We're on Vacation! Part 1...

Now that I have a moment to breathe, I thought I'd fill everyone in on our first leg of our vacay.
We left Florida on Tuesday...Matt per usual, yelling at everyone (me) to hurry because we are going to miss our flight. Arriving at the airport TWO hours early, I felt more nervous than I usually do about traveling. Boarding an airplane with two small children is nervewracking! Already, while we were waiting for our plane to arrive, an older couple asked where we were sitting- as if to make sure that they were no where near us on the plane. I can't say that I blame them.
Drake was an angel on the plane. Fell asleep watching Transformers (surprise right?)...but Trey. Trey. I have no idea what got into him but he didn't sleep a wink. NOT A WINK. A three and a half hour plane ride and the kid had ants in his pants. It was quite possibly the longest plane ride in my life. Thank God it's over.
We spent our first night in Garner. Gma and Gpa Keraus made Drake a special Dinosaur room. It has two twin beds in it. So I took one, Drake took the other (Matt on the couch) and Trey in a pack-n-play. By 2 am it was Michelle, Drake and Trey in one twin bed...Matt still on the couch. Do we see where this trip is going?
We are now in Ankeny at Nana and Poppy's. Drake is following Kyle around like I knew he would. If Kyle isn't in the room, Drake is asking where he is. It's very cute- and I'm sure Kyle will be exhausted when we leave. Trey is loving all of the attention- especially from Poppy. It's very sweet.
Matt has been hitting the Track Nationals meet and the College World Series all week. Does this mean I get next week off?

=)

More to come...

He's 3!

So the biggest news obviously is that Drake is now officially 3 years old. I really don't know where the time has gone. As Matt so politely let me know, he's not a baby anymore. Every day he needs us a little less. And he's right. Every day he's gaining a little more independence. Very sad. But very exciting. He's such a smart and energetic and creative little boy. I can't wait to see what he makes out of life.

We had a Transformers party. Of course. The kid eats, sleeps and breathes Transformers. I am Bumblebee. Matt is Bulkhead. Trey is Prowl and he of course, is Optimus Prime. He watches Transformers 2 every single day. LOVES all of the action and the robots. He YouTubes Transformers all of the time too. Falls asleep every night with that dang iPhone in his hand =)

We had friends and food and the pool. And a great Transformers cake. He got lots of good loot (all of which we don't need, but what are you going to do??) and was exhausted at the end of it.

One fun present he got was a Betta fish. He named it Hawkeye (after a little nudging from Daddy). And he wanted to play with it. Why wouldn't he? We weren't paying attention...and there were cups from the party left on the table (kids LOVE cups and water). Except these cups had a little bit of beer left in them. When I found him, all of the leftover beer had made it's way into the fish bowl. Along with Optimus Prime and Bumblebee. He was literally playing with the fish. While funny...Hawkeye joined the angel ranks shortly after. RIP Hawkeye.

Drake fell asleep with his Transformer balloon in his hand...great day!

Now that Matt is out of school, we seem to be equally busy. I had recital last weekend which is always an all day affair. Trey was a trooper for one show, but then had to join Drake and Daddy at home. We bought a summer pass to the local water park and have been twice already. The boys (and us!) love it. Drake goes down the slide face first and is getting over his aversion to having his head under water. He'll be a fish by the end of the summer. Already has a lifeguard tan  (think: top of the butt- so cute!)

We are prepping for our 16 day vacay to Iowa/Minnesota/Wisconsin. Excited and nervous all at the same time. So much to do before we leave. So many things to pack. WHERE DO I EVEN START!!!

After a long day at the waterpark...

Water-Swing!

Daddy & Drake on the lazy river....

Mommy & Trey splashin' around

Stuff

Geez. Where do I start? Let's go back to swim class. I'm sorry moms, but this blog entry is about you.

So as you all know, Drake has been in swim class for about a month now...he wasn't getting much out of the first class he was in, as the other kids wouldn't get in the pool, therefore he had no motivation to do anything other than what he could already do. So we wanted to try another class of the same level of kids, that the teacher claimed was more advanced. Well, it's a possibility that he just said that the kids get in the water. I don't know. We were going to try it. So this Saturday, that's where we were. I was excited to see what Drake could accomplish if he saw other kids swimming, going under water, etc. Instead what do I see? A group of mothers, all getting into the water with their preschoolers! I immediately thought that we came at the wrong time- "is this the mommy and me class?"- nope. Preschool level 1. You've got to be kidding me? These were 3 and 4 year old children (one still in diapers may I add), that were clinging to their parents in the water for dear life. And the moms were allowing- encouraging even- the behavior. After initially being angry about the situation, I felt bad for these enablers and their kids. They are just setting themselves up for a liftetime of enabling their children...as a teacher/coach of high school kids, Matt and I have often seen the results of this kind of parenting. It's not a good situation...95% of these kids go off to college and are back before the first semester even ends. Ugh.

Okay- I'm done venting. On to more fun things! Drake is anxiously awaiting his 3rd birthday...2 more weeks! Where has the time gone?? I actually think it's funny that he's only turning 3. The kid is wise beyond his years. Too smart I think sometimes. We can't wait for preschool to start in August. I think he's going to thrive with a teacher that's not me =)

Trey's teeth are still pushing through. 3 or so on the bottom....4 or so on top. Of course all coming in at different rates. Still looks like a hillbilly! Yesterday he actually took a couple unassisted steps as well! I don't know if I'm excited or scared. 2 boys running around the house?? Ok, I'm excited. I think it will be fun!

This holiday weekend we did some fun things. Saturday we took the boys to a "fun day" of sorts at one of the local parks. They had bounce houses, a playground and a fountain park...Drake was in heaven. And Trey can't wait to get out there and play- soon! Yesterday we hung out with our newly acquired friends...see, we've been neighbors for like 4 or 5 years and we just started hanging out a few weeks ago. They are our age, went to school in the Midwest and have a new baby...so it's absolutely ridiculous that we just started hanging out. Funny how life gets in the way of new friendships...better late than never!