Picnic on the farm

My work has an annual Family Picnic at the Agricultural Hall of Fame in KC. I heard it was a lot of fun, so we made a morning of it this past weekend. The weather was great, it was sunny with a nice breeze, and we had a fun time. Colin is still taking 2 naps a day, but we vetoed his first nap by heading out to the picnic. Of course, Colin did just great, not crabby at all until about noon (let's face it, the kid probably had enough fresh air by then anyway). We saw lots of my co-workers and their families as well. Plus, Memaw was able to meet us there and join in on the fun! They had lots of different stations with a bunch of inflatable jumpers, race cars, games you could win prizes at (like a carnival), a live deejay, lots of food, a train, etc. Colin had tons of fun!

Daddy and Colin on the way to the farm - we were on a hay rack ride!

Our first stop was the bubble station. Colin just loves bubbles, although he hasn't quite got the technique down for blowing his own.

I am so glad Brian caught Colin doing this pose - he has been doing it a lot lately at home, just turning his head to the side and smiling so cute. Usually it comes just before he does something he's not supposed to do.

Daddy and Colin playing with more bubbles.

Colin's other favorite place - the ice bin full of waters. It was like he was fishing for bottles of water. How fun!

Caught one!

This was the Sand Works station, where we decorated a fish and a shark. Had to throw them away though, cause Colin kept trying to eat them. Yuck!

Our shark in progress - Looking good!

We let Colin have cotton candy - he loved it! Brian and I couldn't remember the last time we had cotton candy, so we had to help him eat it. Dig in!

Daddy and Colin on the mini-train ride around the Agricultural Hall of Fame. Colin loves looking around and checking everything out. He wasn't too fond of the tunnel the train went through, his eyes got HUGE and was definitely glad when we came out of the tunnel.

There was also an area where roosters and chickens were hanging around. He just loved looking at the animals and got so excited when they walked towards him.

Hanging out with a cow!

Stopped by a tractor on the way out.

We didn't realize his hands were getting covered in filthy black gunk while he was playing on the tractor. Luckily, none of it got on his clothes.

Our little guy on the way home. This really is something we don't see that often, he hardly ever falls asleep in the car. Must've been really wiped out!! What a fun morning!

Granddad's Bday party

We got to have some fun at Granddad's birthday party on Sunday, but only after a lot of people worked their tails off on Saturday. We are in the process of fixing up some of our wood rot issues on our house, and Brian, Chad, Chris, and Marvin (in no particular order) came over to help out. Those guys all worked so hard, with Brian and Chad starting at 7 am and finally getting to stop at around 4:45 pm. Mind you, it was about mid-90's outside, as well. They did an awesome job, only needing to caulk around the new wood and then prime/paint it. Can't wait for that big project to be finished...
On Sunday we celebrated Granddad's birthday. Great-Grandma Rita was there, and Colin always loves to spend time with her. He's such a good baby, he will sit on her lap and smile at her, just what every great-grandmother would want.

Here is Colin sitting on the famous Elmo chair (pretty much every Teson grandchild loves that chair). Colin had lots of fun with Grammie's toys, celebrating Christmas with the musical pop-up toy and Easter with the singing Easter Bunny. Colin didn't realize it was the middle of August...

Once again, can't get enough of the fun toys...

After dinner Granddad took Colin out swinging. He loves to swing. Never really did like it as an infant though, maybe he just likes to be outside in the fresh air.

Didn't you know Colin has a drivers license already? Granddad also pushed Colin around in this awesome car. Looks like he's ready to pick up some hot chicks and take them for a spin around the backyard. What a showoff!

nightly walk

Our entire family goes for walks almost every night (weather permitting). We really enjoy using this little wagon we got, and it's easier to mess with than our stroller lots of the time. We just go around a block or two, let Jake get some fresh air, etc.
We have to put a few items in the wagon in order to keep Colin occupied. This usually consists of our house key, a football, our garage door opener, sometimes a random tool found in the garage...the list goes on an on.
I actually remembered the camera one time this week, and we snapped some pics. Enjoy!

Colin and Daddy (and football)

Brian and Jake usually go across the street into a field for Jake to do his business and Colin has started to call out to Dad and wave to him... so cute!

Colin and Mommy (and Jake's back half)

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly - Our trip to St. Louis

The Teson fam took a trip to St. Louis over the weekend to visit a good friend of Brian's. They have a little girl that is 22 months old and she is such a sweetheart. Colin and Madeline had a great time hanging out and it was fun watching them interact with each other. We did a lot of hanging out at their house, considering it was what we concluded to be "hot as Africa" :)

The Good - We got to visit the Magic House, which is a very interactive, fun learning place for kids of all ages. It would've been a lot more fun for Colin had he been a tiny bit older, but there were still lots of activities he had a great time doing. We did have a bit of a meltdown towards the end of the Magic House time, but it all ended up fine after a quick dip in their fountain outside. Even though Colin wore clothes on the way in, he was stripped to his diaper on the way out. I won't ever forget an extra pair of clothes again!
There is also a fun park just a block or two away from the Hopkins house and we had a great time playing on the swings and climbing the toys. He's very adventurous these days.

