V is for Visitors

My parents were in town this weekend, so the kids got a good dose of Grandma and Grandpa King. They picked both boys up from daycare on Friday afternoon, which is a special treat for Lincoln. He looked forward to it all week.

Friday night, we braved the adventure of restaurant dining and ate at Mama's on 39th street with Mom, Dad, Tracy, and Joni. It's a great diner that's mostly kid friendly and has pages of omelets to choose from (amongst other things).

My parents left for home on Saturday afternoon, and the kids were ready for dinner and bed. As you can see from the picture, Guy melded dinner and bed into one event - is that "binner"? He was beat after a lot of running around (literally) and battling with two new front teeth - that makes 8 teeth in total.

Walker, Baby Ranger

For the last few weeks, Guy has been able to take 1-2 steps on his own. This week he started walking in earnest, at times going all the way across the living room. In this video he's showing off his new skill, although he's moving much slower than he normally does. We started taping this after he'd been chasing Lincoln around all evening, so by the time we recorded this he was pretty tired.

Picture Time Again

We had our fall family portraits done with Stacey Schmitz a couple of weeks ago. As usual they turned out great. He took some great photos of the whole family, but I really like these photos of Guy and Lincoln together.

Trick or Treat!

This weekend, Guy celebrated his first halloween. Luckily, he recovered just in time to enjoy the fun after being sick Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday (lucky for Mom and Dad too). As you can see from the pictures, Guy loved playing in the leaves. For all of you that remember this post from November 2006, Guy certainly enjoys the leaves more than Lincoln did.

Since this was the first halloween that Lincoln was really into trick-or-treating, we did some extra walking and visited most of the houses in the neighborhood (at least our little piece of it), and Lincoln has the treats to prove it.

Story-time

We read stories to Lincoln every night before bed, and when he finds a book he likes we end up reading it over and over (and over and over) again. I had no idea how much sank in until he decided to read some books to us tonight. Scott captured a bit of his storytelling on film - this is actually the third book he read to us (and the least memorized). Extra credit to anyone that can name the book he's reading.



There was a snippet of Guy in that last video, but in case that wasn't enough for your daily Guy fix we have some video of him playing with Lincoln's pull-toy. Guy has had a fever off and on since Wednesday (so apparently the daycare wasn't just imagining it...) so I was home with him today. He seemed a little better this evening, and we're hoping he be recuperated by Trick-or-Treating tomorrow. (Double bonus points if you can name the story Lincoln's reading in this video)

Flu season?

Considering both kids are in school/daycare and Linda and I work, we feel very lucky not to have been sick yet this year. That being said, I had to pick Guy up from daycare today - he had a (very slight) fever of 100.1 F. We think his daycare is a bit paranoid about their kids and the flu, which isn't such a bad thing, but it stinks when it's your kid who gets sent home.

Anyway, Guy was acting fairly normal this afternoon, so we'll see what tonight and tomorrow bring. We think he's teething again because he's been chomping on everything in sight for the last few days. We'll keep you posted.

26.2

This weekend, Tracy and I ran the Kansas City Marathon. We both finished the full 26.2 miles and beat our goal times. It was one of the most difficult and fulfilling things that I have ever done. Our entire family was there to cheer us on, and the way the course is setup, they got to see us run by a couple of times.

One Cold Festival

The Shawnee Indian Mission is right next door to Lincoln's school. Each year they put out signs about their fall festival, but we've never actually gone to it. On Saturday afternoon we had some (rare) free time so we decided to check it out (it's free!). Unfortunately for us, though, the high temperature on Saturday was around 40 degrees.

The festival was a lot of fun, but it would have been even more fun if it wasn't so cold. Lincoln won a cupcake at the cupcake walk, and there were historic re-enactors (and tipis) as well as crafts to make or purchase. The boy scouts also had an obstacle course that will be fun for the boys when they get older.

