E's Birthday Part 2

Everett's birthday party was the day before his birthday so we wanted to do a few things on his actual birthday to make the day special.  To begin the day we started with E's favorite breakfast item, pancakes!

 Next we headed to downtown Kansas City to Crown Center (it's the headquarters of Hallmark Cards and has a great little shopping/exhibit area).  They had a free exhibit on Curious George so we had to check it out! The exhibit was very toddler friendly and Everett had a great time.  From a parent perspective it was a bit of a sharing nightmare!  There were a ton of kids in a relatively small space all fighting for the same attractions.  Everett is going through a big "mine!" phase so sharing isn't the easiest these days.  Curious George gave us a great chance to practice our sharing skills. 

 Crown Center also has a great restaurant called Fritz's.  

The whole place has a train theme, so you know it was a big hit with the bubs!  Each table has a phone where you call in your order and then little trains on tracks above the tables deliver your food!  The entire time we were there tons of a little trains were honking and "choo-choo'ing" as food was being delivered throughout the restaurant. Everett was SO EXCITED the whole time we were there.  

In this picture you can see E watching the train track as the train dropped an order of food at a nearby table. 

I think our time at Fritz's was the most content Tom and I have ever seen Everett at a restaurant.  I actually felt like I ate my meal at a normal pace and could even chat a bit with Tom because E was so mesmerized by the trains. 

After lunch we loaded E up in the car and he was in the car for maybe three minutes when we looked back and he was asleep.  I guess the trains wore him out!  He had a great nap and then we took a family outing to the neighborhood pool. It was such a fun day!  

As E's birthday has come and gone we've reflected a bit on what Everett is like at this stage.  Here is a snapshot of E at age two...

Everett, you are such a fun, happy boy.  We love your sense of courage and adventure.  We love to see how much you like to be a helper and take care of others.  Lately you have become quite chatty and inquisitive.  You always want to know what's going on ("Mom do?") and you follow pretty much everything your daddy does (hence you are awesome at helping to unload the dishwasher).  You are currently really into Thomas (and all trains), planes, and Elmo (you especially enjoy singing "Elmo's Song" or as you have redubbed it--"Everett's Song"). Your favorite phrase is to say, "Everett's__________" such as, "Everett's milk" or "Everett's chair" or "Everett's dink (aka drink)."  You have become quite good at claiming things as your own.  You also love to read and you have numerous books that go to bed with you every night because you insist on having them with you.  Some other things you love include: going to the park, being outside, driving your cozy coup, singing loudly, and praying (you seriously have a whole list of people or things we pray for before you fall asleep).  Everett, we can already tell you are gentle yet strong, tough, caring, and so full of love.  It's such an honor to watch you grow into the little boy God has created you to be.  We love doing life with you.  

E's 2nd Birthday

On July 22nd (yes, the same day as the royal baby's birth) Everett turned TWO!  We decided to do a very low key party with just immediate family that live near us.  The mini party started with some cake preparations.  The theme of the party was "planes, trains, and automobiles" because E loves anything that moves.  I decided to make a plane cake...I was pretty nervous, but I think it turned out okay.

Here was phase 1: 

I was only able to execute this because I am decent at following directions. This was the final product: 

Everett LOVES Thomas and all things trains.  He tried to eat the food off of his plate just so that he could look more at the image of Thomas! haha. 

Milky Way Race Cars.  We gave E one of these with his dessert and it was his first chocolate candy bar.  He especially enjoyed eating the M&M's off the Milky Way.

While I was working on dinner, Everett had some awesome time playing in the sprinklers and kiddie pool.



We tried to make the day full of Everett's favorite things, so after playing in the water (a beloved pastime) he had his favorite meal. Although not a very summery meal, we had spaghetti, meatballs, green beans, and homemade rolls. 

 Time for cake and ice cream!

 For reasons unknown to us Everett does not like the Happy Birthday song. We sang it for Tom, Gramps, and then Everett on their various birthdays over the past few weeks and every time Everett breaks out crying.  It's so odd!  

Mommy consoling E during the bday song.

Everett bounced back from the song quickly when he realized he was going to eat cake.  Tom also made homemade ice cream that was so good! (Sorry for the blurry iPhone pic)

Time for presents! 

E checking out his first Hot Wheels car. 

Aunt Jen and Uncle James got Everett a Thomas train that is remote controlled AND it actually puffs real smoke.  Normally toys that make a lot of noise kind of drive me nuts, but I have to admit this is one cool toy.  Everett, of course, LOVED it. 

He loved his new heavy duty dump truck and books from Granny and Gramps too!

E also scored a new helmet to go with a big gift he will be getting when we see Grandpa Meyer and Grandma Jean.  Safety first people!

We had a great evening celebrating our little man. We are so proud of our little two year old. 