The Bad - Colin decided he didn't need to take a nap in the car, either on the way to St.L or on the way home to KC. It made for a long 5 hours, but we did manage to entertain him a bit with a Baby Einstein movie that was loaned to us. He really doesn't stay focused on the TV for more than a minute or two, but that's all you really need with Baby Einstein videos!

The Ugly - Saturday night Colin woke up at 2:45 am and stayed awake until about 5:15 am. Brian and I got little to no sleep that night, but at least we didn't wake up a single member of the Hopkins family. Poor Colin must've not liked sleeping in the closet!!

Here are a few photos from our trip - lots of fun!!

Bathtime with Madeline

Swinging at the park

We had to make a pit stop on the way down and of course, HAD to buy the Mizzou Tigers football for ONLY $4!! (Colin really does love it though, just as much as Daddy!)

At the Magic House, this played lots of fun music

This wheel turned round and round making lots of noise

Playing the organ that bubbled when it played music

We could've stayed here for hours - Colin just LOVES to open and close doors, plus these had fun textures and furs behind each door

Playing at the water table - Colin got to splash around with the big kids. Notice how small he is here compared to everyone else... He was soaked when we finished with this station

Picture with Mommy at the water table

Splish Splash! He was drenched!

Building with some styrofoam pieces outside of Magic House - such a busy kid!

It was so hot!! His shorts are sticking to his legs! But, he was having so much fun!

Well, we found the lazy river outside. Off came the shorts - he dove right in the water. Obviously, so did Madeline!

He loved his time in the lazy river playing with boats as they floated by

On the way out the door - like I said, never will I forget an extra set of clothes again! At least he had a dry diaper to put on, right?!

Back at the Hopkins house - playing with bubbles in the kitchen!

One last stop at the neighborhood park before we left town, climbing the toys like a big boy!

Heading down the slide with Daddy!

What a great trip! Thanks Caleb and Erin!!

Colin is such a busy baby!

We haven't had too many exciting things going on for us lately, but here is a random pile of pictures I thought were just so cute.

Colin continues to just LOVE on Jake whenever he can, here is a pic of him "hugging" Jake, which pretty much consists of him resting his head on whatever part of Jake he can reach. Lots of times it's laying his head on Jake's rear end while Jake is laying down. It's nice to see him being loving with him rather than just batting at Jake's face all the time.

Well, dinner time became much messier than usual when Colin decided to dump his bowl of hamburger and black beans and cheese all over his head. He thought it was hilarious and just laughed his big belly laugh while holding the bowl on his head. Luckily, our nightly routine consists of a bath after dinner, so it worked out fine. Surely won't be the last time seeing this new trick...

Aunt Tiff and Uncle Chad visited Colin's great-grandparents in Michigan over this past weekend and borrowed our GPS for their long drive. Of course, they had to play with Colin when they made it back to KC. It's always nice to see Colin interacting and smiling when others come to visit us. Pretty sure Chad is having more fun in this picture...

Aunt Tiffey goofing off with Colin. It is so much fun to see those two play, both acting like little children and laughing so hard. Tiff says she just lives for Colin's laughs and smiles, so I am very glad Tiff and Chad agreed to watch Colin over Thanksgiving when the Teson family is taking a trip. They should have a blast!

Colin, busy chatting away on his phone. He's pretty funny sometimes when he just plops down in the middle of the floor, grabs whatever toy he can find within reach. Sheesh, those old land line phones are a thing of the past, and Brian even bought him a cell phone to have and keep up with the times. Maybe Colin just forgot to charge his cell phone...

New routines

I think we might have our "old" Colin back. He has recovered nicely from his fever/rash episode and is starting to be our laid back kid again. Now that he's over a year old, we are getting rid of the bottle and switching over to using sippy cups. He's not quite sure about this transition, but like most all things with babies, it just takes a few days and they've figured it out. Wish us luck!

I am currently taking part in an agriculture program at work where we get fresh fruits/vegetables/dairy products from farms around the KC area. Lately we have gotten a lot of very tasty peaches sent to us and Colin just LOVES eating one for dessert. He is really funny to watch when he eats them, too, because he smacks his lips and makes the cutest noise between bites. He will devour an entire peach in no time, and we have to make sure to get the pit away from him before that will get chewed on, too!

Since he makes quite a mess with dinners, we plop him in the tub and scrub him down. Brian was in there with him last night and I hear all sorts of laughter and giggles coming from the tub. Colin has figured out how to make the squirtee toys squirt water all over the bathroom, including on Brian. He thought it was hilarious, so of course, I came running in with our camera and got a video of it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!!

Eating a yummy peach!

Squirting Daddy!

Throwing his head back, he's laughing so hard!