Vegas Baby!!!

I have good excuses (at least in my mind) for why I'm STILL behind in blogging...once again we headed to Vegas for Memorial Day for a mini-family reunion and to watch Papa play pool! 

Here are a couple of preview pics from the trip!!  And yes, that means there is a May picture palozza on the horizon :)

A Lasting Legacy...

I have so much blogging to catch up with...guess that's the problem when we do so many fun things!! No time to catch up with everything today, but figured a few pics was better than none :)


For those of you who don't remember, Westridge Middle School (where Zach taught) gives an annual award to one student and one teacher that embody Zach's spirit. The school narrows down the students to a final two and then I pick the winner based on the nomination essays. It means a lot to me to be a part of the award and the school where Zach meant so much to so many. Last Tuesday, we headed to the Westridge academic awards night to watch the awards get presented. D once again came for the beginning of the ceremony...I think it is nice for him to see his daddy celebrated and loved by so many.

A huge thanks to my dad for taking D home (he is 4 after all and watching a hundred kiddos you don't know walk across the stage isn't easy for him!) Also a huge thanks to my sister for coming to the ceremony with me...I'm pretty sure I'll never be able to make it through one without crying, and it's nice to have somebody there for support!

This past Wednesday, D and I joined the Westridge teachers for their end of school lunch party. It was nice to get to see the teachers in a more informal environment and D loved getting the tour of the school and seeing Zach's old classroom. Westridge is still so supportive of D and me and I am so very thankful for all of them! And a huge thank you to Mindy (Zach's mentor teacher)...she continues to be a support system in our lives and makes sure we always feel welcome and included.

Mindy, Dylan, me and Tami

Have a happy and safe Memorial Day weekend!! I promise lots of fun stories/pics soon!!

I Want to Wake Up in the City that Never Sleeps!

We had a great weekend in New York City with Aunt NiNi, Uncle Chris, Lindsay and Florrie (Chris' sister and mom)...flew home late on Sunday, and I think I'm still worn out!  Have had a super busy week, and the times I've tried to blog, I've fallen asleep at the computer :) 

In good news, that means there are lots of fun pictures/stories to come :) 

For now, here's a pic of D's favorite thing in NYC...bike riding in Central Park with his Uncle Chris and Aunt NiNi :)

Once a Slacker...Always a Slacker?!?

At some point, I'll get back to updating this on Wednesdays...at some point :) 

For now, here's a quick preview of what's been keeping us busy!!  Visits from some of our favorite people (Grandma Toni and Aunt NiNi)!

Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's out there!  And a special Happy Mother's Day to Namma!!  Thanks for being such an amazing mom and grandmother!  And for setting such a great example on how to do it right!!  We love you so much!!

Weekly Recap!

Wait, what?!?  It's Friday??  If it can snow in May, I suppose I can blog on Friday :)

We had a nice weekend last weekend!  The perfect combo of busy fun :)  On Saturday, we went to a birthday party at Deanna Rose...it was cold and really wet, but we still had a good time.  And D had a GREAT time jumping in puddles!

On Sunday morning, we continued our tradition of doing the Trolley Run!  And in a new tradition, it was dry and sunny!  D had a great time and especially loved Beth's mini-muffins (he might have had 6 of them!)  We missed the Turner family this year, but we are excited for them to come walk with us next year!  I told Dylan that one of these years he was going to be big enough to run it with me!  

Baby Adam wasn't overly impressed ;)  He did GREAT!!

D and Collin discussing how many muffins they should get!

Racing with Lars :)

Racing with Mark :)

Why wouldn't you eat a donut at the finish line? 

Our traditional breakfast post race...yes, even after all those muffins, D still consumed a giant chocolate chip pancake!

Random pic...this is how I found Dylan the other night when I checked on him before bed!  Of course, my first inclination was to get my camera :)

D "winking" at me at Panera...Monday was beautiful so we decided a Panera/park date was in order!

On Tuesday, we went to Andie's orchestra concert!  She played great and D did a pretty good job sitting still!

We hit up the driving range on Wednesday before the snowstorm hit!

And since I'm late...bonus pics from this morning!  We were out of oatmeal (a crisis in our house)...so I made Dylan some green eggs :) 

Finally, here is a video from Dylan at the park on Monday.  He loves the monkey bars and for the first time on Monday, he made it all the way across by himself!  And managed to do it a second time on video!  He was SO proud of himself!! 

