Hershey Park Pictures

We got our picture take with the Reese Cup guy when we first got there but the boys weren't too excited about it.


Collin insisted on taking a train ride. I love this picture of Nick and I that my parents took.

Here's Collin on the swings. You can hear his squeals of delight!

Collin rode the airplanes 3 different times. He really got the hang of making the plane go up and down.

The dizzy drums would have been more fun if an adult could have gone on to spin the drum too. Neither kid had a clue how to make it spin but they had fun anyway.

Don't anyone laugh. There were plenty of other adults riding this stupid ride with their kids. Collin insisted on going on it and he wanted Mommy to come too. Lucky me...

Proof that I will do anything for my kids... I hate rides that drop you straight down and that's exactly what this one did. Granted its for little guys so it doesn't take you too high or drop you too far, but it was enough. It didn't help that I'd just eaten a hot dog for dinner. I truly thought I might lose my dinner afterwards.

Aunt Bella will do anything for her boys too. These stupid lady bug cars made our rear ends hurt but the boys really enjoyed the ride.
Ah yes... The flume ride I waited an hour to take Collin on only to find he'd fallen asleep just as we got to the head of the line. This picture was taken AFTER we went down the hill and got splashed!

The Flying Falcon was very cool. I'm so proud of Collin for getting on it with me. He was such a big boy and he loved every dizzying minute of it. Each pod of Falcons is spinning and the thing in the center is spinning as the ride is climbing.

This picture gives you a little better perspective of how high up it went. Definitely not for those with a fear of heights!

And finally, it wouldn't be a trip to an amusement park if we didn't play a little Skee Ball. I love this game and couldn't wait to introduce Collin to it. At 25 cents a pop, I think we probably spent $1.50 and he didn't score more than a total of 30 points, but he loved every single minute of it. It was kind of a rip. You had to score 240 points to earn a ticket! That's hard to do in just 9 balls. I did it on my first try, by sheer luck and could barely break 100 every try after that. Between the 5 of us we managed to get 6 tickets so we were able to a stuffed Scooby Doo for Collin and a little stuffed puppy for Nick. What a day. Can't wait to do it again sometime.

It's Been A Busy Weekend

Talk about cramming a lot into one weekend! Saturday was our annual Pirogi Fest. My sister and I began this last year after we got our grandmother's recipe for pirogis. For those of you who don't know, pirogis are the equivalent of a ravioli. My favorites are the potato and cheese filled ones but we also make sauerkraut ones for my dad, Tim and Max. You can fill them with pretty much whatever you want, we've stuck to the traditional stuff because that's what we like and they're A LOT of work. We really got started on them around 10am and when I left at 1:15 to take the boys to a birthday party we had only finished 3/4 of the cheese and potato pirogis. You have to make the dough, let it sit a half hour, separate it into manageable portions and then roll it out, cut it into pieces, fill the pieces and close them so the filling can't come out. It works really well if you have a bunch of people and can do it assembly line style. In a couple of years, it will be really fun to do with my boys, but not just yet.

