Trevor's Weekend of Fun!

 We decided that this past weekend would be all about Trevor and he knew it!  With baby sister's arrival coming up quick we utilized a babysitter so that Mommy and Daddy could meet up with friends Kim and Dana for dinner on Friday but then it was all about Trevor.  He even woke up Saturday announcing 'it's my weekend - it's not Mommy's?  it's not Daddy's?' Nope buddy, you get to pick what we do all weekend!

He started by requesting Mickey Mouse pancakes at a favorite restaurant - The Good Egg.  Then we stopped at a sale to get two new patio heaters (sorry Trevor, that probably wasn't so fun for you but sure glad we got them!) before heading to a ranch to ride a horse, play around and spend time at the petting zoo.  He decided to forgo the horse ride but still had fun!

When we got home he wanted to go swimming so we heated up the 'little pool' (aka hot tub) and he had fun splashing around in there for quite a while before nap time.  

After nap he had a quick FaceTime chat with Nana Jeanne before going bowling.  This was Trevor's first time bowling and he wasn't so sure what to think at first.  He observed for a while before seeing that some kids were just wearing their socks bowling instead of the funny looking bowling shoes.  After that, he was ready to partake!  He tried a few methods....first squatting and rolling:

 Using the ramp:

 Pretty good Trevor!

 Mommy started out bowling and did pretty good - Strike, then 2 spares before rethinking the whole bowling thing because she was feeling some stretching around baby girl.  Daddy finished out the rest of her frames for her :)

 Dada tried to teach Trevor how to 'granny' the ball down the lane while standing but Trevor wasn't too excited about it so we patiently waited for his ball to make it to the end (one time getting stuck mid-way down the lane) and often times not hitting any pins.  But, that's okay, he still enjoyed the experience even if it wasn't what Mommy and Daddy thought it would be.  After pizza at the bowling alley Trevor announced that he wanted ice cream so twist our arm, we enjoyed treats at Dairy Queen before heading to home to bed!

On Sunday Trevor knew it was still his weekend so he asked for doughnuts.  Well, Kim and Dana just told us on Friday night that a new, actual Krispy Kreme opened not too far from our house so we took Trevor there for his first Krispy Kreme experience.  He liked watching the doughnuts being made but he we think he liked eating them even better!

After church Trevor wanted to go to the train park but on the way there we drove by the Scottsdale Street Fair and he saw multiple bouncy houses and decided he'd rather go there!  Who can blame him??  This smile says it all!

 For $5 he could spend unlimited time in all of the different bouncy houses and boy did he get his money's worth!!  We took a few breaks to get drinks and use the potty but otherwise it was all about bouncing and slides!

Weeeee!

 We had a late lunch at Hooters which was nearby.  Trevor devoured his hot dog in record time and then enjoyed watching football....and flirting with the pretty girls :)

Since it was 'his' weekend he didn't nap on Sunday which was evident by about 6pm so we went for a police car ride, had a bath and called it a night by 7:30!  He's already asking if he can have another weekend so we think it was a success! 

Happy Halloween!

 Our Halloween kicked off with a Fall Festival at PetSmart headquarters.  Trevor decided he wanted to go as a Firefighter so he wore his jacket and boots with shorts....so he looked more like a Chippendale's firefighter but whatever! 

Once again PetSmart really outdid themselves on the event!  There were so many stations of activities in the courtyard and in the first floor of the parking garage.  The picture doesn't even do it justice!

But what was the favorite thing for the kids to do?  Play chase in the grassy knoll:

They had a photographer there taking pics so we'll have to wait to see if that turns out but for now, the iphone version is pretty cute!

Trevor's favorite activities for our time there?  A cake walk and a caramel apple slices bar!  He also enjoyed chasing the 'teddy bear' mascot (as Trevor called it) around and giving him hugs!


For Halloween at our house Trevor decided he wanted to be Buzz again like last year.  So much for the Spiderman costume he just had to have weeks ago, but that's okay, maybe he'll wear it next year :)

Dada got in on the fun and dressed up with one of his old costumes - the Burger King King!  Trevor thought it was hilarious that it was Dada behind the mask:

Mommy didn't get dressed up this year, although when she and Trevor went to Gabriella's 'Mummy and Me' party she did dress up as a princess so at least she dressed up once this year!

Trevor just loves Halloween....and his Buzz wings!

We didn't make it to our cul-de-sac's pizza party before trick-or-treating but we were ready to hand out candy when the kids started coming around!

Did we mention how crazy the neighborhood gets with Halloween decorations?  We're talking Griswald Christmas but Halloween.  We had to go out and buy decorations since who decorates for Halloween in MN when there is usually already snow on the ground!  We did pretty good but we can already envision adding more and more each year - ghosts in the tree, scarecrows in the yard, tombstones on the rocks...oh boy!  

