Balloon Fun

On Friday night we had planned to go to a hot air balloon festival. When the morning was cloudy and dreary, we were worried our plans would be ruined. Luckily, the weather rallied and the rain held off. It was a little cool, but not too bad with a jacket on. I would much prefer cool weather to 90 degrees!

There was a firetruck parked at the event that kids could sit in, climb on and check out. Karsten thought the truck was pretty cool. He said 'BIG truck, red one'. :)

Karsten quickly caught on to clapping each time a balloon was ready to take off.

The first balloon that took off carried the American flag with it.


It was so pretty after the balloons started to take off. Looks like the flash on my camera should have been on. Oops!

Sometimes there was a wait between the balloons taking off, and Scott entertained him for a bit by throwing him into the air. Karsten would laugh and say 'again, Daddy, again"

Awww, how cute are my boys.

This was one of the bigger balloons. By this time in the evening it was getting a bit more windy and the people holding the balloon down were having a heck of a time keeping it from rolling all over the field. We didn't know that hot air balloons came in so many different sizes, there were several sizes represented at this event.

Once the got the balloon aired up, it rolled to the side an ran into the balloon next to it. Shortly after that its crew decided it would stay on the ground and do the 'glow' after dark. For the glow, the balloon stays on the ground after dark and the fire lights up the balloon.



We decided not to stay for the glow - there were going to be two balloons participating and it was already past Karsten's bedtime. So, we headed home after a great night! Can't wait for the next hot air balloon festival in July.

Yard Work

As I've mentioned before, Karsten's favorite thing to do lately is play outside. After dinner he'll say 'shoes on - outside?'.

The other night, Karsten and Scott were playing outside and they took a break to water the plants. At first Scott was helping Karsten hold the hose, but Karsten quickly said "I do it" and decided he didn't need any help. He did really well filling up the bucket and didn't even get the water all over himself. :)

He's a pro - doesn't even need to look at the water!

Making sure all of the water makes it in the bucket. He was not happy when they were done watering the plants and they had to turn the water off - that was much less fun.

Meeting Jonah

We were so excited to go to visit our friends Kevin and Melissa for the afternoon and meet their new baby Jonah. We'd seen pictures on Facebook and were dying to see him in person.

Isn't he adorable! He's 3 weeks old!

Both Scott and I said that we did not remember Karsten being this small - I'm sure he was, it just seems like SO long ago!

Jonah cried a little bit and he stopped as soon as Kevin started talking to him.

There's nothing better than cuddling with a sleeping baby! Jonah looks pretty happy with his mommy!

Family pictures

My mom and dad each have a birthday that's very close to fathers day and mothers day. We always struggle with what to get them, so this year we decided to do family pictures - everyone loves pictures, right?

We went to Portrait Innovations and I requested the photographer that did Karsten's 18 month pictures. He is great at getting Karsten to look at the camera and smile.

I was thrilled with the family picture - mission accomplished.

We also got a great one of Karsten with my parents.


I love this one of the three of us!

This makes me smile every time I look at it - Karsten has such a cute expression and pose.

My boys!

And we got a great one of Chuck and Karsten!

I love this smile!

He actually had fun taking pictures with all of the props!

WORLDS of Fun

On Sunday, the company I work for reserved Worlds of Fun amusement park for the day. We took Karsten to this event last year but he was only old enough to ride the train and the carousel. The day looked like it might get rained out, but thankfully the rain held off. It was a tad bit chilly, but at least there was no rain!

The first thing we had to do once we got to the park was ride the 'choo choo train'. Karsten saw the roller coasters and thought they were choo choos.

Here we're waiting our turn for the choo choo train.

Is the choo choo coming yet?

He was so excited to ride on the train!

Next we went for a ride on the carousel. Karsten enjoyed sitting on the horse but he looked completely shocked when it started moving up and down . He quickly got used to it and hadlots of fun!

We weren't sure what he would think of the giant snoopy, but he wasn't afraid of him at all and wanted to give him a little hug!

Then he wanted to sit next to the puppy. He was confused by why he couldn't get the cookie out of the puppy's hand.

We ran into Liz, Kyle and Kellen. Both boys had fun checking out the puppy and his cookies.

Then Karsten got to ride a choo choo train all by himself. I was a little worried he would try to get out of the seatbelt while the train was moving, but he did a great job and stayed in his seat!

He held on tight to the bars on the side of the train for the whole ride. When the train pulled out, he watched with wide eyes, not sure what he had gotten himself into.

The only time he let go of the train was when he came by and waved to us.

Next he rode a motorcycle. He knew more of what to expect this time so he didn't look quite so scared!

Next up was the kiddie roller coaster. You can see Karsten's little blond head peaking out next to Scott. Scott said Karsten said 'again, again' when the roller coaster was done.

Karsten and I rode the bus that went around and around. Weeeee!

These little cars were a bit hit. Karsten enjoyed driving.

We had a great day - can't wait for next year when Karsten is a tiny bit taller and can ride a few more rides!

Karsten-isms

Ok - I know I said I was going to catch up on the blog, so I am sorting through the pictures I took the past several weeks and will be a blogging machine soon. In the meantime, I want to leave you with an update on things Karsten is saying.

• Sometimes when we're riding in the car I will sing along to the radio. If Karsten hears me singing, he'll say "MOMMY, MOMMY, MOMMY - NO!!". I've tried to see if it's just one song that he doesn't like...nope, seems pretty unanimous that it's just my singing. :)



• Anytime we're eating something that's not on Karsten's plate, he'll say "want some" before he even knows what it is. If you try to distract him, he'll always say it again, sometimes adding 'please' for extra impact. :)



• He's doing really well at walking down stairs holding onto our hands or onto a railing. When we go somewhere, we ask if he wants to walk and he'll say 'walk, Mommy's (or Daddy's) hand'. Awwww.



• 'No I'm not' is becoming a popular response for him. We'll say 'Karsten, it's time to eat' and his response is 'No I'm not!". Insert any question here and he might tell you 'no I'm not!". Luckily, it's not usually a firm 'no' and we can usually give him options that will let him choose something we agree with.



• I mentioned before that Karsten was becoming a master at delaying his bedtime by asking for different blankets or a drink of water, anything that worked. We discovered if we rocked for a minute then put him to bed, he went right down. Now he'll give Scott a kiss and hug then say 'Rock a minute, mommy'. I can't resist it, we'll rock for a minute or two, then off to bed!



• OUTSIDE! Karsten loves to be outside! When we're eating dinner, he always says 'outside?' and most nights after dinner we play in the backyard!

Repairmen

On Saturday, our dishwasher decided it had enough washing and was done. It couldn't even trouble itself to to drain the remaining water left in the basin.

We quickly did a bunch of research on dishwashers, compared prices then decided on a dishwasher. We purchased the dishwasher on Sunday and it was delivered on Wednesday!

Scott disconnected the old dishwasher on Tuesday evening so it would be ready to be removed when the delivery guy brought the new one on Wednesday. When Karsten walked into the kitchen on Wednesday morning and saw the old dishwasher in the middle of the room, he gasped and said 'OH NO, mess. Daddy mess". Then he walked around the dishwasher and saw the empty spot where the dishwasher used to be. He pointed and said "Big mess. Oh no Daddy"

Checking out the new dishwasher.

Using his tools to help Daddy.

Checking to make sure their work was level!


He got bored with the installation in the middle and decide to pretend water the plants. He would run over to the bathroom, make a sound like he was filling up the watering can, then run back over and pretend to water the plants. He repeated this many many times. :)