Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Thomas Adventure

On Sunday, April 3rd, we surprised the kids with an outing to the Grapevine Vintage Railroad to see Thomas the Tank Engine and ride his train.  They have tons of kid activities in addition to the actual train ride.   The kids (and parents) had a great time.
on the train

off to get all the stamps on our map

model train exhibit

train tables


riding a tiny Thomas

watching a Thomas video

Here comes Thomas


Nick wouldn't take a picture with Sir Topham Hat

Playing in the sandbox


boarding the train





checking our tickets



Monday, April 4, 2016

Easter Weekend

Easter weekend is always a fun time to celebrate the fun stuff, like coloring and hunting eggs, but most importantly it's a great time to remember the sacrifice Christ made for us.  It's my favorite holiday.   
Nick at school for his Easter fun.
On Good Friday, we relaxed at home (while Daddy had to work).  We watched "The Easter Carol" by VeggieTales and then colored eggs.



On Saturday, we went to the Easter Party at Vista Ridge campus for a little bounce house and egg hunt fun.




 

Sunday morning we went to the early service at VR.  My parents and sister joined us.  It was a piano lead, hymn based service.  The kids sat with us as there was no kids branch for that service.  It was a great time of family worship.

After the service, the kids went to VVCC with my parents while Mike and I went back home to hide eggs and prep everything for Easter dinner.  We had a great family meal at our new home this year.  It was great.  The backyard is great for hiding/hunting eggs.










Happy Easter from the Morelands!


Nick's Birthday

On March 18th, Nicholas turned 3.  It's hard to believe sometimes how quickly he's growing but he's a joy (and challenge) to our lives.
getting a hair cut

decorating donor Easter eggs

last night as a 2 year old

riding to the neighborhood park

riding to the 5K

park fun

helping mommy bake

swinging in the backyard

On his actual birthday, he went to school and got to wear a special birthday crown all day.  His teachers said he even took a nap in it.  After school we went out to eat and just had a special time of family celebration.


His party wasn't until 4/2 due to my work schedule on 3/19 and Easter the following weekend.  We had a Pirate Themed party at our house which the children seemed to really enjoy.  It also gave us a chance to show off our house a little.
Daddy built "Bucky" off the deck of our garage

Hook Toss

Buried Treasure

grub

Yes, Mom and I made the cake






decorating treasure chests

digging for treasure

dressing the part



Walking the plank

sand box was a huge hit




hanging out a "Mermaid Lagoon" checking out the fish 

 The following are the best attempts at photographing 8 children aging from 10 months to 9 years old...



Party time
 We waiting until all the guests left before opening presents.



I don't have stats yet as I haven't made his 3 year appointment, but here's what Nick's doing:

Loves:
Jake and the Neverland Pirates
Little Einsteins
cars
trains
coloring (he's left handed)
school
playing "I get you"
playing outside
watching "cars" - screen time on the tablet
legos

Foods:
cheese, crackers, goldfish, applesauce, strawberries, bananas, oranges, grilled cheese, french fries with ketchup, ketchup, yogurt, apple juice, milk, chocolate.  He's been pretty picky lately, but thankfully most of what he likes is pretty healthy so I know he's at least eating fruit.  :)

Sleeps in a big boy bed (trundle).  Got rid of the crib when we moved in with my folks back in July.  Got rid of the toddler bed shortly after moving to the house (January).

Potty training - he gets it, but doesn't always want to do it.  Getting better each day, but I wouldn't call him "trained" yet.

Talks a lot and has some interesting things to say.  I wish I could remember them to write them down.  Everyday when I pick him up from school, I ask what he did at school and his reply, "I did Spanish."  He attends Spanish Schoolhouse.  Mikaela is in dual language where her days alternate between English and Spanish.

Here are some photos Mike took recently to commemorate his 3rd birthday.




















Happy Birthday, Little Guy!  We love watching you grow!