Vernon Volumes text

Vernon Volumes text

Monday, May 30, 2011

Memorial Day in Odessa


On Sunday we went to the annual Memorial Day BBQ with the Herrick side of the family.

It was great fun as usual with all kinds of games and food.

Paige had the most fun just chilling out on the step, playing with rocks and a tupperware bucket.




Connor played bean bag toss, football, badminton, soccer, swinging, etc.




At lunch, Connor sat at the little kids table with Allison and Payton.


After lunch, we tried to recreate a photo we took last year.



The kids are getting so big!


Paige had the most fun playing in the water table with Langston.


Dawson BBQ

On Saturday, the Dawsons had their annual Memorial Day BBQ. Last year, there were 12 women pregnant at the BBQ so this year there were a lot of kids. By one count, there were more kids than adults. Connor and Paige both had fun playing with the swing, slide and bouncehouse. Connor's Dinomites teammates Warner and Whitaker were both there and Connor a lot of fun with them.


Getting Paige ready


Paige still doesn't have enough hair to do anything cute like pigtails or much besides holding in a bow or something. Unfortunately she can't stand anything on her head so we do the best we can with what she'll allow us. Andrea's done a great job getting her to cooperate and she will usually stand up on the stepstool while we fix her hair. Right now, we're just combing over and down so it isn't too crazy.

The bib


Connor hasn't been eating with a bib for a long time now. We were getting dressed to go to the Memorial day BBQ and he spilled some syrup on his shorts so Daddy decided to put his bib on him while he finished. Connor was none too pleased.

"I look silly in my bib. I no like to look silly."

Connor's last day of school - outdoor fun day


Connor's last day of school was Thursday last week and they had outdoor fun day. Mommy went with him and took some pictures of Connor playing with his classmates and teachers.

Connor with Ms Cindy


Connor and Ms Chrissy



Sunday, May 22, 2011

Connor's last soccer scrimmage of the season


Today was Connor's last soccer scrimmage of the season. They had a special session today where they played 5 on 5 on a little field with the littler kids, 7 on 7 with all the kids, and then kids vs parents. As usual Connor had a blast. He ran constantly and worked hard the entire time. He wasn't nearly so timid today and although he didn't score any goals, he kicked the ball a lot more and got right in there with the big kids. He probably ran more than anyone else too. He was going full speed the whole time.



We were a little surprised when Coach Shawn said that the parents were going to play soccer today, Andrea and I were wearing flip flops and couldn't go out to participate, but thankfully Uncle Nate stepped up and got out there to show everyone his stuff.

He decided to be nice and "let" the kids score a goal on him.



Thanks to Abby, Nate, Drew, Allison, and Grandpa and Ga for coming to cheer on Connor today! Big thanks to Uncle Nate for playing on our behalf!

Drew's 12th birthday party




Today was Andrew's surprise 12th birthday party! We went to his Grandma Margaret's house and surprised him when he showed up with Grandpa and Grandma Anders. We were glad to get to celebrate his birthday with him!




Surprise!!!


Happy birthday big guy!

Connor tricky pants


Connor's been very silly lately. He loves to make funny faces and goof off. Best of all, he likes to be tricky. He's always trying to fool people, then will say "Tricked You!"

On an unrelated, but funny note, Connor saw the car below today while we were driving and said: "There's Uncle Chris's car!". We were a little confused, but realized that usually when Connor sees Uncle Chris it's when Grandpa Rick's driven him to Kansas City in his van.

We laughed when we figured it out and decided we had to take a picture to remember.

Paige's Power Walking

Paige has been walking everywhere any more. We've posted about it like crazy lately, and it's because she just gets better and better every day. She doesn't really crawl at all now, only if something's nearby and she's already playing on the floor. It's amazing to see her get around like a big girl. She'll pull her shoulders back, push out her tummy, and will stomp around wherever she pleases.

I uploaded 2 videos, a short one and longer one.

Short video:


Long video:

Connor's class picture

Last week, we received Connor's class picture and decided we'd post it. These are all the kids he spends time with at school. Of special note are Connor's two best buddies at school, Connor Rizek and Chase. They are, of course, on either side of him in the picture.

