Four is Fun

Kellen is four. That means it is time for his birthday interview. Here is a little bit about Kellen, in his own words, as he turned four.

1. What is your favorite color? Green
Green. We painted his wall blue so now he likes green. Of course! He does still love his wall.

2. What is your favorite toy? Switch and Go Dinos
Over the last year, Kel's collection has grown from one to four dino transformer cars.He loves them. A lot. He also loves superhero stuff and costumes.

3. What is your favorite fruit and vegetable? Oranges and strawberries.
 K is a fruit lover - veggies not so much. Kellen continues to dislike/not try vegetables. Even after growing them with us. He eats carrots and that is about it.

4. What is your favorite TV show? PJ Masks
There are like 6 total episodes thus far. We have seen each one about 400 times.

5. What is your favorite movie? Toy Story
He doesn't really watch movies much but something Disney would probably be on the list.

6. What is your favorite thing to wear? Nothing
I thought he would say soft pants but nothing as an answer doesn't really shock me.Try to put him in a cute pair of jeans and he will run!

7. What is your favorite animal? Gecko
This is a PJ Mask reference. The Green one is Greg/Gecko

8. What is your favorite song? What Does the Fox Say
This fad has lasted a really long time in our house. Other favorites include The Narwhal Song (slightly edited) and We Didn't Start the Fire.

9. What is your favorite book? Train Book
He still loves every book ever. Thankfully.

10. Who is your best friend? Jason and Tyler
I have no clue who these people are. Kel loves Justin at daycare (and baby Jackie), Noelle, Austin, Max, and Noelle's friends. I think these two kids go to preschool with him?

11. What is your favorite snack? Yogurt, applesauce, fruit snacks
He would eat them all day long.

12. What is your favorite drink? Milk
He likes milk. He mostly gets water. We do juice at birthday parties. Yes, I am still that parent.

13. What is your favorite breakfast? Waffles
It is a family love.

14. What is your favorite lunch? Mac and cheese
Yes, the yucky processed kind. It is a special treat.

15. What is your favorite dinner? Nothing
His most accurate answer of the interview. If he eats dinner at all it is a small bite of something. He has stopped eating after 4 again.

16. What is your favorite game? Hungry Hungry Hippos
That game is LOUD!

17. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Soccer
He hardly ever plays soccer but he wants to. Usually we just run around, do bikes or scooters, or use chalk.

18. What is your favorite holiday? Halloween
I think this is because the interview is in October.

19. What do you sleep with at night? Puppy
Neither of my kids had a consistent lovey which is fine with me. Puppy, dinos, Olaf, Mickey, etc. They all make the rotation.

20. What do you want to be when you grow up? Astronaut
Maybe we'll send you to Spacecamp one day kid!

A few other notes about Kellen at 4:

He is still a lover. He likes hugs and kisses. He still loves to laugh, talk, smile, and tease his sister. He is an uber-focused child. This is mostly good - he will play with the same toy for hours with no complaints. It also means he can have a meltdown with amazing determination. He is a great sleeper at night and sleeps from about 8 pm to 5:45 am each day. He doesn't like to nap but does still when he is super tired for a bit 2-3 times a week. He is still a picky eater and prefers breakfast foods, dairy, fruit, peanut butter, and carrots but we can bribe him to eat some other food as well at this point. He doesn't like to write or draw. He loves to read, knows his letters and letter sounds, and can tell what words start with and is starting to sound out spellings. He can count to 29 and do simple math. We love our little superhero!

Superhero Celebration

Kellen is four and I feel like just like that we no longer are parents of toddlers. 6 and 4 - that is insane!

Kel already had a little family party at my parents last weekend so for his actual birthday we had a super quick dinner after school, headed to gymnastics, and then came home to see daddy, open a few presents from us and the other side of the family, and eat the first four of my sad looking spiderman cupcakes.

Saturday was a busy day with the Baltimore Running Festival in the morning for mommy and then a very small party for Kel late afternoon. We had three families over for a playdate, pizza, cupcakes, juice boxes (the big birthday treat), and beer for the mommies and daddies. I got each kid a cute superhero cape from etsy for the party favor and found these cute blocks on Catonsville Yardsale for free so it was an easy afternoon. Kel and his friends played dress up and superhero and everyone got along, even with Noelle being the bossy older kid there!

Spiderman, SpiderKel, and the Block City

The ladies traded their capes for princess clothes

Four candles!

I hope she doesn't blow out candles at other kids' parties!

Superhero smiles

Gift time

The full line up

Pretty sure these guys could save the day!

Super Family!

OBX Fall Birthday Fun

I love the Outer Banks in the fall. Since having Noelle I have journeyed for at least a long weekend each September or October. Columbus Day weekend is my absolute favorite time to visit; the weather is usually perfect and this trip didn't disappoint. The Wednesday evening before the weekend, Kellen, Maddie, and I packed up and headed down to the beach for 4 nights of fun. Noelle and Dad had their own weekend fun with gymnastics, an outdoor movie night at friends, the Family Tree run and fair, and camping, so I didn't feel too bad leaving them behind!

As always we walked lots and enjoyed playing on the beach. We also visited Jockey's Ridge, ate some crabs, and celebrated Kel turning 4 a few days early with my family. I got some nice runs in which was great prep for the Baltimore half and Disney full coming up. It was a fabulous time and we were sad to go but will see Grandma soon for Halloween!

Sand dune adventurer. He walked the whole way up and down Jockey's Ridge from the car now that he is a big guy!

Outtakes on the dunes!

Running to the bottom

Me and my big guy

Pumpkin decorating. These stickers were awesome!

Birthday celebration. 

Four (well in a few days!)

It got a bit chillier Saturday but was still great playing weather!

Wants to climb like his sister who does the Y wall every week. 

Maddie LOVES grandma's house. 

Building train stations

Sand construction workers

Beach hugs. 

I am so glad we got to do this together again this year. I'm not sure it will work out in 2016 (shh, Kel will likely have his surprise Disney trip with daddy that fall) but look forward to more trips with my little man!

More Zoo Fun

Either Bryan or I have had to work or are away almost every weekend so far this fall and that is continuing basically until Thanksgiving this year. We are in desperate need of our family vacay to Florida! But we are still having fun. About a month ago the kids and I did our first Zoo member morning and enjoyed rides on the train and carousel before "monkeying around" at the zoo. I am really appreciative that the kids are at an age that they love hanging out with me still but we don't really have to worry about bringing a thousand supplies with us for our outings. Yay big kids!

Here are some highlights of our early fall trip to the zoo.

The train was free so I finally let them ride it!

And of course we did the carousel like 3 times. 

Love them and our polar bear! And she might be pregnant - fingers crossed for polar bear cubs!

Orioles?

This nest isn't much more comfy.

Diamondback Terrapin for mommy

Ok, just crazies!

And of course Kellen has to be a dinosaur to end our trip!

We are looking forward to showing Grandma the zoo on her next trip to Maryland!