Christmas has come and gone and we had a great time. The boys go what they were looking for, Nick got a Firetruck and Adam got Mater stuff. Nick was pretty into Christmas this year, concerned for being good to stay off the naughty list, telling Santa he wanted a Firetruck and being very concerned on Christmas Eve because he couldn't fall asleep and thinking Santa wouldn't stop if he was awake. It all worked out and we had fun. I hope everyone had a great holiday season, I know I will as I have another week of vacation this week.

Serious business

Adam is doing great, he talks a lot with much more of it being understandable and he gets most everything you tell him which is nice. He talks about Mater and Kai Lan and Bob the Builder and wants his "bankit, mator, ball, and hoho" for bed time. Unfortunately for him he understands what he does so now timeout is in effect he doesn't like that much and lets us know. Mostly he is good but does have his tantrums right now.

Adam's favorite game? Whatever Nick is doing.

Nick is also doing great. He loves his new school and gets to do a lot of stuff. When we went to Virginia he missed a few days and when he got back to school we asked what he did today, he said "well, everyone was giving me hugs." He will be starting up soccer early next year so stay tuned for action shots in the new year.

We went to the zoo a few weeks ago and they have a new addition. You can feed the giraffes. Their tongue is wicked long and very maneuverable. Everyone got their turn, everyone thought it was great, Adam was a bit tentative but he tried it and liked it.

Nick the feeder

We went to Virginia for Thanksgiving to visit Jen's godparents and family. They live just outside DC so we got to go down to the Mall and see the sites and walk a few miles as well (some of us did the walking anyway). There were still plenty of leaves on trees and on the ground, there was much rejoicing about that. The first half of the trip was absolutely great weather, not even coat weather. Later the wind kicked up and jackets were not optional.

Jen's favorite part was to visit and eat some good old Chinese food. I am not sure what Adam's favorite was but most likely he enjoyed running away from the camera the most Dad's favorite was the Dogfish Head Alehouse, it was very nice. Nick's favorite thing was Aunt Sharon, his second favorite was visiting Aunt Sharon's apartment. Yes you get the picture with that.

Thanks to everyone there (Julie especially for the special NY package), we had a great time. Let's do it again in a few years when Adam is bigger.

Playing in the leaves.

Adam can understand and say many things now, one of his favorite things to do is to get behind someone on the couch. If that person is blocking his way, well he says "beep beep".

He must have gotten a call on my iPhone because he picked up and said, "Nick, Dada, Mommy, Grandma, Bye bye" and then gave me the phone back.

Nick is a crack up, he was singing the days of the week song and got a couple days mixed up and he just started laughing. A second run through ended with a double Thursday and more laughing.

So easy to love.

The boys went to the zoo and hole in the rock. This time we went to the little kids areas and played for a while before hitting the solar slide and the carousel. They were quite the handful today. We even saw a couple Koala bears, though they were tucked into a tree and looked more like cuddly teddy bears but we knew better. After a lunch with some bees we went over to hole in the rock. I think this was Adam's first trip and it was mostly fun. Nick wasn't able to go roaming around as I had to hang on to Adam so he was a little bummed but made the best of it by climbing around on the back side of the rock. Adam liked it but had some balance issue and go a nice knock on his noggin after a fall.

Adam and his cow

Oh yes that other thing today, Halloween. We went to an early party at Jen's friends house, thanks for the chili Theresa and did a quick haul in their neighborhood. Then back home to pass out our candy and hit our neighbors up for some good stuff. We didn't stay out to late as Nick was itching to get some Skittles and Adam was mostly ready to be done too. A good time was had by all (until Mom accidentally bonked Nick in the face with the candy jar).

Ironmand and Tigger.

No, not Halloween (yet anyway). Today was the day Nick got a hair cut. Normally it is off to Snip Its and a few bucks later Nick is cleaned up and looking good. This one was different as Nick decided it was time for a Buzz cut. He wouldn't be dissuaded and so I did the job at home in the kitchen. Lots of hair later he still looks good, good genes I suppose.

Before

Nick and Dad went on a vacation last week. Up to Minnesota we went to eat some pizza, play at Nickelodian land, visit family and eat more pizza. We did a great job and had a great time. First we visited Nick land and played all day, Nick liked the bumper cars the most. Crashing into someone on purpose and not getting in trouble, priceless. Another cool thing at Mall of America was the butterfly enclosure. A bunch of butterflies hanging out, after some tense moments we picked up a couple and had some fun. After that we went up to visit Casey and eat some pizza, both of which were fun. We got to celebrate Caylee's 3rd bday and all the balloons. Dad is tired of blowing up balloons.... After that we drove up to Hibbing, MN (yes, that is far from anything) and hung out with my Dad's side of the family. We had a great time and enjoyed visiting with everyone up there. We specifically enjoyed the merry go round (Nick fell off once, don't tell Mom).

