Alex, the friendly boy!

The best part of coming home is seeing friends again! I was so thrilled to hang out with Lindley and all my other friends after our vacation. We went to Finlay Park for a playdate and really enjoyed the weather! Here Lindley and I are hanging out in Gabe's wagon.



Then we strolled around holding hands for a bit!





We're still in the midst of attempting potty training. I can tell Mommy and Daddy that I have to go, but when they sit me on the potty, I just sit there for a few minutes, then tell them I'm all done. Of course, I pee my pants a few minutes after...and some days I don't even want to wear my big boy panties, I just want to wear my diaper because I know I can pee in my diaper without getting it everywhere! But other days I love love love wearing my big boy panties! They have choos on them, and choos make everything awesome!



I find ways to force Penelope to play with me. Like sitting in her crate! She wasn't too thrilled, but all I did was climb in there, close the door, and relax with her.



Uncle Matt brought me a chocolate bunny in preparation for Easter. I went to town on that baby! I made a good mess, and finally got it taken away after sucking on it and just drooling chocolate all over myself (and the house). But boy, was it good!



The weather has been so gorgeous, we've simply HAD to take advantage of it! We took an afternoon and went to the park with Toni, Melissa, Trent, and Anakin. Anakin and I spent quite some time tossing rocks into the pond. Fortunately, there were no fish or anything else in the pond, otherwise our mommies would have stopped us! We thought it was the funnest thing ever.



The following week, we took a trip down to Folly Beach. The weather was a bit windy (fine, it was super windy!), but we still enjoyed ourselves! It was nice and warm, and the water wasn't too bad either.



Lindley and I had fun digging in the sand and shoveling it around.



Of course, my favorite part was chasing birds! I rand after them most of the time we were there. It's good exercise, and loads of fun!



Lindley, Madison, and I took some time and laid down in the sand. We writhed about and pretended we were swimming!



Afterwards, Mommy and I stopped by her old old work (the steel fabricator) to see her old old boss (Jack). He was so happy to see her again, and was really pleased to meet me! Then Madison and I (and our mommies, too) went to the outlet malls to do a bit of shopping. I got several pairs of new pajamas!



Here I am modeling one of my new pairs of pajamas. Well, the pants anyway. They have monkeys on them. I love monkeys.



At a scrapping day at Melissa's, she set up the water table for us out on her porch. So that meant all us kids were hanging out in various states of undress most of the day! Lindley and I took a break from all the water table playing to relax in Trent's bed with a drink and a good book. Anakin then joined us, but Lindley wasn't having any of that and left me and Anakin in the bed. That wasn't quite the outcome we were expecting!



Oh, and here I am showing off my super awesome new bathing suit! That's the other thing we got at the outlet mall :) I feel so handsome wearing it! Plus, it has a top that goes with it so my tummy and back don't burn...very important!



Alas, it's time for bed...more to come later!

Alex, the spider boy!

The last "trip" of our vacation was a super awesome great one! We started out by heading to the Butterfly Pavillion in Westminster, between Boulder and Denver. We met up with Mommy's friend Dani and her son Landon there. Landon is a little bit younger than I am, but we still really enjoyed playing! We started out looking at fish. We got to touch a sea star, but I didn't like that a whole lot, and wouldn't even try touching the horseshoe crab.



I did, however, get to hold Rosie, the tarantula! First, I sat down with Mommy while she held Rosie, but I wasn't really that excited about her. Then I watched a few other kids hold her, and decided that I did want a turn after all. I casually sat down in the chair and waited for the man to let me hold her. He started out running his fingers over my hand, imitating how her feet would feel. Then I got to hold her! I was so excited! I squealed "bug!" the whole time I was holding her (I now know the difference between bugs and spiders, but didn't at the time!) I got a super awesome "I held Rosie" sticker to commemorate the event.





We then went in for the main event...the butterflies! I wasn't really too thrilled with the butterflies, but I sure did love the puddles!!



Landon and I got really excited over a drain and spent some quality time taking turns standing on it.



I even gave him a sweet hug! He wasn't quite sure what I was trying to do though!





We hung out outside and had a quick snack when we were done. I found these arches...probably for chaining bikes or something, but they made a great tunnel for me and my goldfish!



After saying goodbye to Landon and Dani, we made our way to the most amazing restaurant in the world...Casa Bonita! It's like a theme park, dinner theater, and food all rolled into one! Just approaching it is super cool...doesn't it look like a place you'd want to go?



This was the view from our table. We had perfect seats to see the cliff divers (they dive off a 30 foot waterfall!) and the shoot out between the bandit and the sheriff.



Of course, such a fantastic place has to make money somehow...since they don't charge a cover to get in, the food prices are a tad steep. But the $12 taco salads were remarkably tasty! I liked the lettuce part best.



Scratch that. I forgot about the sopapillas! You get all the sopapillas you can eat for dessert! I really liked the honey too. Yum!



