The Beginning of 2012

Phew, it has been ages since I've blogged - and since then we've celebrated Christmas, New Years, Ryan's 3rd birthday, Valentines Day and more! It's always something around here and we've been busy as bees but that's the way I like it! Right now the boys are taking swim lessons at the Y on Saturdays, Ryan does My Gym on Fridays, and Brendan just moved into an Accelerated Reading program at school. I never really thought about it, but we are definitely getting busier as they get older! It's actually a more "fun" kind of busy :) Coming up we have a Saint Patrick's Day playdate (one of our favorite holidays!), the Kids Lego Fest in Cincinnati, a spring break trip to New Jersey, end of the school year celebration, T-ball, camps, Vacation Bible School and a summer vacation to Cape Cod! How lucky we are to be able to do all these fun things as a family. Here's a few pictures from these last few months. Enjoy!

DISNEY WORLD 2011

We were very blessed to once again spend Thanksgiving week in the most magical place on earth! This year our family of four made the LONG drive from Kentucky to Florida but this time the ride went much smoother. So smooth in fact, that we made in down in one day! We added an extra night on Saturday so we could wake up in our resort. The Beach Club Resort at Disney World is by far the BEST place our family has ever stayed! We were lucky to be upgraded to the club level floor so we took full advantage of the free breakfast and snacks. The resort also has the most amazing pool, complete with a sand-bottom and a beach (with sand that doesn't stick to you!), a pirate ship and two water slides. Kevin and Brendan did lots of swimming that week while Ryan and I snuck in a few naps. This vacation really felt relaxing...our first day spent at the pool was paradise! The resort was also within walking distance to EPCOT so we spent lots of time there. We had two wonderful dinners in Italy and Mexico! Nice to see the world without leaving the U.S. :) Monday we made it to park opening at Magic Kingdom which is something we've never seen before. Mickey and friends open the park by arriving on the Disney Railroad at Main Street station! Which was actually Ryan's favorite ride in the park. While big brother rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad or Splash Mountain with Mom or Dad (3x on each!) Ryan was content to ride the railroad all around the park. He also was a big fan of Aladdin's Magic Carpet ride! Brendan's favorite ride this year was Star Tours at Disney's Hollywood Studios. Since he has started kindergarten most of the boys are into Star Wars and he is obsessed with Darth Vadar! He also rode this ride 3 times in one day. What a lucky kid! The Osborne Family's Dancing Lights at Studios also did not disappoint and really got us into the Christmas spirit! This year we finally made it to Animal Kingdom on Thanksgiving morning. The safari ride really makes you feel like you are in Africa on the Savannah! We saw giraffes, ostriches, a lion and lionness and many more animals. The Lion King stage show was also great - just like Broadway! Our wonderful friends the Duffs were also in Disney that week with their 3 boys and we spent the morning with them. It was great to meet up with friends on Thanksgiving! The boys are still talking about what a great week it was for our family. I feel so blessed to be able to make wonderful Disney memories with my boys. I always tear up on the first day at Magic Kingdom, feeling lucky to see the magic through their eyes! We are counting the days until we go again. Next year the new Fantasyland opens - can't wait to see it! As Mickey says, See You Real Soon!

Happy Halloween 2011

Phew, we made it through the Halloween season! Between trick or treating at the zoo, class parties, and finally Halloween night in our neighborhood these kids have lots of Halloween events! Once again our neighborhood was filled with lots of superheroes - B was Captain America and R was Robin again this year. They had a blast collecting candy and for my boys it is more about the process than actually eating the candy. They are happiest with the pretzels! Now that the fall craziness is over we are looking forward to spending Thanksgiving week in Orlando just the four of us. Only 12 more days and we'll be in Disney World! After that, we begin a whole new level of craziness with the holiday season...but we wouldn't change the chaos for anything!!!

