4th of July (Ike Turns 21 Months)

We celebrated 4th of July down in Evansville this year since Josh was able to get a couple of days off and make it a nice long weekend!  Most of our time was spent lounging by the pool or hanging out with all the family.   Since Ike turned 21 months while we were there, I am going to weave in some of his latest milestones in this post.





He is such a water fiend.  Ike spent hours playing in the pool.  He especially loves to say, "ready, set, go!" and then jump straight in.

Hanging out with Papa Charlie.

Ike and Liam (with a little bit of Dave in there).  

He had to take a ride in Papa's awesome truck...notice the hardhat!

Big 21 month old!










The picture above perfectly captures Ike right now.  He refuses to be clothed and runs around naked any chance he can get.  He is kind of potty training, and does fine with peeing, but he has repeatedly pooped in the house, the front yard, and even on the concrete outside of the dad and Kyra's pool.  Oops.

Dave in his new big-boy car seat!

Dave pulling Uncle Tony and Ike around in the pool.

Cheesing out.

Ike loves to scream, "ride it!!!" at anything with wheels.  Thankfully, Grandpa Dave indulges him.









While we were in Evansville, we got two sets of family photos done.  They all turned out great!

With Dad and Kyra.










Oh my the cuteness!

With Mom and Andrew.

And Ike with his buddy Uncle Nona!












Other stuff about Ike recently-he knows everybody by the car they drive, and almost always gets it right.  He refuses to learn colors at all.  And I am pretty sure he would live completely outdoors if I allowed it.  As soon as we wakes up in the morning and after nap he tells me, "bee, bee" (which means outside) until we get out the door.  His vocabulary continues to expand and he has started putting together two and three word sentences like "ride it", "i want it", "taste it", etc.   Overall, he is still such a happy, entertaining kid!

Trip to the Zoo

A couple of weekends ago Josh and I took the kids up to the Fort Wayne Zoo and out to eat at Caliente, our favorite little restaurant that makes the best Cuban food.  We hadn't been up to the zoo yet this year, so it was fun to see all the animals again and see the new work they are doing on some of the exhibits!

Check out the peacock in the background!  It stood with its feathers all out just strutting around for a long time.










Taking turns brushing the goats.

Dave on the giant turtle statue.

Ike was really into the train.  It's cool to see him really get excited about stuff like this now-last year he was still too little.

Ike and I in Africa.

Playing some drums.

Dave didn't feel the trip would be complete without posing in the giant egg shells.

And Ike followed along!











As far as the animals went, I think Dave's favorite was still the alligator (he kept asking to see it) and Ike seemed to enjoy the kangaroos the best.  A couple of them were going crazy and hopping all over the place so it was by far the most exciting thing we saw.  After the zoo, we went over to Caliente and had a Cuban feast.  Dave wasn't quite as adventurous this time, but he did like whatever Josh got (some kind of pulled beef sandwich).  Ike tried a little of everything and loved the tamales. 

What the kids have been up to

I have really been slacking!  Our days have been super busy lately, mostly with being outside and going to the pool.  So, here is snapshot of what the kids did while we were gone, plus a few happenings from home.

My mom met Josh's sister Brittany at the Louisville Zoo.

Hanging out in great-grandpa Dave's truck.

I am guessing this was popsicle eating.







Dave is obsessed with playing games that involve him being carried our thrown.  Lately, the kids and I have played a ridiculous game where they pretend to be babies, but then inform me that they are not babies and I throw them.  Good times...

Seriously, it's Dave's favorite past-time.















Ike had to wear undies over his diaper.  He looks totally confused as to why I would take his picture like this.

Dave wearing his (now) high water Thor costume.   Growing too fast.

Stopping for a rare smile from both!

Vegas!

We had such a great trip out to Vegas!  First, I would like to thank all of those who helped keep our kiddos!  Whether you kept them overnight for 5 long nights (thanks mom!) or hung out and entertained them (dad, Kyra, Tony, grandpa, Britt and kids, Pam, and I am sure many others!), we really appreciate all of your help to make our trip possible!!