As you can see in the photos, Guy slept for pretty much the entire trip. As for us, the highlight of the festival was the hot apple cider (yum!).

50%

Last Monday I took Guy in for his 9-month appointment. He is almost 19 pounds, which puts him in the 50th percentile for weight, and his 28 inches is the 75th percentile. Guy seems huge next to Lincoln (and weighs almost the same), so it is actually surprising to me that he is *only* in the 50th percentile. At the rate he is going, we're predicting that Guy will outweigh Linc by his first birthday.

Guy didn't have any shots scheduled, but I took advantage of the appointment to get him a flu vaccine. He took it like a trooper (didn't even cry!) and so far doesn't seem to have had any reaction. Since this is his first flu shot he only got 1/2 a dose, and we have to take him back for the second half. Scott and I will be getting the flu shot at our workplaces, and we should be able to get one for Lincoln at his school or our county health department. Now we just have to see if we'll be able to get the H1N1 vaccine...

Here's a few shots from this morning of Guy getting some exercise with his walker. He does great pushing this toy around, but he's not so great at steering. He usually ends up stuck up against a wall until we turn him around.

At the park

Last Friday, we got to spend the evening with Everett. Lincoln and Everett have finally gotten to ages where then can play together and actually have fun. We took advantage of the nice Fall weather to go to the park where Lincoln and Everett got to practice balancing and have good time chasing each other.

Summer League flashback

This is another flashback post. We haven't gotten too many new pictures recently, so we're relying on the "flashback" to keep things interesting

That being said, here's what we've been doing lately -- I've been running a lot getting ready for the KC Marathon, Linda has been knitting Christmas stockings, Lincoln is enjoying preschool, and Guy is getting teeth and practicing walking (and falling).

Now, back to the flashback. In August, Tracy and I wrapped up our ultimate frisbee summer league with the annual year-end tournament. Linda, the boys, and Joni also came out to watch. It was a sunny, fun day.

Tour of Missouri 2009 Recap

Last week was the 2009 Tour of Missouri. My parents were in town, and we spent the weekend riding our bikes, talking about bikes, and watching people ride bikes. It was a great weekend.

The 2010 Tour of Missouri is potentially on the State's budget chopping block. There are many sites/blogs out there dedicated to saving the Tour of Missouri. Check out the sites out and write a letter of support to the Governor of Missouri, if you'd like.

Here are some pictures from the time trial in Sedalia, MO on Friday.

Dave Zabriskie - Tour of Missouri 2009 winner

Levi Leipheimer

George Hincapie

Dance Party

Scott and I never really went to any wild parties in our younger days, so it's somewhat of a surprise that evenings at our house have turned into a crazy dance scene. These videos show some of the shenanigans that go on - the first one shows Guy's new dance moves, including the infamous "head dance". The second one shows Lincoln playing a tune on his improvised "guitar" while a reveler does some damage in the background.

A day at the zoo

Last Sunday Tracy, Randy, and I got up early and rode the 2009 Tour of Missouri Stage 7 circuit in Kansas City. While we were out having fun, our families (i.e. wives) were back at home making us a great re-fueling breakfast of blueberry and chocolate chip pancakes.

After breakfast, we went to the zoo to enjoy the beautiful 75 degree day. We tried to get pictures of all the kids in one shot, but that proved to be quite difficult. Here's the best we could do.

Lincoln and Everett really liked these rocking chairs that overlooked the lake. Guy's sitting in the new "sit and stand" stroller we bought. It proved to be worth every penny as Lincoln hopped on and off throughout the zoo visit.

There's a little cave in the "Africa" part of the zoo, and the boys had a fun time running in and out of it and smiling for the camera through one of the cracks.

Of course, no blog post would be complete without a picture of Guy sleeping. He stayed awake for most of trip, but by the end he was ready to go home and continue his nap.

Let's go jogging

I've been at home this week with the boys while Linda was working in Florida. Yesterday evening, we were getting a bit stir crazy, so we collectively decided "when the going gets tough, the tough go jogging."