After a long drive back to the cities we went to Como Zoo where Nick did not want to see any animals, not even the Polar Bears! He did however want to pose for a picture in the flowers because Mom likes flowers. Finally we found a kids area and he really liked discovering the life of water. A couple of Carbone's and a visit with Bill and family later we got to enjoy Nickelodian land again.

All in all a great trip. Everyone wanted us to stay longer and we would like to next time but it was only a short trip. First day back in the real world went okay for everyone as Nick went back to his normal class, Adam got to play in the rain and Mom and Dad worked the day away.

Bumper cars

Nick flower

Nick started his "camp" during the school intersession today. The camp is at a local High School with absolutely no indication of where to go. I used the kids playground as a base and just started looking. After a bit of stage fright Nick started playing and was good to go after 10 minutes.

Adam however chose this drop off to have a problem. Even though they go to different schools Adam was crying for Nick (Nick, Nick, Nick, Nick, ...) the whole way to school. A rough drop off and heres hoping Adam does better tomorrow.

Adam and Nick

We had a busy weekend of fun. As it was (extremely) hot we either hit the outdoors early or were inside (with the exception of a water pad visit). We went to the park, jump and shout, water pad, mall playground, Costco for smoothies, shoe shopping, San Tan mall playground and some ice cream. Everyone was good and worn out by tonight!

Jump and Shout and bubbles (boys are in red).

Mostly I would like our boys to stay out of Jail, or any other type of involuntary seclusion. But that does not extend to us, and as of now (and for the foreseeable future) Adam is in his own private jail cell. I don't think he loves it at the moment but he is a bit to young to be on his own at night.

Our intrepid adventurer and his cell.

Needless to say the night last night did not go well, sleeping on the floor was not in Adam's gameplan. So today we went and played our trump card, JEN. She found that you could get a "tent" for the crib and at 10:30pm Adam went down for the night in his indoor tent, unable to escape his newly reinforced crib. Mom and Dad rejoiced.

Around this time a month ago our friend Sarah in NH was getting ready to get married and borrowed Jen for a week. Everything went great and Ms. Sarah is now a Mrs. so congrats to that. Jen enjoyed her time in the cool weather while we roasted. The most important part of the trip was bringing back some good beer from NH for Dad. A day at home and then Jen went to Detroit for work, again the best part was bringing back some Bell's Expedition Stout.

After that, well, not a lot happened for a while. Then the most important weekend in 4 years happened. Grandma and Grandpa watched the boys for Labor day weekend and we went to Vegas! Mad props to my folks for that, we didn't even leave them with a car capable of carrying the kids (the van's ac litterally broke on the way to bring the kids home for them to watch). It was the first weekend away since Nick was born!

While we were in Vegas we found out that my bro had a tumor in his brain so that was a lot of a bit of bummer. He has since gone through surgery which they removed the tumor (through his nose!) and doing good. Not out of ICU yet but still doing well for the situation.

So sorry for the lack of updates, sometimes it happens. Nick and Dad are going to MN in the middle of October. We are sure to have Carbone's and see Nickelodian land and hopefully some family (in that order, sorry). I will upload some pictures tomorrow as well.

Boys can be tough but they are pretty fun. They play, they fight, they scream, they play.

Nick is doing really well, he enjoys his new school and is making friends. Nick is a good listener and his teachers love him. He loves Friday because if he does a good job all week I take them to get donuts for breakfast. He likes to play with Adam but it is still a bit of a struggle as Adam isn't quite able to do what Nick desires (mad kids ensue). Sometimes we bring him with us to pick up Adam at daycare and he hardly gets to play with all the teachers there trying to hug and talk to him. He is a good sport though.

Adam is doing great, definitely on one of the learning up ticks. He says a lot of words now and says them well. He knows how to say and point to things on his face like eyes, nose, etc. He says please and thank you, and amazing enough when the proper time to say them, without us reminding him (sometimes...). The best one though is that he just learned to give kisses. He as been hugging on request for a while, giving a hug when I say "I love you" and he says "I love you" as well. But a couple of days ago I told him I loved him and he laid a big wet kiss on my cheek, good stuff. Adam's favorite thing right now is Kai-Lan and doing anything his big brother does.

Monkey Nick

To cute not to share. Here we have young Adam doing some eye flirting with a couple girls at the next table. He was really turning on the charm.

Adam distracted during dinner.

We had dinner at Texas Roadhouse tonight and there was a balloon guy. Nick asked for a silly hat and this is what he got. Pretty cool if you ask me. Adam got the same but blue, well that didn't last too long so only Nick got pictured.

Silly hat.

We drop the kids off at school and they go wandering around in some lush vegetation with nice stone work, kids... They even changed their cloths to some preppy stuff!

We celebrated Nick's birthday a little early this year so we could have it at the bounce jungle. About his most favorite place to be, in AZ anyway. Thanks to all the friends and family who came, it was great fun and Nick really enjoyed it.

