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!

Our Week... and Graham turns 9 months!

March 25: Enjoyed a visit with the Atlanta family

Hugs from Great Grandmom are the best!

March 26: Getting so big. Pulling up on everything and cruising along furniture.

On the move!

March 27: Happy 9 months, Graham! Where has the time gone?

He can make a mess in no time at all. Favorite activity is pulling down all the books!

March 28: The imagination of this boy...

'Mom, put on your chef's hat and dance with me!'

March 29: Wearing Doug's sweater he had as a baby. It is so cute. It was never cold enough for Graham to wear it. It was a little chilly the other morning and I had dressed both boys in short outfits. I put Graham in this to drop Cal off at school. By the time Cal was dropped off, it was already too warm to wear it.

That face!

March 30: Driving around in my automobile. Thanks Wyatt and Eleanor for letting the boys take a spin!

The boys are excited...not so sure Eleanor likes Graham taking her spot.

March 31: Happy Birthday to King of Pops! Celebrated by snacking on free popsicles.

The popsicle thief got mine. Must feel good on those sore gums!

It's hard to believe Graham is already 9 months old. He is so active and growing so much everyday. He loves his brother and wants to be doing anything Callen is doing. He is just the sweetest and loves to laugh and smile. He waves and says bye bye (but mom better not say that while someone else is holding him...TEARS!!), cruises the furniture, crawls, starting to stand without support, and just wants to be on the go. We love you, little buddy!!

Staying Busy!

These boys are constant! Callen doesn't nap anymore, so it is hard to find him wanting to slow down these days. He's always wanting to jump, climb, run on anything in his room and around the house. His loft bed has become the newest jungle gym and climbing structure in the house. Even Graham today was trying to reach and pull up on it today...just a little too tall for him right now.

March 18: A souvenir from mom and dad's day out on St. Patrick's Day!

March 19: Callen is a mess...that is all I am going to say!

March 20: Brothers wearing matching shirts and navigating mom to the car outside of Publix

March 21: Graham is on the move on all 4s. He has been commando crawling for 2 months now, but all of a sudden decided he was ready to crawl on all 4s.

March 22: Graham's newest fascination is pulling up on the toilet paper holder and then standing there and unravelling it. I've gotten smart and take the paper off the holder, but sometimes he's too quick and gets some off before I can get to it.

What, mom? I didn't do anything. It was all Callen

March 23: Callen is obsessed with washing dishes the last few days. Too bad he wants to wash the ones that are already clean. And too bad he uses half a bottle of dish soap in the process. He asked me how so many bubbles got in there...and how were they all going to go away. Let's think, buddy! We left soon after this pic was taken for about 2 hours. When we got home, there were still bubbles in the sink!

March 24: Fluorescent Callen! He either wears a fire truck shirt or the brightest color clothing you can find. At least I don't lose the bright streak in a crowd as he goes zipping by!

A Week in Review

I hope everyone has had a great week. Pretty much the same thing here...except dealing with colder weather and not being able to get outside as much. (boo!!) With all the warm weather we've had, you kind of forget that it's winter and that we should have cold weather all the time right now!

March 11: I was going through clothes for Callen and getting out the size for him (what has he been eating lately because he has blown through 3T right to 4T?!) when I found this jacket. His uncle Dave bought this for him when he was first born. Dave was riding his bike in Italy and was so excited about Callen's birth that he bought something little kid for Cal. Well, it wasn't little enough for a baby...but at 3 1/2, he's finally starting to fit into it!

Modeling career?

March 12: The church youth group went ice skating on Sunday. I took Callen and he had a great time. He attempted to stand and skate on the ice without the walker, but that proved to be a little difficult. The walker was the way to go!

March 13: I don't know if you can tell from the picture, but Callen has this thing of hiking his bathing suit up so high and giving himself the ultimate wedgie. It cracks me up...Steve Urkel in the making!
'

Goofball!

March 14: Sky Zone with his best buddy Wyatt!

March 16:  This kid pulls up on anything and everything all day long.

Future chef?

March 17: Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Green smoothie for a green day!

Trying Something New

Because we haven't been going on too many adventures lately...instead we've been staying around the house and getting lots of little projects and home repairs taken care of... so, I haven't been posting anything! I try and keep you filled with pictures from trips as well as everyday happenings here at the Morris household. However, I feel I've only posted the big events and trips and not as much the everyday stuff. In keeping with showing you the everyday, I am going to try and post 5-7 pictures and/or videos each week. We take enough pictures with our phone that this should be easy, right?! Hopefully I can take 30 minutes and upload them to this blog at the end of the week so you can get a glimpse into everyday craziness.

March 4: Trip to Costco

We have another fan of the 'nack' store

He was successful in grabbing the cracker from Callen!

March 5: Cal loves making pillow piles or tickle piles...If you are in the pile, it is fair game to be tickled!

Brotherly love...before someone gets tickled!

March 7: Cal is working so hard at his swim float swim in safety rescue classes. He's finally getting the sequence!

March 8: Not sure if Graham really understands the concept of peek-a-boo, but he was doing a pretty good job of playing along.

March 9: Just so you know...Graham is not always Mr. Happy Smiles. This is what happens at our house about 5:00 everyday. Someone needs to figure out how to take an afternoon nap!

March 10: Cal has started riding his bike more and more these days. I took him to Gateway Park last week to try out the mountain bike skills course. He LOVED it, and riding up and down monster hills has boosted his confidence so much. We now keep his bike in the car so he can ride it wherever there are trails or walking paths. When we get to Furman early before swim lessons, he likes to ride the hills by the football stadium. I feel we are going to need to get a bike with pedals before too long.

I hope you enjoyed this first installment of weekly glimpses into the everyday. I will still post trips and adventures we take as a family, but this is quick and easy plus allows you to see what happens (good and bad!) around here.