Spring Break!!

We went to Topeka for a little get away over Spring Break. We left Wednesday and came back Thursday. It was a lot of fun. One thing we did was go to the Kansas History Museum. It was a lot of fun. They had a play area with a train to climb on and lots of dress up stuff.
The boys liked the Indian tepees and small replicas of Indian villages.

This was the highlight of the museum. It was a completely refurbished 1880s train. It was dark in this part so the pics didn't turn out very well. They loved this. It had an engine with 3 cars that you could look in and even go into parts. It was amazing.

This was the park outside.

This was in the play area.

The first thing we did was go to the capitol. There was so much construction which made it really hard to see anything inside the capitol building. We went on the dome tour and Matt actually stood on the balcony right above the green dome. The boys and I made it as far as the top square windows.

This was taken from the second floor looking up toward the dome. At the top of the pic is a little staircase. Remember that staircase!

My pictures are backwards! This Matt at the top of the dome. You actually get to go outside on a balcony right below the Indian sculpture! He was the brave one in the family. Actually Ethan wanted to go but I wouldn't let him!

I took this pic with my sister Kristi in mind! When we got to this part of the tour it actually took my breath away. I made it a little further than this level but not much! Matt admitted that his hands were sweating a little on the way up.

The staircase behind us leads up to the outer dome (the previous pic). I had no idea what came next at this point. I actually thought that those stairs let to the end of the tour! We stayed the night at the Super 8 right next to Forbes Field (the air base). We saw lots of aiplanes and helicopters land which was a bonus. The boys loved sleeping in the hotel and getting to go to breakfast in their pjs. We hung out in the room until check watching tv and playing. Then we headed to the Barnes and Noble (to play with the Thomas train) and the mall because Ethan wanted to ride the escalator! It's amazing how much fun you can have for free or minimal cost.

Big Milestones!

Ethan is now riding his bike without training wheels! It was actually a very positive experience. Sometimes he can get extremely frustrated upset with change but he started riding right from the start. We are still working on starting and stopping but the riding part he has down!

Ethan lost his first tooth this week. He wiggled that tooth for a week and finally it came out. I ended up having to do it for him because he started freaking out when it started to bleed. He was very excited and even took his tooth from show and tell on Friday. It was a big week for Ethan.

Boys Stuff!

I was trying for a nice pic of them together but Seth has other ideas!
Ethan is getting so big! I can't believe it!

Sweet Seth

I have never understood the facination between boys and sticks. If you add dirt, mud or water it's even worse! Our red wagon is half full of sticks that Ethan has collected every where he goes. He'll find a stick and bring it home to put in his "gun cart".

He is trying to build a dam with sticks and leaves.

Seth posing in from of the waterfall in Sunset Park near our house.

We went to the McPherson train museum a couple of weeks ago. It's not finished yet (there was no heat! It was freezing in there!) but the boys loved it.

Engineer Ethan! They had a little Thomas table at the museum that Ethan loved to play with. The boys got signs, hats, color books and old train magazines as souvineirs. It was great.

Fun Times!

Happy Birthday Seth!

I can't believe my baby has turned 4 years old! It wasn't that long ago that he was a little tiny boy in preemie clothes! He is very excited to be 4! He is convinced that the scale tells him how old he is so he would run and stand on the scale to see if he was 4 yet. He weighs 30 lbs. so he would say "I'm still three!" After his birthday he got really frustrated because the scale still said he was three and not four. We went to the doctor yesterday for his four year check up and he finally hit the 15th percentile in height! That is a record for him. His weight is still at the 5th percentile. He's just a tiny guy!
On Wednesday we had a party at school. He was so excited. We made heart shaped cookies with candies on top.

His class sang Happy Birthday to him.

Seth and Mrs. Conklin his preschool teacher

I went super easy on a cake this year and made a catepillar cake with cupcakes and pipe cleaners.

Nana and Papa from Hays came to help us celebrate on Sunday afternoon.

Ethan, in true big brother fashion, "helped" Seth break in his presents. He even started planting ideas in Seth's head about what he should ask for.

Look at my strong boy! He loves to show off his muscles

Christmas on the Move!

I have FINALLY added the rest of my Christmas pictures! We actually had 5 Christmas' in a matter of a week. It was kinda crazy but fun seeing everyone.
Great Grandma Friesen and all of her great grandkids.

Grandma and all of the grandkids.

We played in the leaves at the park in Hays. The boys had so much fun.

Seth, Ethan and Jordan

Jordan and Ethan sharing some love.

Jordan got laser tag for Christmas and the boys had so much fun shooting eachother!

All of the grandkids in Madison.

Reading books with Grandma Alpha.

Kristi made the boys superman capes for Christmas. They have had a lot of fun with them. Ethan's cape says, "Extreme Ethan". Seth's says, "Super Seth"!

Christmas at Home!

The boys got Transformer jammies from Grandma Alpha and they love them! A few days ago we found Transformer slippers on the clearance rack for both of them. They have worn them almost every night since Christmas (except when they were in the laundry!).

We let them open their stocking gifts on the 23rd. They each got a puppet and a wind up boat along with candy.

We opened gifts on Christmas Eve. Seth got the Playmobil police set. He loved it. It has a police car and motorcycle and a jail complete with bad guys.

Ethan has been asking for the Playmobil jet for months and he was so excited when he finally got it. He opened the present and then danced around the room a couple of times. As you can see it's huge!

We had our traditional Christmas Eve picnic of finger foods and sweet things. We opened presents after supper and then Matt and I spent over an hour putting all of the sets together!