The other thing different in AZ is that you set up table and chairs in your driveway and hand out candy there.  Everyone just sits and drinks (it's not uncommon to handout beers to Dads and have bottles of wine open for passerby's who are wine lovers)...candy for kids though.  Although there are quite a few doctors on the street that opted for plastic Halloween toys or fruit snacks we noticed.

Trevor and Daddy went around to a few houses to trick-or-treat but Trevor's favorite part by far was handing out candy at our house.  He'd leave to go trick-or-treat then notice that kids were coming to our house so he'd yell back 'Mom, kids coming, hurry get the candy' and the proceed to run back so that he could hand it out!

We handed out 600-700 pieces of candy that night!  4 CostCo bags done!  We still had a little leftover which is good - Mommy and son sure love candy!

We finished the night with a car ride.  And yes, you can kinda see that Randle even got in on the action and dressed up as a pumpkin!

Mommy and Daddy's Weekend of Fun!

 Brian and Sara had quite a fun extended weekend this past weekend!  Don't need to really leave home for a 'babymoon' when you have great weather, friends, and places to go thanks due to a great employer!

On Friday night we used our babysitter Deanna for the second time and ventured out to Talking Stick Casino where our favorite band, Cowboy Mouth was playing.  They are a high energy New Orleans rock band that is just amazing.  Hard to describe but the lead singer is also the drummer and he is just a spazz!  His sole mission is to make sure everyone is having an awesome time.  And their music has a good message that warms the soul!

We met Brian and Cassie for dinner beforehand and then headed to the concert where a great time was had by all.  During one of their songs people in the know throw red spoons on the stage and Brian and Cassie said they felt so cool because we came prepped with red spoons for them to throw!!  We hope Cowboy Mouth comes back to town again soon - what a fun, fun night!!  Sara's surprised she didn't go into labor that evening from laughing so hard!

On Saturday morning we dropped Trevor off at Grandma and Papa Hillins and headed to the Four Seasons Scottsdale to begin another day/evening of fun...this time courtesy of PetSmart and MARS (yes, the candy makers but they also have a pet food division).  During the day we had options of spa treatments or golf at Troon.  No surprise that Brian chose golf and Sara chose spa treatments.  Word on the street was that Brian carried his foursome in the scramble and Sara absolutely loved her luxurious pedicure and maternity massage.  We spent some good time networking by the pool in the late afternoon too. 

The hotel is absolutely amazing - we stayed in a casita room that was large and faced a mountain.  It was so peaceful.  MARS thought of everything - goodie basked filled with yummy treats in the room, chips and salsa, and a Kindle Fire.  Wow!  That evening there was a cocktail hour and dinner on the terrace for the 120 or so PetSmart and MARS attendees.  It was the perfect evening for a dinner outside. No cardigan needed :)

People sure couldn't believe that Sara was there in high heels with 2 weeks to go before giving birth but Sara had a blast!  Best comment of the night: (direct quote) "We decided you are the cutest pregnant person EVER"  Awwwww..... 

After dinner they had a karaoke party.  Apparently Brian's work colleagues love to sing.  Brian even got up for a few songs.  One of which was with another guy and they sang 'Sweet Caroline' - smart choice because once you open it up the crowd usually takes it away and the singers can fade into the background :)

On Sunday morning Trevor came to the resort and we hung out at the pool for a few hours.  Trevor loved it and didn't want to go home but as soon as we got in the car he was out.  Tired camper!  Too much fun with Grandma and Papa as well as swimming!!

On Monday the same group hosted us for the Cardinals/49ers game.  We've never seen a suite so large for such 'few' people!  Two bars, tons of food....and lots and lots of candy which made baby sister very happy!  Back to reality today though....

Those Stinkers!!

Trevor and his BFF Gabriella who is just a few months younger and lives across the street have been able to spend some fun times together.  The two often wait in their respective driveways or courtyards waiting for the other to get home.  It's too cute.  What's even cuter though?  Trevor calls her Cinderella.  Melts our hearts :)

One night the two were sitting in Trevor's police car in our media room where it has been stored since Dada put it together in anticipation of successful potty training.  Trevor never realized it actually could be driven.  He thought it was more a prop that you sat in and could turn on the sirens and use the intercom.  He was perfectly content with that and that worked for Mommy because if he learned it drove she wasn't sure how she'd be able to keep up with him out on the streets.

Well, leave those two alone for a few minutes and they figured out it drove!!  So we took it outside and Trevor and Gabriella had a blast driving around.  Fortunately Gabriella is just fine being a passenger.  They are just too cute together!

