Johnson Farms...again??

Aiden and I had so much fun at Johnson Farms, we decided to visit it again as a family! And even better, they have even more activities on the weekends for the kids. There was a pumpkin launching cannon that easily shot pumpkins well over 400 ft!!! It was crazy! I caught a great picture of the launch!



There was also a great spot that I had my boys stand up to see just how tall they are. I'm pretty sure Aiden is going to pass me up in the next few years - being that he is near 4.5 ft right now!



I have an affectionate term for Kieran at home - calling him the "Very Hungry Catepillar" (cute book by Eric Carle). It's no wonder the kid has an endless pit for a stomach (especially at breakfast) - given that he is already a little over 3 ft as well!



We picked out a few more pumpkins in the pumpkin patch (although sadly I will admit that we didn't get to carving any of them this year!)



Overall - it was great fun and worth a second visit!! Here are a few more pictures of our fun day!

Fall Field Trip

I was lucky enough to be able to go along with the 1st graders to visit Johnson Farms for their fall field trip. As I get to experience new things with my boys, I am constantly amazed at how many cool places there are around us.

One of the farmers took us on a tour - first stop - the Pumpkin Patch! Each kiddo got to pick out their very own pumpkin to take home. Once they took them back to school, Aiden's teacher had them line them up from biggest to smallest - and of course, Aiden's was leading the pack! Here Aiden is picking pumpkins with a few of his buddies!



They also got some play time on the playground and one of the largest haystacks I've seen yet!


I was glad that I got some special time with A.B. too!!

Kieran is "FWEE"

Catching up from the busy schedules we seem to keep at the Smith household, I cannot let Kieran's 3rd b-day pass without some blogging (albeit over a mth later!).

I know they say two kids are never the same, but as a parent you never really believe that is possible until you experience it. While my boys both have their similarities - they both have very unique qualities that makes them completely different as well. Kieran is such a little mass of chaos that continually ruffles my 'type A' feathers, while at the same time he can make me laugh hysterically from everything he does. That boy is funny - and he knows it - and uses it to his advantage! His transition to the world of 3s went pretty smoothly. He's never been one for big temper tantrums, although they rear their ugly head every now and again. I'm not sure he could be a true toddler without the occasional tantrum. However, he always keeps us on our toes as we try to keep him out of trouble (he is too curious for his own good) and he lives life BIG - the wilder the better!

So - of course Kieran's birthday had to be as wild as can be - thus a bounce house was in order! He had a great time jumping around with the neighbor kids. He got his fill of chocolate "Cars" cupcakes. He had lots of fun opening up all of his presents and just had an all around fabulous birthday.

You know it was good when the first thing he said after he woke up the next morning was "Momma...I want to do it again!" Check out some of our fun!

Lions & Tigers & Bears...Oh My!

So with all of the summer activity we finally got a chance to sneak away for a quick family vacation weekend up to Omaha, NE. While it may not be the most glamorous of vacations, it was a perfect fit for the boys and we had an overall fabulous time!

Gram and Papa were brave enough to travel with us on the road trip and through the flood lands that extended our road trip by about an hour each way. The only thing that I can say is thank goodness for portable dvd players...maybe that is why I didn't go on many road trips growing up! :)

We left early Friday morning and were able to hit up the Children's Museum Friday afternoon. What a great place to take kids! There was tons of hands on activities that both boys absolutely got a thrill of! Splash tables, plastic balls, face painting by mom followed by a science show that included blasting off a "rocket" using water and alka seltzer! It is a must to go see. AND...this summer they also had a dinosaur exhibit on the 2nd floor where the boys got a chance to see dinosaurs up and close. They both had a ton of fun, but it took Kieran some warming up before he took his eye off the dinosaurs!

We ended up staying in this cute little hotel downtown called the Magnolia Hotel. It was in walking distance of the Old Market. It really surprised me how beautiful Omaha was! Not sure what I expected, but the Old Market had brick paved roads and carriage rides going on...it was full of hustle and bustle both nights we were there! We must have tuckered Kieran out because we had just sat down for dinner in this nice little table in the corner when Kieran got out of his seat. I thought he had dropped a toy on the floor that he was reaching down to get, but the next thing I knew he had fallen asleep on the floor of this restaurant!!!! Even the manager of the restaurant had to come over to take a peek.

On Saturday we loaded up the car and took the boys to the zoo. What a great zoo...and the weather turned out to be perfect! The highlight reels were: Aiden loved the gorillas most - Papa even got to see one run up and 'slap' the viewing glass window sending kids into a frenzy...if you can imagine that! A short second to that would be the aquarium that we walked through an underground tunnel and saw a stingray and sharks swimming right above us! Kieran loved the train ride throughout the park. My personal favorite was the Kingdom of the Night exhibit, which included a swamp exhibit that Aiden kept repeating "Mom...these crocodiles are freaking me out!". I think Gram's favorite would be AFTER the zoo and the ice cream parlor we found that only serves HOMEADE ICE CREAM!! Yummy! Similarly, Chris would also chime in that he enjoyed the nightly cookie buffet at the hotel that he got to indulge in his love of White Chocolate Macadamian Nut cookies!!

