Memorial Day Weekend 2011

Wow, we had a fantastic weekend!  We headed to Austin on Friday afternoon for the long weekend.  We stayed with Ahma and Bapa and saw many friends (Snyders, Petteys and Kirks) and family over the weekend.

Will LOVED Ahma and Bapa's house.  Seriously, it is a kid heaven.  He loved it so much he woke up early (5:30am!) and would come in our room, wake us up and tell us he was ready to go downstairs and play.  Luckily Chad was able to get him to go back to sleep when this happened every morning. At our house, Will stays in his bed and calls for us, however, Ahma and Bapa have the lever down handles and Will quickly realized he could open them.  Ahma and Bapa have a basement that rivals Toys R Us, so I can't blame Will for his excitement to go downstairs and play.  His favorite was this fire station.

Pushing his boppies in the Tonka truck

Playing with Pirate Island

Pool time

Making pudding with Guerin and Ahma

Guerin the taste tester

Baby Katie

Guerin loves his cousin!

More Katie Boo

We met the Snyder 5 for lunch.  Kjell and his corn dog

Finn

Amelie

Swimming with Dad in Lovey and Granddad's pool

Holding onto Dad before going under water!

Submerged!

This boy loves the water!

With Aunt Leen

Then we met up with Liz and her daughter Dylan and the Petteys for a play date at Waterloo Ice House.  Will and Dylan checking out baby Katie

Dylan!

Liz and Dylan

Will celebrating his odds with the girls - GG, Emmy and Dylan

GG and Emmy

Dylan kisses Katie goodbye

We had a fabulous trip!  The ride back to Dallas was uneventful as both kids slept for 2 of the 3 hours.  They were both exhausted from such a great weekend!  When we got home, Will rolled our wheely luggage around the house and would say "I go on a trip to Ahma's house.  Bye!"  He is eager to go back soon!

Packing for Austin

Cookies!

 Today was a rainy day, so Will and Katie were home all day with Loli instead of spending the day at the park.  These days are a little harder because Will typically wants me to come play with them when I really should be working.  So, in order to keep him entertained, he and Loli did a lot of things in the kitchen.  They made watermelon juice (which is delicious!) and then made cookies.  Both were a huge hit.

Will made Star Wars cookies (yoda, darth and jengo fett) as well as W and K cookies.  He used cookie cutters and then he watched them bake.  Every time he would look at them in the oven he would yell "They're ready!" 

Once they were done, he really enjoyed decorating them with red icing and sprinkles.  He made his dad a red Darth Vader with dinosaur sprinkles that is waiting for him when he comes home!

Preparing a Darth Vader cookie for Dad

the Darth Vader treat for Dad

Taste Testing

Looking for the K cookie cutter for Katie

Sentences and Random Stories

Will is talking in sentences.  I started noticing it more and more recently.  He said "I can't reach the balloon!" and "I am going to measure something" (he loves the measuring tape) and "I'll move my ladder closer".  For a while, he has said things like "I fix it", etc but his sentences now are different and more complex.  It is so adorable to hear these things come out of his mouth.

Will also likes to act like he is going to the store or to Home Depot.  At the store, he usually buys balloons and/or candy and he buys screwdrivers or hammers at Home Depot.  He usually runs in the other room and then runs back letting us know he is back from the store and what he bought.  Today he went to the store, and when he ran back I asked my usual question of what he got at ths store.  His response was "another Katie!"  I asked him if he wanted to have 2 Katies or 2 sisters, and he said "yes!"  So sweet.

Today he was walking around holding a strainer in the air and saying "I'm catching baby monarch butterflies!  I got one!"  It's not as crazy as it sounds since there is a Diego about monarch butterflies, but still.  I love watching him use his imagination.

We sing Happy Birthday a lot.  Everything and everyone has a birthday and everything and everyone is 2 years old.  Me, his blankies (boppies), Armando's hippo, Darth Vader.  We are all the same.  We all get an imaginery candle that he will blow out for you towards the end of the song.  He will then immediately select who we need to sing the song to next.

Babysitting

 Will's best friend Armando is traveling to Kazakhstan and Italy for the summer.  You know, your typical summer vacations.  His mom is from Kazakhstan and his dad is from Sicily, so they spend the summer visiting family.  He will be gone for 3 months, so Will is babysitting his hippo and snake. 

The hippo is on a Nilla Wafter (known as Loli's cookies), Flavor Ice and Spiderman Fruit Snack diet, and the snake is only eating fruit snacks.  We feed them everyday and talk about Armando.  Will knows that Armando is on a trip and that he rode an airplane.  Sometimes when we see an airplane, he will point to the plane and say "Armando's plane!  I see him!" 

Can I bottle him up and keep him just like this???

All Smiles

Check out Katie!  She is just the happiest, most content little baby ever.  I know every mom thinks their baby is the cutest thing ever, and I am no exception.  I just can't get enough of her!

Little Pickpocket

Bathtime

 Last night both kiddos needed a bath, so I asked Will if he wanted to take a bath with Katie.  He was really excited and went to Katie's room and grabbed her tub and dragged it into his bathroom.  He enjoyed pouring water on her and soaping her up, but the highlight was clearly getting in her tub with her.