Trains and a Thank You

One of Alex’s birthday gifts is a woodworking set. He picked out the train for our first project, so last weekend during Spencer’s nap, Tim, Alex, and I painted and built a train. We had lots of fun! Thanks, Grandpa Art and Grandma Karen! I’m thinking the racecar is next!

Since it was cold and wet and gross outside today, the boys and I went to the mall to ride the train and buy a new Christmas book. While we were getting our tickets, I found out they had a new frequent rider card … for exactly the amount of birthday money Alex and Spencer had just gotten from Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Strunck! So, thank you for the next 15 train rides!! The boys love this train!

Here is a photo, borrowed from the Loco-Motives website, so you can see a full view of the train.

Alex’s 4th Birthday Party

Time has gotten away from us … how is Alex 4 years old already? What a crazy, sweet, energetic BIG boy we have on our hands now! We had a great fire truck themed party over the weekend. The weather did not cooperate, so it was good I had already planned chili and chicken nuggets and a few inside games. We invited 3 friends from preschool (1 couldn’t make it), 4 friends from our playgroup (1 couldn’t make it), and our two friends from Spartanburg. After adding in parents, we definitely had a full house! Here are some pictures of our fun

If you want to go back in time to Alex’s other birthdays, here are the links:

1st Birthday … 2nd Birthday … 3rd Birthday

This is the invitation we sent out.

Fireman hats and stickers for decorating as our icebreaker.

Alex spent a lot of time on this end of the food table!

We made a giant cookie cake and cookie cake cupcakes with buttercream frosting. Delicious! Tim did an amazing job with the fire truck, don’t you think?

Alex is ready to party with his party hat and his new shirt from my parents.

The boys decided to serenade us.

We played “Pin the Tail on the Dalmation”. The boys were surprisingly interested and willing to play!

After a picnic dinner, we opened presents and played for a while. This was the calm before the storm … after cake, the boys were chasing each other in a circle around our house. Pandemonium!

Blowing out his candles!

Our 4 year old!

Alex and his BFF, Ethan.

Freedom Park

We met our friend, Liam, at the Charlotte Nature Museum a few days ago. All three boys had tons of fun! After running around the museum, we took them to the new playground at Freedom Park. Along with a new playground, there is also a child-sized Panthers Football practice field. What a fun day! To top it off, the nice guy in the drive-thru window at Dunkin Donuts/Baskin Robbins gave us free donuts with our milkshake purchase. Yum!

I think Spencer thought the stuffed animals in the indoor playground/water cycle exhibit were real. He kept trying to talk to this one.

This outdoor xylophone was quite a hit!

While Spencer serenaded us, Alex and Liam took a break on a dragonfly.

Buggy Alex!

Spencer, practicing his footwork.

Alex and Liam racing across the field.

Spencer and his bananas!

I’m not sure my “superstars” understood the point of this photo booth!

Last minute stop in the old train before heading home.

Dilworth Chili Cook-Off

Tim’s co-worker is the singer in a really good cover band. When we found out they would be performing at the Dilworth Chili Cook-Off, we knew we had to go! Good music, local beer, and all the chili you can taste? Of course! It was a chilly, but sunny day … perfect for chili! Luckily, it was a small event, so the kiddos were able to participate in a lot of the kid activities without waiting in long lines. The same was true for the chili and beer lines!

Alex learned a little about lacrosse.

Then he learned about the inside of a fire truck.

Alex and Spencer were impressed and confused by Homer the Dragon, the Charlotte Baseball mascot.

The band – Ollie Take Cover – was great! Our friend is Mike, the singer.

Alex and Spencer loved visiting with the Great Danes!

Preschool Halloween Party 2014

Alex’s school had a small Halloween party last week. The kids paraded around in their costumes, listened to a “spooky” story, sang a song, and ate snacks on the playground. It was fun to be at school with Alex!

Listening to the spooky story

Spencer spent the whole party trying to run people over on this 4-wheeler

Alex and Ethan taking a drink break before fighting more fires on the playground.

Cupcakes!

Halloween 2014

Want to read my very first blog post? It was Alex’s 1st Halloween … I’ve come a long way (this is post #373)! Thanks to all of you who read this blog! It helps motivate me when I know people are waiting for more pictures and details about my precious boys!

If you want to check out our other Halloween posts, here you go: Halloween 2012, Halloween 2013.

We had lots of fun this Halloween! Tim hung some Halloween lights on the PowerWheel, tucked a few beers in a cooler and attached hooks for the candy. Alex was so excited to drive him and Spencer around for Trick-or-Treating! The only disappointment for the night was that Ethan (friend from school) wasn’t trick-or-treating with him.

Now, what you’ve been waiting for …

Spencer is wearing Alex’s 1st costume and Alex is a fireman!

What a fun way to Trick-or-Treat!

The boys had so much fun!

Big smiles with Daddy on the way home.

Both boys loved their costumes.

Spencer’s Halloween pajamas

Alex drew all the faces on our Jack-O-Lanterns and Tim carved them out. We love them!

Alex’s 1st Halloween, 2011 (almost 11 months)

Spencer’s 2nd Halloween, 2014 (almost 16 months)

Mario Kart

Back in September, we introduced Alex to Mario Kart on the Nintendo Wii. Life hasn’t been the same since! Alex is obsessed … but for a good reason … he’s really good! He had gotten really good at steering a race car game on the tablet, so Tim hooked up the Wii. Alex was so excited! He was pretty good in the beginning, but now he is way better than I ever was! He could probably beat Tim if we get our other controller working. The newest part of the obsession is winning a trophy – he took his races really seriously the other day and kept coming in first place. He had no idea he could win a trophy! It’s fun watching him play, but it’s hard convincing him he can’t play the Wii all day!

Alex’s first introduction to Mario Kart on the Wii.

Spencer and Alex sharing the recliner during a race.

Alex was so excited to watch his character receive his trophy!

Pointing to his score! He came in 2nd place. Early in the day when he came in 1st, he was too excited and hit the button before I could take a picture of the screen!