Park Time

Joey is getting so big now! These past few months, he's learned to really appreciate the park and playground equipment (besides just the swing). We went to a particularly beautiful park in Pennsylvania the last time we were up visiting Brian's parents (Caledonia State Park). Joey had lots of fun on their playground.

What is it about boys and steering wheels?

Down slide number 1 . . . it was slightly faster than Joey anticipated.

Now for slide #2 . . . he wanted Grandpa up there with him, even though he refused any and all help.
Slide 2 done, now lets get back up for #3
Slide #3 was very slow . . . so slow in fact, I was able to take multiple pictures of him coming down. He actually had to use his feet to propel himself down the slide.

And just when you thought you were done with slides, MORE SLIDES!

Yes, our son loves slides! On the other side of the playset were more slides. He didn't like these quite as much, though.

The other nice part of Caledonia is the creek. Joey loved this creek when we went up in July. However, it was considerably colder this time around. Too cold for even our little fish.

Firsts

Kate started solid foods (cereal) about 3 weeks ago. She LOVES it! Most days I can't feed it to her fast enough, so she cries. Here are some pictures of her first bite of cereal.

I can't believe she's on solids already!

Beach Trip

One of the many advantages to having Brian home all the time now is that we can go on vacation, something that was almost impossible to do while he was working for his firm. We decided to take advantage of our time off and go see my family for a few days. They live only an hour from the beautiful NC coast, which we had to take advantage of while we were there. We spent a morning enjoying Topsail Beach, after which the kids were more than ready to take naps in the car on the way back.

Brian and Joey enjoying the waves

Joey wasn't too sure about the beach . . . he hadn't been since Hawaii last summer. I think he prefers the pool for now.

Kate getting some sun.

Smiling at Daddy

We had a great time and will have to go back sooner, so Joey might have a chance of remembering what the beach is!

Birthday Boy

Joey had his 2nd birthday on July 25th. Where did the time go? We celebrated in grand style starting out with chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, followed by a trip to the park. After his nap, we had his birthday party. Joey, being a typical 2 year old, refused to try any birthday cake. But he had fun opening his presents and playing with his grandparents and friends.

Blowing out the candle on his birthday cake. He did actually blow some, but not quite enough to get it out.

Opening presents. He was very excited about a new ball!

Playing with bows. Who needs presents when there are bows?

Joey and his friend, Jill, excited about another present.

By this point, Joey was in present overload. Jill was much more excited about them then he was.

"Sharing" the bubble lawnmower.

One random Kate picture, just because she's so cute (and so everyone can see how big she's gotten)

Trip to the Zoo

We went to the NC Zoo in Asheboro on Memorial Day with some friends of ours. We had a great time, even if was VERY hot and humid. I know, what else can you expect in late May in NC. The zoo is divided up onto two sections - North America and Africa. We started out in North America.

Joey spent most of the time traveling like this, even though we brought the stroller. Poor Brian! But he definitely got some exercise.

Gators!
Joey checking out some of the big cats
Another favorite mode of transportation for Joey . . . running!
More running
The polar bear was one of Joey's favorites
Some bison. Sorry they're kind of hard to see.

The Sonora Desert. Not my favorite part of the zoo . . . too many snakes!
After we left the desert, we entered the Africa portion of the zoo

Flamingos

Zebras and giraffes. We also saw some gorillas and monkeys, but didn't get a good shot of them. We were exhausted by this point (it was over 5 miles one way and had taken about 3-4 hours), so we decided to call it a day. We plan to go back some time in July, so hopefully we'll have more Africa pictures then.