Happy Birthday Randle

Happy 8th birthday Randle!  To celebrate we got him some special puppy cookies and Trevor picked out a new stuffed toy for him.  He chose 'the joker' which surprised Mommy because he could have picked Batman or Superman which he has been enthralled with lately.  Randle seemed to enjoy his birthday celebration...too bad we didn't get a picture this year :(  Sorry Randle....given how far we are behind on baby girl prep it's only fitting that we didn't get a pic this year!  Next year we'll do better!

Fireside Fall Festival

 This past weekend we hosted our first non-family visitor - our financial advisor was in town for a conference and extended his stay into the weekend.  Brian and Dan enjoyed a round of golf but also had to deal with a flat tire...that didn't stop the fun though.  Even caught the Vikes/Cardinals game on Sunday before he flew out.  Trevor and Mommy decided to check out our community's fall festival instead of watching the game and we're sure glad we did!  We were there for about 3 hours having a blast!  How could you not with such fun activities??

And yummy food!  Of course, Trevor hit up the cookie tray first!

 Don't worry we also had hot dogs and chips just to round out the food categories ;)

 They had pumpkins for the kids and Trevor really enjoyed running around and collecting pumpkins.

 He would carry them two by two:

 And stack them in the stroller:

 Then run back and get more:

 He saw kids coming so he sat down and tried to figure out how he could carry more than two at a time:

 But quickly realized that he was better off carrying two at a time and running quickly back and forth between the stroller and the pumpkins.  Mommy is surprised he didn't think of just moving the stroller closer to the pumpkins :)

 They also had a horsey ride.  Trevor requested a pic with one of the horses!

 While waiting in line Trevor asked if he could run around.  Mommy said sure and some other kids joined in on the fun.  We think Trevor is going to be a leader!

 On the wagon ride:

 And we finished up with some time in the petting zoo!  Trevor really enjoyed brushing the little horsey's hair!  The horse seemed to like it too because he didn't move for 15 minutes!!

Still can't believe we live here - where it is the end of October and we are wearing shorts and t-shirts and we live in a community that has such fun events.  We are very blessed and lucky!

36 weeks!

Had our 36 week appointment this morning.  All looked good....head is still 2 weeks ahead of schedule so she's going to be a smarty :) and first (and only) cervix check showed that she seems to be nice and high so should stay in there until her c-section date.  However the ultrasound showed that she is a big girl - 7lb 3oz already!  But weight by ultrasound is known to be inaccurate so we'll see!  Might not have needed those newborn outfits after all...although Trevor wore newborn clothes for the first 6 weeks of his life and he was born 8lb 12oz and 22 inches in length (well, he did drop to 7lbs due to lack of eating those first few days).  Who knows, she is what she is and we can't meet to wait her on November 12.  (hint, hint baby....stay put until then!)

Double Trouble

Randle continues to be less than thrilled when he knows it's time for him to go in the kennel (dogs have an incredible 6th sense).  It's quite a process to get him in which is simply annoying.  Right away in the morning we have to put his leash on so that we can grab it when it's time for him to go in.  Usually he hides under the dining room table but lately he's been hiding upstairs - maybe in Trevor's closet or under baby sister's crib?  In any case, the only way to get him is to open the front door like we're going out and he comes charging down the stairs and out the door.  Then Sara grabs his leash and drags his hesitant butt up the stairs to the laundry room where his kennel is.  

Well on Thursday Trevor wanted to go in the courtyard after Mommy brought Randle in.  She told him no that we needed to put Randle in the kennel.  He said he didn't want to help so Mommy did it alone and when she was done and came back downstairs, this is what she found:

The stinker brought over the kitchen stool and was trying to unlock the top lock!!  Luckily he can't quite reach but we really might have to consider moving that lock up!!

School pics and moving up!

Trevor had his 'school pics' a few weeks ago and we couldn't be more pleased with how they turned out.  Of course we are very biased, but look at our little cutie and his contagious smile!

He started taking soccer lessons at school so they incorporated a soccer ball in his pics.  That made him super happy!

Our little poser even has this look down:

Can hardly believe how grown-up he looks and he's not even 3!!!  We also learned that since he's potty trained he's moving up to the preschool room at daycare a few months early!  He calls it 'high school' and is learning a lot.  We asked him out of the blue if he knew how to count in Spanish and he knew some of the numbers!  We were impressed!

Who is happier?

 

One day Trevor and Mommy headed to Einstein Bros. Bagels for lunch (can you say Pumpkin bagel time?  YUM!)  but before Trevor could pick his bagel, he HAD TO make sure we were buying Randle a puppy bagel.  He couldn't wait to get home and give it to Randle.  Not sure who is happier here!  Randle eating his puppy bagel or Trevor watching his happy puppy.  How sweet!