So we went to Emma's birthday party in the middle of the day and the boys had a ball. I wish I hadn't forgotten my camera because there we so many cute things going on. Like when Collin, Anjolie and Emma all crammed into a bucket full of water (the bucket was one of those things that you fill full of ice and drinks at a party) or when the kids played on the moon bounce or ran through the sprinkler. It wouldn't be a party without a couple of moments where I was a bit mortified though. The first one came shortly after Collin discovered the bucket of water. I was feeding Nick lunch when another boy came up to me and said "Does the little boy with the blond curly hair belong to you?" UH...NO??? You know its never good when a conversation begins that way. I said indeed he was mine and the little boy informed me that my son was removing his clothes. Sure enough, there was Collin naked from the waist down getting ready to step into the bucket. Great moment, everyone at the party is now looking at us. Oh, and did I mention that several of these people work with my mother? Can't wait to hear what they have to tell her when she goes to work tomorrow! I promptly took him to the car to change into a bathing suit. Ever the ring leader, the other kids followed suit and ran through the sprinkler until they turned blue. We changed back into regular clothes and Collin promptly had an accident. Only he didn't tell me. I just happened to spot him running to the car out of the corner of my eye. I ran after him hauling Nick along with me. Once I realized what had happened, I set Nick down to help change Collin. Nick hadn't left my hip all afternoon. Anytime I put him down or walked away for a second he freaked out and screamed bloody murder. For some odd reason, when I put him down in the street, he took off like a shot. Before you think I'm too bad a mom, Emma lives in a cul-de-sac and her neighbors were all at the party so there wasn't much danger of a car coming along. Unfortunately, the last pair of dry pants I had for Collin had somehow ended up under the wet bathing suit when Collin changed earlier so he had to borrow his brothers. 18 month pants still fit although they are way to short. He looked like he was wearing a pair of capris. Once we'd had some cake and opened presents we picked up Daddy and headed back to Aunt Bella's to actually eat pirogis. It was quite a feast. There was pirogis, kielbasa and green beans with spaetzel. We even had cupcakes and angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream for desert. I think my family overwhelmed Max's mom. She was enjoying a nice visit with my parents before we got there. As soon as we walked in the door chaos reigned until we left! My boys weren't bad, just active and kind of loud. We went home around 10ish so the boys crashed in the car on the way.

Sunday came bright and early. Bella, Max, Grammy and Grampa were meeting at our house at 7:30 to go to Hershey Park for the day. Unfortunately, Tim had to work night shift that night so he couldn't come with us. That's kind of OK though because it gives me an excuse to take the kids again later this summer. We had such a good time. No one thought we'd be there until the park closed at 10pm but we were. The first thing we went on was the Trailblazer roller coaster. It was way cooler than the one he could get on at Disney, and again, he LOVED it. Then we hit some kiddie rides. The swings were a hit, as were the airplanes. I took him on the kiddie version of the log flume. We waited an hour to get on the stupid thing and then 3 people from the head of the line, Collin fell asleep! I thought for sure he wake up getting in the boat. No. Then I thought for sure he'd wake up as the boat was moving, bumping and jarring us around some. Wrong again. And I was certain that when we went down the hill and got splashed with cold water he'd wake up. Nope, not even then. He slept through the whole thing! Then I found out he could go on the Coal Cracker so Bella, Max and I took him on that and as soon as we got off he wanted to go again. He loved that too. One of the last rides we went on was the Flying Falcon. There is some serious spinning going on on this ride. The ride is set up in 4 sets of falcons in a circle. They spin around in that circle. Then while your already spinning in a circle, the whole ride starts spinning in a circle and climbing high into the air. Its pretty wild and as soon as we started spinning Collin informed me that "This is really fun" and "This isn't scary at all!" Maybe not to you little dude. All I could think about the entire time I was on that ride was please don't break and please don't let my child fall out of this thing. I never would have had those thoughts before I had kids, I probably wouldn't have had them had I been on the ride alone. It was just scary to be up so high and be holding my son as we spin like crazy. We ended the night at Chocolate World for a trip through the factory and an ice cream sundae. Finally, at 10pm as the park was closing we began our trip home. The boys fell asleep in the car, however Nick screamed for about 10 minutes 3 different times, probably curing Bella and Max of any desire to ever give me a niece or nephew who doesn't have 4 legs. We got home around midnight and just crashed.

The boys slept until 7:30 and 8:00 which is unheard of, but given their weekend, totally understandable and completely appreciated. We just took it easy today and ran some errands to get out of the house while Tim slept. I took the boys to the mall to get Collin's 'fro tamed. We played at the little playground there for a while. Nick even enjoyed that. He was crawling through a tunnel when another child tried to go through too and I heard Collin say "Hey, watch out for my little brother!" I was so proud. I was even prouder when it was time to leave. I gave Collin his 5 minute warning and then when it was time to go I scooped Nick up, walked over to Collin and said "Time to go buddy". He stood up, grabbed my hand, walked over the the stroller, played a bit while I got Nick strapped in and then got in the stroller himself without any complaints. Sometimes he is just so well behaved. This evening after Daddy woke up we took the boys to the pool. The water was cold. Now I always think pool water around here is cold, but this was freezing. Even Tim declared it ice water. My boys could have cared less. Collin jumped right in and began playing happily. I helped Nick in and although he stayed close to the side of the pool or the step, he was as happy as he could be too. Neither one complained about being cold. They did, however, complain loudly when it was time to leave.

