Reasons to celebrate

Now that it's finally official, we can share the happy news that Calvin and Noah are getting a new Aunt in a few months! Uncle Kevy proposed to Nicole in Florida while we were there, and we are so excited for them.

We just love Nicole, especially Calvin and Noah. I knew she was going to fit right in when we asked for a picture of her and this is the first one we saw...

Seeing this, Calvin had two observations:
1) "she's watching monster trucks"
2) "her eyes are red!"
(both very good things in Calvin's mind)

Unfortunately for Calvin, Nicole doesn't really have red eyes. She is from England though and has a really cool accent. It didn't take long for our outspoken little boy to respond: "You talk weird." At one point I walked into the room as Nicole was humoring the boys, playing their favorite game of "shoot the monsters." The elk hanging on the wall was to be the new invader and Nicole told Calvin to "shoot him in the antlers." Calvin stopped and stared and said, "what are ant-laahhs?"

Other memorable moments included Calvin requesting her to say "water" over and over again as he tried to mimic her pronunciation. Calvin loved all the swimming, playing, and bike riding they did together. We're all very excited to have her join the family.

Another cause for celebration was Calvin's 4th birthday. Grammy told Calvin she would make him whatever kind of cupcake he wanted and he chose sharks- I think they turned out really well. Way to go Grammy! (He also had a cool ninja turtle cake in Missouri from Aunt Julia, so he was loving this birthday thing.)

more random shots from the trip:




checking out the science center's hurricane machine

and orange grove harvesting...

with all this talk of marriage, after Calvin found out that mommy was already taken, he proposed to our good friend Marcea:

Calvin: Are you married?
Marcea: No, I'm not.
Calvin: Ok then, I choose you.
Marcea: Ok.