Road Trip - Day 6!

After wrapping up our visit to the state capital, we headed back to Grandma and Grandpa's house. Great Grandma may start to rethink her moving so close to Grandma and Grandpa's house because we paid her another visit today! While Mommy, Grandma and Grandpa chatted with Great Grandma, Brian created some art work. I'm not sure if he got more marker on himself or the paper but since he was using washable markers - no one was too worried.

Brian was willing to participate in a photo op, but Spencer.......not so much!

Mommy and the boys missed a very special party that was going on back home today. The boys cousin Haley (or Dorothy Gale of Kansas as she is currently known to her friends and family) is a big fan of "The Wizard of Oz". She turned 4 years old a couple weeks ago on January 9th but her official birthday party is being held today. Have a great party Haley, we can't wait to hear all about it when we get home!

Road Trip - Day 5!

We spent an action packed half day at the capital before heading back to Grandma and Grandpa's house today! With Grandma pushing Spencer in the stroller, Mommy ran to keep up with Brian as he headed out to explore EVERYTHING! We checked out the view down into the rotunda from the forth floor.

We also spent some time supervising the activities of the Senate floor from the seating area up in the galley.

After running up and down more hallways than I could count, Brian took a moment for a water break with Grandpa.

Once again, we really enjoyed what has become an annual trip to the South Dakota state capital for us. If you have never been there yourself, Brian highly recommends it! We would also like to thank the various capital office staffs and personnel for their patience and understand. To Brian, an open door is an open invitation so he managed to waltz into more than one office without an appointment!

Road Trip - Day 4!

Brian Thomas loose in the South Dakota state capital..........oh my, where do we begin?!?!?! How about at Grandpa's desk. Grandpa was still in a meeting, but that didn't stop Brian from testing out his desk as well as introducing himself to the Senator who sits next to Grandpa.

As has been the case for 3 consecutive trips now, the Governor wanted to have his picture taken with Brian and his brother. The boys were willing to take a break from running the halls, riding elevators and roaming into any office door that happened to be open to fit the Governor into their schedule today.









We left the Governors office and headed right over to see Grandpa because the Senate was about to go into session for the day. Grandpa was going to take both boys in with him so that he could introduce them to everyone in person. Since Spencer had just fallen asleep, Bran went in to represent them both. He did very well but once Grandpa had introduced him, the applause they got scared him and Mommy needed to whisk him out.







Today was a historic day for a number of reasons. While the boys were having their picture taken with the South Dakota Governor, our own Illinois Governor was being impeached from office AND........today is Uncle Seth's Birthday!!!

Road Trip - Day 3!

The boys really enjoyed being able to stay in their jammies and play with all of Grandma's toys for awhile this morning instead of having to get right back into the van. We also took advantage of the fact that Great Grandma Irene has moved into a new apartment right down the street. We went over after lunch to check out her new digs which we might add, are very nice!

We left Gram's apartment just in time for the boys to take their naps. They slept almost the whole way to Pierre, which is just under two hours! Our hotel room happened to be right next door to Grandma and Grandpa's which was very convenient! Their room was bigger than ours and had these really cool cabinets that the boys had a lot of fun playing in and out of. Brian was hesitant at first to crawl in, but once he saw his little brother do it, he was much more interested!

One more thing......HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNCLE KEVIN!!!!!!!!!!

Road Trip - Day 2!

Thank you once again to Uncle Dave and Aunt Karrie for letting us stay at your house last night! We are looking forward to seeing you next week on our return trip!

Shortly before we pulled over to top off our gas tank, Brian had been topping himself off with a cheese and cracker snack. I'm not sure how much of the cheese actually made it into his stomach, but it kept him entertained for quite a few miles!

Whenever we go on a car trip of any distance, we map out any and all McDonald's that have playland's along the way. Our plan for today was to meet Mommy's dear friend Jannelle for lunch at the McDonald's/playland in Sioux Falls. The only problem with this plan was that the boys have established a history that whenever they go to a McDonald's with a playland, they are there to play - NOT to have lunch. That being said, we had lunch at a plain old McDonald's first so that when we met Jannelle, the fun could begin immediately! Brian (aka: Danger Boy), was an animal and showed no fear whatsoever! He ran right for the tubes and crawled all the way to the top! That's him in the red sweatshirt in the pink box at the top of the picture right before he came shooting down the purple slide!

Road Trip - Day 1!