So there you have it, it took me a small book to write about our busy weekend and there is plenty more I could tell you but that's probably already more than you wanted to know. Hope your weekend was fun filled as well...

I haven't given one of these lately...

It's time for another Just Shut Up Award. Now that the weather is getting nicer more people are beginning to drive with their windows down. I generally don't because the noise from the wind blowing in gets on my nerves (dumb, I know). Anyway, several times in the last couple of days I have been stopped at a traffic light with my windows rolled up, my radio on, and my kids yammering away in the back seat only to be subjected to some idiot behind me or next to me (or in one case I'm not even sure which car it was but it wasn't the ones immediately behind or beside me) who is blaring their music so loud that my entire car is literally shaking from the bass. News flash: Subjecting the rest of the world to your crappy music does not make you cool It makes you ignorant, rude, and probably well on your way to a hearing aid someday. So to all of you morons who feel it necessary to blare your music: Shut up! Turn your bass down and give your ears (and mine) a break. Don't force me to return the favor. My son would love nothing more than for me to blare the "Collin Song" for all the world to hear. Believe me, your bass can't even begin to compete with the annoying factor of this CD. (It's really cute the first 100 times you hear it, but its so happy its annoying).

Another Milestone

Somewhere in the recent past I mention that Nick is beginning to walk. It was kind of slow and unsure at first. He'd only take a step if he was close enough to fall into you as he was doing it. In fact, I wasn't even sure that he was taking steps at first. All of the sudden though he's kicked it up a notch. He's left no doubt about it. My baby is walking. He's certainly not proficient but he takes multiple steps at a time. The other day Collin was tired so he was laying with his head on my lap while Nick played on the floor. I thought he was drifting off but he surprised me when Nick stood up and took a few steps. Collin leaped up, all excited, and yelled "Look Mom! Nick took 4 steps!" He was right, Nick had taken exactly 4 steps before landing on his butt. It was really neat to see how excited Collin was at his brother's milestone. He was very proud. Ever since he began taking noticeable steps I've been trying to get it on film. The still shots aren't coming out too good, but I finally got a decent video tonight. So for your viewing pleasure, here is my baby walking down the hall all by himself.... You'll probably notice as he walks down the hall, his brother pelts him in the chest with a ball. They were playing quite nicely with it before this video was taken, rolling it back and forth. It won't be long before Nick is big enough to pay his brother back for all the crap he takes from him now.

How to Trash a Room in No Time Flat

1. Spend 2 hours mixing colored icing and decorating a cake. You should have seen my kitchen by the time I was done with the cake.
Collin loved his Thomas cake. We sang Happy Birthday and he blew out the candles. He managed to get them all with some help from Aunt Bella.
2. Bring on the presents. Note: As if Collin wasn't doing a good enough job flinging wrapping paper and tissue paper all over the room, the dogs were playing there as well.
Here is the train set I bough Collin. He loves it. In fact, its still set up in my living room. It is kind of cool because it's remote controlled.

Grammy and Grampa bought him some Berenstain Bears books. We got Too Much Junk Food from the library and have read it every night since. Thank goodness he got that one because it would have been ugly when we finally had to take it back.Here is some of the stuff he got. You can see wrapping paper and bags all over the floor too.
Collin's going through all the paper to make sure he didn't miss any presents. He didn't.

3. Play with all of the new things at once.
I really should have taken a picture of the mess the moon sand made. It's really pretty cool stuff. My carpet was blue by the time Collin was done playing with it. That's OK though. It doesn't stain and it came right up with a little vacuuming.

Already? Where did the time go?