Overall, it was a great weekend of fun! On our way out of town we stopped at the Bob Kerrey pedestrian bridge that crosses over the Missouri river. Did I mention the flooding? It was crazy how high the water was - including the views we got on the drive up of the flooding through the farming fields.

Here are a few pics from the trip!

What's up Doc?

So...what else has this crazy family been keeping busy with? Here is a short debut of the fun we've had.

In April, I kicked off the month Rockin the Parkway! I completed my PR 1/2 marathon with a finish time of 1:52:57 finishing 43rd out of 301 women in my age group. Here is a pic of me with my awesome sweat sisters!



Then in the month of May we were busy busy busy with end of school activities! Between the kindergarten musical (which my camera ran out of batteries for!!), the end of school parties, and the spring soccer and start of baseball season we had a jam packed calendar! Here is Aiden on his field day...



Check out AB in the back with the flipped up visor...



and here he is on his last day of school...my how he has grown!

We kicked off the month of June when I ran a 10-K run with my dad! It was the Hospital Hill run, which is a HARD and HILLY run to say the least. How proud was I that my dad ran the entire way with me...although he was pretty proud of himself that he crossed the finish one second before me. What a memorable experience...just wish I had some good pics to share from the event.

Aiden has been busy at summer camp going to the pool every day. He is desperately trying to get us to let him go off the high dive at the pool, but not sure I can stomach that without being there to watch! My little cautious son is ready to embark on some adventure! We've been spending a lot of time at the baseball fields, which is ok given that it's Aiden's favorite sport (although Kieran much prefers the playground than cheering on his brother at this point!). We've also been spending a lot of time on our bikes and staying active, cheering on Chris in both the Tour of KC as well as the Tour of Lawrence. And for those of you following Chris's blog, you'll know that Aiden also debuted in his 1st bike race at the Tour of Lawrence! GO A.B.!!!

Where has the time gone?

WOW!! That is the beginning of this crazy 'catch up' blog posting. Sometimes life takes us and grabs us by the horns and all we can do is try to hang on. That is kind of what I feel like the Smith household has been like for the past several months. Although I'm certainly not complaining - we are all happy and healthy, and our calendars have been full of activities of fun!

So...going back to March...hard to believe the big man is a full 6 yrs old. We hosted a gym party up at Lifetime Fitness again, which the kids had a blast playing games of capture the flag and dodgeball (especially when it was the kids against the adults!). Aiden really enjoyed getting his big boy bike from mom & dad, which he has put a few miles on this summer! Here are a few pics that sum up the big day!

ROCK CHALK!!

At Aiden's school, the kids can earn different awards for good behavior. Collectively, the kindergarten class earned enough gold stars in the lunch room that they got to celebrate today with CRAZY HAIR DAY!

Since Aiden's hair is all of a quarter of an inch or so, we tried to get creative. Given that KU is playing in the SWEET 16 tonight, we thought we might influence a little more luck to get those hawks to the championship if we supported them in style...

My Lucky Charms!

With Aiden on spring break, we decided to take a family day on St. Patrick's Day. The weather was gorgeous for this time of year, so we thought it would be a perfect day to head out for one of the local St. Patrick's Day parades.

Since we had both boys, we decided to visit a more laid back family friendly version of St. Patricks Day in the great town of Lawrence, KS!! Mass St. was full of people - including many of our neighbors! The parade was great - some very interesting floats to see. My favorite was the jayhawk flying the rocket, which I had to get a picture of (see below)! Aiden enjoyed all of the candy passed out during the parade most, I think! However, on our way back to the car we decided to let the boys get a treat and let them try their first cotton candy. Can you believe that Aiden - my son who would eat chocolate or treats with every meal if we let him - does NOT like cotton candy? Tried one bite and then left the rest for Kieran! Unbelievable! Kieran was funny too...I don't think he was quite sure how to eat his cotton candy! It was definitely an experience!

Although it wasn't the same as sipping a nice frosty drink while the waves roll in, it was definitely a bit of family fun that we enjoyed during our spring break "vacation".

Say What?

So, life goes on at the Smith household. We are currently enjoying Aiden's 1.5 week spring break VACATION! Seriously, where was that when I was a kid? I'm pretty sure the kid's brain is going to be jello by the time he goes back to school next Monday. So far he has enjoyed spending some time at Gram & Papa's house, playing the Wii and an old magic set from when I was a kid. (Psstt...don't tell my mom this, but I used to think she was crazy when her refusal to not throw things away resulted in a collection of many of the toys of my youth still in her basement. However, that is one of the things my kids love about going over there - there are tons of toys they don't find anywhere else! Ha! Who would imagine?)