Now, onto our adventure.  When we arrived in Vegas, we met our friend Greg and his mom (Carole) at the hotel.  We stayed 4 nights at MGM, which was good but not my favorite.  It was just so big.  Seriously, it took me at least 10 minutes to get to the pool.  Anyway, the accommodations were fine, but the reason we really went was for the food.  I had it all worked out to hit as many of the restaurants we wanted (and could afford!) to go to while we were out there.  So here's a rundown of our trip.  A little gambling, some fun shows, miles of walking, and lots of good eats.

First night on the town!

Dinner at Sage.  Crazy delicious.

Hanging out downtown.  

Guy Fieri's had really cool skull napkins.











My lunch, some kind of Asian inspired appetizer...so good!













We didn't get to see Guy in real life, so this giant poster had to do.






Since I am a super wife, I arranged for all of us to go to Meatloaf one night!  Josh and Greg were pretty pumped, and I was looking forward to it.  Carole may or may not have fallen asleep for the majority of the show.  :)   Meatloaf put on a fantastic show, but his voice is not what it used to be.





Sweet picture of us and Meat.  

Greg stole my camera while we were at dinner.

At Rx Boiler Room for dinner after Meatloaf.












Mother and son enjoying dinner.

Watching the Bellagio fountains.

Love these!  We watched them for 3 rounds one night...can't get enough.

We really took it to the casinos using some crazy strategy Josh found on the internet.







Okay, so we maybe won $4 total, but it's better than losing!

Josh and Greg at Emeril's on our last day.

Final dessert at Michael Mina's.  Best root beer float ever.











So, as you can see, we really enjoyed ourselves!  We also saw Carrot Top, who was incredibly crude but absolutely hilarious.  And there was quite a bit more eating than shown here...I just figured everyone would get tired of all the food pictures!  It's a good thing you have to walk so much in Vegas or we would have come back several pounds heavier.

Anyway, thanks again to everyone who made the trip possible, and to Greg and Carole our travel buddies who ventured out of their comfort zone for our culinary excursions!

20 Months of Ike

Well we hit the twenties...this definitely feels like it happened too fast.  Oh well, I am sure I will be saying the same thing when he hits his actual twenties.  Ike is one crazy kid and just awesome to have in our family.  He is so animated lately and really expresses his likes and dislikes with great attitude. 

Was not feeling like having his picture taken at this moment.

One second later, he's all smiles.













He has started to really manipulate us in the past month.  Ike always knows what he wants and is not afraid to throw a tantrum or two to try to accomplish his goals.  He is constantly trying to eat strange foods (like blue cheese dressing with a spoon) and is so baffled when I tell him no.  If there is one thing Ike doesn't like to hear, it's no.  Probably the case with all kids his age I suppose.

Ike loves to get into everything still, and I have recent proof of this.

He sharpied his face while I was making dinner.  









He would spend (and does often) all of his day outside.  A little rain is not going to get him down!

Soaked!











He kept saying "rain on head".  Maybe rain is a hard concept for kids to understand?  He sure seemed confused by it!







Here's a video of him experiencing the rain.

I think he was trying to be some kind of villain...maybe bag hand man?  Not very scary....

Ike really loves bath time right now.  Here's a video of him pouring cold water on himself.










Other interesting Ike tidbits...he is in the 88th percentile for height and 65th for weight (weighing in at 26.5 lbs).  Total opposite of Dave at this age!  Josh has taught him to say "ohhhh yeah!" and do this weird dance whenever he really wants something (like that blue cheese dressing!).  I have to remember to take a video of it.   He really really likes to pee in the toilet, so I am sort of thinking he may potty train early.  We'll see about that.  Ike's vocabulary is still increasing every day and he is getting really good at knowing everyone's names-even many of Josh's coworkers.  I am hoping he does fantastic for my mom while we're gone over this long weekend, maybe it'll help his separation anxiety.  Nothing like going cold turkey!  :)