The rest of our trip

I'm terrible at taking pictures lately so this will have to sum up the rest of our trip. We stayed at Grandpa and Grandma Gehling's house the whole time we were in Iowa. They have horses behind their house that both boys were excited to see. Cason had been talking about how to feed horses carrots for months. It was so hot in Iowa that week that the horses weren't out grazing a whole lot. Just early in the morning and then after dinner. This is the first time we saw them out. Bryce was pretty scared of them but the next night we went out and fed them carrots and he was not really nervous anymore.





Grandma and Grandpa had several presents sitting out for Cason. Here he is opening the spaceship he wanted so badly.





Grandma and Grandpa also have a small ATV and we rode that around their yard/street one day. Cason didn't want to get on but when I finally got him to ride with me he said "I want to go fast!"



One afternoon we took the kids to a splash park. Bryce didn't want to get wet but Cason had a great time.



One afternoon we went to Tama to see the Rosenbergers. Cason and Bryce played awesome with their kids, Clayton (11), Clarissa (9), and Clayton (5). Another night we went to see Chris and Heather and had dinner with them. One morning we went to Iowa City to go shopping. Bryce insisted on getting a new Iowa football jersey, football, and hat at Scheels. Kelly and I visited CrossFit Cedar Rapids several times. We also escaped one night to see the last (and most awesome) Harry Potter movie. Another morning we met my mom, Dave, and Tate at Chuck E Cheese. All three boys had a blast playing games (Bryce is obsessed with the basketball shooting games and actually quite good at them) and then Maid Rite for lunch. Another morning we went to the Playstation and the boys had an awesome time running around the tunnels and slides on the three story playscape. Cason especially, he just disappeared and took off on his own. And the night before his birthday, we took Cason out to Happy Joe's pizza and then Dairy Queen for ice cream.

On the second weekend, we went to my cousin, Holli's, wedding reception on Saturday night. They had an awesome fajita bar and yummy cake. On Sunday we made the long drive up to Cresco for the Gehling family reunion. On Monday we started the trip back to Texas but we broke it up this time. We stayed just over halfway in Witchita. The boys both did great on the way home, I'm very glad we broke it up. We got such an early start on Tuesday (because the boys were up at 5:30 am) that we decided to stop in Oklahoma City and see the Oklahoma City National Memorial. We didn't realize that there is a museum there next to it. We didn't go in that but would like to so we might have to plan a trip up there someday. Overall, we had a good trip and were happy to see most of our family and a few friends but we don't plan on making that drive again for several more years!

Fishing

Kelly's brother, Mike, lives out in the country and has a bunch of acres. He has made some trails for their ATVs and two ponds that he stocked with fish. He invited us to come down one afternoon to fish and have dinner. We rode the ATVs out to one of the ponds and the boys got their first experience fishing. I think they were more interested in the ATVs but they had fun fishing too. It was crazy hot again that day so we didn't stay out longer than a half an hour or so.



Rycie (with Kelly's help) caught the first fish!



But then he refused to stand by it for a picture (he's very ornery these days) so Cason stood by Kelly for the picture.



Then Cason even held the fish and threw it back into the pond.



Luke



Then I was determined to catch a fish and I did, it was the first fish I have ever caught.



The boys sitting on one of the ATVs. Cole is fishing and Bryce is yelling at me not to take his picture.

West Liberty

On the first Sunday of our trip, my cousin, Darla, organized a get together for my mom's family. We went down there in the late morning and my aunt Donna Fae and Uncle Darrel had a BBQ and all kinds of yummy food. Donna Fae even got this awesome cake for Cason. I told her he likes spaceships and the colors blue, green, and orange and this is how it turned out. Cason loved it and both boys insisted on eating a piece with a spaceship on it.





Donna Fae also bought a kiddie pool and Grandma Brei brought some other little toys for the boys to play with and they both had a great time. After lunch we walked up the street for a parade. I think it was the longest small town parade ever! There were quite a few tractors and fire trucks from every town in a 20 mile radius (or so it seemed). The boys were pleasantly surprised to find out that parades = candy! They gathered a huge bag of candy but after the parade was over, forgot about it and never asked for a single piece. Notice how red Cason's face is, I think Iowa was hotter than Texas that weekend.



We had a great time seeing everyone, thanks so much for making us feel so welcome!

Alligator cake

On Saturday (day 2 of our trip), we headed over to Alissa and Dave's house after breakfast. The kids had a great time playing together all day and I borrowed their kitchen to make Cason's much anticipated alligator cake. He picked this out of my cupcake book back in January I think and has been excited about me making it ever since. It was really easy to make and Kelly helped me cut the little chocolate cookies that make the spines on his back and the marshmallow teeth. The eyes are made out of marshmallows and junior mints and the claws are banana runts. I was really happy with how it turned out (but most of the pictures aren't really in focus so I'm annoyed with the pictures).





For dinner we met my aunt Lou Ann at Zoey's Pizzeria. Then we headed back to Alissa and Dave's house to have cake and open presents. The boys were SO excited to eat the cupcakes. Here's Bryce showing us which one he wants.



Watching Dave light the candles. I love the look of concentration on Tate's face.



Cason also sang Happy Birthday to himself while the rest of us sang.



He always cups his hand around his mouth to blow on things and I have no clue where he got that.







Opening presents is so much fun. My dad sent some airplane and rocket ship DVDs for Lou Ann to give Cason since he couldn't be there himself.



Lou Ann and Denny gave Cason a cool boat with a million tiny accessory pieces that he loves to play with in the bathtub.



