2 weeks!

I'm behind a week! We went camping last weekend, and didn't get back until Monday. That threw me off and felt like I was running behind all week. So, I figured I would post two weeks at once.

April 29: We had our siding and windows replaced, but did not have the interior of the windows painted (FYI: make sure you order your windows painted inside if they are wood. This is a pain!!) We are just starting to paint the trim and interior...1 window down and 16 to go.

Helping daddy prep the window and trim for painting

May 1: This boy wears me out day after day! He is constantly on the go, and tears the kitchen apart any chance he gets.

Climbing (and hanging) from the spice rack!

May 2: Trip the zoo. Graham was finally interested in the animals...as long as they were moving. He was fascinated by the giraffes.

Love his concentration and excitement for the animals. He was actually mid wave in this pic

May 3: Enjoying a popsicle on the back deck on a hot afternoon

May 4: Callen enjoys going grocery shopping with me. We pretty much always go to Aldi where you have to put a quarter in the buggy to release it. He insists on taking his own quarter, and pushing his own cart now. It's actually working out well when I have a lot of stuff. I give him all the fragile items, and out all the heavy items in my cart.

May 5: Uncle Dave came into town to go camping with us. We took him to Gateway Park to see Callen ride his bike on the mountain bike skills course. We also took his new bike with us to work on riding it. Cal did very well and got the hang of it. It's still too heavy for him, so he has a hard time starting and stopping on his own.

May 6-7: Camping at Black Rock Mountain State Park (I'll have to do a separate post on this another day. Fun trip!)

The first night we were there was FREEZING! Rainy and cold (it got down to around 34 deg that night!). We hung out in the tent for the evening and had a good time...good thing our tent is as big as a tiny house!

The next day we were able to get out and hike a few trails. The weather was beautiful as was the scenery. This is from a trail we hiked around the lake. Doug, Dave, and Callen climbing on the rocks.

May 8: D-U-N, done!

This is Callen after 2 days of camping and going non stop!! Less than 2 minutes in the car after dropping off Dave and spending time in Cumming, GA, at Grandmom's house!

May 9: Unpacking from our trip. Graham is pretty good about keeping himself entertained. I heard him crawling around and making noise, so I wasn't too worried. I figured he was in his room with Callen. When I popped my head in there to check, there was Callen but no Graham. I started going towards the sound of the noise and found him IN the cooler. The cooler had been closed, but G found a way to open it and then climb into it. Thank goodness he opened the lid back up! Cal thought this was the funniest thing, and had to climb in with his brother.

Pure joy!

May 10: This came home from school today. I absolutely love these and think the responses are so cute. This is the first one I have ever gotten, and will cherish it always. Cal's answers are pretty good and seem to be really thought out!

May 11: Cal has been taking gymnastics since January. He loves jumping into the foam pit at the end. His teacher let him run the length of the gym and jump into the pit today. He LOVED it and did it multiple times! Usually he has to stand on the platform and just jump down into the pit.

May 12: Graham is enjoying playing cars and trucks with Cal. He crawls around and pushes the cars around the kitchen and living room. I caught this sweet moment of both boys playing trucks together!

Great Wolf Lodge

Our wolf ears...Callen would not try on the ears for a picture! Of course he wanted to wear them once we got home.

A few weeks ago we spent the night at Great Wolf Lodge. We thought it would be a fun getaway that Callen would for sure enjoy, and Graham would be happy because there would be so much going on around him. We were right! Callen could not have been more ecstatic about everything, and Graham did not rest for a minute (not sure how out of the ordinary that is!!!).

We arrived on Sunday afternoon to a PACKED lobby. I thought going on a Sunday to Monday after all the area spring breaks would be a good idea. We are not fans of huge crowds, so I was shocked when I walked in the lobby to check in. People everywhere! But, once we made our way to the waterpark, it wasn't that bad. Check-in isn't until 4:00, but you can arrive anytime after 11:00am and play in the waterpark as well as playing the entire day of your check-out. We made our way to the waterpark area and got ready for some fun. Callen was only tall enough to ride the small waterslides in the big 'treehouse' structure. I thought he would be more upset he couldn't ride the big ones, but they were on the other side of the waterpark, and pretty well hidden so he didn't realize what he was missing...until the next day when Doug and I took turns riding them!

We had a blast in the waterpark. We played in the treehouse and shot water at everyone, rode the waterslides, played in the wave pool, and spent some time in the big pool just swimming. Callen made his way across the lily pads a few times before swimming like a fish in the big pool. Callen could not have been more excited, and never seemed to take the smile off his face. His favorite part of the park was waiting for the big bucket to dump water down below. By the second day he got brave and wanted to be like all the big kids. He laid on his back below where the water fell, and waited for it to dump on him. I was there the first time and was nervous he was not going to like it. When that water dumped down, it was hard! Cal jumped up right away (I thought he was going to be upset), and had the biggest grin on his face! That boy loves an adventure.

