Easter weekend

After our trip to Indianapolis, we stopped in Rankin to spend Easter weekend with Papa and Nana. Here, Caden and Cole are playing with some early Easter surprises.
Cole loves his characters! He set some of his new characters up on the table and requested a photograph.
Nana, Curt, and Caden playing an intense game of Spiderman Sorry
The boys enjoyed coloring Easter eggs. Cole was much more involved this year. Surprisingly, there were no major spills.

Placing Star Wars stickers on the Easter eggs was serious business. Great concentration was required.

Caden (being blinded by the Easter morning sunshine) checking out what the Easter Bunny left him--lots of candy, sunglasses, and the Mr. Freeze set that Santa did not bring
Cole checking out his Easter goodies--lots of candy, sunglasses, and a Superman set
Cole sporting his new Batman shades from the Easter Bunny
Caden received Transformer sunglasses.
And the egg hunt is on. The Easter Bunny decided to hide eggs in the house during the middle of the night. He couldn't figure out how to sneak around outside in the morning without the curious boys spying him.



Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!

Trip to Indy

Over Caden's Spring Break, we spent a couple days in Indianapolis. We spent a morning looking at rental possibilities, and then we spent the afternoon at the zoo. Indy has a great zoo that we plan to visit often. It was a very pleasant day, so all of the animals (elephants, giraffes, lions, tigers, bears, etc.) were roaming.
Caden with the playful lemurs in the background
We spent the next day at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis. What a fabulous place! We definitely will be frequent visitors to this museum. We're so lucky to live near it for a year.

Until the beginning of May, the museum has three special exhibits that are near and dear to all of the Settlemoir boys' hearts--Star Wars, Comic Book Heroes, and Legos. Here are Caden and Cole with a Jedi Starfighter used in the filming of Star Wars Attack of the Clones. In most of the pictures, you will notice that Cole has decided to pose for pictures without looking at the camera. We gave up trying to catch Cole looking.
Caden could have stayed in the Lego area all day. Too bad this exhibit is not a permanent one. This dragon was made with Legos. Caden was amazed!
Caden showing off his Lego castle
Nana and Papa met us at the museum.
The guys and Spidey
It is difficult to see, but behind us is one of the Batmobiles used in the filming of The Dark Knight.
The dinosaur exhibit was another favorite.
This museum has so much to offer. The pictures do not do the five floors of fun justice. We spent several hours at the museum and even skipped an entire floor. We cannot wait to return!

Soccer season

Caden is playing soccer again this spring. He plays every Tuesday and Thursday evening. He is doing really well. He plays hard, goes after the ball, and makes goals. Last year, Caden enjoyed playing, but he wasn't as focused on the game. This year, he definitely wants to play well and win. He gets his competitive spirit from Curt.

Here are a couple pictures from his first practice. Unfortunately, the weather has been very chilly. Caden is wearing the gray hood and blue shirt.

The next picture shows our soccer star after a win. It was a pretty rough game on a very muddy field. Caden scored two goals and got lots of praise from his coach and parents, so he was very proud of himself. He was also quite proud of how muddy he was.

Finishing up Winter (the season if not the weather)

The last few weeks have been busy for the Settlemoir family with celebrating Caden's birthday and getting ready for our summer move to Indianapolis. A "For Sale" sign sits in our front yard right now, but we hope to see a "Sold" sign within the next month or so. Fingers crossed! We have found a school for the boys (kindergarten for Caden and preschool for Cole-It's going to be a BIG year!), and we will travel back to Indy in a couple weeks to find a rental home. So many changes coming up, while we're trying to keep life as "normal" as possible for the boys.

Caden's preschool took a field trip to the Illinois State Museum this month. Here are Caden and his teacher, Mrs. Davis assembling the skeleton puzzle. Caden is fascinated with how the body works. Wonder who passed that curiosity down to him.
A benefit of being a little brother...Cole gets to tag along for all the field trips. Here he is trying on a mining helmet like his Grandpa wears.
Cole not only has the role of little brother in our family, but he is also the entertainer. This is one way Cole waits for dinner.
When not entertaining the family, Cole has been enjoying Caden's birthday presents along with his big brother. Here are the boys showing off the Super Why puzzle.
Introducing the Planet Heroes to the new astronauts and aliens
Caden is very interested in space and our world. Thanks to some wonderful buddies, Caden is learning a great deal about our world and where he would like to travel someday. The globe was a perfect gift for our curious kid!
The next picture shows what happens when we think the boys are supposedly playing quietly in their rooms. They raid Caden's pajama drawer and change clothes. They think it is hilarious when they get caught.
Cole and I enjoyed a trip to downtown Springfield with Funshop. We stopped for a snack at the popcorn shop.
Cole thought the bus ride was great fun!

Caden's Post-Party

After Caden's Chuck E. Cheese's party, we returned home for the final celebration. Caden opened presents with Grammy, Aunt Mariah, and Aunt Shannon. Our apologies go out to Aunt Mariah...Don't know why we don't have any pictures of Mariah and the birthday boy, but we're glad she drove down from ISU despite not feeling well.
Caden's possible birthday wish came true! Aunt Shannon gifted Caden with a pirate Lego set.
Caden, Aunt Shannon, and their pirate island
Cole, our party animal

Celebrating Caden at Chuck E. Cheese's

We celebrated Caden's birthday at Chuck E. Cheese's with family and friends. Everyone enjoyed games, pizza, and Grammy's Transformer cake.

Caden and his preschool buddy, Ryan
Caden and Nana taking a roller coaster ride
Cole was very proud of himself when he made it up the climbing tower.
Cole had a blast in the tunnels and on the slide. He was worn out from partying and dozed off on the way home UNTIL the Transformer theme song came on the radio. Cole woke up, named that tune, and didn't fall back to sleep until bedtime.
Caden was very pleased with the awesome Transformer cake from Grammy. Thanks, Grammy!
"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you...." My guess is that Caden wished for more Legos.
Caden, Nathaniel, and Chuck E. Cheese
What a fun party for our 5-year-old!

Happy Birthday, Caden!

Caden is 5! Can you believe it?! We can't. Caden's birthday celebrations started on the Sunday before his birthday and ended on the Saturday following the big day. A good time was had by all!

Here is Caden's look of genuine surprise and joy. Nana and Papa visited the weekend before Caden's birthday, and they surprised him with his birthday presents. He had been counting down the days until his birthday, so this was a much-appreciated early birthday treat.
Papa and Caden putting together his U.S.A. puzzle
On Caden's actual birthday, Caden enjoyed being snack leader at preschool. After preschool, he ate lunch as quickly as possible, so he could get to the present-opening. Here are Caden and Cole posing with presents from Daddy and Mommy.
Nana and Papa introduced Caden to his new passion--Legos! After opening presents from us, Daddy and Cole helped Caden assemble his first Lego set. Caden cannot get enough of Legos. He follows the directions well with very little help, and he loves the process. Caden is quite proud of all his finished products--police truck and station, small fire truck, and pirate island so far. He is already saving his money for another set.
For Caden's birthday dinner, we borrowed an idea from Caden's good friend, Olivia and her family--homemade individual pizzas and ice cream sundaes. The boys enjoyed creating their dinner and dessert.
Caden and his pizza masterpiece
5 candles!