More balls, less dolls

Talking about adddie's birthday present (Addie wants some princess pjs):

Drew said, "Like Kate likes princesses".  Kate said, "Actually, I don't like
princesses.  I like balls."  I asked, "What do you mean?"  Kate said, "Like
basketballs and soccer balls and baseballs."

Vacation time

Went to Hiawassee and Dollywood. Kate's favorite ride was probably the Dizzy Disk. Drew's favorite ride was the Smoky Mountain River Rampage. Drew through the largest, most random tantrum about going to the bathroom. Don't even really need to blog on it, let's just say Sherri will always have that burned into her mind.

Drew's first real bike ride

Happened at the most nerve wracking place on earth actually. He did a great job once he figured out how to really get moving. Note to self, post a picture. Training wheels worked well.


As for the nerves, he (and Kate and Dylan) rode their bikes at the Hiawassee Dam. There is a walkway about as wide as 1 and a half parking space that goes along the top of the berm for half a mile. This was the riding spot. Can't find a good picture of it, but picture that width. Off one side is a 60 degree hill going 50 feet down. The other side is a 60 degree hill covered in rocks leading to the reservoir.

So that was pretty awesome.

Thanks for visiting Granny

We had a grand old time while Granny was in town the last few days. Ate out lots and she got to see both kids play their soccer games

Deep mysteries discussed before bed

Kate: What's wrong with formula?
Chris: Well, nothing's really wrong with it. It's just not as good as mommy milk.
Kate: Why not?
Chris: Well, God made mommy milk to have all of the stuff a baby needs. People make formula and do their best, but it just doesn't have all of the stuff a baby needs.

pause

Kate: Avy drinks formula right?
Chris: Yes
Kate: And, did Dylan drink formula when he was a baby?
Chris: He did
Kate: That must be why he acts so crazy sometimes.

Hello Captain Haircut

And, Ben has now had his first ever haircut. Boy, did he not enjoy that one little bit. All camera work (pictures and video) done by Kate. Hands and head held by Chris. Cutting by Sherri. But, dude looks good as a junior executive.

His first haircut was a little less eventful than the other kids. Kate's was at Amanda's buzz day and involved mass quantities of hair going in front of a giant crowd. Drew's was at Disneyworld with the parade going by. Sorry Ben, you're the third kid. You get gruel and you'll like it.

Yet more pictures

Good parents let their kids play with snakes. Part of our hike.


Kate the soccer stud, and make no mistake. This year she is a stud. 3 goals last game and she is leaving other kids in her wake. Picture the post-battle scene in "Gone With the Wind."


Kate is also taking gymnastics. She has made it quite clear that she got Chris' leaping ability which we are thrilled about.


Kate also climbed Amicalola under her own power. 1 mile in, 700 steps up. 1.5 miles down.


This face is awesome in so many ways. Taken randomly just when the doorbell rang and we caught Drew's reaction. Almost positive this could be an internet meme somehow.

Pictures part 2

Drew and his first organized sport. He is getting more comfortable and less hesitant. Youngest kid in the league.


Ben was very nice to share his birthday cake. Drew, Kate, Andrew, and Dylan all got to eat the detritus off of Ben's hands.


I don't even know what this is.


Yum.


This is a big tree we saw whilst hiking. Sort of awe inspiring.

Let's do a giant batch pictures

I have a good reason for not updating a ton recently. Work is nuts and I can no longer get to the posting function of this blog thanks to work web blockers. So, I actually have to be productive. Let's let the pictures do the talking


Ben opened some birthday presents. Note the tongue.


Ben was Godzilla, the cake was Japan, and a family watched in awe at the destruction.



Ben proved he enjoys all food and has the manners of a bear.


Drew climbed Amicalola falls. Rode the backup up, walked down on his own about 1.5 miles. Also, he urinated off the mountain, so that was pretty awesome.



Ben showed a yen for castles and boy toys.

Benzing Norgay

So Ben was able to crawl all the way up the stairs today. Sherri was behind him letting him test his mettle. Made it with no issues, other than some random distractions from shiny objects.

Kate's future

Kate and I were talking about how she would still have to take hard classes
and classes she didn't like when she chose a major in college (because she
was whining about learning to add by 8s). She said, "Mommy, I can be more
than one thing, right?" I said, "Sure." She said, "Then I want to be a
dentist and a dog doctor and a doctor that gets babies out of Mommy's
tummies and then a coach." I said, "Wow. You sure will need a lot of
school to do all of those things." She said, "That's ok. I don't mind. I
would be so disappointed if I couldn't do all of those things."

Happy birthday to Drew

And, he's now 3. The party was quite fun, held at Grayson Park. Friends there were Andrew, Addie, Katie, Emmie, Kate, Avy, Ben. Water gun fights, bubbles, tons of playground time. Gifts were heavily focused on superheroes (and again, Drew has never seen any of them really do anything, they just appeal to his masculinity). He had a "Dark" Vader balloon that he chose.

Ben has a drinking problem

No, not really, but he did his most obvious deep thinking communication so far. Sherri and I were in the dining room, Ben was working his way around the kitchen floor. He went to the drawer with the kid cups, grabbed one, crawled over with it to the fridge, got on his knees and held the cup up towards the water dispenser. Looked at me with a big smile on his face.

Once again, soccer season

Or, an actual OK excuse for Drew to kick things. Kate is back with her crew, most o the team is the same as last soccer season, adding in Sophie which Kate is thrilled about. Rest of her team is Watson, Wynn, Andrew, Katie, Audrey, Zach.

Drew is playing for the first time, and I had forgotten (willfully obstructed) the memories of how much more stressful it is coaching 3 year olds that haven't played before. Drew has Emmie and Addie on his team which is nice. Other random kids are Riley, Theran, Ella, and Ethan. Once Drew decides playing is fun, he'll pretty much dominate I think. May not happen until we get into games though. Plus, he's the youngest one out there.

School updates

Kate is an avid reader. lots of time spent with puzzles, math, parts of speech, handwriting, following directions, creative writing, and probably 20 things I am not thinking of.

Drew spends time with puzzles, learning letters and numbers, and mechanical manipulation of objects.