Nifty Nut House and more

We took a weekend trip to celebrate Grayson's 6th birthday.  The kids both had a blast at the gymnastics party.  Ellie loved the foam pit and Brady had a blast swinging on the bars.

My grandma and grandpa have been talking for years about how we need to make a trip to the Nifty Nut House and we finally fit it in.  The Nut House has been in Wichita since before I was born, but in my 21 years living there I never went.  Cory was in absolute heaven looking at and sampling the various mixes, nuts and candies.  Brady found many things that he needed while Ellie decided to walk behind the counter and just help herself to a sample.  For anyone visiting Wichita, this place is a hidden gem.

While in town, we also fit in a little lake time and of course another birthday celebration for Ellie.

Ellie is 2

I can't believe my baby is two.  Ellie is spirited, independent and full of energy!  She is the perfect balance of sweet and cute with a bit of ornery side to her.  

Official Stats:

She's still on the petite side particularly in height.

Weight: 25 pounds

Height: 32 inches

Highlights:

• Sleeping - She doesn't always like the idea of bedtime, but as soon as she has had her bath and we have read a couple of books she asks to be put in her crib.  She falls asleep within minutes of hitting her crib and routinely sleeps 12+ hours.  We have to wake her up nearly every weekday morning and it's not uncommon for her to crawl into the corner of the crib where I can't reach her for a few more minutes of sleep.  She has yet to try climbing out of the crib like Brady which makes me feel EXTREMELY grateful.  I am optimistic that we can avoid the 1.5 years of bedtime woes that we had with him.
• Favorite Foods - Ellie loves eating.  She's not too picky, but has definitely developed more of an opinion on her preferences.  She inherited my sweet tooth and has been caught numerous times in the pantry trying to get cookies or a piece of candy.  She specifically requested cookies for her birthday present.  Brady told her that she was supposed to request presents, but she was persistent that cookies is what she really wanted.  Ellie also loves Mac & Cheese, specifically Velvetta shells. 
• Favorite Activities - Ellie wants to do what the big kids are doing.  She loves running, playing outside, climbing on the swing set, doing somersaults on the floor, riding her scooter, riding on toy cars, doing puzzles, reading books, coloring, stickers, swinging and playing in the water.  Ellie talks about watching movies, but she can't sit still to watch anything so doesn't really have any shows or movies that she watches.  The other day she said she asked to watch Frozen.  Her class listens to the soundtrack at school so she's also started doing a nice rendition of Let it Go where she just sings Let it Go over and over again in different pitches.
• Accomplishments - Ellie know her colors really well and some shapes.  She can sing her A,B,Cs and count to 10.  She doesn't always get them entirely right, but she's pretty close.  Ellie goes potty at school pretty regularly and is probably ready to make the switch to underwear, but I am not quite ready yet so we're holding off until the fall.    

Great Wolf Lodge

Melissa and Grayson came to KC to visit so we made a visit to the Great Wolf Lodge.  This is one of Brady's favorite places in KC.  They kids played hard and had a blast.  The boys tried their hands at Magic Quest for the first time which Brady thought was great as he loves problem solving and using the wand was a bonus.  Ellie loved the slides and wanted to go down over and over.

Top of the Table

Another soccer season is in the books.  After the game the boys had ice cream treats and got medals.  On the way home, Brady asks "Are the Thunder at the top of the table?"  Cory and I thought it was pretty cute.  They have at least another year of no keeping score, but pretty much dominated every team they played.  There were only two teams that gave them any sort of competition.  We have a couple week break then on to summer indoor soccer.  Brady can't get enough of it so we will continue to play.  Great season Thunder!

Sporting KC Soccer Camp

Brady had the opportunity to participate in a soccer clinic put on by Sporting KC to support the Victory Project.  The Victory Project is an organization that helps children battling cancer.  It was an awesome experience for Brady as he spent the evening with members of the Sporting KC team.  His listening skills were perfect the entire evening as I think he was in awe that he was practicing with real professional soccer players.  I think Cory had a pretty good time as well. 

Pre-K Graduation

Another chapter in the books.  Brady is officially a pre-K graduate (well technically he will still go there all summer, but since they had a very official graduation ceremony we will consider him a graduate).  The kids did a great job at the program.  Each class had two songs and then the two classes did a song together.  After the program they received diplomas and had cake.  He has learned so much since he stated at Goddard almost three years ago.  He's also made some really great buddies that he will miss very much when he goes to Kindergarten.

Spring Races

Right after the first of the year, I must have been going a little crazy as I signed myself up for two races.  I have not run in an organized race in my adult life so starting with a half marathon and 11 mile obstacle course race is completely logical.  Fortunately I survived both events.

1/2 marathon time was 2 hours 15 mins.   I was happy with my time especially since I got really sick in the middle of training and had to take a full 2.5 weeks off of running.

Tough Mudder was an experience I'm not sure I need to have again, but I attempted each obstacle and survived.  Special thanks to my teammates and randoms who helped hoist me over the various ramps, walls and other large obstacles.  Not the most flattering pic, but the photo below will give you an idea of what the race is all about.  If you want to see more obstacles there is plenty of footage on YouTube.  The particularly interesting ones are the obstacles that involve electricity.

Cory ran the 1/2 marathon with me, but was smart and opted to skip the Tough Mudder.