A parade-free Memorial Day weekend

We had a full weekend - lots of relaxing and lots of fun time with family and friends.
Aunt Natalie & Honeyballs came in for a visit.

 Honeyballs loved being outside - and the kids loved finding him under bushes.

 Beach Time! I absolutely love Natalie's hat. Expect to find me in one of those next time you see me at a beach. (Does the bikini body come with the hat? That would be awe-some!)

We had fun at Grandma's house. Justin took good care of this baby doll for a bit...first time we've seen him role play with anything taking care of it. He did a good job too - carried, cradled and kissed the baby! And Colin keeps talking about wanting a baby sister....perhaps the boys know something we don't. =)

 The sun was out in full force, so we put my hat on Justin. He kept it on for about 3 minutes.

And a couple rare things happened on this trip to Grandma's: Colin played basketball & Justin ate a fresh pear. Colin just recently started showing more interest in sports - must be the nice weather! And I never ever, ever thought I would have a child that didn't eat fresh veggies and fruits. With the amount we have in our house, how could you not eat them? Well, Justin is slowly changing - after months of mostly dried fruits, today he finally ate a fresh pear. We are so proud. Magic happens when you're at Grandma's house! (And Grandma taught Justin "please" today. He says "peas," but you get the point.)

And lastly, we said good-bye to our good friends Mel & Drew. They are moving back to beautiful Washington. We will miss them dearly and can't wait for our first family trip to visit them in the Northwest!

Garage Sale + Weekend Outings

We had our 1st garage sale this weekend! The weather cooperated and we had a decent turnout.
Jack filled our living room with our garage sale goodies. Here's what I came home to on Friday night.

 I spent all night organizing everything and we set up early on Saturday morning. "Don't sell our toys!" haha. Actually, it was more of a "pick me up and carry me" kind of cry.

We knew we had to have a plan for Colin early on, so we started prepping him a week before - "We're selling our toys so we can save money for Polar Express train tickets." With the exception of a ukelele and an eeyore, it worked out great! It always feels good to outsmart your kids! haha.

 This cap stayed on long enough for me to snap 1 picture. Justin was chasing his shadow for a good 15 minutes.

 After the garage sale, we headed to Grandma's for a bbq. Justin went shirtless after spilling milk all over himself. A grandma cookie made him feel all better.

 Cousin Ana chillin' out with Uncle Matt.

 Colin spent most of the afternoon on Grandma's tractor.

Sunday morning we had day #2 of the garage sale. It was slower, but still a successful morning of selling. It's amazing how much kid-stuff we've collected over the last 3.5 years. Any guesses on how much we made? Most of the big baby items sold, but we still have 5 big bins of clothes. Drumroll....we made $500. And Colin's first question, "Is that enough for train tickets?"

After the garage sale, we headed out to the Cleveland Asian Festival - tons of food booths, kids' games, performances, arts/selling booths. Colin shoveled bubbles into his mouth after sucking down the tea part.

 We took a trolley ride around Cleveland and visited all of the Asian plazas - yes, there are several Asian plazas in Cleveland!

Artists designed these rabbits and they are placed all over the Asian areas of downtown in honor of Year of the Rabbit. This one was Colin's favorite.

 There was a cool Home Depot booth where kids could build their own project. Colin loved hammering away.

Justin and I waited patiently for Colin & Jack to finish their project. Justin gives me this face 90% of the time when I pull out my camera.

And later, Colin had a chance to take a picture with a police officer. Justin ran away. I just hope it's not a glimpse into their future - Colin as the law-abiding citizen and Justin as the one running away from them?

 Overall, it was a great festival, and we'll be back next year.

We got home and spent time winding down before bedtime. Justin finally started eating watermelon. We don't know what happened to him, but he usually rejects any fresh fruit or vegetable. Jack shoved a watermelon into his mouth and to Justin's surprise, he liked it. So, perhaps that will be our new parenting technique. Shove food into mouth.

It was a busy weekend, but we had fun. Made good use of the sunny weather, did some spring cleaning, and enjoyed good family time. Ready for a busy week of work and traveling.

