Crazy, Crazy and Cheesey, Cheesey (but not Little Caesar's)

Well, Colin is in bed already after another exhausting day of trying my nerves. :) We did have some good moments today too though, lest you think it's all vinegar, and I even got a cute picture to share with you.

But first, a picture I took the other night during our rain storm. Michael decided to run (literally) to the mailbox and snag our mail and as he went out I noticed something that caused me to run for my camera. I've had to lighten the picture a lot so you can see better and it's still dark, but it's the best I could do without just being totally rude!

To the left you will see Michael running back to the house (I had to snap quickly so our neighbor, would think I was taking his picture!). To the right you will see our crazy neighbor, watering her lawn. Holding the hose in one hand. And an umbrella in the other. In the downpour. Huh.
And on to the cute one...
Colin's favorite thing to do lately is crawl up into his stroller and then point to the door and Percy's leash and tell me, "outside". Bossy britches. :)

Word Schmerd

So I didn't get any pictures today, but it was one of those days where Colin swung from high highs to low lows. He was either giggly and entertaining or randomly shrieking. Weird. I think his teeth were hurting, so we had some Motrin and just dealt. He was also tired. I know this for several reasons (in no particular order): 1) he had an episode where he stood in front of me, mouth open wide, and just howled and then gave me a hug and kiss, then he did it again, and again; 2) he stomped around after supper rubbing his eyes but refusing to sleep; 3) after stomping for a while, he started running laps around the dinner table while Michael and I finished eating to keep himself from falling asleep; 4) he had his bednight snack and when Michael set him down to walk away, I leaped to catch him because his eyes were not even open; 5) this afternoon before Michael even got home, Colin begged me (with pleeeaaaases and whining) for a bath; 6) I am sure there were more things, but my brain refuses to come up with them at the moment

In other interesting Colin news, he was getting his words totally confuz-ed today. Here are my two favorites:

• I was talking about his "heart" and he starting making the 'nu-nuh...nu-nuh' from Jaws and moving his hand for "shark" (thank you Papa).

• On our evening walk, Michael and I were talking about the "clouds" and Colin began singing Thunder and Blazes/Entry of the Gladiators, which we always sing when we read about "clowns" (doot-doot-doodle-oodle oot doot do do).

Okay, that's all I got for tonight...gonna crash after a day with this kid! :)

First Zoo Trip

Today we met several friends at the San Antonio Zoo. We got there early, so it was (relatively) non-sweltering. The first thing Colin saw was the flamingos. They were very active that early and he enjoyed watching them. Here are a couple pics:
Saying "pink bird, pink bird" over and over!
All the bears and the monkeys were also very active early in the morning. I'm glad we saw them first, both the grizzly and black bears had been put away into refrigeration by the time we were leaving!

Colin LOVED the monkeys...who is surprised, right? He would make monkey sounds at them and then bounce around swinging his arms! Too funny! Here he is watching them...next time I will work on getting video of his antics.
Peeking under the rai for a glimpse of a funny bird!Sneaking up on another bird...
...who seemed to desperately be trying to jump and flap his wings to frighten Colin off, but actually only succeeded in making himself more interesting.
Having a snack with friends and staring down Sidney!
After snacks, the kids all decided to feed the ducks. Colin did better than he's ever done at this and really seemed to enjoy it!
Cute boy. Grody hands...playing in the dirt and feeding ducks is not very clean business.
Afterwards, we parted ways with our friends and went off in search of bigger and better animals on an African safari.
Here is Colin telling me about the elephant's long nose. Pardon the disgusting fingernail. Baby wipes are insufficient for getting dirt out after above endeavours...
We were lucky, they were just giving the elephant some food and getting ready to hose him down as we got there, so he got up very close to the fence.
Off to explore more of the African plains. Let me tell you...by this time it was nearly noon and this area of the park has little shade and the sun was beating down. At 102 degrees and no wind, it really felt like we were in Africa. Colin didn't seem to mind though and continued to tromp off in search of more animals.
Sadly, the big cats did notice the heat and were just layed out, trying hard not to even breathe, I think. Next time we will try to see them before the heat of the day hits.

Colin didn't mind though because birds and dirt can hold his interest for hours. Once we got home, after 3 1/2 hours at the zoo...my heat exhausted kid took a.....wait for it.....20 minute nap and then played until I started fixing dinner. Ug.
The sweltering heat finally broke tonight with a thunderstorm. It rain for a couple HOURS! Wow! We lost electricity for nearly 3 hours and it's currently now only 80 out! Yay!