Before shot!

Waiting on Callen to make his way down the waterslide

And he's down!

Callen being dumped on by the bucket...and me being the overprotective parent thinking he was going to come up crying!

You can't tell it from this pic, but G was loving being thrown up in the air

Loving the water (after his safety swim lessons, G has been terrified of the water. I have worked hard to get him back to enjoying the water)

Sweet brothers playing

Cal enjoying the wave pool

Both boys (maybe even Doug too!) loved this toddler area. Cal ran around and played on everything while Graham was happy watching everyone and splashing

Squirting anyone that walked by!

Crossing the lily pads (with a little stabilizing from dad). Cal was determined the grab the net as soon as he was able to reach

Pretty sure this expression was on his face the entire time

Graham loving the waterpark too

SHortly after our room was ready, we went there to take showers and allow the boys time to play. We booked one of the specialty rooms (we did the Wolf Den) which had a little area where a bunk bed was placed, making the kids feel like they were inside a tree. Cal was pretty excited to climb all over as well as make his bed on the top bunk. This provided plenty of entertainment before seeing what else was offered in the hotel. We only made our way to the arcade (it was down the hall from our room). Cal played a few games in which he won enough tickets for a pack of smarties and a top! WooHoo!!!

Climbing!

Graham enjoying the bunk area

Attempting to read in the bunk. Graham was too busy to sit still!

We had a really great time. It was fun to see the boys so happy and excited about everything. There is so much to do there, and we only did a fraction of what there is to offer. They have a kid's club, bowling alley, several shows and character greetings daily, and many other activities for older kids. It was a great little overnight getaway that we all enjoyed!

Baseball and Water Slides

Another fun and busy week!

April 22: Clemson baseball. Tailgated with friends and then headed in to watch a little Clemson baseball.

Cal hanging out with his buddies Adeline and Charlie

April 23-24: Great Wolf Lodge in Charlotte. What a fun time! Cal was so excited to ride the water slides, play in the pool, and get water dumped on him by the big bucket! (I will have to do a separate post on this soon. Too many fun memories not to share!)

A family photo before we all got too wet!

The boys playing and getting soaked

April 25: I finally made it to the Farmer's Market to buy plants for the garden. Graham decided he would help with the planting!

April 26: The Greenville Drive had a 2:00 game, so I thought this would be our best chance to make it to a game this year. When most games don't start until 7:00, it's hard for us to make it since both boys are asleep around 7:30! My dad joined us for the game. We spent most of the time in the playground area, but the boys enjoyed themselves, and Callen actually watched a little of the game.

Callen watching the game and Graham watching all the kids...to avoid smiling at the camera!

April 27: Callen had a super long and busy week, and never really caught up on his sleep from Great Wolf Lodge over the weekend. He fell asleep in the car coming home from Simpsonville, so I carried him in the house. Graham had fallen asleep as well but woke up when I brought him in the house. Graham was screaming when I brought in Cal, so Cal woke up. I set him on the floor to take care of Graham. I look over a few minutes later to see this...

Poor kid so tired that he couldn't even stand up to make it to the couch!

April 28: Strawberry Picking! In my mind, I always have these ideas of how things are going to go. Reality is sooooo different! Callen didn't want to pick strawberries because he didn't want to get his hands dirty (seriously? this kid lives to dig dirt!) so he stood there and ate strawberries faster than Oupa and I could pick them and put them in the bucket!

Hikes and New Bikes

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter, and enjoyed the beautiful spring weather. We have been staying busy around here. You can't help but stay busy when you have two boys who are constantly on the go!! Graham wants so badly to walk. He stands, pushes your hands away when you try and help him walk, and then lunges forward into your arms.

April 15: Hiking Riley Moore Falls...a short hike but perfect for Cal's little legs to be able to hike. Bonus is a wonderful waterfall with sandy beach as a destination. We stayed and played on the rocks and around the waterfall for quite some time before heading back to the parking area.

Graham's first time in the big carrier. He loved being able to look around (and watch his brother!)

As always, Cal had a blast climbing on the rocks

April 16: Easter: We spent the day going to church and having lunch with my family. Cal enjoyed hunting Easter eggs and then making everyone else hunt while he 'hid' the eggs (He got bored quickly and started throwing the eggs in the air. Where they landed is where he hid them!!)

The best pic we got of the boys together!

April 17: A rainy day! I took the boys to the Farmer's Market to finally get plants for the garden. It was raining so hard that we stayed in the car for a while to let the rain die down. No such luck!!

