Sunday, August 17, 2014

The rest of June

The end of June was just as busy and fun as the beginning.

Waiting for The Sound of Music to start at The Muni

Kieran "chatting" with his buddies, Kody and Levi

Nana helped Caden, Cole, and I plant part of the rain garden at their elementary school.

Feeling proud!
Curt, Caden, and Cole participated in the parent-child golf outing that follows the boys' golf camp at Piper Glen. I drove one of the golf carts. Neither boy wanted me to play with them, which is understandable since golf lessons are still on my to-do list. It was a nice evening on the golf course, and the boys did a great job.   

Cole

Caden



Caden's turn to pitch
Makes me nervous, but he did a great job.
All three boys took swim lessons for a week at Island Bay. Kieran took three weeks of swim lessons during the summer, but Caden and Cole just took a week-long refresher to improve their strokes. 
Caden

Kieran

Cole
Kieran had Kody out to swim at Island Bay one afternoon. They had so much fun together. 

No longer afraid to put his face in the water!
Caden participated in a track and field camp through the high school. He LOVED it! The high school track coach lead the camp. Caden practiced a variety of different race lengths, relays, long jump, high jump, and shot put. 
Caden taking off for his leg of the relay
On the last morning, they held a track meet to show off all they learned.
Long jump

Shot put

Cole giving long jump a try

Caden's ribbons..3rd in shot put, 50m, 100m and 2nd in long jump
It was so fun to watch Caden doing something new that he enjoys!

Cole's 8th Birthday

Back in June, we celebrated Cole's 8th birthday. Cole started his day with presents from us. Legos and videogames were on his list. He wanted to just hang out at home on his birthday (i.e., play his new videogame and build Legos) and requested KFC for lunch. In the afternoon, Curt took the boys for a swim at our neighborhood pool. Two of Cole's best buddies were at the pool, so that was a nice surprise.


Lego Movie!
One of his requested videogames
His most requested Lego set

A new bike was a surprise.

Giving the new bike a try before the necessary adjustments

Cole had four friends spend the night for his birthday celebration. Such a great group of boys! They were LOUD, but got along really well and had a fun time together. 
Carter, Gavin, Ryan, Cole, and Ethan
 A game of kickball


MarioKart 8 competition

Pizza for dinner (of course)

Present mob

Ice cream cake for his friend party because Grammy was bringing real cake for the family party

Lego Movie in 3D

After all the boys left, we continued to celebrate Cole with family. Nana, Papa, Grammy, Aunt Mariah, Aunt Shannon, and Josh came. 

Another videogame

Another building set

Grammy's awesome MarioKart cake

I think Cole got most of his wishes for his birthday.
We had so much fun celebrating Cole. It's hard to believe he's already 8 years old. Love him so much!

Saturday, August 16, 2014

Father's Day in St. Louis

We spent Father's Day at the Cardinals game. It was a beautiful day at the ballpark. After watching the Cardinals win against the Washington Nationals, we went through the new Hall of Fame at Ballpark Village.

Kieran (and Curt) holding a bat used by Matt Holliday

Caden picked Stan Musial's bat

Cole with Ozzie Smith's bat

My guys
We spent the night in St. Louis and enjoyed Pi Pizzeria for dinner and an evening swim at the hotel. We spent the next day at City Museum. This place is wild and difficult to describe. This was our second visit. On our first visit, Caden was four and Cole was two. They've made many additions to the museum, including the huge rooftop area. We had a fun and exhausting day going down slides, going through tunnels, exploring caves, and trying to stay together. Not the easiest place to snap photos, but here are my attempts to capture our fun day.

On the rooftop...
Cole

Caden

Kieran and Curt

Cole climbing up a wire tunnel which lead to a slide

Caden and Kieran



Ballpit fun


We climbed all the way up to this old airplane--not something for those afraid of heights.


Now for the inside fun
Kieran went down this "slide" after the photo
More tunnel climbing



Exhausted! The boys had a blast (although this photo doesn't quite capture that).