Army vs. Northwestern Game

This year, we continued our annual tradition of attending a Westpoint football game complete with tailgating, of course.  It was especially exciting this year because the Army Cadets played my alma mater, the Northwestern Wildcats.  I wore a purple shirt but since I was sitting in the Army section, I wasn't exactly cheering too loudly for my team.  Or, maybe because it just doesn't feel right to cheer against our Army.  Or, maybe because I wasn't watching much of the game anyway.  Two toddlers cruising the bleachers was a little distracting.  

The boys seemed to enjoy walking around the stadium and petting a real donkey (the Army mascot is a mule) rather than sitting in the stands.  We arrived during the second quarter and left at the end of the third quarter.  Although we couldn't really concentrate on the game, we had fun watching the boys enjoy themselves!




















I have no idea who this character is but Liam definitely liked him.  He kept following him around.

Me and my little boys at the game.

This year I think the boys would agree that their favorite memory of the Westpoint game was the kid-friendly tailgate.  They had so much fun playing with Connor and Madison's toys.  Each year the tailgate seems to add a few more kids.  And, next year there will be at least three kids added to the group.    

Dylan especially enjoyed the bus ride to and from the tailgating area to the game.  It must be fun for a little one to ride free without the carseat harness.

It was a perfect day for a football game.  Slightly chilly and no direct sun.  What a great weekend!

I thought it would be fun to share photos of past games.  This photo is from the game in 2009.  Liam was 7 months old and loved being at the game among all the people and noise and exploring the stands.

In 2010, we took Grandpa Hunter with us.  Dylan was just a few weeks old.  Here he is sleeping during the tailgate and he continued to sleep through almost the entire game.

Here's Grandpa Hunter holding Liam and me with Dylan sleeping in the front carrier.  It was a very sunny game!

Looking forward to the 2012 Westpoint tailgate and football game!  It's such a fun family tradition!

Uh, Oh! We've Got Another Walker in the House!

Dylan is now walking!  He is so cute walking across the room with his arms in the air and his little tongue sticking out trying to keep himself upright.  Liam loves it and always exclaims, "Look, Momma.  Dylan is walking again!"  Here are a few videos of him the day after he began walking across the room.  Unfortunately, I chose to film just before bedtime so he's a little tired and doesn't walk far but you get the idea.

This video also features some new skills by Liam in the background.  He thinks the couch and chair are his own personal jungle gym and I think he was looking for a little attention since Dylan seemed to be getting a lot of it lately.

This is a milestone I've really been looking forward to since Dylan is getting way to heavy to lug around.  And, it's so fun to see the two boys walking side by side.  But, I'm still a little sad that my baby is now turning into a full-fledged toddler.  Both kids are growing up so fast!  

All About Liam

The summer has flown by so fast and the kids are continuing to grow up at a rapid pace.  Since the birthday post was all about Dylan, this post will be dedicated to our awesome "big kid" Liam.

At the end of the summer, Liam is full of new tricks.  He keeps us quite entertained, impressed and proud when he:

• Recites sentences in the books we get from the library after hearing the story only a few times.
• Shows a whole lot of excitement for Dora and Diego.
• Sings the Spiderman theme song all day long.
• Rides on his scooter.  
• Mastered potty training thanks to his Cars potty with revving engine. 
• Hits a baseball that he throws to himself. 
• Tells us when he "likes" and "loves" things.  Especially when he says, "I love my mommy" and gives me a big hug.
• Drinks from a regular cup.
• Sings the entire "ABC's"
• Enjoys running.  Sometimes it's running away from Mommy which he thinks is a fun game.

Here are some more of his tricks with photographic proof!

Uses chopsticks while eating Hibachi.

Dunks his head in the pool.

Builds with Playdoh.

Eats shishkabobs.

Goes crabbing with Daddy.

Puts together 25 piece puzzles by himself.

Blows bubbles.

Tries to make us laugh.

 

Climbs into any space he can find.

Obsesses about birthday cake and won't leave the table until the whole piece of cake is eaten and the plate is licked clean.

Liam is full of energy and very quick-witted.  We are amazed by him everyday!       

Happy 1st Birthday to Dylan!

We can't believe it but our little Baby Dylan is One Year Old today!  It's been an amazing year filled with lots of joy.  Dylan couldn't be a happier little guy and he brings huge smiles to our faces everyday.  Take a look at how much he's grown:

It has been an incredible year of learning for Dylan!  At one year old, he is becoming such a big boy and has the following tricks:

