Go Royals!

The Royals are in a bit of slump right now, but that could not keep Alex from attending his first Royals game Saturday night. Papa and Alex headed out to the ballgame on a beautiful evening and a near sellout crowd. Alex had a great time walking around the ballpark, but I think he was a bit surprised to see all those people in such a small area. We hung out in the kids area for a while before we headed down to our seats. Alex even got into the spirit by clapping with the crowd!

On Monday, Alex and Papa are heading to Nebraska to spend a few days with Oma. His cousins from Kansas will also be there, so it should be a fun time.

We love the Royals

On the carousel

What's better then dinosaur nuggets?

These seats are cool

"Baseball"

Another week, more adventures

Alex is turning out to be quite the little helper. He wants to be in on all the action. This week he helped Papa weed and replant the garden. It's our first year with the garden and some things came up and others did not. Alex tries hard not to step on the good plants, but you know he is only 2! Alex also likes to hold on to something while we go grocery shopping. He likes to have something with him, so he can be buying something too. He isn't too sure about turning over to the cashier when it's time to pay. He generally does OK if he gets the item right back. Yesterday he carried the pho noodles we bought at the asian market.

On Tuesday we went to the Deanna Rose farm with Alex's friend Lucas. They had a good time running around despite the wet and cool weather. We usually get in at least one walk a day down to the playground. Alex still enjoys being outside and walks are one of his favorite activities. He is using more words all the time and is starting to repeat words now after we say them.

Alex the gardener

I like my pool!

Alex the chef

Bells at Deanna Rose Farm

Lucas and Alex... Need a bit more practice

Back to our routine

That is our goal for the week. Mamy and Papy safely returned to Strasbourg Monday evening and now it is just Alex and Papa at home again. We sure had fun with the grandparents and will miss them. Alex sure was tired on Tuesday. He ended up taking a three hour nap! That's twice as long as normal. Trying to keep the grandparents entertained sure is hard work.

This past weekend we took a trip up to Nebraska to see Oma and also to celebrate Karen's graduation from high school. She is Eric's niece and she is graduating from the same school as her father and Eric. It was also a good chance for Mamy and Papy to see Oma again. Alex's cousins were also in Oma's house, so it was quite lively. Everyone had a good time. One highlight from the trip was our visit to the farm. Not only did we see some cows, and newborn kittens, we also got to see some trucks! That made Alex's day. We had to sit in each truck and try out all the buttons. (My brother Glen does custom harvesting, so they have a lot of trucks!)

We love ice cream

Eating out

Papy setup my swing

Alex the truck driver

Which truck should we try next?

Alex is ready to drive

Congrats Karen!

Hanging out with Kristin

Fun in the basement

Lucas and Alex

Mamy, Papy et Oregon

We have been busy since grandma and grandpa arrived from France. We have taken a ton of pictures to remember our adventures and below are just a few. We have been blessed with good weather so far and have been able to do many things outside. We visited the Deanna Rose Farmstead in Overland Park. This is a great free activity for Alex. There are lots of animals to look at and some playgrounds too. This year Alex got in with the goats and was brave enough to pet a couple. The goats were expecting him to have food and tried to lick his hands. Alex was not at all happy about that! We also went over to our local farmer's market and listen to the music. Mamy and Alex had a lot of fun dancing. A visit to the Plaza was also in our plans and Alex liked looking at all the fountains. (He likes water!)

On Thursday we headed off to Oregon for a short trip to visit Eric's sister and her family. We had a direct flight to Portland and Alex did very well on the airplane. Thank goodness for that! We arrived in Silverton and Alex made himself right at home in my sister's house. We spent the next morning walking through The Oregon Garden and spent the afternoon checking out the Glockenspiel and abbey in Mt. Angel. On Saturday, we spent the morning hiking through Silver Falls. (If only we hadn't left the ergo back in KC!) Alex did really well and loved being outside with the trees, butterflies, flowers, and waterfalls. In the evenings we caught up with friends and family in area and Alex played with his cousins until he wore them out.

Sunday morning we left for the coast. Is there a better way to celebrate Mother's Day than a day at the ocean? We had a nice drive there and had excellent weather for May. We spent a couple hours on the beach exploring the ocean. Alex didn't want to get his feet wet at first. (The water was cold!) But after while, his curiousity won out and he went in. Once he decided to sit down in the water though, we thought that was enough for one day. We stayed at the Coho Inn in Lincoln City and enjoyed looking out at the ocean. On Monday we headed back to Portland. We had supper with the Obold Eshelman family. Simon is 18 months out and he and Alex had a lot of fun together. It was also good to catch up with Stephen and Christa.

Tuesday brought us back to Kansas City. We had a good flight again and are looking forward to a few days at home before we head to Nebraska this weekend for my niece's, Karen's, high school graduation.

Slide at Deanna Rose

Mamy and Papy at the Plaza

Plaza fountain

Taking it all in

At the farmer's market

Sand castle

At the Oregon Garden with Sarah

Alex et Papy

It's a bear, Mamy!

Sarah has toys too!

Alex's cousin Rachel

Silver Falls

Matthew and Rachel trying to keep up with Alex!

Uncle Tim has a cool tractor

I'll ride the cart back up the hill

Oregon Coast

Should I get my feet wet?

This is a big sandbox!

Simon has a car transporter

Alex and Simon

I found the light

Mamy and Papy sont arrives !

A quick note to let you know that Jo's parents arrived safely from France. Alex is having fun getting to know his grandparents. He's shown them all around the house and our yard. It is nice to see them getting along so well. Today we are off to Oregon for a short trip to visit my sister. More news and pictures when we return.

Lawnmower man

The warm weather arrived this week and we took full advantage of it by spending a lot of time outside. Alex is quite the little helper and he loves lawnmowers. He lets us know anytime he a hears a lawnmower by saying the word! Well, this week it was time to start mowing the lawn and Alex was a big help. He walked with Papa while he mowed the front and back lawn. It was too cute!

We also worked on planting our garden in between the rain showers. It's our first year for anything besides tomatoes, so we'll see how it goes. Hopefully the squirrels will leave us some food!

This week Alex will be working to get the house ready for Mamy and Papy. They will be arriving Sunday afternoon from France. We are looking forward to having them meet Alex in person for the first time.

Lawnmower men!

It's hard to keep up!

I think I'll dump my stuff there

Like my hat?

Dinosaur feeding time

PT and TB

We had another exciting week at our house. Alex is trying to eat all of his Easter candy, but gets just a little at a time. We found out he loves hard boiled eggs, so he has eaten at lot of those colored eggs this week!
Another fun event for Alex has been "PT" or potty training. We started the process this week and so far it's going OK. We are mainly trying to get him use to sitting on the toilet and feeling comfortable with the whole process. We got some books from the Parent's as Teachers library and Alex found a favorite, "Everyone Poops." He likes to sit and read while on the toilet.
Papa and Alex went to their first garage sale this week and picked up a toddler bed, "TB." Boy, was that a timely purchase. Alex was so excited when we put it in his room. He crawled on and off the bed, I don't know how many times! The first bedtime in the bed was fun, as it was all new and Alex could now get out of bed! So far it has been a big hit and he has slept a bit better these last two nights. We hope it continues!

I love my big boy bed!

Chillin' with Maman

Everyone Poops

I found all the eggs!

Elmo!