Hot Tamale

Will comment later and add more pics...sorry...time for Colin to go to bed and computer is in his room!

The Haircut

Today, Colin was *lucky* enough to be able to visit Mr. Terry for his first haircut. Mr. Terry gave Daddy and Uncle Jon their first (and subsequent) haircuts and still cuts Papa's hair, so this was a real treat. I was pretty excited and more than a little hesitant. He said Colin behaved exactly like Daddy did nearly 30 years ago! Mr. Terry was giving me a hard time about Colin's curls last time he was up, but today said, "you're not ready to cut that boy's hair yet, are you?" C'mon man, don't make me have second (third, fourth...fortieth) thoughts. Here Colin is sitting on the big chair. I like how he seems to have his fingers crossed in this first picture, something he's been doing a lot of lately.
Here are the not-so-curly-today-curls that we are *trimming*. We didn't even touch the front of his hair because it still somehow looks like has been freshly trimmed every morning when he wakes up; go figure. He'll probably end up bald early with this good of luck as a baby.Colin did not consider himself as lucky as I thought he should. :)
But Mr. Terry is a professional and has cut many wiggly boys. I could not believe how good of a job he was able to do while Colin fussed and squirmed.
Mr. Terry even had a sucker for Colin at the end (which he was completely uninterested in). Colin waved bye to the fish, but not to Mr. Terry. Poor guy. Maybe we can see him again at Christmas and Colin will do better!
Here are the results:
He looks like such a big boy now I'm not sure I can handle it. But I am not going to cry.

Here's a video of part of the process. Enjoy! :)

Happy (Early) Birthday, Dad

Katelyn and I threw a surprise birthday party for dad while I was back. Here are some pictures from that evening! :)

Uploading them to a slideshow seemed the best way to get them up while we are still away from our own internet. I think I may just wait to get the rest from Katelyn's camera up until we get home. It's really bad to wait more than a day...there are just too many I want to share!

I will try to upload some later today of our day yesterday though...playing in the pool and making tamales with Michael's aunt.

So far, so good...highlights

So we are nearly finished with our roadtrip and I am just now posting pictures! Whoops! Here are some of the highlights; I have more pictures from my sister's camera that I will also post here (hopefully soon).

We left last Sunday morning and dropped Michael off at the airport.
Then Colin, Laura, and I headed out of Texas.Colin travelled very well and even napped a little, when he wasn't singing or looking for horses and cows out the window.Tuesday we went to story time at the library. Colin let Laura read him a book before it started and seemed to enjoy watching the other kids gather. Miss Robyn had music and dancing and everything, but Colin wasn't sure of the noise! Afterward we went out for lunch with Oma and Robyn.
Later that day it was off to Missouri with just the two of us. It rained on the way to Aunt Katelyn's, but we got to see a beautiful rainbow that stretched across the highway.
Once we arrived at mom and dad's, Colin quickly noticed that Grandpa had a basketball and goal! Dad lowered the goal so we could lift Colin high enough to shoot. Katelyn got pictures of that which I will post later!
Colin was also fascinated by the ants, which were a lot bigger and less likely to eat you than the ones in Texas.
Mom got him a car which he rode around in all week! He loved this thing and kept asking to go outside for a ride!
Grandpa and Colin found a little tree frog one evening too that provided at least half and hour's entertainment.
Swinging under the deck with Nana. Dad put hooks both inside and out so Colin can swing even if it's rainy! In the basement, the hooks also are attached to bungee cords, so the ride is not only a swing, but a bouncy swing! :)
Colin came in one afternoon with my mom and handed me this and said "wuv wu". I thought my heart was going to melt (even if he did require some coaching first!).
We went out to Aunt Janet and Uncle David's house to visit. Colin love Nan and Ellie and they definitely loved him. Nan was a little stinky though from a recent dip in the pond!
Colin, of course, loved the horses and kept "neighing" at them as loudly as he could!
He even got to ride some with us!
Yay, more Missouri grass! He really seemed to like how it felt to run in it!
And Sunday before we drove out, there was rain and puddles to splash in!
Dad and Colin headed up the hill to visit with the neighbors, who were also outside in the rain.
Dad kept Colin entertained while we packed with doggie videos on YouTube! They were both laughing hysterically by the end! Colin now comes running for the Chicken Dance song, which one of the videos was set to...ug. :) Thanks dad!
Yesterday in AR, we visited Aunt Barb. Colin really liked the fish pond there and the dogs!