Aunt Chelsea and I really liked seeing the show! I was a little confused, but she explained what was going on!



I even danced a bit to the music that was playing.





After eating, we went to explore a bit! We hit up the gift shop, then toured through Black Bart's cave (it was a little scary, but I did okay with it!) We also visited the arcade, where I played a lot of skee ball and a few other games!



Back in Woodland Park, it was time for Aunt Chelsea to pack! She was moving into her new apartment that weekend. I was a huuuge help. I packed up a bunch of shoes, and emptied out a drawer or two. I mostly just played with things I found though. Like this fantastic hat!



I also found Aunt Chelsea's Halloween costume (she was a bat), and I had a bit too much fun playing with her bat ears!



I also found an awesome box to scoot around on. It was like a broomstick, and I sat Stinky Dog on the end, and he rode there like my little familiar.



And of course, we had to go back to the playground to play a bit more! It was chilly, but since we live in sunny South Carolina, I welcomed the excuse to wear my warm winter jacket that I look so cute in!







And with that, our vacation was over. We had a bit of a delay leaving Atlanta, but since I'd napped almost the whole flight from Colorado Springs to Atlants, I was happy and had fun. We piddled about, had some cookies and snacks, and then finally got on the plane! I was so excited to see Daddy again! As soon as I saw him, I took off and started crying and laughing (when I get really happy, I sob and laugh a bit...I do it when I fall asleep in the car and then get into my bed too, Mommy thinks it's the cutest thing) and yelling, "Daddy! Daddy!" Everyone around me thought it was really sweet. Of course, I am really sweet! I fell asleep in the car and was about to be moved to my bed when we got home, but then I heard the dogs and got excited and woke up all over again!

All in all, it was such a lovely trip! We had fun with Gigi and Grandma Judy, and Aunt Chelsea too, of course. But a week and a half was an awful long time to be away from Daddy and home, so Mommy and I were both happy to be back in our own beds :)

Alex, the Air Force boy!

One of these days I'll be all caught up and we can focus on current events! But to minimize confusion until then, we'll stick to a time line :)

So the big birthday party was over, but we still had over a week of vacation left! How better to spend time than to go to the playground? There is the coolest playground close to Gigi's house. It's pretty much a big fort with lots of slides and swings and areas to run around! I loved the swings (duh!), as well as just about everything else! Gigi and Aunt Chelsea both brought their super fancy cameras and took a TON of awesome pictures.



There was an awesome wooden car that I really enjoyed driving!



And I loved swinging with Gigi!





















Here's a good view of the main playground!



Even though Gigi brought plenty of toys for me to play with (that's why it's great to have a preschool teacher for a Gigi!), I found plenty of other ways to amuse myself, such as putting Ketu in a cooler and dragging him around the living room. Alas, he was not amused and wouldn't stay in the cooler for very long!



The next day, we hung out with Aunt Chelsea. We ran some errands that took us up to Monument. Rather than just go straight home, we decided to take the scenic route through the Air Force Academy! The guard at the gate was very friendly and pointed out where all the good planes were, as well as a few other things we shouldn't miss out. He even hooked us up with a map! I wasn't too excited about the planes, though. They have old bombers set up as stautes now, and I didn't even want to get out of the car to see the first one! So we got back in the car and headed to the chapel. For those of you who haven't seen it, it truly is a sight to behold. It soars 150 feet into the air, and is home to chapels for four different denominations, as well as an all-faiths room for everyone else. The courtyard leading up to it had a lot of small airplane statues that I really wasn't that impressed with on the way in.



We started out in the upper level, in the Protestant chapel. 99 foot high tetrahedrons form the walls, and stained glass links them. The glass gives the interior the most amazing coloring. It's simply a beautiful and peaceful chapel. Mommy and Aunt Chelsea were very glad I didn't figure out that it also has an amazing echo!

This is the view looking up at the ceiling. Beautiful, isn't it?





We strolled down the steps and made our way to see the Catholic, Buddhist, and Jewish chapels as well. While they aren't quite as impressive, they are still quite a sight to behold.



We took our time returning to the car. This time, I cared a bit more about the small planes! I pointed at them and ran around them, and even made some good airplane noises!





And I managed to steal a kiss from Aunt Chelsea on our way :)



I really felt at home at Gigi's house...so at home that I felt comfortable propping my foot up on the table after dinner! I'd put it up, then get told to take it down, giggle, then sneak it back up again!



We stopped by Gigi's school again. This time, we timed it perfectly so I got to sit on circle and sing with everyone! Gigi helped me with the motions because I didn't know them :)



We visited with Susan, a friend of Gigi's, who is a speech pathologist. Susan was very impressed with my speech - she'd been expecting me to barely be speaking at all! She showed us a few good exercises to do to help strengthen my mouth and tongue muscles, like blowing bubbles and playing with tongue depressors. I also practiced making faces!



And coming soon, in the next installment...the Butterfly Pavilion and Casa Bonita!