Trip Wrap Up

After leaving Montreal and having another night with the Leigh's we headed back to the good ole' US of A.  We had another great picnic lunch at a park just after we crossed the border (somewhere in Michigan).  And then we just kept trucking until we reached Chicago.  It was a long day of driving but it was totally worth it when we got to see Tom's sister, Jill, and her son, Leo!

The boys are only two months apart and I love watching them interact.  They are so cute together. 

 We ate a great meal, let the boys play, and then we pressed on to go into the city to spend a few days with our best buds, Adam and Mary Kate.  We were able to time our trip to Chicago just right so we could experience the Taste of Chicago! The Taste is this great "feastival" of food where you can eat small samples of food from various vendors from around the city.  We've been a few times before and it is always so dang good. This year did not disappoint. 

Everett got in on the action and especially enjoyed a chocolate covered banana.  

 While in Chicago we also were able to check out the Lincoln Park Zoo and Lake Michigan.  

For the second time on the trip Everett enjoyed a rare nap in his stroller.  The zoo and lake wore him out! 

We also had to hit up Nuts on Clark (Clark is a street) because they have INCREDIBLE popcorn.  I'm telling you, it's the best popcorn mix around. 

Before we knew it, it was time to head home.  We did have one last stop...Ikea!  Although E looks unimpressed in the pic, we did score some great things for his new room. 

After Ikea we made the long journey back to KC and got home a little after 9pm.  Just like that our trip was done.  

I am so glad we decided to drive to Canada rather than fly.  We were able to experience so many different things and visit so many of our friends across North America because we chose to take a more scenic route. In the final hours of our drive Tom and I discussed what we would have done differently on this trip in hindsight, and we really couldn't come up with anything.  We are so thankful for a great trip! 

Canada--Get Ready for a Photo Bomb!

After leaving Niagara Falls we headed to Ajax, Ontario (outside of Toronto).  We were able to spend the night with some dear GSIS folks, the Leigh family.  Adam and Lori-Ann Leigh have two kids, Addison and Selah.  We actually missed seeing Addison because he was visiting some of his friends in Korea (so jealous).  The Leigh's were such great hosts.  They had a Canadian shirt and tank top for E to sport, as well as, other thoughtful gifts and INCREDIBLE food.  

This is E's "cheese" face. 

Adam and Lori-Ann are both fantastic cooks.  Our first night with them Adam made some great Korean tacos.  The meat was so good Everett was eating it off the bone! 

The Leigh's also had two things Everett loved--Selah (more on this later) and a bunny.  When E first met the bunny he seemed a bit scared, but then later on that night I caught him in the bunny room with his hand in the cage petting the bunny on his own! Luckily the bunny is super tame and great with people.  

After a night with the Leigh's it was time to head to Montreal, which was our farthest destination to the east.  I was in a wedding in Montreal (hence the reason for the whole trip) but we were able to do a bit of site seeing in the midst of wedding festivities. 

We were able to visit the Old Port in Montreal. 

E loved the boats!

Everett also loved that we got to ride the subway--Choo Choo!!!

A major highlight of Montreal was seeing more friends from our old school, GSIS.  Here I am with Laura (the bride in the middle) and Lauren at the rehearsal.  Both of these ladies were great friends of mine in Korea. 

Wedding time!!!

Yes, that's me. The pregnant bridesmaid.  Praise the Lord the dress fit! I bought it pre-pregnancy! 

The wedding was during nap time and by some great miracle Everett actually slept in his stroller during the ceremony (he hasn't done a stroller nap in months)! 

By the end of the wedding E was awake just in time for some family photos.



Everett LOVED Selah Leigh.  Selah came to Montreal to watch E during the reception--how cool is that?!  E instantly fell in love.  He would say all the time, "More Selah."  She was so great with him and it was fun for Tom and I to have the night to focus on enjoying the wedding celebration.  E had no complaints; he was spending time with Selah!

Our GSIS crew.  The only person we were missing in this pic was Laura, the bride. 

E's buddy, Elliana.

Laura made all of the flowers herself.  

The first dance.  Laura's husband, Philippe, is a ballroom dancer!

That's right--we got our picture with a real life Canadian Mountie! 

 The wedding was fantastic, and Laura and Philippe are great for each other.  It was a really special celebration.  After the wedding we decided to spend an extra day in Montreal to hang out with our GSIS friends a bit longer.  We hit up the Biodome (kind of like a zoo), ate AWESOME Korean food, and ate maybe the most incredible dessert I've ever had in my life.  It was a great day. 

Apparently in this pic I'm super fired up about eating Korean food and E was so into it rice was stuck to his face. 

The next morning we drove back to Ajax for another night with the Leigh's.  Everett was able to have quality time with Selah and her bunny, so he was a content boy.  

It was so special to see so many people we love and live far away from.  We had a great time in Canada!