I Have an Idea and Other Musings

The boys kill me with what they say most days, and my favorite thing out of their mouths lately has to be when they say “I have an idea.” (Actually it is usually “me have an idea,” or “here’s an idea,” since they still only use the pronoun ‘I’ sparingly).  They will say it in the correct context, too.  You never know what the idea will be.  It can be, an idea to have a “muff” cake, or build a fort, you name it.  It is adorable!!!!  Today they were playing outside, yes, we are thoroughly enjoying the seventies again, and Gus was on his “motorcycle” or big wheel, and Raleigh was sitting on the porch watching him. Rals asked if this was a parade, and then yelled “beads!!!”  Love it.  They are so Tampa! Gasparilla veterans since they were nine months old will do that, I suppose.  Speaking of Gasparilla, here are a few shots of the big Children’s Gasparilla Extravaganza from last weekend.  We did the preschooler’s stroll for the first time. It fell during nap time, but we survived.  They were extremely tired afterward, but still, we had a ball with our Mothers of Multiples friends who helped walk with us.

 

The boys giving their friends E & S a kiss during the parade, needless to say, the crowd loved them!!!

We had gotten into the spirit the night before by reading a new Mem Fox book sent to us courtesy of the boys’ great-Aunt Julianne, and great-Uncle Tony.  Boris the Pirate is a bit scary, but it certainly set the mood for us!

Here is a look back at the two previous Gasparillas.  Of course, you can click on the tag “Gasparilla” and see much more from year’s past.  Enjoy!!!

First Gasparilla 2009 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

 

Second Gasparilla 2010 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

 

The boys are still doing really well with their alphabet recognition.  Raleigh has caught up to Augustus and although, he doesn’t want to play with the magnet letters like Gus, he will point out letters when we are reading books. And they are still really into reading. Their favorite book right now is The Polar Express. Not sure if they are just missing Christmas, or just love the story.  If we read a a book right before bedtime, they wake up and immediately ask for the same book again.  Their memories still freak us out.  They seriously never forget.  However, if you ask them what they did today, sometimes they just start making up these elaborate stories…hmm, reminds me of a certain Uncle the boys have named Tommy!  If you ask them what they want to do today, Augustus will nine times out of 10 say he wants to go to Sea World.  I guess we need to start planning a return trip soon.  They have really enjoyed watching some football games with me this year.  The Packers are really the only team I will watch, being from Green Bay and all, so we don’t get all their games televised, but of course, with them going to the SUPER BOWL this year, we’ve watched the play-off games together, and the love it.  Yay!  Since Matty rarely watches it with me, it is nice to have some company.

 

In other news, the boys Nonnie turned 60 this last week. It killed us with the planning, but we were able to keep her party a secret!!! I really don’t think she had a clue.  We had a “Sweet 60” party complete with her favorite Hello Kitty decorations and all pink. Everyone wore pink to the party (well, two guys wore more maroon, but other than that, all pink).  My mom had to do a change into pink half way through the party, but we got everyone into pink.  The boys were so excited and never spilled the beans.  They did go to bed at 7 with some tears, but they did fall asleep soundly despite the ruckus downstairs! They were kind enough to let us sleep in until 7:30 as well.  After going to the Green Iguana after the party, I was grateful!  Happy Birthday to my amazing Mom!  60 is just a number because you surely don’t act your age, and I mean that in the best possible way!  Thank you for teaching me to stay young at heart and having so much fun with the boys all the time!!!!  Love you!!!

 

This is the CAKE!  Can you believe it???!!??  I did not get a great picture of it before we cut it…but believe me, it was amazing!  Thanks Eli for taking care of the cake, I could never have picked a better cake!!!

Lastly, Eli also had personalized M&Ms made for the event, they say “Sweet 60th” on them and have champagne glasses.  Cute.  It was sad that so many of my mom’s best friends and family live so far away and could not make it to the party, but it was great to see her so loved by all her friends in Florida.  She is truly a special woman!

A Sad Goodbye

This morning we were awoken by sad news that Matthew's grandfather, better known as Pa, had passed away.  Despite a valiant, and long fight against prostate cancer he sadly lost it with all his children and beautiful wife by his side.  We unfortunately, will not be able to say goodbye in person.  Our thoughts and strength is being sent all the way to Australia to help his family though this difficult time.  We were planning on visiting him this summer, but hopefully we'll still make the trip with the boys to see both of their Aussie great-Nans.  The only solace is that Pa was at peace with meeting his Maker and we have to seek some comfort in that.  I can say that Pa was seriously the most genuinely kind man.  He was also the epitome of a true Christian.  We know he will be missed, and just want to send all of our strength to Nan in particular.  She is also an amazing woman, strong and beautiful inside and out.

Despite the sad news, the boys had a wonderful week.  They were able to spend time with some fire fighters and dress up like pirates at a parade, so who wouldn't have fun.  Here are a few pictures of them enjoying both.  Augustus was hilarious in the fire truck; especially when one of the fire fighters tried to help him out.  He would not let go of the steering wheel.  He also had 12 month sized shorts on, which kept falling down, so he looks hilarious in them!

Yesterday, we spent a few hours at the Gasparilla kid's parade.  The boys had fun, but I think they were a bit overwhelmed when we first arrived.  By the end of the parade they were having a ball, mostly because of all the attention they received and the beads.  Oh, how they loved the beads.  They were even kind enough to put some beads on Amigo the dog's neck.

Gasparilla for Kids

So this afternoon Matthew & I took the boys to the Children's Gasparilla Parade. This was our first experience with Gasparilla, although we have been in the Tampa area for years. We were slightly disappointed, but heck, it was beautiful out and the sun was shining on us, so can we really complain? No!!! Next year we know to go earlier, but this year we had to wake up Raleigh from a nice nap to get there for any of the celebrations. Their web site for those of you who do not know about Gasparilla: http://gasparillaextravaganza.com/extravaganza2/childrens_parade.html

Here are a few pictures of the afternoon.

Augustus & Raleigh checking out the massive balloons being played with next to them!

Dad & Raleigh - yes he was holding on to the fence & shaking it.

I have started to call him "King Kong"

Gus & Rals watching the parade


Dad, Gus & Raleigh

Mom & Gus

Gus laying on mommy's lap enjoying touching the grass!

Dad wrapping up the day pushing us back to downtown Tampa

The boys have been sleeping very soundly during the day and keeping us up at night with random wake-ups...but last night was a super good night sleep for all! Here are a few pictures of the boys at nap time. No, I could not help myself:) Augustus even fell asleep (finally) sitting up. So strange sometimes!

The video is of Raleigh walking himself around his play table that he has been running in for months...I can't believe he can walk himself around it on his own now. Amazing!