• Eats yogurt from a bowl with a spoon all by himself!  It is incredibly messy but he loves it.
• Says a few new words:  "Hi", "ook" (book), "wawa" (water), "baba" (bottle), "agua" (I'd love to say he knows water in Spanish but it's probably something else.  He says it all the time!)  His other words are Momma and Dadda and Bye Bye.  
• Whenever he hears "Old MacDonald", he recites the "E-I-E-I-O" part (minus the O).  
• Talks on the phone.  He holds the phone to his ear and says, "Hi!"  And, he holds lots of non-phone items up to his ear to see if anyone is talking through it.
• Climbs up on Liam's toddler bed.
• Picks up a brush or a comb and begins brushing his hair all by himself.
• Feeds himself his entire meal.
• Climbs up and down an entire flight of stairs in a flash.
• Drinks from a straw cup.
• Throws everything he can get his hands on, especially any type of ball.  The football he got for his birthday looks quite appropriate in his arms since he's quite the bruiser.
• Throws tantrums every time he is told "no" or is removed from an activity.
• Puts his hand in the toilet if it's left open.
• Puts everything in his mouth.
• Walks the walls.
• Stands in one place for a few seconds by himself.
• Takes about two steps unassisted.
• Plays a mini-drum set like a pro, including the foot pedal.
• Enjoys playing with Playdoh.  (With lots of supervision since he also likes to put it in his mouth.)
• Loves to dance to music.
• Screams periodically at the top of his lungs in the car just to let me know he's still there and is still unhappy that he's strapped in.
• Stands up at the glass front door and waves.

I guess I could go on and on about our amazing little Dylan.  What a year it's been and we look forward to seeing what the next year will bring.  Walking seems to be the next milestone on his list!  Or, maybe this little guy will go straight to running!

Sacandaga and Lake George Vacation

It probably goes without saying that we are having a very busy summer since I'm now an entire month behind on the blogging.  Hopefully we'll get up to date soon since there are so many things to share.

In early July, we took a much needed vacation!  We celebrated the Fourth of July at the cabin on Lake Sacandaga in Northville, NY.  The kids had a great time exploring the woods, playing at the beach, swimming in the lake, riding on the boat, hanging out with Uncle Colin and just being outside for a whole week enjoying nature.  We didn't make it to the fireworks or parade this year because of nap and sleep schedules but we figured that we have plenty of years ahead of us for these fun Fourth of July activities.

We did spend a lot of time on the water!  The kids couldn't get enough of the beach.  Who doesn't love throwing sand?

Liam was so brave this year and went right into the Lake.  He even put his head under the water.

Dylan loved riding the waves!

We took the kids for a ride on the boat.  Or, rather, Liam took us for a ride on the boat.

The lake was a little bit chilly!

Dylan was much happier warming up in the sunshine on the boat.  Well, maybe just a little bit happier.  He was not too fond of the infant life jacket.

Liam was a good sport and loved swimming with Daddy and Uncle Colin.  His lips will turn blue and his teeth will chatter and he still doesn't want to get out of the water!

What's a summer vacation without mini-golf?  We had so much fun taking the little guys golfing.  They were already familiar with golf because we have a child's golf club set that they play with in the backyard but I think Liam enjoyed the added challenge of actually trying to get the ball into the hole.  At least for the first two holes.  After that, the kids preferred to just play at their leisure with sticks, rocks and water traps.

Here Dylan is getting his first official mini-golf lesson from Neil.

Liam was very patiently trying to let me "teach" him but I know he was probably thinking, "I can do this myself, Mom!"

And, he did prove that he could do it himself!

Despite the distractions of two little people on the green, Neil and I were able to keep a little competition going.  I have to admit that Neil won.

It's so much fun introducing the little guys to our favorite upstate adventures.  We love going to the Drive-In!    Since Liam is obsessed with the characters from the movie "Cars", we decided to take him to the drive in to see "Cars 2" (even though we haven't seen Cars 1 yet!).

The movie didn't begin until 9pm but we thought (hoped) he would watch it until he got tired and then peacefully drift off to sleep in my arms.  Here's a photo taken during the 5 minutes he actually sat still and watched the movie.

Unfortunately, as he became increasingly overtired, the car became his own personal jungle gym.  We decided to head home 30 minutes after the movie started.  We reflected on the outing and decided it was still a success.  We had dinner at the Drive-In Snack Shack (burgers and fries) and Liam got to run around a huge open field screeching with delight.  We realized that he had never been in such a large, open space before.  Dylan slept the whole time in his carseat!

After a great week at the cabin, we headed to Lake George for a few days.  We took a boat ride around the Lake on the Minne-Ha-Ha, an authentic Paddlewheeler.

Liam enjoyed a snowcone!

And, the Lake George Moose!






On this hot, summer weekend, we decided to hit Waterslide World!  Liam went down his first waterslide, Pirate's Plunge.

Dylan hung out in Aruba-Scuba-Duba Bay!

Perhaps a glimpse into the future for our handsome boys!

 Neil and I didn't let the kids have all the fun.  We each took turns on the Waterslides too!

Neil and I learned from our last hotel stay that finding a room with a balcony is important when you have kids that go to sleep at 7:30 pm.  Here we are enjoying a glass of wine from the Adirondack Winery.  We were thrilled to find that it was an interior balcony overlooking the pool and nice weather.   And, this is the same pool that I walked in circles around from 1:30 am to 2:30 am trying to get Dylan back to sleep!

After seven days away from home, eight hours of driving in the car with two young kids, thousands of mosquitoes, eighteen holes of golf, as well as endless sunshine, water sports, ice cream and laughs, I would say that our first family of four vacation was a complete success!  Where are we going next?