Pretty in Pink

Thanks Kolby for having such a great 2nd birthday party - we loved the pink theme! 

Kate playing kitchen at Kolby's party - this is absolutely her favorite toy right now and it's not even ours!

Brooks in the kitchen too - but on the phone looking like he is busy doing important work

Playing catch in the backyard

The beginning of the water fight...

Being chased by Xander and the super soaker

The cutest party! 

The Black Grizzlies

3 year old soccer - hilarious!  Brooks had is first day of soccer today with his little team called the black grizzlies.  they ran around for 45 minutes on a tiny field and took 3 water breaks.  the "coach" tried to get them doing some organized drills but really the kids just ran and kicked their ball from one goal to the other.  Brooks loved it!

Brooks practicing with Daddy in the backyard.  He likes wearing his cleats and shin guards, amazingly! 

Brooks was happy, persistent, a pretty good listener, and focused.  While he didn't want to participate in the group stretching or cheers, he loved telling me that they were going to play "4 on 4" when a little "game" started.  It was hard to drag him off the field at the end.

We said this morning that this is probably the first of countless Saturday mornings in our lifetime we will spend on the sidelines of a soccer field - we can't wait!

Easter 2012

Happy Easter everyone!

We spent a great week in Texas leading up to Easter (future posts with more pics) and had a wonderful Easter with the Fuquay family in Dallas.  Brooks loved finding his Easter basket Sunday morning and couldn't wait to hunt the eggs that he said he heard the Easter Bunny hiding overnight. 

Wonderful Easter baskets from Mimi & Granddaddy and Boompa & Moompa too. 

Getting ready for the hunt!  We were so happy that Kate started walking before Easter because hunting for eggs is much cuter on two feet!

Kate more excited about a toy than the actual hunt. 

Finding his first egg!

Hunting with daddy

Sweet baby kate with daddy

The bunny also hid eggs in the front yard...

Our handsome boy - and so happy for once to have his picture taken

Fuquays - April 2012

kate walks (by richard)

It is a banner day on Forest St. The honey badger is walking. Yesterday she couldn't (well, she took a coupla steps, but you know what I am saying) and today she can. She can take over 10 steps, and often starts laughing hilariously at her amazing-ness.

Since we can't seem to post a video - here are some other recent pics...

Bode Miller watch out

Brooks Fuquay is ready to shred! 

We spent the weekend in Winter Park and took Brooks to the ski hill for the first time.  After seeing his buddy Xander with his skis, Brooks thought he would like to give it a try.  He loved the skis, the boots and the helmet and had such a good attitude.  We spent about an hour or so at the "magic carpet" and bunny hill hanging out and moving around of the skis. 

While his legs would go pretty "jelly" when he and daddy were coming downhill, he rode the magic carpet without help and was shuffling around on his skis pretty well.  It was adorable to say the least!

practicing his falling!

riding the magic carpet for the first time

terrible picture but about to come down the hill

Kate came along for the morning adventure and stayed warm in a wagon while Brooks was "skiing."  She was such a cute snow bunny.

Can't wait for more chances to take this little guy back to the mountains! He's hooked!

igloos and mountains

nothing major to report but thought we would post a few pics just for fun.  we did build an igloo after our 16 inches of snow two weeks ago!  mom got a little crazed and couldn't stop until it was done! 

not the most flattering pic but just to show how big this thing got!  i could stand up inside!

we also had a super fun weekend in keystone with the lewises and christy parker in from chicago.  the kids were a total handful but also hilarious.  i got to ski with xander on saturday which was awesome! 

richard the super dad - managed three kids on saturday so the rest of us could ski! 

Brooks is 3

We had so much fun celebrating the kids birthdays two weekends ago.  We had a few of their friends and a few of ours over for an afternoon party, a bike parade, dinner and cake.  The weather  held out as much as we could hope for - at least no snow!  The kids decorated their bikes with balloons and streamers and took off down the sidewalk to the end of the block.  We got one group picture and headed back home to eat fruit snacks and get warm!

The strider bikes were very popular and the kids were flying down the sidewalk.  Brooks has really taken to his bike since christmas and loves to ride and lift his feet up. 

Cupcakes!  Hard to see but there are little bike riders on some of these.  so cute!

On Brooks's real birthday we took Xander out with us for dinner at Red Robin.  This is the boys favorite place and they loved eating burgers and fries together.  The waitress even made Brooks a special "allergy free" birthday dessert and brought the boys smoothies! 

Our sweet neighbors also gave Brooks this cool construction bathrobe - he could not be cuter in it!  Other birthday gifts included Uno Moo- a new family favorite game, floor puzzles, airplanes, stickers, baseballs and the picnic table below.   The table has moved into our kitchen and the kids love playing and eating there - even kate who has taken up coloring!

a few other things we want to remember about Brooks as he turns 3:

• when we ask him a question, he answers "Yes I Do."  so formal
• he is learning more and more of his letters and can spell his name
• he knows lots of shapes and all his colors
• he likes to play "Red Rover" and we think learned it at school.  we play in the kitchen and the criteria usually involves what color shirts we are all wearing!
• he takes about 6 stuffed animals to bed with him - of course his "puppy," curious george, another monkey, his "brooks" bear, a bear that plays music (usually on) and a turtle that lights up stars on the ceiling - and two blankets and two pillows - all in a toddler bed - very crowded!
• he loves reading two books before bed every night.  we have learned that books are his "currency" and when they are taken away for bad behavior we usually see a change. 
• he loves camping and hiking in our basement with daddy - making pretend campfires, bringing his backpack and using tennis rackets to sing "campfire songs."
• Brooks is still a little tentative in some situations (jumping, meeting new people) but also seems a little extroverted at times (if someone is asking questions about things he feels confident in - animal sounds, airplanes, construction equipment.  Overall his personality is a bit on the shy side right now.
• at his 3 year check-up he weighed 35 pounds and was 39" tall