Update

The problem with not updating the blog soon enough after the weekend is that all the days run together, another work week starts and I forget all that we did. Let's see what I remember.

Friday night - I got nothing. I can not remember what we did. I'm certain that we hung out at home. Saturday was a lazy day - lazy in that neither Tim nor I felt like exercising so decided that we would run errands and hang out all day. Sunday we went on a bike ride at Umstead - I pulled Eli for 13 miles. Yes, 13 miles up and down all those hills! If I can keep that up, I'll be super biker chik in no time. Cole also got new shoes Sunday.

Sunday night wasn't that great. Cole was up late coughing and finally settled down around midnight after I made him a home cough medicine concoction. Then Eli was up at 1am throwing up. Tim got him settled and then Eli was up again at 3am doing the same thing. That time required a total bed change. By the time Monday morning came around, we were exhausted. Cole ended up being sent home from school at 9am with a fever so both boys were at home Monday. I had planned on taking Eli to the jobsite with me but he ended up staying home with Cole & Daddy. We survived Monday and got the boys to bed early. I even crawled in bed with Eli at 7:45pm and came downstairs at 10pm to really go to bed. Then Tim was up at 3am sick and then a few hours later again. UGH! Cole & Tim stayed home again today and, for now, everyone seems better. I sure hope so!!

Eli & Mommy - riding break

Snack time - my cute boys

They love when we stop and let them out to play.

Cole got upset about something and Eli was so precious trying to console him.

Eli loves riding. Pretty soon he will be on a trail-a-bike and have to help with the work.

Cole just wanted to be back in his trailer with snacks.

Cole loves coloring time at home and at school.

We had a little bit of time where the boys colored together at the table. It was wonderful.

Monday morning sick crew

My sweet boys

Eli - Silly Face 1

Silly Face 2

Silly Face 3 (such a ham for the camera)

GO PACK!

Our little Wolfpack boys ready for Sports Shirt day today at school.

a Tale of Two weekends

This past weekend, Tim took Eli to his parents' house and Cole & I stayed home and Grandma C came to visit. Both boys had a great weekend and got super spoiled with undivided attention. Here's our story:

Tim and Eli - the boys left out Friday evening and headed toward the coast. On Saturday, they all went to a local playground and had a lot of fun. Eli enjoyed climbing on the structures and running around. After nap, they went to Fort Macon and Eli got to run around on the beach and play in the tidal pool. I talked to them fairly early Saturday night and Eli was asking to go to bed (at like 7pm!!). Sunday, Eli took a trip to Walmart with Grandma & Grandpa N and got a new fish for the koi pond and also some new trucks to keep at their house to play with when we visit. Eli loved going out with Grandma & Grandpa alone. Tim hung out at their house and enjoyed the quiet time. And I'm told that Eli rode his bike some and really enjoyed hanging outside with Grandpa. They got home about 4pm Sunday and Eli was so happy to see me - as was I to see him. Tim doesn't take as many pictures as I do but here's what he brought home.

The Daddy-mobile with Tim and Eli's bikes on top.

At Fort Macon with Grandma & Grandpa.

I'm told that Eli had SO much fun playing in the water and running around.

Can't you tell by how soaked he is?!

Hanging with Buddha watching over the two fish that Eli has named Eli and Coleman.

Mommy & Cole - we had such a great weekend. Other than maternity leave, I've not really had any time alone with Cole so it was great to focus solely on him and not have wild man Eli fighting for attention. And Cole LOVED it! He loved playing with toys and not having them taken away. He loved having all my (and Grandma's) attention. He loved getting all the hugs and kisses and snuggles. And he just loved being with me. And I loved it. Friday night after Tim & Eli left, Cole & I took a long walk. He took a quick catnap on our walk and was ready to go when Grandma got here. We played for a bit and then it was bedtime. Saturday morning, I went for a quick swim and then we all went to the flea market. No luck finding anything there but Cole loved riding in the wagon and looking at all the people. When we got home, Grandma played with Cole while I cleaned and purged toys, clothes, anything I could find. Cole took a good nap as he was pooped from all the playing and attention. Sunday morning I went on a road bike ride while Grandma & Cole went on a walk. Cole's favorite things to do this weekend were blowing bubbles, climbing and sliding down the slide and swinging. He was happy to see Eli Sunday when he got home but I don't think he missed him very much because he had so much fun over the weekend.

