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.

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.

Day at the beach

On our latest jaunt to Florida, we managed to spend a few sunny hours, in between rain storms, at the beach. It was lovely.

Of course, Noah managed to fall asleep right before we arrived. RB and Grandpa's boogie board idea would've been perfect if it wasn't high tide. Luckily, someone spotted the gently floating Noah before he could go very far. He soon woke up and was very confused at this strange, wet place.

It only took him a few minutes to get used to it.

Calvin, on the other hand, wasted no time and got straight to work. I smiled to see Grandpa towing him around on the boogie board. When I was little, that was always my favorite thing to do at the beach.

(Grammy doctored up this cool little photo of the boys)

Along with Grandpa and Grammy were Uncle Kevy, Aunt Nellie, and the boys' newest best friend, Blake. (Uncle Trevor decided to ditch the family and go to some lame lacrosse camp.)

The only setbacks we encountered were a large shark spotted too close to shore and, worse than that, sandy diapers.


(Since RB is always the one taking pictures, he rarely gets in any. So here is my one token shot of him- never mind that it's out of focus and off centered.)

A New Cousin!!

Meet Calvin and Noah's new cousin...

Since both of the boys are as yet deprived of having any real cousins, Oma pointed out that Elmer, the new baby horse, could be considered one. They both had no problem with this.

As always, the latest trip to West Plains didn't disappoint. There were animals to chase, 4wheelers to ride, weapons to shoot, and water to splash. It is every little boys' dream.

After a few driving lessons from Aunt Mary,I found Noah perched on the littlest 4wheeler. He was pressing the big red start button and making the "vroom, vroom" sounds that he knew he should be hearing. Thank goodness he couldn't quite manage the throttle.

The biggest slide of Calvin's life:


Noah got to have his first ride on The Banana. (He only fell off once and was quickly rescued by Uncle Louie.)

Uncle Sidney inspired the boys to start practicing their baseball skills. Noah just couldn't figure out how to get to the other side of the fence.

wishful thinking...