The Long Good-Bye

It finally came... T's last day in D.over.

We met T plus her mom and sister at a park in our neighborhood.

There was running:

Playing with leaves:

And then it was time for a lunch break... so we had them say good-bye:

Later in the afternoon we met back up at the park:

Unfortunately, the clouds (and lightening) were rolling in...

so we moved the concert inside:

They deserved a treat on a day like today:

Eventually T's mom announced it was time to go.

They responded by hiding:

We finally got them outside and told them to do their final hugs:

Then all there was left to do was wave good-bye:

Hurricane McT

Luckily (?) for McColley, T's mom needed to go into the doctor today, so T got to come over to our house and play for a few hours.

As soon as T was through the front door, she and McColley shot down the hallway and proceeded to jump on our bed:

Of course, jumping leads to falling:

Then they had to prove that McColley's emergency CAN hold two people:

I finally slowed them down with lunch and No.ggin:

Good thing I'd cleaned everything up right before she got here!

Met A Girl Crazy For Me

T has been featured on this blog since almost the beginning.

She is McColley's best friend.  They have spent countless hours together and at each other's houses.  Luckily, I have also become great friends with her mother.

Today was a special day for T and McColley.

They did their usual skating together:

T tends to fall and hurt herself at skating, so McColley planned ahead.

He brought a band-aid for when she fell:

And of course, they had to run! run! run!

Then after a quick lunch break, we headed over to T's house for the afternoon.

McColley wanted to see the semi-truck that T's house was packed into:

T, being a proper hostess, made sure that McColley had something to drink:

And since most of her toys were on the truck, they had fun with her few remaining toys and the hose:

We have a few more days before T is officially gone... but none of us are looking forward to this aspect of A.ir Forc.e life.

Turn The Beat Around

Hmmm...

Everyone else is using these stick things...

What should I do with them?

Yeah.  I'm done with the sticks.

What else to do?

Stand up!

Not so stable.

Where else to stand?

CHAIR!

There's something happening over there...

What are those big kids doing?

Noise from behind me!

Other Baby!!

What's McColley doing?

Animals!

I'd like to eat those!

Lesson: If you mess with McColley's stuff...

You get your own!

Time for something new!

I can play musical chairs too!

I am so good at this.

You know I am.

The Tradition Begins

Our state fair is a great state fair!

Don't miss it, don't even be late!

Dollars to donuts that our state fair,

is the only fair in our state!

We took the boys to the fair for the first time today.

Of course, you have to start with food.  B got a Ph.illy Chee.se Steak and I got a corndog.  McColley just got a regular hot dog, but he doesn't like to eat the bun.

I ate my corndog quickly, and we solved McColley's lack-of-fork problem:

After eating we headed out to see the animals.

McColley insisted on seeing the horses first:
It was in the horse barn that we made a discovery - Brayton is frightened by neighing.  Perhaps he will not be quite as enamored with horses as his brother?

After the animals we went to the (air-conditioned) exhibit hall.

McColley enjoyed checking out the award-winning baked goods:

The exhibit hall also featured picture cut-outs.

McColley and Daddy got to be animals:

McColley then wanted Daddy to be the farmer so he could take the picture:

Brayton kept lunging at our water bottle and was quite pleased when he finally got it:

Once we were done looking at the exhibits, we headed out to the midway.

We had to check McColley's height in case he wanted to do a ride:

He ended up not wanting to do any rides, but he HAD to do the fishing game.

Daddy helped him catch a whale:

At this point, after only two hours, we thought we'd seen the whole fair.  Luckily we found a map and discovered there was a whole area we'd missed that included the poultry barn.

McColley was excited to pet a baby chick:

The poultry barn also housed the rabbits so McColley got the chance to pet an angora rabbit:

Just outside the barn was a tractor display.  McColley got to drive:

Unfortunately, thunder clouds started rolling in and the rain started, so we had to go before the parade started.  Fortunately, after three hours, we'd seen everything.  Seriously.  The De.laware State Fair is probably a quarter of the size of the Ben.ton-Frank.lin County Fair... small state, small fair?

Early Birthday Present

I found The Perfect 'Big' Birthday Present for McColley.

Unfortunately, I had to order it online because they don't sell it in stores.

It arrived via UP.S today and when the delivery man rang our front door bell at noon McColley was the first one at the door to see what had arrived.

He knew what it was the moment he saw the package sitting in front of our door:

Since the cat was out of the bag, we decided to give it to him today.  The plan was for B to put it together after work, but McColley's enthusiasm could not be contained.  After stopping him from putting it together himself a few times, I told him I would try to put it together for him.

I did 80%... but couldn't get the top on:

We actually had to leave the house and do some errands because McColley kept assuring me that getting the top on was a 'McColley and Mommy Job... not a Daddy Job... we can do it!'  (It was more a four-adult-hands-needed job)

FINALLY B came home and together we got the top on.

McColley was officially in seventh heaven:

He's so happy, we're not too upset that his biggest present got opened a few weeks early:

Parking Violation

Today T's house was being packed up, so T's mom decided to avoid the chaos by going with us to C.huck E. Che.ese.

Unfortunately CEC was insanely busy (when does school start again?) so McColley and T were a little uncomfortable.  For McColley, discomfort means that he kind of shuts down and doesn't want to do as much.

This came to a head when he got into the CEC car but told me not to put a coin in... he just wanted to pretend to drive.

After a while T came over to check on him:

Then, much to McColley's dismay, she tried to push some buttons:

Then, in an even grosser violation of his rules, T stood up in front of the car:

It all came to a head when T tried to climb in with him and make the car actually go!  McColley found that idea so offensive that he finally got out of the car... so I guess it was good?

But, while all this was going down between the older siblings, the younger siblings had to check each other out:

And, yes, Brayton's hand is about as big as Baby K's head.  She is really tiny (and cute).

Seriously, he's almost 3?!

We're now under a month to McColley's third birthday... which is kind of freaky.  People seemed to appreciate it last year when I provided a wish list for him, so here is this year's:

TOYS

VT.ech Create-A-Story Books

LeapFr.og My First Lea.pPad Books

Piano

Costumes

Learning and Games

Horses

Magazine Subscription

Trains

Construction Vehicles

EXPERIENCES*

Imagi.nation Mo.vers CD and Concert Tickets

YM.CA Soccer plus Size 3 Ball

Pony Pals Lesson

Summer Dance Lessons (will actually occur before his birthday)

Fireworks and Fountains Tickets

*These are a bit more complicated, so if you would like to give McColley any of these, please contact me for further details.

For Every Meal!

This is so good, I need to feed myself!

What do you mean I ate the whole container!

I've never done that before!

I only got a little messy...

This is my favorite food so far!

You'll have more for me tomorrow... right!?