Mommy and the boys are going on a road trip today with a destination of - South Dakota! Unfortunately, Daddy has to work so he is unable to go with us. We have a routine in place for this particular drive. On day one, we go half way which puts us at Great Grandma's house in Clear Lake Iowa. Since Great Grandma is in Arizona for the winter, we decided to do things a little different on this trip. Mommy and the boys are staying with Uncle Dave and Aunt Karrie in Mason City Iowa (about 10 miles from Great Grandma's house.) We haven't seen them for quite a while so we are looking forward to our visit! We stopped for lunch at "Iowa 80", which is a huge truck stop about half way to Mason City. Mommy is experimenting with Brian's growing Independence and this was our first big test. With Spencer in a stroller, Brian announced that "I walk"......so he did. We sat down for lunch with Spencer in a high chair and Brian sitting like a big boy in a regular chair. While Spencer finished up his sandwich, Brian practiced his letters where ever he saw them!

One of the spots the boys had the most fun running around in was this arcade. They had a ball and Mommy didn't have to drop a single quarter into any of the games! Talk about a win win situation!

While we were exploring another area of the truck stop, Brian couldn't help but notice that there was a semi cab parked in the middle of the room! Once he discovered that it was open, he wasted no time crawling up into it so that he could get a better look! Our extended stay at Iowa 80 put us back on the road a little later than we had anticipated, but the boys were having so much fun it was hard to leave! We had wonderful weather all day today and arrived in Mason City with no problems whatsoever!

Riding The Rails

This is part of the Thomas the Train track that the boys received for Christmas. Even though both boys really like playing with it, Brian prefers to play while his little brother is napping. When Spencer plays, he takes on a role more like that of Godzilla who is destroying a city. Brian looses his patience quickly when Spencer starts physically picking up the train engines or parts of the train while he is playing with it!

Born To Ride!

Grandma was looking for an exercise bike and since Mommy and Daddy aren't using theirs at the moment, our bike went to Grandma's house today. It wasn't going anywhere until Brian had a chance to look it over and make sure it was working properly.

We hope Grandma has as much fun with it as Brian did!

Brian-In-A-Box

The diaper box toy got thrown away today, but not before Brian played some Peek.......

..........A-Boo in it first!

Tool of the Day!

Whether you are handy person or not, Brian firmly believes that everyone in America should have this in their home or shop. So, Brian's tool of the day this week is............

....................a roll of duct tape! This is Shurtape model pc-621 4-inch commercial grade silver duct tape. You don't need a roll quite this large, but Brian wanted to make sure it showed up clearly in this photo. To quote Brian "If it can't be fixed with duct tape or bailing wire, it can't be fixed!"

Box It Up!

Whoever invented the cardboard box was clearly - a genius! We purchased this box of diapers at Sam's Club so this "toy" was a little bigger than the diaper box's the boys usually get to play with.

Health update: The cold bug is making it's way around our house. Brian has one too but it's not nearly as bad as his little brother's. Assuming that they are feeling better, Mommy and the boys are planning a trip to South Dakota in a few days. Daddy suggested that we could just cut to the chase and use this box to mail Brian to Grandma and Grandpa's house. He later decided that since Brian is still a little under the weather, maybe that wouldn't be a good idea.

The Doctor Is In!

Brian was the first one up this morning. Since he is in a big "I help" stage, he helped get breakfast ready. Spencer joined his brother in the kitchen a few minutes later but he wasn't quite ready to dive into his bowl of oatmeal yet. Brian on the other hand........Mmmmmmmm!

When Brian saw his little brother this morning, he could tell that Spencer wasn't feeling quite like himself. Midway through his bowl of oatmeal, Doctor Brian took over his little brother's health care needs!

Pin Up Napper!

Kids seem to be able to fall asleep in some of the oddest and often very uncomfortable looking positions. Normally, Brian is no exception to this but when he took his nap today, he looked anything but uncomfortable!

The Little Drummer Boy!

These boys really can make a toy out of almost anything! We have a small storage cabinet in the living room that we use to stash quite a few of the boy's toys in. The other day the boys were having all kinds of fun dumping their toys out of these storage bins. Once the bins were empty, they each sat in them and pretended they were cars. Next they flipped them upside down and used them as step stools. Finally, they discovered that they also make for a great drum! Brian thought it was hysterical to lay on the floor with the bin resting on his shoulders while his little brother banged away on it!