We've also enjoyed a small break from sports. Basketball wrapped up a few weeks ago - although soccer practice 'kicks' in next week! Hope this weather turns around so the boys enjoy being out on the field. We haven't thrown in the towel altogether though...during our break we got to celebrate KU's BIG 12 VICTORY - AGAIN!! (You know...a win of 5 out of the last 6 seasons. No big deal...just sayin.) I think I have finally gotten the boys to be true Rock Chalk fans while we have cheered on their victories. Aiden's definitely becoming more aware of sports teams and mascots. It's pretty cool to watch him get excited about sports.

Kieran has just recently moved classrooms at his school into the preschool room this past Monday. So far the transition has been ok; however, there was an interesting discussion with his teacher. The conversation went something like this: Miss Jenny: "Does Kieran have older siblings?"; Me: "Yes, he has an older brother who is almost six."; Miss Jenny: "Aahhh, that explains a lot." Apparently Kieran has been using his love of wrestling with his older brother as a way to introduce himself to the friends in his new class. Seriously - I do love my boys, but do they always have to be so physical? More to come to see if we are able to reel in the littlest wild man of the family.

Along the same lines, his language skills are growing every single day. It is just amazing. While we still can't have full conversations, it is great to know what is going on in that little mind. He does, however, still have that two year old slur to his words. One of the funniest things I can recall of late was Kieran using his manners for something his daddy had done for him. Now - when Kieran says "thank you", I'll admit that it sometimes comes out something like "Dankoo". Chris turned around to Kieran and says "Kieran, I don't have a dingo." Say what? Can we please get an interpreter in here?

Where has the time gone?

All I can say is...WOW! The last several months have been such a whirlwind in the Smith household. I can barely believe I have not posted a single blog entry since December!! Needless to say, there have been many memories created since the last post. Here's a few photos that will show you just how crazy things can get in our house sometimes:

(This is the boys' best
pirate expression)

Chocolate attack! Daddy introduced us to Nutella - yummy!

Without recasting the last several months, I will say we've had a lot of fun this winter! Most importantly, Aiden has discovered the art of "the snow day". And there have been LOTS of them! Not sure that I kept an official count; however, I am fairly certain that between snow days and planned days off from school, there has been only one week that A.B. has been at school all five days since he went back after Christmas! Thank goodness for family and neighbors as we have juggled all the time off!

We've also been busy with sports! Aiden started basketball this winter - and he claims that this is now his favorite. He has a little bit of a height advantage. Chris measured the other day and he is already just over 4 ft tall...and a little over 60 lbs!! The kid is a monster! Let's just say I've been weight training a lot because I'm pretty sure Aiden is going to shoot up taller than me in the next year or two and I still have to keep him in line somehow!

Kieran has also maintained his maniac mode! We moved him into a big boy bed in the last several weeks and the transition has been pretty easy. He has had occasional wake ups during the middle of the night, but goes back down quickly. I'm writing it off to the fact that he has been growing a new molar about every 3 weeks for the last month and a half. There is only one more to go and then hopefully we will be smooth sailing from that point forward. However, other than that it doesn't seem to bother him, which is great! He is such a non-two year old - Chris and I say there is barely any baby left in him. He's short on temper tantrums (which is fantastic), but his ornery streak is larger than life! He has a devil of a smile and gets away with way more than he should. I definitely can feel my hair graying as he is giving us a run for our money.

We also enjoyed another great ski trip just after Christmas with our fabulous friends - the Mareks. Aiden went this year and did a phenomenal job picking up skiing in just 3 days. Talk about making a mama proud! It's so exciting to share a sport that we really love with our kiddo - and then to have him love it just as much as us! As long as we can get Kieran on board (which given his wild streak, he'll be hitting the terrain park on his first trip), I can see many more family ski trips over the next several years.

Chris and I have been busy between work and juggling our workout schedules. Anyone who follows Chris's blog knows that he is always busy biking. I am planning on running another 1/2 marathon (not sure when I am going to give up the pain!) at the beginning of April. Not sure if I will do another marathon this fall...TBD. I also joined a mom's indoor soccer league this winter. What fun! I've really enjoyed getting to know some of the other mom's (some with other kindergartners and a few with kiddos just a few years older). I've learned pretty quickly that it's a lot easier cheering Aiden on from the sidelines - that is for sure!

While we have definitely had a bit of "crazy" to our lives, I know that Chris and I share the same goal for 2011, which is to live life fully. There are many things we can and should do with our time - and then there are those things that fill you up and make you invigorated with energy and joy. It is our hope that we set the example for our boys that we can all pursue our goals and dreams - no matter how old we are (although the recovery process always takes a little longer as the years tick by!). We are all busy doing the things we love - and I can't tell you the smile it brings to have my boys cheering me on from the sidelines or vice versa. I am constantly in awe of the joy in our lives and feel gratitude that I get to experience this life with my boys each and every day.

So, when you have been saying to yourself "what in the world are those Smiths up to?"...now you know! Here are a few of my favorite pics over the last few months: