Calvin Rides a Bike!

This morning Calvin decided to take "Crocodile Cruisin" (his bike with pedals) on a spin around the neighborhood while I was pushing the stroller. He has tried this many times before, but today was the day! Congratulations, Buddy!

Getting Better

Jack is getting better and better...

His swelling is going down.....his lip looks pretty normal today! Except for the "crumbs" as Calvin calls the stitches, I might not be able to see there was ever a problem with his lip.



I attribute a portion of Jack's happiness these last 2 days to "Birdie" as we are calling him.

Dear CT Scan nurse,
Though you thought you were totally dissed when Jack did not even look at or touch the bird you so sweetly gave him, he is now Jack's new best friend (co-best friend with Mr. Ducky, anyway). He is carried about tucked under his chin or dragged alongside by a wing everywhere he goes.  Even when Jack was deliriously waking up from surgery, his first words were for Birdie to be returned to his hands when he kept dropping him.

Thank you!

Jack's Fall

Jack fell off the top of the play structure in our neighborhood this morning....6+ feet off the ground...and landed on his face. 10 hours, a nasal bone fracture, 2 sets of stitches on his outside and inside lip, surgery, and many tears later we are home. I am so thankful for our friend and neighbor Rebecca, friends from church, and friends at the hospital who made their day busy to operate on Jack and take care of us. We are so blessed.

Calvin's bus

Calvin color, cut, and pasted together this bus. He meticulously colored every inch blue before cutting tiny piece by tiny piece for probably 30 minutes. Though he was really proud of himself, he was not happy to pose for the picture!

Look, Mom!

Yes, you are very strong like Daddy!

This afternoon playtime has been so sweet...riding the indoor bike together, doing tricks, taking a pretend car to shop for pretend ice cream at a pretend store.

Daddy Gorilla!

I don't know what I expected, but apparently not for a gorilla hand, finger, knuckle, etc to look just like mine. Wow, this Daddy gorilla contentedly lounged around kicking the pane of glass between us last week.  I am certain I have never been this close to a "wild" animal. Definitely the highlight of the zoo!

The zoo was on our way to visit some of Dan's buddies (and their families) from college in the mountains. There we watched Stuart Little on a large screen....maybe a bad idea. The cat is repeatedly shown from Stuart's (the mouse) view point. I am not sure if it is the gorilla or the cat, but Jack has been telling me ever since that "____________ (s)care me." Sweet buddy!

Dan and I took a few hours for a hike up to a waterfall with the boys.

The views along the trail were beautiful! 

We definitely got some looks with our crew....especially while Dan was carrying Cal on his shoulders and Jack on his back at the same time.

Hillsborough

Jeffy has a thing for random small towns.  When driving through one, he usually talks big like the plans to move there are in the works. He likes to point out the street he will live on, where he will have his office, etc.

We were in Homer, Michigan a few years back.....a very small one-stoplight town...eating dinner. After dinner, Jeffy thought he heard a football game. It was Friday night, so he (and we by association) set off to find it. As we neared the game, a local was walking our way.  Jeffy asked him, "Who are they playing tonight?" The guys said the name of another rival town, indicating that Homer was losing to them. Jeffy's response: "Oh, they're always tough."  As nonchalantly as if he's gone to every Homer football game for the last ten year. What a goober!

So, we headed out to see what Hillsborough, NC had to offer while Grandma and Papa were here this weekend.

Calvin loved the walking and talking big with Papa, and Jack loved taking in the sights at his own pace. It was sweet to watch Jack meander behind us stopping to look carefully at flowers, knock on shop doors, and stare at people on bikes.





I am so thankful for jeffy's quirky and loving influence on the boys....and us!