We're not in Kansas anymore...

But we were last week! Ok, that was really cheesy...anyways...
We had a great time in Kansas for those extra days that Brian got added on to his R&R. He got to meet with the team that will be replacing him in November but he didn't have to spend a lot of time at work so we got plenty of time to enjoy our last few days together. We went to the cute little zoo in Manhattan where unfortunately most of the animals were sleeping...but Ian did get to pet some goats and a pot belly pig so that was great! And amazingly Ian wore a hat for a good bit of the time we were there. When Brian went to put it on him I said, "He hates hats. He won't wear it." Hmm, I guess Daddy has the magic touch.

We did some other fun little stuff like go to the playground and the little lake on post and swim in the hotel pool. But the best part of our trip was getting to see our friends, the Cooks!! We hadn't seen them since we were out at Ft. Riley last year and Alexis wasn't born yet. We went over to their house for a great dinner one night and Ian had the absolute best time playing with all of Ben's cars...especially one that drove right up their front door! He got so excited he was shaking and jumping all over the place saying, "Car door! Door car!!" over and over. Ian's got a lot of cars but not nearly as many as Ben so he was in heaven!

Ian and Ben:

Alexis and Sophie: Ian, Alexis, Sophie and Ben:
The kids and I also went over to the Cooks one morning while Brian was doing some work. Ben was still sleeping so Ian couldn't get into his room to play with the multitude of cars but Sarah scraped up a couple from Sophie's room so that worked. Sophie also introduced Ian to a fun place to hang out in the living room...the ottomans! Somehow they both managed to fit in there and it made for some pretty cute pictures.

So, we had a wonderful time and we are so excited that it will only be a couple more months til we drive back out to Kansas again!! We'll get to see our friends and pick Brian up to bring back home for good!!

The Lou

The first and last part of our trip out to Kansas was stopping for the night in St. Louis to stay with our friends Jason, Sarah and Kathryn. Poor Kathryn had to deal with Ian pushing her around, running her over with her own toys and trying to hug her when she just didn't want to be hugged. Sorry, Kathryn. It was cute to have the kids together though and Ian really had fun with her Elmo airplane and swingset in the backyard. Maybe when we head back in a couple of months Kathryn will be a little bigger and can push Ian right back. Ha!
We also got to see our friends Tara and Ryan...although we didn't get any pictures of that...hmm. Well, it was really fun to hang out again and watch some Olympic action (Jamaican me crazy!...that's just for you, Prengers) and we really appreciate being able to stop and make the drive a little easier.
Anyways, here are some cute pictures (thanks, Sarah!)....

Time with Daddy

Well, Brian is gone now...we dropped him off at the Kansas City airport on Tuesday morning before heading back East. We had a great time on our trip out to St. Louis and then Ft. Riley. Those few extra days added to his R&R really made a big difference and we made the best of our short time together. I'll have more pictures from our trip later but I just wanted to post these two cute videos for now. They are of Brian and each of the kids having some fun together. The first is Alexis and Daddy at home here in Ohio just playing together in her room. And the second is of Daddy and Ian doing Ian's new favorite game....playing horsey. Daddy does it so much better than Mommy so Ian will definitly be excited to have the better horsey back in a couple of months. It's amazing how much more aware he is of Daddy now and he talks about him constantly. It's especially interesting that when he gets in trouble with Mommy he cries for Daddy. Hmmm. :o)

Our Safari Adventure

On Monday my mom took off of work and took us all to the Safari Park out in Port Clinton. It's a really neat place that allows you to drive through a huge area with all kinds of deer, elk, buffalo, llamas, giraffe, zebras, etc. roaming free. They come right up to your car and stick their heads in looking for carrots and cups of food that you buy there. Ian thought it was pretty funny but didn't want them licking him or snorting on him...haha. He didn't have any treats so they weren't too interested in him anyways. Alexis seemed to like seeing the animals too as they stuck their heads in the car.
There was also an area where you could get out of the car and do pony and camel rides...unfortunately Ian was too short...maybe next year. But he got to play on the playground and see some other cool animals in cages. The most exciting part was the pig race. We didn't get any pics of that on our digital camera but basically they just let four pigs out of stalls and they raced around a track while everyone cheered for them. Ian laughed and yelled "Oink, oink!" as they ran past.

Tomorrow we leave for St. Louis and will spend the night with our friends there before heading on to Ft. Riley on Friday. It's hard to believe our two weeks are up already but we are really lucky to be getting these few extra days together out in Kansas. And it won't even be three months more before Brian is home for good!

An Early Birthday Celebration

This past Saturday we celebrated Ian's 2nd birthday about a month early so that Daddy could celebrate with us. Then Alexis will get a party about a month late so Daddy can be home for that too. Grandpa and Grandma Murray and Aunt Kelly came down from Rochester for the weekend so it was great to have them there for the party too.
The theme for the party was of course cars....lots and lots and lots of cars. Almost every gift Ian got was car related which could not have made him happier. As you can see from the video all Ian wanted off of his cake was the Lightening McQueen car that was on top...and to eat the candle too I guess. He is so excited to have lots of different kinds of cars now and it's so funny to hear all the names he has for them. He got a set of cars from the Disney movie Cars so he calls Lightening McQueen "Queen", the tractor is "Tractor Queen" and the Army Jeep is "Daddy's car." He has a Crossfire and several PT Cruisers which are all "PaPa's car" because my dad has a Crossfire and both of my parents have PT Cruisers (PaPa is the universal word for both Grandma and Grandpa for now..haha). The funniest thing was the HotWheels card he got from his Aunt Kelly that made a reving noise everytime you opened it. He laughed hysterically as he kept opening and closing it and yelling "Car Noise!"

I'll put pics up from our trip to the Safari Park next and then we will be leaving for our trip out to Kansas later this week. The time is going too fast!!!!

R&R at the Lake

I don't have time to write much but here are some pictures from the first part of our R&R at the lake cottage in Indiana. The kids had a blast as usual and Brian got to see all the fun water activities they like to do.

Brian and I spent the first couple days of this week away on our own while Grandma Sheila watched the kids and this weekend Grandma and Grandpa Murray and Aunt Kelly are coming down from Rochester to visit so more pics to come...