Year: 2011

Carter’s 5th Birthday Party

After two failed attempts, we finally managed to give Carter a birthday party. She's been a trooper about it. It was cute to see her with all her little friends. I finally got a chance to put faces with some of the names I've heard. A few I knew already, but there were a few new faces.

Twister

Recently Lori and I picked up a few new games to play with the kids - Operation and Twister. Both have been a big hit. The kids are surprisingly good at Operation - before watching them play, I was convinced that it would just be an exercise in frustration for them. And they've really been enjoying Twister - although Carter has trouble making some of the cross-board reaches.

Hike – North Sugarloaf

Lori and I went up north recently to celebrate our ten-year anniversary. While we were up there, we hiked up North Sugarloaf with Sadie, to get a nice birds-eye view of the autumn colors. It was a pretty nice day. The day before, it had been raining, so we weren't sure how things would turn out. The trail was pretty wet and boggy in parts, but a pleasant hike all the same. We had the hike up and the summit all to ourselves, and passed a big group of kids headed up on our way back out - so it looks like we timed it just right!

Party Play Date

After we had to cancel Carter's birthday party for the second time due to the rain, we told her that she could have a few friends over for a play date. We got some pizza, had some cupcakes, and the kids had a pretty decent time. Carter was a trooper - both times that we had to postpone her party at the last minute, she was fine with it and didn't complain or cry about it.

Jump Rope

Check out this cute video of Carter jumping rope. Actually, I was kind of shocked by how well she did at it, considering it was her first day trying a jump rope.

Carter the Rock Star

Here are a trio of cute videos we've snagged of Carter in the last couple of months. We've got to get her into some sort of music or dance class. She loves to sing, play instruments, and just rock out. Most of her songs consist of various lyrics liberally sprinkled with the words "we're gonna rock it down!". She actually likes a lot of my music. She's got one of my Cake CDs in her bedroom that she can listen to when she plays. And when we're in the van without Mom, she always asks me to turn the music up real loud. And usually, the 'harder' the music, the more she likes it. One time, as a test, I put on some punk music for her, and she loved it.

Rollerskates

Yesterday, Carter tried her rollerskates outside for the first time. Until now, they've been an "inside toy", and she only really used them on the rug. When she asked to take them outside, we told her she'd have to wear the full complement of safety gear, but that she should go for it. She was near toppling the entire time, but certainly had a good time in the process.

Blackmail

Tell me that this picture won't come in handy when he is a teenager. He was wearing about five different skirts/tu-tus from the dress-up toybox.