Graham does not like his car seat right now, so he was very happy to be able to climb out of it instead of sitting in it

April 19: Callen has been taking swim classes since January. He has done so well and has progressed so much in his swimming. However, we are continuing to go because he doesn't float on his back long enough before having to flip over and swim. He keeps being told to rest longer...his teacher obviously does not know that Callen does not understand what the word rest means!

Working on his float!

April 20: Big day for Callen; he finally graduated from swim class. He was so excited to get his medal! Also, we have been looking for a bike with pedals for him. He has been doing so well on his balance bike that we thought it was time for him to start learning to ride a two wheel bike with pedals. We've looked for a used bike with not much success. Well, on the way home from swim class, we pass a new (and nice) pawn shop. There was a perfect size bike for Callen outside. He is super excited and doing fairly well riding with our support. We need to get him to an open field!

Getting his medal

Cal and his new bike

April 21: Augusta Circle Circus; Cal has been waiting all year for our local school's fundraiser to return. He had such a great time last year and asked for weeks where all the blow ups went. When I told him it was coming back, he was so happy. On Friday, he made me drive by the school anytime we were out so he could see the progress of the jump houses being blown up.

The attendant to this bounce house must have let Cal come through 10x without paying! He's going to be in for a shock when he's not so little anymore and he stops getting all these freebies.

Spring Break

This past week was spring break for many of the school districts in the upstate. Callen's school follows the Greenville County Schools calendar, so he didn't have school Monday and Wednesday, and his gymnastics class was also cancelled for Thursday. We took advantage of a free week and took several day trips out of town. It was a tiring week, but fun to hang out with friends and go to new places!

April 8: Clemson's Spring Game! An afternoon full of tailgating and good times with family. Best part was visiting the 'graveyard' and seeing this beauty of a tombstone!

April 10: We enjoyed a morning at the park with friends and cousins, and then had a little craft time in the afternoon at home. Cal was a 'little' messy after this craft, so we decided to take a hose bath in the front yard. That was probably the highlight of the day for Cal!

April 11: Took a trip to the Carl Sandburg home in Flat Rock, NC, to see the baby goats (several had been born only a few days before!)

Cal finally walked over and gave this pregnant momma a pat on the belly

April 12: Hiked at Crowders Mountain State Park in NC. We met up with one of my former coworkers and her new baby. Not a very long hike, but good to catch up with friends and visit a new park

Enjoying some lunch after our hike

April 13: Went to the Hands On! museum in Hendersonville, NC. This was a new adventure for us, and we enjoyed it. The museum is much smaller than what we are used to here in Greenville, but it was great not to have to chase Callen up and down three levels of exhibits.

Too many fun pics from the day, so here is a good sample

April 14: Stayed around Greenville and ran errands for the weekend. It was nice to have a day to relax after being on the go for so many days. Two boys needed sleep...Callen actually fell asleep in the car, and Graham took two naps that were more than an hour each (that NEVER happens!)

This boy is quick. Doug and I turned our heads for literally 30 sec and turned around to see this!

Easter Egg Hunts and Teething

We are loving the spring weather...the warm temps but not the crazy rain and thunderstorms that have hit the area this past week. We were lucky at our house, and barely saw more than rain.

April 1: Spring Fling at Michelin: Easter Egg Hunt, bounce houses, and lots of fun for Callen!

The best family photo we could get!

April 2: Rocking on the front porch

April 3: These teeth! Another one is coming in somewhere in that mouth. Lots of drooling, fussing, and low grade fever. Who knows where the next one will be...at the rate he's going, it could be his wisdom teeth. He has no pattern for cutting teeth!

Count Grahamula!

April 5: Callen has been begging

for 'tall socks like Caroline.' Caroline is 5, and lives 2 doors down from us. She goes to private school and wears a uniform with knee high socks...for a girl! I think he has seen older boys wearing these tall socks but Caroline was the first person he knew that he could tell me had some. So, off to Kohl's we went looking for tall socks. Mr. Opinionated would not settle for just any tall sock. He didn't want the grey and red ones I found on clearance (that actually fit his foot) or the plain black ones with the white Nike swoosh. Nooooo, he had to pick the black and red and white ones that go with NOTHING he wears other than his fire truck shirts. All his athletic gear is fluorescent orange or yellow. So, we bought the red ones and have to wear them all the time now. As I sit here on Sunday evening typing this, he wore a nice light green and white checkered shirt with khakis to church this morning....with the red socks with black lettering. He wouldn't wear the socks under his pants. No, they had to be pulled up because 'my socks are keeping my pants up!' Needless to say, he was quite the hit this morning! Too bad I forgot to snap a pic of that one.

So proud of his socks!

Hope everyone had a great week. Callen has spring break this week, so we are planning lots of day trips to nearby areas as well as decorating Easter Eggs and playing around here. Should be a fun week!