Alex’s 2nd Birthday

Alex’s birthday was Friday, and man have we been busy celebrating! My parents came in to town Thursday night to be around to help me prepare for Alex’s birthday party and to (of course!) celebrate Alex’s special day. Friday we went to the park, met Daddy for lunch, and celebrated more when he got home from work. Saturday, we had 11 of Alex’s friends over (plus parents!) for a construction-themed party. We had loads of fun! Rather than blabbing too much over all the details, I put together a slide-show to show off all our fun (the slideshow doesn’t work on mobile devices, so you’ll need to check it out on a computer):

If you would like copies of any of these pictures, send me an email, and I’ll share the web album with you.

We go for Alex’s 2 year wellness check on Wednesday, so I’ll post all his stats then! I can’t wait to see what Dr. May thinks of our big boy!

Science Class

With our Kindermusik class over, I was anxious to find something else to fill our Monday mornings. I was really excited when I remembered that the City of Wilmington offers preschool science classes at a park close to our house. Our first class was themed “animal armor” and our class next week is themed “reindeer games”. Alex and I had so much fun!

Class started with a story-time centered on the theme, followed by turtle petting! Since turtles have a shell as their “armor”, the kids were able to touch a turtle’s shell. Alex was so excited that he clapped after touching him. I hate I didn’t catch a picture, but I did get one of him watching Miss Mandy helping other students pet the turtle. We went on a hike through the park to look for more animals (we didn’t see anything!) and finished by working on a hermit crab craft. Alex was very proud of his crab!

Following the turtle’s every move

Alex LOVED watching the fish and turtles.

He was so proud to show Daddy his crab, then gently put him on the step.

I can’t wait to see what we make next week.

 

2nd Birthday Week Begins!

Can you believe it is Alex’s 2nd birthday week? Looking at pictures while I planned this post, I was amazed at how much he has grown and has turned into a little boy. I’m such a proud mama!

Alex opened his first gifts this past weekend with Grandpa Art and Miss Karen. He was very excited to see more choo-choos!

Do I get to open this gift, too?!

I have TWO trains!

Bubbles & Grandpa

Grandpa Art, Miss Karen, and Kelsey came for a visit over the weekend. Between the Carolina Beach Christmas Parade, chasing bubbles in the side yard, and eating too much food, we had tons of fun! Here are a few pics from our afternoon chasing bubbles in the sun Saturday afternoon.

Alex loves his new bubble machine!

Alex chasing the bubbles all over the yard.

Aunt Kelsey and me taking bubble pictures. :-)

I LOVE how this picture came out!

Carolina Beach Christmas Parade

The Carolina Beach Christmas Parade this past weekend was really cool! The temperature was a bit chilly, but the lights were awesome! Alex was very impressed, especially with the fire trucks and the tow trucks. The neatest thing about the parade was that instead of trailers, most floats were boats – I guess that’s fitting for a beach town!

Alex doesn’t quite know what to think about the loud sirens at the beginning of the parade.

Telling Aunt Kelsey about the choo-choo.

The Christmas Season Begins!

Mom and I have both seen fun Christmas crafts for toddlers all over the internet. So, we finally made one instead of just talking about them. When Mom was here for Thanksgiving, we traced Christmas cookie cutters on scraps of felt to make felt “ornaments” for a Christmas tree. Then, Alex and I picked up green felt from Hobby Lobby so I could trace and cut out a tree to put on the wall. It’s been a while since my old teacher hands have cut shapes, so I was very thankful when Tim picked up an extra pair of scissors to give me a hand. I think he ended up cutting out more than me. The tree met approval with Alex and his friend, Ellie at our play date after I got it on the wall. I think Alex prefers taking all the ornaments off with one swipe of his hand … but at least that means I get to make it look pretty all over again!

Ripley’s Aquarium

Alex and I took a road trip to Myrtle Beach to visit our friends Amanda, Crey, and Cerys while they were on vacation. Since Alex is currently interested in fish, we decided to spend the afternoon at Ripley’s Aquarium on the Boardwalk. We had tons of fun! It wasn’t crowded at all, so Alex and Cerys basically had the run of the whole aquarium. We had to work hard to keep up with them!

The best part of the aquarium was the shark tunnel. Alex and Cerys loved running as fast as they could on the moving sidewalk … making it hard for the adults to enjoy all the fish and sharks!

After a chilly run around the Boardwalk, we ended up having lunch at Hard Rock Café. Alex and Cerys were way past bedtime by then were kind of silly … and lovey! Once I got Alex back in the car with his comfy sweatpants, it didn’t take but 2 minutes for him to fall asleep. What a fun adventure!

It doesn’t look like it, but Cerys was kissing on Alex too. ;-)