Wild Safari Party

We decided to have a joint party for the boys this year.  Kamden (5) and Brody (3) both love the show Wild Kratts.  I convinced Kam by telling him a safari jeep would be on the cake... and Brody was 100% in because of the animals.

Aunt J definitely delivered with the cake!  She can't cook but, she can rock a cake.

I'm SO in love with the relationship between these "bookends."  I am ready to hire the big cousin to help with potty training.  No joke.

We hired Animal Wonders for the party.  I cannot say enough positive things about the experience.  Most importantly, the animals are rescues.  No breeding of exotic species here.  Aaaannnd, almost as important, he held the kids captive for over an hour.  

This Milk Snake hung out with Kam for over 10 minutes.  It was awesome and he was in love.  (btw... never gonna have one for a pet in this house)

It turns out Brody LOVES animals.  But loves them from behind some glass.  He warmed up eventually but was pretty uncertain in the begining.  

Up next, Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches.  Most cockroaches aren't about gross kitchens and terrible restaurants.  Most live on the floor of jungles.

Honestly, I can't remember what these were...

Red-Eyed Tree frogs!

  

Leopard Geckos just chilling on Kam's shoulders 

Blue-Tongued Skink giving kisses...

Spotted Salamander

The grand finale was an alligator!  She had a very sad rescue story that started with being found in a freezer.   She is much smaller than she should be but is very tame because of the steps required to get her healthy.  Look at these faces....

She isn't quite sure about all of this...

The silliest kids :)

Kam recieved a ride-on tractor for his 3rd Birthday and it has been used almost daily the last 2 years.  It was only fair that Brody get one, too!  Let me say, it has been priceless that they don't have to share.  Take all my money, if it gets the fighting to stop!

The night ended with cake, of course!

I REALLY need to learn to take a group photo BEFORE the party.

Until next year!

July Randoms

We had such a fun summer.  As the kids get older, summer just gets even better.  There is much more flexibility although, we certainly still pay a price sometimes.  Kamden had the honor of catching the one and only fish EVER caught on the new boat.  We have had it a year.  Fishermen, we are not!  Actually, I think Joe and I could rock some serious fishing but the kids are loud and impatient most of the time.   When swimming and tubing are available, I don't blame them!

This photo is everything.  The girls just love my kids and play SO well together.  They basically treat Brody like a toddler but he lets them and they all love it :)

Kamden completely ROCKED swimming this summer.  He has had lessons the past couple of summers but it really clicked this year.  At the end of the summer, he was independently swimming the whole time at the pool.  The below picture is both Kam and I jumping off the diving board... at the same pool... at the same age... 30 years apart!

This is Ms. C (below pic).  She is the most amazing person that has, without a doubt, changed and shaped Brody.  She is a Speech-Language Pathologist that works for MO First Steps.  Brody qualified for in-home 1x/week speech therapy and I can't believe how awesome the experience was.  It is hard, when in the trenches, to see the progress.  At his 6 month evaluation, it was so great to reflect on how far he has come.  

When Brody turned 3, he aged out of the First Steps program and went under the wings of the school district.  Beyond helping Brody, Ms. C helped ME be a great advocate for B while navigating  social/family expectations, IEP (Individualized Education Plan) meetings, and just plain HELPING with the guilt of having a child with an "expressive speech disorder."  

We miss her dearly.  Brody still finds things around the house that remind him of her and comes up to me in the saddest voice, "Ms. C...."  :(

More on this later.  The transition to the new school has been better than I ever expected!

Colorado Pt. 2

We had just a few days with the kids in Breckenridge after the work retreat.  We definitely filled it with fun!  No trip to Breck is complete without playing in the water by Main Street.  Thanks to Joe for exploring with them... cause that snow melt is COLD. 

This trip fell over Kamden's 5th birthday.  We let him (and of course, Brody) pick out a new toy for the occasion.  Kam picked an excavator that he has been talking about for, literally, a year when he played with the same toy in Oregon last summer.  Brody added to his ridiculous animal collection.  

The birthday morning started with DONUTS... duh.

And a ride up the gondola to the base of the ski hill.

 

We spent many hours exploring the all the activities.   Kamden and Brody are FEARLESS.  Zip-line, alpine slide, bungee trampoline, ropes course, etc.  We "maybe" had to fib a little bit about Brody's age (by about 30 days).  But there was no way that kid was missing out on all this action.  I will never forget his giggles as we went full speed down the alpine slide.  

Sidenote: I cannot say enough positive things about the staff here.  They were so patient and helpful with 2 small kids.  Especially with Brody who needed some help with shoes, a little help balancing, and all from a kid that barely talks or is hard to understand.  Every employee we encountered was just amazing.  

This picture is, probably, my favorite from the whole trip.  SO funny to me.  Kamden confused in a maze.  This kid's expressions are priceless.

 

The Big 5 Birthday ended with tacos (Kamden's request).

 

Before heading to the airport we went on a small, flat hike with the kids.

This how you think it is going to go...

 

This is how it actually goes...

 

No, really.  They did fine... just the slowest mile walk ever.  They can run and jump and play all day.  They never stop moving.  But when asked to walk on a path... nope.

Another awesome CO trip in the books.  Can't wait to go back... or move there.  

WHO'S COMING WITH ME?

Colorado Pt. 1

Joe and his business partners had a working retreat in Colorado in July.  We rented an AMAZING house in Copper Mountain.  This pretty much sums up the trip for the guys.  They sat at that kitchen table working for endless hours.  We did sneak in a little exploring to Vail and Breckenridge.  It wasn't all work :)

 

One of the other wives and myself spent about 3 hours at a glassblowing class in Frisco.  It was, absolutely, one of the coolest things ever.   The owner of the studio was a bit quirky and most likely partaking in some of Colorado's finest medicine but he was a great teacher and it was VERY hands-on. 

 Blowtorch!

 The final products:

After the retreat, Joe flew to KC and picked up the kids and flew right back.  We spent a few more days in CO as a family.  More on that later...