Air Show

Calvin's little friend, whom he lovingly calls "Noahcrockett", invited us to a local air show. The boys, big and small, thoroughly enjoyed it. We will definitely be checking more of these out in the future.


They of course start off with their usual trick of falling asleep 5 minutes before we get there (yes, Noah fell asleep mid-granola bar).

it didn't take them long to wake up...

RB managed to get some neat shots of a few planes and I tried to recall everything I learned from TopGun to answer Calvin's questions. I'm pretty sure this one was the MiG.

The very loud F-16, which Calvin was certain was going to start dropping bombs and managed to convince the rest of the little boys of it as well.


our little "IceMan"

the insane "Wing Walker"

Soccer Camp

Calvin went to soccer camp this summer.
He absolutely loved it.

Running onto the field for the first time...

Noah was a little upset when he found out that
two year-olds weren't allowed on the field.

...he cheered up quickly when he found out he could still get a drink of powerade anyway.

Classic Calvin. How many little kids have been conned this time into listening to whatever it is he felt necessary to share?

Calvin has waited for a long time to finally be on a "team" of his own. He had asked daily as the camp drew closer and closer what color he would be and who the bad guys were. This was taken moments before Calvin was reprimanded for trash-talking to the green team- let's just say it happened more than once.

Thanks to daddy's previous training, Calvin had an idea of what to do on the field.

This is Ellie. Being the fastest out of the age group and also understanding why she was on the field (see boy on right), she immediately became Calvin's nemesis.

I was a little concerned about how Calvin would react to the tough competition. Here is a previous example of how he has coped with feeling threatened:

The first time sweet Ellie ran past Calvin en route to a goal, our little boy decided he'd go for the tackle instead... luckily he missed and the coaches/mother intervened. As it turns out, she is the daughter of the ex-european professional soccer player who ran the entire camp. Way to go Calvin.

Noah decided he didn't need a coach to show him how to kick a ball.

The final day of camp, they rewarded all of the players- and stocky little blonde brothers of players- with popsicles. Nothing can make a hot, sweaty little Calvin happier than a bright red popsicle. Nothing can make him sadder than when it breaks... this sequence of events was hilarious to watch, hopefully you can get the gist of it by the pictures. (click on it to see larger version, grammy)

#1, Calvin's reaction to his popsicle breaking.
#2, Noah gloating that his is still in one piece.
#3, Noah about to dig in.
#4, Karmic retribution.

inside calvin's head

calvin feels the need to narrate his activities of daily living (here as he's running through the house towards the bathroom):

"I have to go to the potty.
..my tummy's about to explode
...explode means blow up
...this is how it starts."
[bathroom door slams shut]

Scarred for life

Noah told us that this year, he just wanted a really low key party to celebrate his second birthday. Uncle Joe was in town and we decided that could cover the guest list.

Noah and Calvin were in charge of decorating the cake and candle placement.

All was well until we got to the lighting candles part. I turned my head for a split second (to blow out the match) and gave Noah just enough time to touch one of the candles.

It was the saddest thing ever to see Noah go from super excited about his cake to completely afraid of it. He howled "hot, hot" through his entire birthday song.

As soon as the flaming torches of death were extinguished and removed, he somehow mustered up enough courage to eat.

And with a little encouragement from "uncky doe" he was back to himself in no time. (Although we were at a friend's birthday party last week and Noah got concerned when he saw the burning candles...)


*** Joe and Noah had a special moment at the pool while the boys were alternating jumping in off the side into their uncle's outstretched arms. Noah decided it would only be fair to give Joe's cell phone and keys - quietly resting on the pool chair - a turn. In an act of surprising agility Joe somehow managed to simultaneously catch, and keep dry, both items - and the chubby little two year old tumbling after. ***

Now that he's two...

he decided that it was time to upgrade from his push scooter to an actual tricycle.

Calvin and Noah are very proud of their big boy bikes.

Uncle Joe trying to show Calvin how to push his bike up from the grass and back onto the path after he had decided to test out the off-roading abilities.