Some photos from our trip thus far.

We are having a great trip so far. Cole has been a real trooper. He has been excellent on all of the flights and has been adjusting ok to all of the new surroundings for sleeping. We are wrapping up our time in Minnesota and starting the final leg of the trip. John is heading back to Iowa with Cole. On the way he will get to see Jim, Julie and the kids before staying in Ames with Grandma and Grandpa. Mary heads to Philly for some work and then we all meet in California late this week.

Here are some pics from our time in Minnesota. We have been staying with our friends Amy, Jim and Zander. Cole and Zander have been having a blast together and are really cute together. They have been chasing each other around the house and are always looking for the other when someone is out of the room. Zander is such a sweet kid and we are so happy to have been able to spend time with him.

Here are some pics from Connecticut. Cole spent time with his cousins while Mary and John went to a wedding. We were also able to spend a day with everyone. We went apple picking and through a corn maze. Connor and Aidan were fantastic with Cole. He had so much fun with the kids and really enjoyed playing with all of their toys. They truly do have a kids dream house.

End of Summer, Labor Day and Getting Ready For Our Trip!

This will be a short update as we are all exhausted.  Too much going on lately and it doesn't help that someone in the house is waking up at 5AM everyday.  No wonder he is tired mid-morning!

We had a jam packed weekend.  Cole and dad went to a petting zoo on Friday as their "End of Summer" outing.  Cole will be starting morning classes on Tuesday and Thursday this Fall, so the big outings will be harder to do.  He really enjoyed the farm and wasn't scared by the animals.  The goats we very aggressive, so I thought he might not like them, but once he figured out how to feed them he was good.  The rabbits were also a hit, but not as big of a hit as the feeder machine.  Cole is so mechanically inclined it is scary.  

We continued our animal theme by going to the Santa Ana Zoo on Saturday morning with some friends. It is a nice small zoo near where we live.  The kids had a great time.  One of Cole's favorite activities is to ride the train.  He picked out the red caboose this time and was very please with his trip.  

Later Saturday night we went to a BBQ at a friends house and Cole was able to play with his friend Sophia.  They had so much fun running around and playing in her outdoor playhouse.  This was the first time that the kids really played together as opposed to doing their own things.  

The rest of the weekend was a bit more relaxing as we did chores around the house and started packing for our trip.  We will be leaving tomorrow and returning on the 24th.  7 states in less than three weeks!  (9 if you count layovers.)  It took some skill to pack for this trip as it will be a combination of work, a wedding and vacation.  Plus, you never know what the weather will be like as we head into Fall.  

We are all tired, but excited for the trip.  Just wanted to post a quick update and say hello to everyone!

Short Update

Hello everyone!  Things have been pretty quiet around here.  Mom and dad had a 24 hour flu early this week, but have recovered.  Not much to report.  Just hanging out and enjoying summer.  Today Cole's good friend Luke came over for a play date and the boys had a lot of fun.  We are still picking up the house. 

We are starting to get ready for all of our travel in the coming weeks by making lists and getting clothes lined up for weddings and meetings.  Takes a little bit of planning to be gone for 3 weeks and then turning around to be gone for another one shortly after.  

Cole got a hair cut so he looks sharp for his travels.  His hair was starting to get a little long, reminding us a bit of Justin Bieber...or as we like to say Connor!  He did great at the hair studio.  It really helps that he gets to sit in an airplane and watch TV.   You could pretty much do anything to him at that point...he paid no attention to us or the guy cutting his hair. 

Cole has also turned into quite the ham when it comes to taking photos. He loves to put on these glasses we have and say "cheese" wanting you to take his photo.  Very cute.  

We will see many of you soon!  Take care.

Very tired after a long morning of running errands.

Getting his hair cut.

Post hair cut with his fresh new look.

Reading books with mom and dad.

Recent Visit from Grandma and Aunt Heather

We just saw Grandma and Heather off at the airport after a fantastic trip.  We had a packed few days of excitement.  The big highlights were a trip to SeaWorld, playing at the beach and lots of playing in the yard.  Cole also was spoiled with some great birthday gifts.  Grandma and Grandpa purchased a table for his trains.  He loves playing with the trains that Connor and Aidan gave him and now he has a great table that he can play at.  Very cool stuff.  Every morning there is a lot of time spent playing with the trains.  His other really cool gift was a new bike!  You should have seen his face light up when he saw the bike.  It was precious.  He has a red bike and a bright green helmet.  Look out everyone on the sidewalks...Cole is mobile.  He still has a little bit of growing to really fit the bike, but he is very close.  

We had such a great time during the visit.

Tide Pools

We have found that Cole loves going to the beach lately. Mainly he wants to hang out and dig holes, but today we hung out at the tide pools. When we started walking to them he said "Tide Pools" which surprised me. He had a blast. We were there for about three hours playing and looking. He mainly wanted to stay in one spot moving rocks around and splashing. We didn't intend to get quite so wet, but by the end he was basically sitting in the water and was covered with sand. So much for a quick stop by the beach. The tough part came when we needed to move because the tide was coming in. How do you explain to a 2 year old that we need to move because the water is surrounding us? Eventually I was able to coax him away and we dug holes in the sand of the beach.

We are looking forward to Grandma arriving tonight and Aunt Heather arriving later this week. Sure hope they are ready for all the fun we have planned. Cole with tire them out...he sure tires us out most days. :)

Cole's 2 Year Photos

Back to normal.

Back to somewhat normal around our house. Cole is in much better spirits and is so happy to have his toys to play with. Still keeping him on a pretty safe diet for right now. He is growing very tired of us pushing fluids on him. He is also talking up a storm lately. All sorts of stories to tell us. And all sorts of mischief to get into. I was cleaning up the kitchen this morning and realized it was a little too quiet in the living room. When I went out to look for Cole I couldn't find him. So I went upstairs to see if he was in his room. (BTW...we have gates on the stairs, but he has figured out how to open them.) He wasn't in his room, but was instead in mom and dads room, in bed, tucked under the covers, waiting to watch some Curious George. He was so proud of himself when I walked in. I guess he is feeling better.

Below are some additional photos from this summer. Thank you to everyone that has checked in on Cole and us over the past few days.

Love,

John, Mary and Cole