Lots of bubble blowing this weekend.

Cole still goes to the sliding door and asks for bubbles - like every night now.

Cole kept trying to blow bubbles himself - he even did it a few times!

Climbing the slide with Grandma.

and then sliding down with her.

Cole cracks me up with his elephant. It vibrates when you push his nose and now Cole loves to put the ear in his mouth while it's vibrating. So funny!

happy swinging boy

Cole loved being the center of attention this weekend.

He got SO spoiled by Grandma. Gonna be tough to de-Grandma both boys.

Cole especially loved being able to push the big dump truck and Eli not take it away.

What a weekend....

Whew, what a fun filled weekend. And I've got the battle scars to show it! Here is the photo of my eye, 24 hours after my cheek bone had an unfortunate encounter with Eli's hard head. It was swollen last night and today the bruising started. Going to be fun explaining this one to the folks at work!

Tim & I both agree that this was the single best weekend we've had as a family since Cole was born. Truth be told, we're usually super ready for Monday morning and getting a little break from the kids but this weekend, even with the little episodes here and there, exemplified how we want our family life to be. We were together, we were active and we were happy.

Today I took a camera break just to live in the moment and do things. This morning we loaded up and headed back to Umstead with the bike trailers. We did a total of 12 miles - I pulled Cole for the first 6 and then pulled Eli 6 miles back (he asked me to pull him when we took a break at the turn around point). I can't believe I did that! It was a great bike ride and the kids did very well. We're looking forward to many rides this fall and Eli will soon be on a tag-along, having to do some work not just hanging out in the trailer! After our ride, we treated ourselves to Chick-Fil-A, including ice cream. Oh that was such a treat!! During naps, Tim & I were able to get some chores done and then we did a family grocery run. Such a wonderful day. Now it's quiet and time for us to think about the week ahead. But maybe we'll take a break first and deal with reality in the morning!

Today's adventures brought to you by the letter H - Hiking, Hanging, Haircut

Hiking

Early this morning, we took advantage of the cool weather, donned long sleeve shirts and headed to Umstead for a hike. Eli was thrilled to use his new CamelBak and our trekking poles. Cole loves being carried in the backpacker so he was happy to go as well. It's always a fun time when you can play in the woods. We hiked Pott's Branch Trail and Eli did the entire 1.25 mile trail on his own two feet. Towards the end, he said his legs were getting tired and we imagine they were. With all the side attractions and back and forth he did, Eli probably did an extra 1/4 mile or so.

Ready to go Mom!!

Drinking water out of his CamelBak. I didn't explain how to use it and he ended up chewing a hole in the bite valve.

Pott's Branch, here we come!

My boys

Best attempt at a family self portrait - looks like Eli was embarrassed, won't be the first time I'm sure.

Fun on the rocks in the creek

Cookie break

Hanging

After hiking, we all went to Ryan's house for a play date. The boys had a great time on bikes, scooters, with sidewalk chalk, playing ball outside and then inside for puzzles and games. When we got home, neither Eli nor Cole wanted lunch and Eli announced that he was tired and wanted to take a nap. They both took naps with no fuss whatsoever. Eli has been doing more of that lately - acknowledging when he's tired and ready for a nap or bed.

Cute boys on their scooters.

Eli did pretty well on Ryan's 3-wheel scooter.

Playing soccer - Ryan was serious about being goalie and keeping the ball out of his net.

So serious in fact that he got really mad when Eli ran away with the net.

Hair Cut

Cole's 1st hair cut!! We took him to Snip-Its this afternoon to get his first haircut. He wasn't too thrilled with the whole thing but did pretty good. He has now graduated from Baby Cole to Toddler Cole. Of course, I kept some of his precious little curls.

Hey lady, what are you doing? Watch those scissors.

Mom, I really don't like this.

Look how big!

