Monday, April 23, 2012

Great Wolf Weekend!

Finally, we were able to schedule a weekend to go to Great Wolf Lodge! Elliott earned this trip quitting his thumb-sucking! We've caught him a few times sucking it, but always when he is asleep. We are really proud of him and had a great weekend to show for it.

First we drove up to Seattle to spend a little time with Lauren, Justus and Cora. It's been a while since we saw them last and we won't see them again until late May. This was the perfect time to sneak in a quick visit. Holly was VERY excited about Cora! She wanted to attack her. Holly's dragon voice/yelling scared sweet Cora a bit. We spent time at the park near L&J's house. The weather was gorgeous and we were happy to enjoy it.



Holly was having a great time on the swing

Cora joined her for a bit.

This was Elliott's donut shop. They sold his favorite kinds, Apple Fritters and Green frosted.

We tried for a cousin picture but Elliott wasn't into it. Instead we got the baby girls

Then Holly goes into attack mode...

After our night in Seattle we drove back down to Great Wolf Lodge. We had a blast playing in the wave pool, climbing the fort and wading around in the little kid pool. Holly has no fear of the water and would have happily crawled right into the wave pool had I not stopped her. Elliott takes a little more time to warm up to new things. But, after a while he was in the deep water with me, floating with every wave. Dan and I were thankful that his parents joined us for the trip. We were able to ride all of the waterslides together. Howlin' Tornado was really fun! He also got to do the MagiQuest game, which I heard he really liked. When we left Elliott said he wanted to stay there forever!

Cupcakes at Great Wolf

Elliott heading out to the story time dressed in his jammies and new Croc Crocs

We arrived home to amazing weather and super long grass. They happily hung out in the sun for a while.

Then the guys mowed the lawn

Monday, April 9, 2012

Easter Weekend

We had a busy Easter weekend. The weather here finally decided to get nice. I think it was the first nice weekend we have had since the fall. A break from the cold and rain was very welcome. It also made for two great Easter Egg hunts!

On Friday night we decorated eggs. I thought this kit was adorable. It was a lot of work, but the eggs were cute.


On Saturday we went to Wilsonville and participated in an egg hunt there. I'm not sure if we will do it again next year because it is so crowded. They have separate areas based on age. But, in the 1-3 area parents are allowed to help their kids. I think Elliott got a little overwhelmed when it was time to go as he got charged by parents eager to get eggs for their children. He was very happy to get two eggs and a bouncing ball which he had obviously been eyeing beforehand. Elliott is not competitive and doesn't care about getting the most. I'm thankful for that because he was thrilled with what he got.



So happy with his "haul" :)

On Sunday we spent the morning at home and then went to my parents house for Easter dinner. The weather was amazing so we were able to do a great egg hunt in their yard. They hid over 150 eggs for the grandkids to find. There were even eggs that were set out for Holly and Paige to find on their deck. Elliott had the time of his life playing all day with his cousins. He was sobbing when we left because he wanted to continue playing with Cameron. After the initial egg hunt Cameron and Brooke took at least 1/2 the emptied eggs and hid them again. The kids played outside happily for hours.

Holly, up 1.5 hours before Elliott checked our their baskets and founds a few eggs hidden in low places. The Easter Bunny went a little wild, though we used gift cards we had lying around for a lot of it. Next year we'll have to tone it down.



When Elliott finally woke up (past 9am) we were treated to this amazing hair style!

Porter Family picture

And they're off..

I forgot his easter basket, so he used an old trick-or-treating pumpkin.


Holly and Paige raided Cameron's unattended basket. They were quite happy about it.

This is Caleb. Caleb turned 3 at the end of January. This is Caleb riding his bike without training wheels! He's been doing this for at least a month. Not only can he ride, he was riding in circles around the driveway. He tries to pop wheelies, and will do tricks with his feet, including pulling one leg over so that both his legs are on the same side! This kid is amazing!

Holly is 9 months old!

Last week Holly celebrated her 9th month! We got her official weight, 17lb, 3oz. She is in the 23rd percentile for weight and 67th for height. She is just a skinny thing. She has a few rolls, but not anywhere close to Elliott at the same age. We had some really rough nights this past month. Holly decided she was a newborn again and wanted to eat up to 3 times a night! That, along with her being decidedly picky about who can feed her (me) made for some long nights and tired days. Her personality is great though. She is a happy girl who loves to see what everyone else is doing. If you talk to her she will reply back to you in baby babble. She adores Elliott and wants to be doing whatever he is. This has resulted in some trying times, but Elliott is learning to share a bit more, and Holly is learning the word "no".


When Holly is really happy we get this goofy grin:

Trying so hard to get to the Legos

Usually I don't condone blocking things off (other than the stairs) because I would just rather teach my kids what they can and cannot touch. But, this day I allowed Elliott to keep playing in their playroom because he had tons of small toys out from when she was napping. Holly was NOT happy about it.


We decided to have Elliott start preschool next year. It will be 2 days a week for 3 hours. The preschool is a 2 minute drive from our house! Elliott said he was really excited to go there after we took a tour. He loves to listen to stories and to have us read him books and poems. He would be thrilled if we spent an hour each night reading/storytelling.

Elliott and Holly going for a ride on the chair in their bedroom. She is so happy to be playing with Elliott.