Happy Birthday Meredith

Wishing a Very Happy Birthday to our wonderful Wife and Mommy! Hope your day is Special! Love, -Kevin, Brendan and Ryan!

HAPPY FALL Y'ALL!

Love this post title - I got my Mom a fake pumpkin with this saying a few years back in Ohio, and I just think it is adorable. Fall is always my favorite time of year - I love pumpkins, Halloween, and of course my birthday! October has always been a special month in our family. So I am spending October with my boys and husband celebrating the wonder of fall! We went last weekend to the train museum in Ohio. It has become one of our favorite places, just a quick 90 minute drive up 71 North to Cincinnati and the boys LOVE seeing the trains. They are obsessed. Their Halloween decorations were wonderful and very kid-friendly. Brendan does scare easily and their trick or treat lane was right up his alley! The kids had a blast.

This week we also made our yearly trek to the Louisville Zoo for the "World's Largest Halloween Party." Once again it was awesome, and not very crowded due to some rain! We stayed mostly dry until the end so it was definitely worth it. I spent today at Gallrein Farms with my little guy and some friends going on a hayride, picking pumpkins, and feeding goats. It is a gorgeous farm in Shelby County and reminds me of our very favorite pumpkin patch back in Ohio! I will return next week as a chaperone with Brendan's kindergarten class and am sure we will have just as much fun. Am hoping for the same clear, crisp weather! Looking forward to the next few weeks as Nana Cindy comes for a visit and our neighborhood has trick-or-treat - heard there will be quite a few superheroes! We are going to enjoy fall weather while we can.

Soccer Saturdays

We are in full-swing soccer mode on Saturdays this fall. Ryan is taking a parent-child soccer class at 4Kicks4Kidz, the indoor soccer facility where Brendan has taken soccer classes the past two years. We think he loves that it is finally "his turn" after watching his big brother for so many years! Brendan is also on one of three kindergarten teams for his school, Saint Mary Academy. Brendan already knew three other kids from his class on his team, and they are playing other Catholic school kindergarten teams for the next 6 weeks. The first game was last Saturday and Brendan seemed to have a good time! This is the big leagues, he even has a shirt number - #4. Hopefully he will enjoy the games enough to also play for school in the spring. Go SMA Monarchs!!

First Day of Preschool

Today Ryan started his second year at KidZone at Northeast Christian Church, the church down the street from our house where both boys attended last year. We LOVE this program, all the teachers are so warm and welcoming. His teacher, Miss Becky, also taught the kids music last year so he is very familiar with her. There are also two assistant teachers, one whom is the Mom of a boy from Brendan's class last year. Luckily we had no tears from Ryan this year! He was so happy seeing his friends again and playing with new friends. Although he never seems to eat much lunch at school (we never have that problem at home!) all in all it was a great day. And now I have my 8 glorious kid-free hours a week back! I even had lunch with just Kevin today - can't remember the last time that happened! We are looking forward to another wonderful year for Ryan at KidZone.

First Day of Kindergarten!

Our "baby" boy is almost done with his first week of kindergarten (picking him up in an hour) and so far things seem to be going pretty well. He enjoys recess and lunch in the cafeteria, yesterday he liked music class and has Spanish today. He has a wonderful sub named Mrs. Bird who is motherly, kind, and patient. You need patience dealing with 21 kindergartners! So far he says he is friends with a boy named Colin at his table but mentioned sitting near a few girls at lunch time. Today he brought in his "All About Me" bag to show-and-tell. He packed a T-ball picture of himself, a Smurfette, a train, and a Derek Jeter baseball card. He was hoping once he told his classmates about these things that they'd clap for him :) Next week Mommy and Daddy are encouraged to drop him off in the carpool lane versus walking him in, which I think he will be fine with. I just miss being with him all day, every day! Having alone time with Ryan is also nice for a change. Both boys are wiped out by the new early schedule but hoping in a few weeks they will adjust.

Here's our BIG kindergartner!