I packed the boys up in the jogging/bike stroller, and off we went. After a quick 2-mile jog (with a brief stop at the park), we all felt better and were ready for bed.

Getting an education

Lincoln starts preschool on Wednesday, so Grandma and Grandpa King helped us get an early start on his education this weekend.

We started off with an anatomy lesson, assisted with matching glow-in-the-dark skeleton pjs for Lincoln and Guy (courtesy of Grandma King). This photo was taken while Scott and I were out dinner to celebrate our anniversary - 8 years! Scott's parents and Tracy and Joni entertained the boys while we had a nice evening to ourselves.

Next, Lincoln learned about Tractors (and chickens, and cows, and tepees, and...) at Deanna Rose farmstead.   It was a beautiful, cool day - perfect weather for a morning outside.

Finally, Lincoln took a flying lesson from Grandpa King.  He had a lot of fun watching Grandma and Grandpa fly away in their plane.

Guy may be too young to fly the plane, but he's old enough to help Grandpa do his pre-flight check. Here he is inspecting the underside of the wing. It was an exciting weekend, and now we need a weekend to recover from our weekend!

A big announcement (...but not from us)!

In case you haven't heard, Tracy and Joni recently made a big announcement. I won't spoil it here, but you can read all about it on their new blog. (www.tracyandjoniking.blogspot.com)

Speed Racer

Our boys have proven this weekend that they're both shaping up to be good athletes.  Lincoln entered his first bike race (the kid's race in the annual Tour of Kansas City) and won a gold medal (technically, it's a gold participation medal).  He raced in the training-wheels division, and most of the kids were a lot bigger than him (and fast!).    Scott took some exciting video during the actual race.  I was cheering from the sidelines while Guy took a catnap.

 Guy's daycare was closed last Thursday and Friday, so Scott and I took turns staying home with him.  Also a budding athlete, Guy spent most of his days at home climbing on everything and anything available.  I walked out of the kitchen to this sight on Friday morning:  Guy had pulled himself up on the ottoman.  It won't be long before he's running races, too!

Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle

As anyone with a 7-month old knows, you use a lot of diapers.  To help do our part in reusing things, Guy is lucky enough to get a new "toy" every week or so.  Here's a picture of him playing in his old diaper box.  He just loves saving the environment.

Lincoln does his part to reduce his carbon emissions too by utilizing his new railroad truck. It's a lot of work, but it really saves on gas! (This is a display from the KC Rail Experience at Union Station, by the way, and it's really cool.).

To complete the environmental trifecta, my Mom "recycled" a bike for Lincoln by rescuing it from being unused in someone's garage. Lincoln loves it (he's been riding every night), and we're impressed how quickly he picked up peddling.

A weekend of firsts...

Last weekend we took a couple of vacation days and went back to Nebraska to spend some time with our parents.  We first stopped for a bit in Lincoln and hung out with Linda's parents.  Lincoln got to spend some time with Grandma at work with her daycare kids.

After that, we went to Loup City to visit my parents. This is where the firsts begin.  Guy had his first trip to the river - and he slept through most of it in Grandma's backpack.  Lincoln had fun playing in the sand and water (another first).

 

Next we went to the lake, and Lincoln had his first experience driving a boat.  Needless to say, we spent a lot of time going in circles.  My Dad had to take over before we all got sea sick.

We also went to my Uncle Mike's farm to see the tractors and animals.  Lincoln liked the cows, was scared of the combine, and loved riding on the 4-wheeler.  Guy also got a short turn on the 4-wheeler - under the close supervision of my Dad.

While at the farm, we got to dig potatoes (doesn't get much fresher than that).  Lincoln thought this was really cool and has been carrying around a little bag of potatoes ever since.  They even went to school with him today.

Lincoln also did his first training ride for the 2010 Tour de France (with a little help from my Dad). This was Lincoln's first ride on a real bike, so it was a big deal.

