Growing Up

My boys are really growing up. They have surprised me a lot lately with all they've been able to do. I feel like it's way more fun that they are learning new things about life every day. Here's my growing boys...

You saw in a previous post that Caden jumped high on a trampoline. Once he was finished, he begged and begged to do the big obstacle course that was next to the trampoline. We didn't have enough time for that, so we said we'd come back. Not too long after that, we went back and let him try it out. I think the kids are supposed to be at least 4 years old, but he's the size of most 4 years old here. He looks so grown up!

Here he goes! He was hooked to a harness above him, so that made us feel better about it. The guy that helped him was really nice too. Caden was great trying to speak the local language to him.

Way up high! I think he might take after me. My dad always joked that I could do back handsprings on a 4-inch beam but would trip over nothing when walking on the ground. Caden trips ALL the time on nothing, but he was so great with his balance up there.

This is the whole obstacle course.

He climbed across these ropes so well.

Here's several videos of our dare devil in the obstacle course. SO proud of him!

This was with his buddy right before she left for Thailand for 2 months for her mommy to have a baby! Caden misses her so much. Love his face in the 2nd photo.

Zoom in on this photo. Baskin Robbins, Pizza Hut, and Starbucks all right next to each other! What's happened to our city?!

We went to the Grand Opening of Baskin Robbins. Caden doesn't really like ice cream, but he loved all the mascots and free gifts. They have cookie dough!!!! SOOO excited!

This baby looks SO old here! I love his hair. This is totally what it looked like when he woke up from his nap. I laughed so hard, and it stayed like this the rest of the day.

People use a lot of hair products to do stuff like this with their hair. My kids have naturally crazy hair!

Caden got a hold of my old glasses one day while I was getting ready. I didn't let him keep them on long so it wouldn't mess with his eyes but long enough to take a photo. Like I already said, he looks so grown up.

You can click on this to make it bigger, but this really shows Caden's growth since we've been here. That's when Caden was a year old, a year and a half, then 3 years old. Crazy how much he's changed since we've been here.

Love my growing boys and thankful every day to get to see them grow.

The Big 2-9

We recently celebrated Britton's birthday. He turned the big 2-9! Just one year away from a new decade. Wow. I know. I know. We're still young, but it really does make you start feeling grown up. Our bodies are actually starting to feel older. We are both trying to exercise regularly again, so we don't feel like we're falling apart. We had a fun time celebrating his birthday, and Caden loved that we could sing Happy Birthday so many times.

You saw that we went to Hong Kong and got to go to an import store. I told Britton to pick some stuff for his bday. He got reese cups and throwback Mountain Dew. It really was the real stuff. He drank them within a week. The MD here tastes nothing like the real stuff. He was happy and can't wait to go back to get more.

We got Britton a keyboard case for his ipad. Caden was super excited to unwrap it for him. Look familiar to any of you who watched Britton grow up?

He seems to like it a lot. He uses it all the time. It really is like a mini computer now.

On Britton's actual bday we went to Burger King with friends for lunch. Afterward, he went to get a massage while the rest of us took the kids to a play area that they were desperately wanting to play at. Here they are waiting patiently in line for 20+ minutes. That's seriously commendable for a bunch of 3 year olds!

Getting ready to jump! The guy behind him had a ton of fun pulling Caden down and letting him fly in the air. He didn't do that with the local kids. He must've thought Caden was a dare devil. He was right.

Here's 2 videos of Caden flying through the air.

That night our friends watched the boys while Britton and I went out to eat and to the arcade. Yes, the arcade! We used to go there for fun before we had kids. Since having kids we always go with them, so it was nice to go without them and enjoy playing whatever we wanted. Britton was rather mad after I creamed him in bball every.single.round. So, he took some punches and drew a crowd :o)

My score says 213, although my highest score was 235. Britton couldn't get above 130 :o) I told him it was nature's way of telling him he was old.