And Alissa and Dave gave Cason an awesome stomp rocket that was the highlight of the evening for young and old. Alissa bought a second one for Tate so they could both play together.










Attempting to get a cousins picture (Greyson was sleeping).





Good enough I suppose.













We had a great time hanging out with the McEowens. It was a lot of fun to watch the boys play so nicely together (so much better than last summer). And with pizza and cake, what's not to love?

Trip to Iowa

We just got back from a trip to Iowa. It was Kelly's family reunion, my cousin, Holli's, wedding, and it was Cason's 4th birthday. Plus it had been 2 years since we had last been home so it felt like it was time to go. Since Bryce is 2 and we would now have to buy four airline tickets, we decided to drive up. We were originally going to leave around dinner time and just drive all night but then Kelly and I realized we're not exactly young anymore and we can't remember the last time we pulled an all nighter. So we made an emergency trip to Best Buy to purchase some portable DVD players.

This boy was an angel every moment in the car of the whole trip. We put around 2800 miles on our car. Almost half of that was just driving around Eastern Iowa, visiting family and friends. It took 15 hours to get to Cedar Rapids and we drove straight through. Cason was super content to watch Berenstain Bears, LeapFrog, and Little Einsteins.



Bryce was initially amused with the DVDs but that wore off after hour 7 or so. He still did really well in the car, considering he is only 2 and that is a long time for anyone to sit strapped into a car, let alone a 2 year old. But he pretty much refused to sleep in the car, which is strange because he is usually a great car sleeper. And he hated facing forward (I flipped his seat around for the trip) so I happily changed him back to rear facing and figured out how to attach the DVD player to the back of the car so he could still see a screen.



We arrived at Kelly's parent's house around 1am on Friday morning. The boys were up bright and early around 6am every single day of our trip. Friday we just hung out, went to the store to get some groceries, and then met my mom for dinner that evening. She gave Cason his birthday present early and it was a very cool marble run.

Happy Birthday Cason!

Wow, you have grown so much over the past 12 months! Last summer we went to Myrtle Beach and Charleston and you STILL talk about our rental house and how you want to go back. You did great at CrossFit Kids last summer and fall. You started preschool in January and loved music class, snack time (they have much tastier snacks than we do at home), and making art projects. You learned to write your name and could write a lot of your letters (but you stopped writing altogether when school ended). This summer you are learning to read, spell, and do very simple math.

I think most of all, I have loved watching your imagination grow over this past year. You really love all of your Lego sets and will build houses, airplanes, helicopters, space ships, and all kinds of other things. You love all types of “guys” like Lego guys or Imaginext guys and I love watching the stories you make up for them. You still love all kinds of building toys – Legos, Trio blocks, tubes, your new marble run, pretty much anything that lets you build something.

I love that you are at a very fun age where you get really excited about birthdays, holidays, and parties and count down the days. Your enthusiasm wears off on all of the rest of us. You like lizards, alligators, and snakes. Daddy and I were so impressed when you held a fish that we caught at Uncle Mike’s pond last week. You also touched the live lobster that the waiter took out of the tank to show you at Red Lobster.

Your pronunciation is getting better but I love that you still say things like “what say?” instead of “what did you say?” Daddy took you to a restaurant called Souper Salad a few months ago and you will occasionally ask if he will take you back to “Silly Salad”. You were so into Berenstain Bears all year that you quote lines from the book quite often to anyone and everyone. Only Daddy and I know what you are talking about! You also quote lines from your favorite Leapfrog DVDs a lot. It confuses a lot of people but you think it’s funny! I also love how you sleep sideways in the bed, all squished in one corner with your legs often hanging off the bed. I like to sleep sideways in the bed too, so I can understand that.

I am excited for this year and seeing how your social skills grow at school. I am looking forward to see what new things you want to try and what holds your interest. We love you and are very proud of our one and only Cason.

Love Always,

Mommy

Fireworks

I'm really late at posting about this but it's better late than never, right? On the 3rd of July, my cousin Ryan and his family were in town. We invited them over for some brisket and then headed to Southlake's fireworks. About half of the suburbs around here do fireworks on the 3rd and the other half do fireworks on the 4th. They had some kids activities like bounce houses, balloon animals, make a bracelet, etc, but the lines were pretty long and the kids didn't want to wait long so we only did a few activities. But Bryce and Jacob did color some sunglasses.



While we were walking around, a band played the national anthem and right at the end, 4 jets flew overhead in formation. It was Kelly and Rycie's favorite part of the whole night. Bryce even talked about that over the fireworks for days. Cason was pretty grumpy for awhile since it was past his bedtime and he hadn't napped that day but shortly before the fireworks, he got his second wind and was in a good mood for the rest of the night.



After walking around we staked out a grass section (super close to the shuttle pick up so we could get back to our cars as soon as possible when it ended). This was our first time going to the fireworks since the kids were born so we made the rookie mistake of not bringing any blankets or chairs. Carol and Ryan were clearly not rookies and shared their blanket with us. Bryce and Jacob passed the time by playing with Jacob's DS. Jacob showed Rycie his baseball game and then let Rycie have a turn. Bryce sat there pushing buttons when Jacob told him to and thought it was the coolest thing ever.





Then Carol (again, a seasoned pro at this sort of thing), whipped out glo sticks for all of the boys. That was a huge hit and killed the rest of the time until it got dark.



Both boys loved the fireworks (even though Kelly and I thought they were pretty lame).



Bryce sat there for the first 5 minutes of the fireworks with both hands up in the air. He just kept saying "catch 'em! catch 'em!"



I couldn't decide which looked worse -- flash or no flash.



And it wouldn't be a fireworks post without a picture of the fireworks.