Having fun in Birmingham

Here are some pictures of stuff we've been doing:

Homewood Park















Here's Vance at Homewood Park. Doesn't he look like a superhero riding a dragon with his cape? His secret weapon must be that blue tennis ball. I was glad that I let him wear his cape to the park because he was always easy to spot.

Birmingham Art Walk







































We went to the Birmingham art walk where a bunch of artists were displaying there work downtown. They had a kid's zone where children could do their own art projects. Vance was a bit shy about it, but gradually got into it. He made a painting and decorated a balloon. Caleb got a purple feather to play with, which he held on to all night.

Eating Chalk




















Yes, Caleb enjoys eating chalk, crayons, colored pencils, really anything that isn't specifically edible. At least this chalk matched his eyes.

Edible Clay







































Okay, so maybe if I didn't make things like edible clay my children wouldn't try to eat chalk. Anyway, Vance got a kick out of being allowed to play with his food. It actually tasted pretty good too, kind of like the center of peanut butter cups.

Portraits on the porch

Here are a few pictures I took of Vance and Caleb on our porch:







































Caleb was very serious, I could not get him to smile.


































Vance was very specific about what pictures I could take. He picked his props and poses.















Caleb sharing his toys.




















Caleb finally smiled once we got inside.

Going for a walk

We were invited to a play date today. As the location was less than a mile away, I figured walking there would be a lot easier than loading up all the kids at 7 a.m. to take Ryan to school and then loading them all up again to pick him up when he was finished. Besides, the kids would probably enjoy the fresh air.

Little did I know, people must not go for walks in Birmingham. I had three people stop and ask me if everything was okay. (Two on the way there, and one on the way back--the last one was a cop). Did I need a ride? Had my car broken down? Apparently a mother out walking with two kids was a bit of an anomaly, so something had to be wrong.

At least I know that if something does go wrong and I end up walking by the side of the road, help shouldn't be too far away.

Crazy baby

Some times I wonder about Caleb... especially when he fetches balls and carries them back to me in his teeth.



Here is Caleb's "I'm getting into something I'm not supposed to" look.

In the garden

On labor day we decided to visit Birmingham's botanical gardens. It was relatively cool, so it ended up being a great day to walk around and enjoy nature.

Ryan and the boys indulging me by posing for a picture.


Every time we passed a bench, Vance would say, "Mom, I'm getting tired of walking." Unfortunately for him, we didn't stop at very many.

Caleb at the beginning of the walk:


Caleb at the end:

The entrance to the Japanese gardens:
Vance at the entrance:
Some of the stranger flowers that we saw:

What a long strange trip it's been

Here are a few photos from our road trip to Birmingham:







































Here we are in Fruita, Colorado where we stopped to eat lunch and scratch off a lotto ticket that the visitor's center gave us. Shelley made us some cookies for the trip which Caleb somehow managed to cover his entire body with. Maybe chocolate is good for the skin...


































A random park in Salina, Kansas where Caleb enjoyed the swings and Vance enjoyed the slide.

We visited the Liberty jail where we were luckily the only people there. Vance and Caleb wrestled on the floor while we listened to Sister Anderson talk about the jail. Here is our family portrait, complete with drool on my right shoulder.

What we saw of the St. Louis arch as we drove by...

We drove past a military base and saw two planes unload a bunch of paratroopers. Unfortunately, it took me too long to find my camera, so we only have a picture of the plane.











































We stopped by Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. We missed the last tour by 15 minutes, but we were able to walk down to the historic cave entrance. Vance enjoyed looking at all the signs and Caleb enjoyed attacking Vance. It was a beautiful area with lots of deer and wild turkey. We will have to go there again when we have more time.







































Riding in the car.



















While we were moving into the apartment, Vance had fun on the porch with his water and goldfish crackers. The crackers hidden behind the bottle were ones he couldn't eat because they were his friends.

Sweet home Alabama

We are now officially living in Alabama where we can grocery shop at the Piggly Wiggly. Ryan was informed (on our first day at church) that he must quickly choose between the Crimson Tide or Auburn.

Hmm...should he wear his tiger pants or not?
(Voice your opinion on our poll).