While we were gone, our friends taught the kids to race. Caden LOVES watching this video of himself, and I think it's hilarious when he hears he won the race and he screams like a little girl. Ha.

Britton got several packages from home for his bday. He was so excited and so was Caden.

Britton got a new sleeping bag for the cold winter when he travels out. This was the first time Caden ever saw a sleeping bag. He thought it was so cool.

Grady was fascinated the whole time because he got to eat cheetos that Britton's mom sent. The kid loves his cheetos.

Like a mummy all bundled up.

He also got a hiking backpack and could attach the sleeping bag to it. He was so excited and looked for ways he could immediately use the backpack.

Happy Birthday Britton! We love you!!!

Warming Up & Hair Cuts

We are finally wearing shorts around here as of this week! I feel like it's been a long time coming. We had warm days here and there, but then it would turn cold again. Our bodies have been through it trying to adjust to the weather change, but I'm hoping we're actually on the mend. Today the boys played outside and came in sweating bullets. I'm so glad we seem to be out of our cold dark days. The sun does NOT come out during the winter here, but in the summer it is out nearly every day. We really only have summer and winter here which makes it hard sometimes when we don't have the nice transition. Nevertheless, it has finally warmed up, and we've seen the sun nearly every day...good for the soul in every way. Since we now have sweating heads, the residential hair-cutter must start cutting everyone's hair. That would be me. I gave Grady a haircut a few weeks ago, and he's already in need of another one. I'll be giving all the boys another haircut soon. Can't wait to go back to the states to take them to a barber. Give me a break! Here's to warm weather and short hair!

The weather forecast here is still always rain, so if there's ever a forecast of sun you know it will most certainly be sunny. We had our first forecast of sun in a really long time, so I was very much looking forward to the next day. Unfortunately, this is what I woke up to. Really?! This is sunny? Come on people!

Just a few hours later, we had blue skies and sun! It might seem silly, but this was a huge deal! I feel guilty if I don't go outside when the weather is this gorgeous.

We still had to wear light jackets for a little while, but we still got out to soak up the sun. I love Caden's look here. So funny.

Our complex recently added our very own fake grass patch with a slide. Haha. Caden started yelling 'Let's go to the playground.' Again, it's the little things.

Since it's warmed up, we've taken a lot more walks and looked for ways to get out more. Any time we're riding a bus, Caden insists on sitting in a seat. I'm not sure why he has such an obsession over a seat, but he makes sure he gets one. One particular bus we got on had all the seats filled up except in the very back. He immediately ran to the back and plopped down as if this seat was calling to him. The guy beside him thought it was hilarious how Caden just plopped down. He of course started taking photos. He actually took selfies with Caden. Ha. He's looking at his selfies in the photo I took. I love that Caden looks like the guy on the left with his eyes cut to the side. Just enjoying the ride getting where ya need to go.

Here's a short video of us at Burger King with our friends. Caden is really into story-telling these days. We know when he says he wants to tell us a story that we'll be listening for the next 20+ minutes. You won't understand most of it, but it's very entertaining to watch.

We get to see a lot of very interesting things when we go on our walks. I wish I had a better picture of this dog, but we've actually seen this dog twice randomly. You don't forget it. People here are really into dying their pet's hair. Why in the world anyone would dye their dog's ears pink, tail yellow, and legs brown I have NO idea!

I gave Grady his second haircut, but it's already mangy again.

Grady LOVES corn on the cob. I don't think you're supposed to give kids corn on the cob this little, but he screams if he doesn't get it at KFC. I think it's awesome teething food. He destroys the whole thing and poops corn for 2 days. Ha!

When Grady finds something he likes to eat, he eats it up. I've mentioned him being independent and that's just what he is. Why don't we all eat like this?!

Grady has such a sweet heart. He is very empathetic whenever Caden sits in the corner. He always goes to sit with him.

They really do love each other. They make some of the best sweet faces in the bathtub.

Back to Hong Kong we go...