Mommy also went to meet with Ms Cindy, Connor's teacher (on the right). She had nothing but good things to say about Connor. She said that he always likes to sit right next to her in circle time and is starting to become more talkative and open up a bit more in class. Ms Cindy also said that Connor is a great listener and she hasn't had to get onto him one time the entire year.

Connor's got one more week of school and then it's summer break! We decided to enroll him in Oakhill's summer day camp. We are hoping he really likes it and makes new friends!

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Daytona Beach


After Disney, we drove to Daytona Beach for the rest of our trip. Shawn's grandparents graciously let us stay at their condo, which is awesome and right on the beach. We had lots of fun playing on the beach, at the pool, and going all around the Daytona Beach area.




At the beach, Paige was a.... challenge... to say the least. We tried to keep her "Nuk" (pacifier) in her mouth as much as possible so she wouldn't eat the sand. We also wanted her to keep her hat on so she wouldn't get too much sun on her face. As with everything on her head, she was violently opposed to the hat plan. Mommy argued with her for a while about it, but Paige "won" the argument by throwing her hat in the water, then pushing her face in to the sand while throwing a fit. There was sand in her eyes, nose, and mouth as well as saltwater. She shrieked and it took us a long time to wash it all away and to get it all off her face.




Playing in the waves with Daddy.

The four of us in the ocean. This is obviously after the hat incident. Paige's hair looks great here and notice her red eyes from the sand.
Connor was pretty awesome on the boogie board. He was the perfect weight for it. Paige loved watching him.

A short video of Connor riding a wave and wiping out.


Daddy liked to body surf too, but was a bit too heavy for the little shark board. It all ended when I was running in to the deeper water to catch a bigger wave. There were some small fish in the ankle deep water then I saw some bigger fish as the water got deeper. I don't care for fish in the water with me, but didn't think there would be any sharks in the waist deep water. Right as I saw a decent sized wave coming, I looked down to get a good hold on the board and saw two or three decent sized stingrays in the water with me. I'd gone swimming with larger ones in Grand Cayman, but something about coming upon stingrays not accustomed to humans and coming upon them unexpectedly freaked me out and it kind of ended my adventures in the deeper water.


Connor and Grandpa made a pretty cool sandcastle.


Both Grandpa Garry and Grandma Genie were great help with the kids. Paige really bonded with Grandpa and he was always able to get her to settle down and relax. She was definitely cutting some teeth during the trip and could be an emotional wreck at times.

We went to "Cowlicks", an ice cream store one night and Connor played some games with Daddy and Grandpa Garry.
We loved eating at "Aunt Catfish's". They serve delicious down home cooking and like everywhere in the south, they've got sweet tea and cornbread. We had to get a quick picture together with the big fake catfish on the pier.
We loved finishing up the trip in Daytona Beach. It was relaxing and lots of fun. Paige really became an independent walker on the trip. She wasn't able to really crawl most places we went and somewhere along the trip decided to just be a walker. Now, she walks everywhere and will hardly ever crawl.

We love you big girl!

Thanks again to Great Grandpa and Grandma Vernon for letting us use their great condo and thanks as well to Grandma and Grandpa Anders for being such great help on the trip and for being so much fun!

Disney - Chef Mickey and Downtown Disney


On Tuesday, we ate with Chef Mickey and friends at the Contemporary Resort. It's an all you can eat buffet and Mickey and his pals all come around to say hi. It's a good way to see all the characters without having to wait in lines. The breakfast's pretty darn good too.


Minnie came around first and was very sweet as always.


Paige was horrified by the huge monster Minnie. It's always interesting to see how kids react to them. Daddy's never liked them either and was pretty surprised that Connor loves them so much. He's always run up to them and hugged them. Paige apparently saw them as I did when I was little. As horrible monsters that feast on baby meat.

As long as we held Paige, she would settle down a little. We did manage to get a couple pictures where she's somewhat close to the characters.




Finally, Mickey showed up! We got a cute family picture with him. Paige is watching him to be sure he doesn't try to bite her, but at least she's not screaming in this picture.

After Chef Mickey, we went to Downtown Disney to do some shopping. There was a Merry go round there and Grandma Genie rode it with Connor.


The Lego shop is always neat too. Connor posed with Woody and Buzz.


After our adventure we went to eat again at Uno's. They all closed in KC, so it was great to have a chance to eat there again.


Great fun!