Brian Stories

As Brian's vocabulary and understanding of things continues to grow, so do the number of cute stories Mommy and Daddy have to tell! Here are a couple recent examples.

The other morning Brian and Mommy were in his room together. While she was putting a few things away, he went over to the door and said "Bye Mommy, I go to work." Mommy said "Okay Brian, have a good day at work." Brian ran over, gave her a hug and kiss and then announced again before leaving the room that he was going to work.

Awhile back after Brian had done an excellent job finishing his dinner, Daddy asked him if he would like to have a special treat. Brian was very excited about this possibility so Daddy suggested that they have some dessert. When Daddy pulled out one of Mommy's home made chocolate chip cookies, Brian suddenly got very upset and started crying out "No Daddy.......ba-zert!" Daddy tried to explain that a cookie IS dessert but Brian wasn't having any part of it. He knows what a cookie is and he didn't want that, he wanted "ba-zert". Since it's almost impossible to reason with a two year old, Daddy looked for an acceptable alternative. Some yogurt was able to resolve the ba-zert problem.

It's Time To Make The Donuts!

It was so cold today that the boy's cousins Krista and Erika didn't have school. Since Aunt June had jury duty today, we were more than happy to have the girls come play at our house today! Mommy took full advantage of those extra hands when she accepted the girls offer to help her make some donuts. Krista and Erika took turns measuring and mixing ingredients while Brian stood by coloring. I should probably rephrase that statement. Brian was happy to color as long as he could be right next to where the girls were working. That explains why he is doing his coloring on the stove top and not at the kitchen table where he normally does his drawing.

The batter needed to be refrigerated for a few hours which was good because it provided some more time to play!

The girls had to leave before the donuts were finished so Brian sampled them on their behalf. I think that his repeatedly asking "Daddy, more donut?" indicated that he liked them!

Tool of the Day!

In Daddy's line of work, it probably goes without saying that he needs to take lots of measurements. The other day he was discussing this with Brian and how it would be great if he had a tool that would help him get dimensions accurately but faster than with a tape measure.

Brian said he knew exactly what he meant and said " Daddy! Why don't you use my Stanley Fatmax Model TLM 100 Laser Measuring Device. All you have to do is hold the unit by Point A and aim the laser light to Point B and it will automatically give you the exact measurement!" Daddy had an appointment for an estimate tonight so Brian loaned him his. It worked fantastic! Thank you again Brian!

I Draw Too!

As the boys were finishing up their lunch yesterday, Brian noticed that Mommy was drawing. (Actually, she was writing on a piece of paper but as far as Brian is concerned, that's drawing!) As Brian was getting his hands and face washed off, he announced "Mommy, I draw too." So, with coloring books and crayons in place on the kitchen table, our budding artist got busy!

Mmmmmmm........Cold!

Our weatherman was predicting blizzard conditions today so Mommy and the boys made a grocery store run for some added provisions yesterday. As we were getting loaded into the van, Brian spotted an icicle and wasn't going anywhere without it! (It's hard to see in this picture, but it is in his hand.) Because he had his mittens on, he was able to lick and "mmmm" on that icicle for several blocks - until he dropped it.

The Many Faces of Brian Thomas

Snow Day!

Our wagon may be the garage until spring but that didn't stop us from going for a walk today - with the help of our sled! Brian insisted on walking and let Spencer have the sled all to himself. He even agreed to help pull his brother for awhile!

Brian took numerous "snack breaks" along the way to nibble on some of our fresh snow. As you can see from the pictures, we had a virtual snow buffet available for him!

Thanks to the snow plows, we have a terrific pile of snow right in front out of our house to play in!

The Lion Sleeps Tonight!

We mentioned a few days ago how Brian's bedtime routine normally plays out. After the books, bedtime prayers, "I love yous" and being tucked in, he returns to the gate at the doorway of his room. After a few minutes, he usually decides that he really is tired, climbs into his bed and goes to sleep on his own. Although this is normally how it all happens, occasionally Brian throws us for a loop and last night was one of those nights! Once we knew he was asleep, Mommy and Daddy went to peek in on him but we didn't have far to go! With his blanket and be-be's in hand, Brian curled up right by the gate and went to sleep. We snapped this picture before putting him back into his bed.

When I Was A Boy......

Brian always seems to be very busy doing something or another but occasionally, even he needs to take a little break. When that happens, it's very cute to watch him settle down into his rocking chair. He looks like he might break out a pocket knife and whittling at any moment!