Work conference in Canada

I was able to attend a work conference in Niagara-on-the-lake, Ontario this past week. I had a wonderful time, learned a lot (the entire conference was on pediatric exercise physiology, which is exactly what I do on a daily basis), visited a few wineries, did some shopping & sight-seeing, and basically relaxed a bit. Of course, I missed my boys every second I was there, but I really did enjoy the conference.

The 2nd night I was gone, I couldn't get a hold of Brian at home. Starting to get worried, finally was able to talk to him at the Emergency Room with Colin. Colin had been throwing up quite freqently for more than a few hours, and Brian figured it was time to get him checked out. Colin's entire daycare had been affected by this virus, so Brian had an even more difficult time being a single-parent with a sick baby. Everyone was alive and well when I got home, so I consider it a success!

This was Colin helping me pack. Basically, he took everything out of my suitcase, one by one, until he was able to crawl in and take a seat. Guess he wanted to come too...

I wonder how much it would cost to check that suitcase?!

Took a trip to Ft. George, right next to our hotel. It was very interesting to hear all the history about the Niagara-on-the-lake area.

One of the wineries we visited. Loved the Ice Wine they made (but very expensive, yikes)!

Overlooking Niagara River, to the American fort, Ft. Niagara. There also was a sail boat race going on, which was fun to watch. Very peaceful!

I thought this plaque was interesting, a list of people that successfully made it across the 32 mile Lake Ontario. Wonder who keeps track of the un-successful swims?!

Finally, proof that my boss, Rich, and I were at the conference. Here is the poster I presented while there. We forgot to get a picture of us while we were presenting, so instead, took a quick picture right before we left the conference. Better late than never, right?!

Weekend of work

Brian and I used all of our resources this weekend and got our entire house (almost) all cleaned up and ready to be put on the market. Brian was outside with a bunch of people, attempting to do what I thought was pretty much impossible, paint our entire house in one day. Well, they did it!! And, finished just in time to watch the thunderstorms roll in. Luckily, it didn't do much of any damage to the paint on the house. Phew!

While the boys were outside, the ladies were inside working on the house, touching up painting, using Old English on the wood (very time consuming but makes the wood look brand new!), wiping down walls, cleaning things inside and out. Brian's mom took Colin for the day on Saturday, and part of the day on Sunday, so we could be productive. You really can't get much of anything done with a 14 month old running around!

We just have a few more loose ends to tie up, getting our carpet cleaned, then meeting with our realtor on Tuesday. I leave for a work conference on Wednesday up in Canada (Niagara-on-the-lake) and will be gone for the first days of our house being on the market. Brian gets the super dad award, for sure!!

My sister brought over a huge bucket (on wheels) for cleaning, and of course, Colin wanted to get in it. So, here's some fun pics.

He looks a bit scared in this pic, but really, he was laughing his head off, rolling all over our kitchen!

What a good idea, Aunt Tiffey!

Colin helping out mom wipe down the walls. So much dog slobber all over them, gross!! Good thing Jake is cute!!

Okay, really, this is what Colin did to help out...he tried to eat the wall wipe, yuck!

Learning all the time

Sometimes Colin just seems like such a little man to me, especially this particular night when I pulled out the camera. He can really entertain himself now, finding things to do and to play with without much coercion. I was doing the dishes one night while Brian was out working on the house, and Colin started playing with the fridge magnets.

Attacking the camera

He has gotten much better at his fine motor control. He usually doesn't have any problems getting the magnets where he wants them, particularly when he is tossing them over the railing into the room below.

Working hard

Playing in the tub. Everybody needs to have bubbles on their head, right?

Horsing around with Daddy. I believe this was a "tickle monster" attack!