(more) Hanging

When we got home from Cole's hair cut, we hung out outside with our neighbors. Eli had fun chasing Henry around and watching the big boys play basketball. Cole explored and wanted to be part of it too. It was all fun and games until Mommy got hurt. I was talking to Amy with my head turned and didn't see Eli run towards me full on. When I started to turn my head, he hit my right cheek bone at full speed with his big ole noggin'. It almost instantly started swelling and will no doubt leave me with a nice black eye, or black something on my face, tomorrow. Motherhood is a very dangerous job!

Cole's 1st Umstead ride and some pool fun

Oh my, what a busy day!! This morning we packed up the truck early and headed to the Art Museum to ride into Umstead on our mountain bikes. Tim pulled Eli in one trailer and I pulled Cole in the other. I was quite nervous how I'd do pulling Cole since I'm not a super rider these days and pulling a 26+ pound child and a 20+ pound trailer going up hills, well you get the idea. The 2 miles from the Art Museum to Umstead is pretty much all downhill so that was fun and Cole loved it so much he fell asleep for an early morning catnap. We rode through Umstead to the top of Graveyard Hill (multiple climbs in there) and then let the kids get out, run around and have a snack. Then we wrestled them back in and got back on our bikes for the ride back. All in all, we did slightly over 10 miles and it was fun! I was surprised that I enjoyed the ride. If we can get Cole used to the trailer, we'll have many more family rides this fall.

After naps, we headed to the pool for some water fun. Not too many more weekends (3 counting this one I think) of the pool being open so we made sure to go at least once this weekend. The boys had fun playing and splashing. Eli is turning into quite the kiddie pool daredevil.

We successfully wore them (and ourselves!) out for the day. We had a lot of fun in the process. One of my favorite memories of the day is driving back from our bike ride, music turned up and everyone happy and bobbing / dancing around. I told Tim that THAT is how life should be. We're going to see if we can make that happen more often!

Mommy & Cole - self portrait before the ride

Tim pulling Eli along the pasture down to Umstead.

Eli loves riding.

And this is what Cole thought of his first ride in Umstead.

Snack time! Makes everyone happy. =)

Our set up - we're quite the sight coming down the trail.

Mommy not looking as fresh as before, have been working hard

Hanging in Daddy's truck post-ride.

Splish splash

Cole spent most of his pool time trying to drink out of the measuring cups.

Eli spent his time running and splashing

and teaching himself how to do cannonballs

for a HUGE splash.

Having fun

Cole loves being pushed in his walker and Eli loves to push him. Works out perfect! Well, when Eli doesn't dump him out.

This picture cracks me up. Cole had a faux-hawk from school and it looks like he's going "You talkin' to me?!".

Eli's 3 year check up

This morning I took Eli for his 3 year check. They did stuff we've done before - height and weight - but also some new things. It was the first time Eli had ever had his blood pressure taken. The nurse told him that the cuff was going to give his arm a hug. So cute! They pricked his finger to run bloodwork and had him look at a card to identify hidden pictures. He did great but really didn't like having his finger pricked and really hated the bandaid she put on after. The doctor checked him out and said he looked great and he is a sharp little guy. She had him draw a little for her and talked to him about some different things. Eli was mad at me for a bit because he got two shots (make ups from the vaccine shortage last year that I had no idea he was getting) and the flu mist in his nose. He did great and within minutes he was over it. It was funny that when I dropped him off at school, the first thing he did was show his buddy Evan his bandaid and told him he got shots. Now for the stats......you will not believe them:

Height: 42-1/2" (He is like 107th percentile or something. Seriously he was WAY over the 95th percentile curve.)
Weight: 40.5 pounds (Again 95th percentile)
Blood pressure: 80/50 (apparently normal for his age. LOW for us, but normal for kids)

Now we are faced with the height / weight issue with his car seat. The one in my car will accomondate him with the 5-point harness until 65 pounds but Tim's is only rated to 40 pounds. Look like we get to practice him with the seat belt. That will be so much fun, keeping him from unbuckling. Hopefully he will think it's cool to use and not bother the buckle. We'll see.