Finding a time when everyone is free to celebrate a birthday this time of year can be a bit challenging. Collin is turning 3 soon so we had my family over tonight for a little birthday party. Collin informed me that I forgot to decorate but he didn't seem to really mind. I have to say, I was shocked at what a gracious little host he was. I don't do a whole lot of entertaining so I know he didn't pick this stuff up from me (quite frankly I don't care where he picked it up, I'm just glad he did). Anyway, he thanked all of his guests for his presents and for coming to his party, then he told them he hoped they'd had a good time! It's his 3rd birthday. Did I mention that? He thanked me for making his Thomas the Tank Engine cake and told me how cool it was. He also told us all he loved us "so much" and gave everyone big hugs. When it came time to open presents Collin was so excited he could hardly contain himself! He wanted to play with everything right away. Who could blame him? He got lots of cool stuff; a bubble maker, a Thomas the Tank Engine set, a truck, some books, moon sand, a Cars slip and slide. Of course we had to set up the train right away. The first thing Collin did was ask to read the directions. My sister handed them to him and he "read" them and said "First we need 2 cups of..." Can you tell we've been baking recently? When I asked what we needed 2 cups of he told me sugar and flour and a cup of oil and some eggs. Yep that's pretty much what goes into the Amish Friendship Bread we've been making lately. He doesn't miss a darn thing. Speaking of which, he was with me (before Christmas) when I found the Thomas set on sale. I bought it right then and there figuring he would have forgotten about it by now. Not only did he not forget, he told my mom and I on the way home all about how he was going to get his Thomas toy from the closet today. "The one with Thomas and Harold, in the closet Mom" I tried playing dumb and asked which closet and he told me "The one in your room Mom" and he knew it was not the one I keep my clothes in, but the other little storage closet we have there. I didn't even remember that the set had Harold the Helicopter in it too, but sure enough it did. He was so excited about the whole thing that he kept hugging me and telling me "This is the best birthday party I ever haded, Mom!" His reaction to his party and his cake, which I spent hours decorating, was so worth all of the work I put into it. I'll post pictures tomorrow. And just think, he gets another party at daycare next week. Could the fact that his birthday is coming up have anything to do with his exemplary behavior lately? I swear its been like invasion of the body snatchers around here in the mornings. Collin is notorious for going to bed on time but staying awake and playing until 9 or later. Since he's up no later than 5:50 he's usually a total grump in the morning. That's when you can get him to wake up enough to actually say something to you. Most days we have him dressed long before he even opens his eyes. Then he doesn't want to wear his outfit or his shoes and he doesn't want to brush his teeth and use the potty. This week though, I don't know who they replaced my kid with, but I'm keeping him as long as I can. Collin has been an honest to God pleasure to wake up in the mornings. He's pleasant, even cheerful, and cooperative. I haven't had to raise my voice or argue once in several days. Maybe this is just another one of the ways I've seen him grow and mature over the last 3 years. He never fails to make me laugh or smile and sometimes even cry because I'm just so very proud of him. I'm often struck by just how kind, caring and compassionate he can be. As much as I teach him things everyday, I learn from him as well. He sees things from a perspective that I'm often too busy to notice until he brings it to my attention. I'm trying really hard to make sure I take the time to see and do things his way (when appropriate, he doesn't always get his own way). I'm sure every Mom thinks their kid is just the greatest thing since sliced bread, and I'm no exception. Both of my boys are constant sources of amazement and joy, not to mention endless fountains of amusement.

Happy Birthday Collin! May the next year be as delightful as this one has been. I'm so proud of the fantastic little man you're turning out to be.

Happy Mother's Day

This year for Mother's Day, instead of a family gathering at my parent's house, we had it at our house. It was a lot of fun. Tim made beer can chicken on the grill which turns out really moist and delicious and I made Spanish rice and green beans with strawberry banana trifle for desert. I am so glad we have leftovers because I don't have to cook much this week now. You should have seen my Nicholas going to town on the Spanish rice. He couldn't get enough of that or the green beans. I was so impressed. My very thoughtful little Collin remember to tell me Happy Mother's Day all on his own; he needed no prompting from Daddy. In fact, every time he heard the words "mother's day" mentioned I got a "Happy Mother's Day, Mom" and a hug and kiss. I'm diggin' this Mother's Day thing. It also got me out of changing a poopy diaper or two and cleaning the floater out of the tub (see why I'm diggin' it?) I couldn't have asked for a nicer day (except for the rain). Happy Mother's Day to all of the Mom's out there, I hope your day was just as lovely as mine and you got to spend it with people you love.