Messy Mania

Brian and I belong to a group called "parents as teachers" where an elementary educator comes into our home and teaches us ways to help promote the best learning environment for Colin. We LOVE it, our educator is really nice and it's good to see if Colin is keeping up with all of the important milestones. The program took a bit hit in funding since the economy is so bad right now in schools, but they still try to hold group meetings where kids & parents can do fun activities together.
This past weekend parents as teachers held Messy Mania, which basically provided a place (where the family didn't have to clean up after) to do all sorts of messy activities, like painting, playing with different textures, etc.
Colin had such a great time!!! And it's always fun to see him interact with other kids...

Our first stop was finger painting, but when we realized they didn't have any papertowels set out yet at this station, we quickly left. However, we didn't leave soon enough, Colin already had gotten quite a bit on his shirt...oh well!

Then we went to a brush painting station, where you could "paint" with water. Colin just had fun flinging the water all over the place. This is definitely something we could do at home. Good idea!

Colin "Picasso" Teson, hard at work

Then we headed to the water fountains, Colin's favorite area by far! He loves splashing around and there were probably 12 different fountains, all of which he had to individually touch. Too funny!

This was a truck painting station, where you rolled the truck in paint and made different designs. Colin didn't quite the the patience for this one, so in turn, I got green paint all over my shirt, thanks kid!

There was also lots of climbing toys, Colin is so strong!

This was MY favorite station, the flour station. It was really funny to see how Colin reacted to this, because he just stuck his hands in the flour bin, and didn't move them. It was as if he stuck his hands in concrete. Eventually he moved them around, but not as much as some of the other kids there, they were covered in white from head to toe.

The last station we visited was the coffee grounds. Of course, Colin had a bite to eat, gross. But, he had a good time digging and scooping out the coffee. He is a very neat kid, didn't really seem like he wanted to get too messy.

Right before we left, a picture of Mommy's painted shirt and Colin's messiness.

On the car ride home, he was still laughing and having a good time.
He went IMMEDIATELY into the tub once we got home, I can't stand a messy kid!

Labor Day weekend & such

It seems like we have been so busy lately, but it's just normal "life" stuff that's been going on. We had a friend of the family's Dad pass away last week, so of course, had a couple of days where we were remembering and honoring him.
We also have been trying to do a few odds n ends around the house to fix it up, especially outside where there has been woodrot damage. Yuck.
Colin has also been battling a couple different viruses. School is back in session, so there are a lot of new germs being introduced at daycare. He's doing fine, except over the weekend we decided to take him into an urgent care center to get him checked out. Ended up getting diagnosed with an ear infection and got a prescription for an antibiotic. Hopefully this will get us our "normal" Colin back! He's been acting okay, you can just tell he doesn't feel well, with a lot of snotty noses and terrible cough. Poor kid.
My mom invited us to Topeka over the weekend, and so we made the trip on Friday (which happened to be our 4th anniversary). This meant Meemaw watched Colin on Friday night and Brian and I got to go out to dinner. We had a nice relaxing evening. Actually, the entire weekend was fun, it just flew by.

Daddy taught Colin how to use the light switches, so now we can't walk by one without him pointing and grunting and getting excited. Who knew they were so much fun?!

In Topeka with Meemaw. He got spoiled rotten there, getting to eat pudding with dinner...

Trying to find some fun things to play with. He just loves opening and closing drawers, usually pulling something out of them (like the antique pocket watches he found, uh oh)

Waiting for Ginger at Meemaw's back door. He still is in awe of dogs, walking up to them and giving them hugs. Ginger and Colin got along quite nicely, everyone behaved!

Having fun with Aunt Tiffey

LOVE this picture, because Colin didn't feel well and this was the sad face he gave us all weekend (Tiff was giving it right back to him!)

Playing with all sorts of fun things at Meemaws house (look at his belly!)

Caught in the act. Back home, Colin's new favorite thing is to run into the bathroom, close the door behind him, open the drawer and pull out a Qtip to chew on. He used to grab entire handfulls of them, but now he just gets one or two and carries them around the house with him in his mouth. Too funny!

Colin with his Qtip

Looks like a cigarette in this picture. If we take it out and toss it, he will just go back and get another one. Wonder where he learned that?! Kids are so funny!

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!