Happy Birthday to Nick.

Adam really enjoyed the bouncing too.

We haven't gotten much rain over here in Chandler this monsoon. Today was a decent one and the boys played in it for a while. They both had fun and got plenty wet. Here they are both standing under a water drain from the balcony.

Playing in the rain.

This Monday Nick started his new preschool (at a regular school, not Bright Horizons). He really likes it so far and the teachers both say that he is very smart. He is the youngest in the class (you have to be 4 by Aug 31 to be in the class) but they think he is going to be just fine.

Nick has been great through the whole change. Today he asked me what day it was and I said Wednesday. Well Wednesday is water play day at BH and he knew it. But he played it cool and said "My old school has water play today, when do I do water play at my new school?" I said big kid schools don't do water play, and he was cool with that.

First day of preschool

Nick is moving from Bright Horizons to a preschool program at a Chandler school. We had a meet the teacher and she seems really good. His last day at BH was Friday, they had a party for him and Ms. Sarah. He will be missed at BH but we will bring him there for drop ins and such (Adam is still there). Thanks to everyone at Bright Horizons, they did great with Nick and there was plenty of love to go around.

Nick at his new school (playground).

We had a good weekend, hot as it was. A visit by grandma was fun for the boys and we got out of the house just enough to keep from going stir crazy. Here are some family pictures as we are (as of this weekend anyway).

A brutal summer requires drastic measures. Adam does not enjoy haircuts and he needed one. So I took the matter into my own hands.

Before the cut.

Cute picture.

Nick was cool with the cow but Adam most definitely did not enjoy the first encounter. Inching closer to Dad and looking to be held. By the time of this picture though Adam was saying hi.

Kids definitely grow and learn at an interesting clip. Adam is no different and has really started talking and communicating. My current favorite (being summertime) is when we get in the car after daycare he says (repeatedly), "Hot." He walks really well and has mostly outgrown the walk and fall stage.

He is doing really well at daycare (other then drop offs that is). He loves waterplay and making things. His most favorite thing right now, being able to put on his own shoes (Lightening crocs).

Height: 34.5" (95%)

Weight: 28.6lbs (75-90%)

Head: 52cm (>97%)

He slimmed down a little but his head and height kept moving right along. He is doing good, less hitting, more laughing and playing, more talking (gotta get his Little Einsteins sing-a-long on video), and yes more tantrums. As a parent (with 2 kids) I find it not so problematic but it is still a sight to see. He will wander for a few seconds, looking for a soft spot I think, and then to the ground he goes. He gets over it pretty quick (usually) and then cheers up fast. Still a Daddy's boy but who can blame him. We love him dearly.

So my least favorite part of brewing is bottle day, to much planning and organization required. At the end of the day you do end up with the final product so I am happy about that. Today is the first day in 9 months that the house isn't actively making beer (not counting bottle conditioning of course). All this and not able to lift my left are or carry any weight on it is pretty good. A clone of the Stone 12th Anniversary beer, Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout.

Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout Clone.

We have some bubble lovers and a new bubble maker, a good match actually. It was a bit hot so the fun didn't last too long but we did have a lot of bubbles.

Our new bubble maker.

On Saturday we went to Udder Delights (think Baskin Robins but really fresh). It was an outing for Nick's daycare class so we got to visit with his friends, make some Ice cream, tour the kitchen (and get cold in their walk in fridge. Nick had a great time, Adam and Dad were ready to leave to watch the soccer game. Other then a trip to Costco and a dip in the pool we were house bound.

On Sunday we went to Bounce Jungle as I suprised Nick. I said we were going to the Mall to their playground and when I pulled in front of Bounce Jungle Nick was like, "I don't want to go to the Mall, maybe tomorrow. Let's go to my party (he had his party there last year." Everyone had fun but Dad jacked up his shoulder (and Aleve still hasn't made it go away yet). Some Red Brick Pizza and Nick was out (6:30pm for those counting) for the evening. Adam did good the whole day.

And now we wait for tomorrow and swim class and 112F (again)!

Thank goodness for remote start, I can cool the car down by starting the car from my cube, Nice.

Toy Story 3 turned out to be a mixed bag, a decent movie but a scary end that Nick DID NOT like tainted his opinion. Mom and a donut improved his mood and, well, we are up to date. Swimming is imminent as is his brother waking up...

Till next time.

Today was a long (but great) day. It started out early as Mom is in SD for her race, Nick woke up (barely) at 6am so I had to go sleep with him for a few hours. We then got ready for skating which Nick did great (Adam did too btw). Not a lot of great pictures as I was rooting him on and trying to keep Adam from going nuts. After that we had a swim in the pool and then off to the Diamondbacks (they won, that is like a record or something). 9:10 and the boys were worn out, good day. Thanks to Bev for babysitting LB2 during the Dbacks game.

Our Steve Nash in Skates.