Update on the boys

 Justin is almost 16 months old and is loving life!

 He loves lots of things and is pretty good at building towers. When this tower got too high for him, he took a block, walked to Colin and shook his head yes. So Colin stopped what he was doing and started building towers with Justin. Love it when they play together.

 And I just love this picture. Lisa was over for dinner and brought cake for dessert. Justin didn't eat dinner, so I told him he couldn't have cake. So he stared at Lisa's every bite with this face. Love him.

A Colin update: At 3.5 years old, there isn't much he can't do. He's been waking up early in the morning, so we told Colin that he could go downstairs first without us. One morning, he put out our breakfast for us (yogurt, cereal, milk). Very sweet. I turned around and on the kitchen counter, I saw a ripped open box, scissors and plastic bag pieces. I asked Colin if he ate any snacks, and he told me no. Long story short, he finally pulled this open bag of snacks from the back of the cabinet and admitted to eating 3 pieces. Keep in mind that he had to use the ladder to find the snacks, get down to find his scissors, come back and open the bag, and then he hid the snacks when I came down for breakfast. I think he has a bit of my mom's mischievousness left in him.

 

Zoo & Half Marathon Report

Off to the zoo again - but this time we met up with Tara and Layla (sorry no pics)! But we caught one of Colin feeding the parakeets.

And the train ride. I think this picture accurately captures my boys...
Colin: "I LOVE the train!! And if we get to sit in the back row, it's even better!!"
Jack: "Another picture, Jamie?"
Justin: "We're at the zoo, again?"

Cleveland Half Marathon report: Jack ran it and did AMAZING! Ran it at a 8:12 pace...we're so proud of him!! And I didn't run because I have tendinitis in my foot..I'm all sorts of grumpy because I can't run for awhile.

Mother's Day weekend

We had perfect weather to celebrate Mother's Day! We started off with a zoo visit...me, Evan, Justin & Colin waving at the zoo train.

 Justin and Drew in their matching sit n' stand strollers. =)

 Colin & Evan

The elephants and giraffes were favorites!

Then all the cousins came over for Mother's day lunch and we enjoyed good family fun. Running laps around the house and Colin's worm collection were the favorite activities for the afternoon.

 Brooke & Colin made "worm pie" with his collection.

 Justin could care less about the worms and just wanted bubbles.

When the festivities were over, Colin did not want Aunt Natalie to leave. He threw a fit and didn't let go of her leg. About 30 minutes later, he finally calmed down with a cartoon and a snack.

  Happy Mother's Day everyone! (Colin @ 3.5 yr and Justin @ 15 mo)

 

Bachan to the Rescue!

Jack worked 4 twelve hour shifts this week (3pm-3am).  Luckily, we were able to anticipate this craziness, so I asked my mom to come in and help me with the kiddos. And, oh, how she rescued us from a week of frozen food and tv-time!

We had lots of fun family time relaxing together and enjoying lots of outings for a 5 day trip! Outings: bike riding, the children's museum,  zoo (we even got a sneak peek of the baby elephants and Willie the new male elephant!!!), dim sum, more eating out, family time, Natural History Museum & 2 jack/jamie dates!

Bachan + boys at the zoo

 She bought them the coolest fishing game. Justin could play too!

Bachan + Justin at the Natural History Museum.

 Can't see their faces, but I love this picture of the boys. They are looking at the raccoons at the Natural History Museum.

 Bachan taught Justin so much on her visit. She's so great with the boys - and Justin points to his nose and ears. And he says "ba" for bachan, bird, book and ball - haha - you can usually guess which it is. And if you ask Justin, "where did it go?" he'll respond with this...

  Bachan's early Mother's Day dinner.

Bachan played Zingo, golfing, fishing and concentration, made special chocolate treats, read books, taught Justin so many new things and played toddler games with Colin for the entire trip. She cooked and cleaned. Cured my homesickness. Gave us the energy boost we needed. Thank you for coming to visit us! We love you.