Parade

So there were several celebrations for our Hockey Champs (see previous post) and one was a downtown parade on tuesday. Cole and I decided to wing it in the heat and it turns out it worked out perfectly. We got a great parking spot near the beginning of the parade, then ate at Char-Grill while waiting for it all to start.

There were hellicopters circling above, which kept Cole fascinated until the parade began and a fire truck started the procession. He literally squealed with delight. It's so funny to see him get SO EXCITED when a fire truck is actually moving.

Just a few pics of some of the players, the goalie with his MVP award, and of course the Stanley Cup. We had a great view, and the best part was as soon as it was over we zipped out of there no traffic at all!

Stanley Cup Champions

Kevin and I had an exciting opportunity this year with the Hurricanes going to the playoff finals. We were able to go to all the home games during all 4 rounds and that of course included the finaly Game 7 in Raleigh on Monday. We had hoped they would finish the task at Game 6, but obviously now we're glad they finished it all at home. It was an absolute thrill. The game was exciting, and I had that 'good feeling' all night long.

We've been going to the games since they moved from Greensboro to Raleigh, and were there for the playoff finals in 2002 when they were beaten by the Red Wings, so it was even more exciting to see them finish the task.

With another kiddie due at the start of next season, we realized that this would be the 'last hoorah' for us to go to as many games as we did, and we enjoyed every minute of it. And thanks to mom and dad who watched Cole OFTEN as the playoffs started so we could enjoy this together.

Fathers Day

We went to visit Kevin's parents at their farm on fathers day. It was a beautiful day, and in the middle of the time with them, we took a little family trip on the Gator to see the goats. I'm sure it's no surprise to anyone that Kevin is a great father. Cole literally lights up when he comes through the door. Not only is he fun and energetic, but he's also a solid leader and teacher raising this little boy.
We missed Fathers day with my dad, but had a little pre-fathers day celebration watching game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals here at the house. It was a fun evening, and time with both families during the weekend was a treat.

Big Boy Bed

After a dive from the crib last week, we decided to look into beds for Cole. We happened to find a great ikea bed for sale online and got a great deal on it. As of now, Cole hasn't actually slept in the bed yet. We were giving it a little time to lose its novelty, and go over the bed rules with him, particularly no Bouncing, which is what he loves to do on our bed. He's like a little gymnast. Anyway, Cole was fascinated with this new bed and "helped" Kevin put it together last Sunday. And finally a picture of the finished product, although with him climbing on and off of it, this picture is pretty much the only time the bed has been made.

Several New Posts..

Below.

5 Months and 5 1/2 weeks

Here's my blossoming belly. I am officially 5 months pregnant as of this week. Seems to have suddenly flown by. But October still feels like a long ways away, and that's fine as I have several projects planned and work on Cole / Baby Girl's room to be done.

And in the spirit of Stanley Cup Playoffs, Kevin is showing his support buy growing a playoff beard. He stopped shaving after the last regular season Hurricanes game. So here is the fruit of his labor. He did this last time we went to the playoffs, when we also happened to make it to the final round a few years ago and I don't remember being quite as annoyed by it......but we're in the finals again, so I'm going to zip it. :)

Blue Bath

We went through 2 pools Memorial Day weekend. Apparantely I have a knack for buying defective items. However, this did not stop us from having some fun. Summer has arrived here in NC, and it was hot and sticky for the long weekend. The pool in this picture is slowly deflating after multiple attempts to keep it up. But Cole had a great time playing in it. He calls pools a "blue bath" and he loves the freedom to splash, run, and fall down in the water. All those things we repeatedly discourage him from during his inside baths, where he can literally soak Kevin and I and the entire bathroom. So here he is in his saucy swim diapers, it was just too hot swim shorts.

Mini-Artists

A few weeks ago we went over to our friend Lizzie's house after nap time. Lizzie's mom is always on the ball with new and fun activities and she had just started finger painting with Lizzie. So Cole got to try his hand and some artful expression. As you can see, he was a little timid about putting his finger in blue paint and spreading it around. Cole is a moderately neat little boy, who in particular isn't too fond of getting his fingers all that dirty (unless it's chocolate). Lizzie, on the other hand was elbow-deep in self expression. She literally scooped out the paint and slopped it onto the paper. She did a series of 3 "studies in red" in the time it took for me to talk Cole into putting his now-blue pointer finger onto the paper.

It was lots of fun. And his very minimalistic masterpiece is hanging on the inside of the front door.