With the new visa we received we are making frequent trips to Hong Kong. This is our 2nd trip of this year and still have 2 more to go before returning home in 4 1/2 months! Though these are super quick short trips, we try to make the most of them and enjoy 'getting out' of our city. Just before leaving, Caden had just gotten over hand, foot, and mouth disease and Grady had it. We asked for so many people to lift us up and the Lord was faithful to allow this to be one of our smoothest trips. It really did go so smoothly, and we are so thankful for the break. Here's some snapshots from our quick trip.

At the airport, Caden really wanted his picture with the big-as-him m&m.

After a flight and 2 bus rides crossing over the border, we finally made it to our hotel. It was several hours of travelling for such a simple trip, but it's the most cost effective. I loved that Grady plopped down on his seat on the bus and ate his McD's fries while enjoying the ride.

Our hotel was really great. It was called the Hollywood, and it was themed accordingly. Caden loved running down the red carpet to the elevator. There were flashes of light as you walked by to feel like your photo was being taken. Ha.

Our room was pretty tiny, but it was fine for the 2 nights we were there. The boys liked our small family space, and they both slept wonderfully. These were the first nights Grady finally stopped throwing up! Guess he needed a change. Those are pictures of movie stars on the wall.

This was right outside our room.

We were going to get immunizations for Grady, but because he had hand, foot, and mouth disease the doc advised us to wait so his immune system was up. We'll go back next month. Yay for us! He enjoyed the waiting room toys and got very close to the baby dolls. Wow, he needs no help in the kissing department!

Cute little boy.

How much do I weigh?

The next day we headed to the dentist for me, Britton, and Caden to get our teeth checked and cleaned. Caden did wonderfully as usual. He hopped right up in the chair because he remembered the TV on the ceiling. He immediately requested to watch Cars as last time.

The dental hygienist is so great with kids, and she absolutely adores Caden. She is also a great photographer as a side job. She has her own little studio set up next to her office. She told Caden she would give him a lollipop if she would let her take photos of him. Of course he agreed! She gave me all the photos she took. So nice! I'm hoping she can take some of all of us one time. 

That afternoon we got Subway sandwiches and picnicked in the park right next to our hotel. Unfortunately, the playground was closed for maintenance, but the boys still enjoyed running around.

It was such a pretty park.

Having fun in our room.

That night we went to Outback Steakhouse to celebrate Britton's birthday a little early. I said I needed to go to the bathroom and asked a waiter if they did anything for birthdays. He said they did the 'Outback Thunder.' I said that sounded fun! I thought they were going to sing, etc. and thought the boys would love it, but they just brought a dessert out and said Happy Birthday. I guess that's better than nothing. And it doesn't hurt that the dessert was DELICIOUS!! Good thing we all shared it because we already had bread, a Bloomin' Onion, and our meals!

On our way back home, we rode the trolley which was a lot of fun and the boys really enjoyed it.

Caden had some gel in his hair for his mini 'photoshoot' earlier, so by the end of the night it was a bit crazy from the trolley wind. Haha.

The weather was so nice and so was the scenery.

Notice the brown turd-looking thing on Grady's diaper. We smelled poop when we got back to our hotel, so Britton went to change Grady's diaper. He lifted up his shirt and said "What?! How in the world did poop get on the outside of his diaper!?" I came over, smelled, and looked closely. It was bread from Outback. Haha. This kid loves smuggling food in his clothes.

We got to go to our favorite import store with all things wonderful and in bulk! This was only half the stuff we got. Looks like America to me :o)

Time to go home again. We were so happy the airport had a fun spot for kids. They had this awesome luggage cart attached to a helicopter for them to ride in. So funny.

They also had a nice play area for them. It's the little things that make a trip so much smoother for small kids. Got their energy out before getting on the plane.

BEST FLIGHT EVER! This never happens. All 3 boys asleep. I was left to enjoy peace and quiet by myself while they sacked out the entire flight. Here's hoping for another awesome trip like that!