Guy is mobile...

Guy is not fully crawling yet, but he's awfully close. He's able to move quickly within a 5 foot radius. Lincoln is not really enjoying Guy getting into all his toys, but he needs to get used to it soon - Guy is speeding up every day.

One of the (few) ways that having two kids is easier than one is the fact that you have a built in entertainer for the youngest. Lincoln provides Guys with hours of entertainment, and Guy is more than happy to sit back and soak it in.

A trip to the KC Zoo...

Last weekend we took both of our big boys to the Kansas City zoo. It turned out to be a *very* hot day, but it was still a lot of fun. Lincoln got to see elephants and lions, and even got to "shush" some noisy birds.

 

Guy had a great time despite the heat. His stylish zoo cap (from our earlier trip to the Lincoln zoo) kept the sun off out of his eyes and protected his bald head. Always the stylish fellow, he chooses to wear his cap at a jaunty angle, and acts appropriately blase about having his photo taken.

Guy is 6 months!

It's hard to believe, but my baby is already 6 months old! Last Wednesday we took both the boys to the doctor (Lincoln had a 3-year checkup), and Guy weighed in at 17 pounds 6 ounces. That puts him in the 50th percentile for weight. For reference, Lincoln weighted 15 pounds at his 9-month appointment, and on Wednesday he weighed 24pounds.

Guy's really starting to do a lot of fun stuff.  He's  pushing up into "crawling" position, but not quite crawling. His daycare feeds him cereal at lunch, and we feed him cereal and baby food at dinner. So far, sweet potatoes and peas have gotten a "thumbs up" and pears get a "thumbs down". He adores Lincoln and laughs at whatever he does (which in turn has encourage Lincoln to be even more of a ham), and I think he'll crawl soon just so he can follow Lincoln around the house.  Lincoln, in turn, enjoys "decorating" guy.

Happy B-day, America!

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July holiday.  We had a very busy weekend that started with the Villagefest in Prairie Village.  After a breakfast of Chris Cakes (gotta love those pancake feeds!), we watched a Chinook helicopter land on the municipal lawn.  It was very impressive to watch, and about half the kids watching it started crying when it got close enough that you could feel the wind blasting from its rotors. 

After touring through the helicopter, both Lincoln and Guy got a balloon while we explored the rest of the festival.  There were lots of activities, including free pony rides.  Lincoln had a lot of fun on his very first "real" pony (although he's had a lot of practice on the mechanical horse at the grocery store).

Later that afternoon (after a loooong nap) we headed to Todd and Angela's (Scott's aunt and uncle) house.  Austyn was visiting from grand island, and she and Lincoln had fun playing and sharing a Rice Krispies treat.  Guy enjoyed hanging out on the lawn.

Todd and Angela had a badminton net set up, but I quickly learned that two 3-year-olds do not make good badminton partners.  All in all, though, it was a great holiday.  Maybe next year we'll actually get around to doing some fireworks!

The Big Boy Class

With Lincoln's birthday comes another big milestone - moving to the 3- and 4- year-old (aka "big boy") classroom at daycare. We've been talking about the big move for a couple of months, ever since the first of his friends left his 2-year-old room. He was very excited the move, but I have to admit that I get a little choked up thinking about my little baby is all "grown up". Scott snapped a picture of him on the first day:

Being in the older classroom also means that he gets to start going on field trips, and Lincoln got to go on one (to Wonderscope, a children't museum) the very first day in the new class. On field trip days all of the kids are required to wear their school t-shirt so that the teachers can easily find them. Scott and I quickly discovered that the youth extra-small (the smallest size available) was going to be too big for Lincoln, so I did a little t-shirt surgery so that he wouldn't be tripping over it. I am competent at using a sewing maching, but I am definitely *not* a professional - so while the t-shirt is passable, it is not going to win any style rewards. I will admit, though, that Lincoln thinks the zig-zag stitching is really cool.