube and the first thing he said was, "What a great day!"  Then the whole time they were on the tube he kept asking to go faster!  I was impressed that he wasn't scared and so glad that he had a good time.

By the time the weekend was over we were beat, but it was that good kind of tired that comes from making lots of fun memories.