Happy 4th Birthday!!

Like Aunt NiNi always says...go big or go home!  So here it is!!  I'm finally catching up with the last few weeks of pics, including what turned into a month long celebration of D's birthday!  I have posted a billion pics, so I'll let them do most of the talking :) 

On the Saturday before D's birthday/Easter, we went to an Easter egg hunt at the HyVee next to my parents' house.  There was a ton of eggs/candy and D loved it!  Minus the Easter bunny himself which he was still a bit scared of!

 

 

 

 

After the Easter egg hunt, we met Annie O, Liz and their mom out for lunch!  It was so nice getting to see all 3 of them!  They've always been like a second fam to me and D adores them as well!  He especially loves the new "whack-a-mole" game that Barb picked out for him!

Quentin and Cameron sent D a ball in the mail...it literally comes just like that, a ball with a postage stamp on it.  Awesome!

We stayed the night at my parent's house and D had a great time on the Easter egg hunt on Sunday morning!

 

 

After the egg hunt, church (for my mom and me) and breakfast, we decided to do Dylan's favorite activity for his birthday...that's right, we hit up the golf course!  I caddied for him and he played pretty well!  He absolutely loves golfing and it's so cute to see him on the course! 

After golf and naps, everybody came over to Craig Street for Dylan's birthday dinner.  The kiddos (and grown ups) had a great time playing with their Easter presents and D's birthday toys!  

 

Launching water balloons and then dinner rolls (leftover from the night before) off the porch with the new launcher D got from the Easter bunny.

 

 

Playing with the remote control hot air balloon Angry Bird Ella and Maggie got Dylan!

 

This pic cracks me up...Uncle Billy and Papa were both playing with D's toys and all he wanted was a turn :)

I got D a world map where you can put push pins in all the places he has been...like a typical 4 year old, he told me it was a boring present!  Although, since, he has decided that he likes it :)  We have fun looking at all the places we have been! 

The day after D's birthday, we went for his 4 year check up.  He is up to the 80th percentile for height (was 70th at 3 years) and 60th percentile for weight (was 70th at 3 years).  Dr. Kate was so impressed with how big D is and how grown up he is!   

 

The Turner family came to town for D's KC birthday party!  We had so much fun playing with Quentin and seeing baby Cameron who is getting so big!  Aunt NiNi also decided she couldn't miss the party and flew in for a night!  D was SO excited to have her in KC and introduce her to his preschool friends!

On Sunday, D introduced Quentin to he and NiNi's doughnut tradition :)  Apparently, it was a hit and he's asked JoAnne for doughnuts multiple times since :)

After breakfast, we headed to the party at Deanna Rose farmstead.  We had a great time surrounded by so many people that love Dylan and wanted to celebrate his 4th!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

D was still so amped after the party, that he wouldn't go down for a nap...so we decided that watching Calliou with Aunt NiNi was a better alternative :)

Of course, D fell asleep on the way to my parents' house...but woke up for some baseball with NiNi and Uncle Billy before NiNi had to head home!

And now everything that's been going on post-birthday celebration :)

We've been to the dentist...

And to the park (again and again and again!)...

Played with the Winter family who came to visit from Iowa...

We've been back to Deanna Rose...and got to feed the baby cows after we watched the mommy cow get milked :)

Celebrated Madison and Jessica getting confirmed :)

Last week, D and I headed to Des Moines...JoAnne and I did the glow run which was CRAZY!!  Imagine 14 thousand people (many of whom pre-partied for many hours) all dressed in neon with glow sticks...it was a blast!  D's favorite part of Des Moines, of course, was the pool balls!  And playing with Namma :)  

On Saturday morning, we headed to the Y with the Quentin, Cameron, Stella, Wyatt and Jackson...it was great seeing everybody!  We made piggy banks and then shot some hoops!  Afterwards, we headed to the zoo.  It was a bit cold, but the kiddos had a great time!

Being a flamingo!

 

The sea lions were so cute!  This one rubbed up against the glass like D was really petting him!

Glow Run fun :)

On Sunday morning, we played lots of pool balls and headed to the park at my elementary school!

The past few nights, we have been enjoying the warmer weather (finally)!  We've been doing a lot of bike riding and baseball playing!  D and I are both so happy that spring is finally here (and hopefully to stay!).

All right, that's it...I'm finally caught up!  Someday, I'm going to look back at this blog and realize why I am tired :)