Finn's Birthday Party

For Finn's birthday party we went to Wheeler Farm to eat and see the animals.

Finn loved playing with Patrick. They are perfect little friends.


Getting ready to blow out the candles. Except the wind did it for him.

Hyped up on sugar on the way home.

What started out as a beautiful day....
but then ended up beautiful again. A happy birthday rainbow!
Happy Birthday little buddy!

Happy Birthday Finn!

Finn turned 2 today. Crazy how fast these two years have been.

The past year has been an exciting one. He has learned to walk, RUN, talk, play, eat with a spoon, climb and talk.

We had his 2 year checkup and he weighs 31 pounds, 80th percentile and is 36 inches tall, 90th percentile.

We have hit some terrible two moments. He does like to have everything his way, and he shows his little temper quite often. But he also shows his loving side with kisses and the best hugs.

Here is a video we took of him on this big day.

Happy Birthday Finn!

Finn got honored on Ohdeedoh, one of my favorite blogs. Dang he is cute.

Happy Birthday Finn!

Happy Father's Day

We went to the park with the family for Father's Day. It turned into a game of musical chairs because of the rain, and by the end of the afternoon we had been in three different locations. It still ended up being a beautiful day and good times.
We also had birthday cake for Finn. He was a little confused, but he blew the candles out all by himself!
The best part of the afternoon for Finn, was playing with Julianne's pink stroller.



Thanks Ben for being the best dad. And to my dad for being the equally as best dad. Love you!

Summer?

Friday Teri came over to celebrate the last day of staying at home with the baby, before going back to work. We went swimming. It was sunny, but still a little cold.

Chace enjoyed laying on the grass, looking at the umbrella.

Teri enjoyed looking at Chace.

I tried to enjoy running after Finn.

And Finn enjoyed EVERYTHING, especially the water fountain and his new sunglasses from Target. Did not enjoy leaving.

Rainy Days

I am a fan of the rain. But after 2 weeks, I'm ready for summer. I'm not working on Fridays for the summer, which is wonderful, but it's hard keeping a 2 year old occupied when it's raining outside.

We took advantage of any sun time we could get. Friday we went to the goat farm to buy some yogurt and eggs (chicken eggs, not goat). Finn loves animals, especially goats, and visits the goats almost weekly with grandma.

Other activites:

• 1 pool trip, Finn is getting very brave - need to buy floaties.
• 2 bike rides to parks. We even took a towel to wipe down slides, still got wet. There were many requests for more rides, Finn doesn't really understand why we can't go out in thunderstorm.
• 1 trip to Wheeler Farm. Always a great free activity. The pigs put on a noisy show for us and Finn rode a pony. I cannot believe he wasn't scared at all. (rainy day + cell phone=horrible pictures)

• 1 trip to McDonalds for hot fudge sundaes (Finn loves peanuts and ate them separate) and indoor playground. For the record, I can get UP the slide faster than Ben, but he was faster on the way down, too fast maybe, we almost had some injuries.
  

• 1 trip to Blockbuster to get a movie for Finn. Bolt. Very cute, but only keeps 2 year olds entertained for 1 hour, not 1.5 like the box says.

Sounds like we did a lot when I put it down on "paper". But he was still bored. Maybe this is why people have more than one kid?

Word of the Day - Grandpa

This one seems obvious. Right?
Grandpa
–noun
1. the father of one's father or mother

But to Finn, it also means this.
Grandpa
–noun
1. the mother of one's father or mother.

Finn likes keeping it simple. One word covers two of his most loved people. This way he only has to say, "buv boe, grandpa" and he kills two hearts with one stone.

Highlight of the weekend

On Friday, our next door neighbor brought home a truck from work. Since we have a neighborhood full of boys, this was VERY exciting. Finn got to go on a ride around the block and hung out in and/or around the semi for a few hours.
All weekend he would look out the front window to check to see if the truck was still there. Even by Sunday, when the truck was gone, he was still looking out the window and talking about "big truck".

Thanks Mitch!

UP!

A quick note about UP!

Apparently the thought of a house being pulled off the ground by balloons and flying in the air is terrifying to a 2 year old.

He finally stopped crying once we shoved some Doritos in his mouth. (Yes, we snuck Doritos into the theater)

Finn enjoyed the rest of the movie, except the last 15 minutes when he was asleep. I guess going to a movie during nap time isn't the best idea.

More Sand

Finn also loves sand without a lake. He could play outside in the backyard for HOURS in his sandbox if we let him. It's great on yardwork days, but it always ends in tears and screaming when it's time to come in.

The Lake

Finn loves sand, and he loves water. Nothing is better than a beach for him, sadly we are landlocked. But we do have a lake and it's Finn's favorite. It's always a battle to get him to leave.

Our new son

We cut Finn's hair this week. He went from looking like a baby/toddler to a boy. No one at daycare even reconized him.

He enjoyed the first half of the haircut, until hair got on his sucker and his mouth.

So we finished up in the tub.

Family Fun Part 2

On Thursday we headed to Fruitland to stay at Camelot Resort with all the Dickersons (minus Dan and Laura) and Wings.

The property was amazing. The house, not the greatest. I think we were all expected a little better house, but for the price, it was fine. You pay for the property.

The reunion was full of swinging.

eating

climbing (or being a tiger as Finn calls it)

biking
enjoying the beauty of Utah
And of course enjoying being together as a family.

Highlights and Lowlights (and things to remember):

• Jake using the rope swing to propel himself into a freezing river and then screaming like a little girl
  
• Finn falling into the smaller river and climbing out by himself, soaking wet, and then wanting to get back in
• My bike pedal falling off, mid ride
• Mouse on Marc's face
• Kickball (with only a few minor injuries)
• Food - hamburgers, hotdogs and ribs
• Cohen waking up dry (and Jake!)
• Some people not getting hot water, but I did, that is all that matters
• Finn learning to love trees, must be in his blood
• Forcing everyone to finish a game of Trivial Pursuit
• Mountain Dew, Airborne and Emergen-C
• Other lawn games, including frisbee golf & horseshoe
• Finn thinking pinecones are poop
• Me not taking enough pictures
  

I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff, so family, please comment.
We are glad it's over, but glad it happened. It was a great few days getting to know everyone!

Family Fun Part 1

Last week Marc and Aubri came up to play all week before the Dickerson / Wing reunion. We had a blast, staying up way too late and having the kids wake us up early. OK, that wasn't a blast, but we love Marc and Aubri and they can come over anytime. (And so can Natalie, so we can have a break from the millions of kids.)

One night we rented out a few rooms at Noah's. I would highly suggest this place. We've rented it once before with the Dickerson's to have more space and to get out of the house for a night.


I love this pictures cause Marc is totally ducking from the ball. Pathetic.