Summer days

So after a month long hiatus, Christopher returned to hockey this Saturday! He was so happy to be back on the ice and after thinking he didn't remember what to do, it all came back very quickly and Chris was skating like his old self. He was so excited that we went back today for public session! After the session, he took a ride on a motorcycle...

In addition to hockey starting up, Chris has been attending a couple day camps at two schools near us. Last week, he went with his friend Nico to the Barstow School's mini camp. The theme of the week was "To Infinity and Beyond" which of course meant they were talking about "Toy Story." Chris has never seen the movie but by the end of the week, he pretty much knew all the characters and the plot. Today he started "Preschool Pals" at Pembroke Hill School and he loved it. Literally could not stop telling me about all the things he did! I walked him in this morning and met his teacher who was wonderful. She was one of the regular preschool teachers and she had so many great activities for them to do. They started to make race cars and even a runway in the block area which, as you could imagine, was very exciting for Christopher! When I got there to pick him up, he was listening to a story and my normally shy little boy was totally answering the teacher's questions and everything. Another great thing is that there are only 6 or 7 other kids in his class--all boys (not sure how that it for the teacher!). Miss Jenny told me that Chris was a great helper and the best cleaner upper today. This mommy is very proud!

Hello? Hello?

Dear Telemarketer Who Just Called Our House,

I would normally apologize to you for having to deal with our almost four year-old answering the phone and talking to you, but I don't think I can because honestly, it was one of the funniest things I have ever seen. Apparently we did not pick up quickly enough and that was in fact Christopher talking to you and asking who was calling and laughing. And yes, that was Brian and I laughing hysterically in the background while our son took your call. I hope you at least have a sense of humor and can smile at the adorable laugh you were dealing with tonight. I'm sure it's better than a lot of the responses you get on a normal basis. Please call back again! We will have our answering service take your call anytime.

Sincerely,
The Parents

Random

So here are a few random pictures of Chris as well as some household stuff that I finally got onto the computer...

First is Chris dressing up as a superhero! We were not able to attend his friend Aidan's birthday party, but Aidan's mom gave us the goodie bag from it which included a mask and a cape, complete with a "C" on it.

One night last week, Mommy got to go out with her girls Debbie and Lindsey for a mommy playdate. I even straightened my hair for the occasion! Lord knows I didn't do it myself...

We also finally got a table and chair set for our kitchen and yesterday we were extremely excited to have our TV and speaker system set up! The coolest thing about the speaker/radio is that I can put on my iPod from anywhere and it will play my music in whichever room we choose. No wires or anything! Even better, the TV guy showed us this app that allows you to receive radio stations from anywhere. So when we were making breakfast this morning, we were listening to NY sports radio on the Fan... obviously!

Not sure if you can see it but the picture hanging by the bookshelves is our family portrait we had done a while back. We are finally hanging up pictures in our house! This morning, Brian was going through some things in our sparse and still not unpacked office and he found this jacket that belonged to my Pop Pop (Grandpa T's father). Chris was very happy to try it on although it will be a few years before it fits properly!

More pictures from our 4th

Here are some additional pics from our day. First, the boys (and the rest of us) on the boat...

And then some fun on the beach!

On the Lake with the Montellos

This forth of July, we spent the day on Lake Quivira with the Montello family. They recently obtained a pontoon boat that was perfect for a nice leisurely day on the water. Chris and Luca were all fired up to go boating together! Then, of course, when we got on the boat, our little worrier got so nervous when his friend Luca was walking around the boat. "Luca you have to sit down or else you might fall off," he kept saying, at one point near tears that his best buddy might get hurt. Here he is calling Luca back to sit with him...

Notice that we still had not gone anywhere, but he was still so concerned about his boy. Once we got going, everyone enjoyed the cruise over to a nice swimming spot where we all got to swim in the open water-- a very exciting thing for the buds! He even got a chance to drive the boat around a little! Good thing it doesn't go very fast.

Later, we docked the boat over by the beach and did some swimming there as well as watched the 4th of July parade that they were having. Finally we all got a bit hungry so it was off to the Montello residence for some grilled cheese, pasta salad, and watermelon. What a great way to spend the holiday!

The basement

I don't know how much I've mentioned about our new basement (aside from bike riding awhile back with Luca), but we have lots of space down there to play around with. Recently, we set up the easel for painting and laid out an old rug from our first apartment in KC that would have otherwise been thrown away. We also set up some of Christopher's marble set up since we were running out of room in the playroom. Yesterday we got really crazy and painted part of the wall with chalkboard spray paint so Chris could have a really big board to draw on. It was finally dry today and Chris got right to work. Here he is...

When he was finished with his first drawing, Chris told us that it was fireworks! Happy 4th of July!!!

Twins!

Today, Chris and I went over to Sam and Noah's house where the boys were going to have some crazy, slip and slide fun while I helped Debbie set up not one but two cribs for her second set of twins to be born in October. It was the least we could do to help! Anyway, here are the boys enjoying their water fun...

Meanwhile, I was upstairs assembling the cribs. Chris was excited for this because I brought my drill and tool set, not really knowing what to expect. Turns out, all I needed was a measly little Allen wrench!

Anyway, now the cribs are ready for babies. After the assembly I joined everyone for lunch. The boys had a great time together, as they usually do!