At the Lake

Spent a few days of Spring Break with Grandma and Grandpa at their house on the lake ... a little too cold and rainy for the boat just yet ... so we stuck around the house most of the visit ...



Sawyer's favorite ... the rockers on the lake side of the house ...



Playing more OT games inside ...



Xander playing Robot Face Race and Sawyer working on Quercetti building toys ...



Double trouble in the rockers on the lake side ...



Sleeping upstairs with Mom for the first time (too big for the air mattresses these days) ...

Louisville Zoo

Spring Break adventures ... Aunt Kelly and I decided to take a day trip to the Louisville Zoo today with Sawyer and Xander.

First, we stopped at Applebee's for lunch (slowest service ever)!



But we finally made it to the zoo (thank goodness for pre-purchased tickets and parking passes online, as we bypassed the line.



Xander liked the giraffes ...







Xander clearly doesn't like keeping the same pace as Sawyer, who prefers taking his time and not being in a hurry, ever.



Bossy twin driving the other one ...



Pretty close ...





Their favorite part of the animals ... the seals and sea lions ...







Their favorite part of it all ... the icees ... and Sawyer is also pointing at my nachos ...







Sad that the train wasn't running today ...





Carousel ride instead ...







Back for the seals and sea lions ...



And all done ...

Warm(ish) in December ...

When we get any break in the weather, no matter how small, the twins love to take it outside in these long winter months ...

Sawyer at Jacobson Park on the playground ...



Xander shooting hoops in the back yard ...

Ice Skating Twins

Two different boys, two different days to try out the downtown holiday ice skating rink set up outside at one of the city parks for the season.

First to go was Xander with his buddy Jack ...



Xander went last year, but it was much colder. He prefers the 60 degree weather for outdoor ice skating, he says!

The very next day, Sawyer and Aunt Kelly headed downtown after our weekly speech therapy appointment for the boys.



Skating, walking around the park, walking in the beloved pedways, then going to Pies & Pints for dinner.

Rough lives that our boys lead, really.

Masterpiece by Xander

This has always been a toy that Sawyer plays with at our house. He loves patterns and making things match and line up. Tonight, Xander started playing with it and created this. And Sawyer did not like it. He liked the image just fine, but you see, for Sawyer, once the image has been created you put everything back into it's place. Immediately. Each piece back into it's color coded bag and put away. He did not like Xander wanting to display it on the counter all evening. It took all the patience Sawyer had to leave it alone, to not put it all away. But he did, grudgingly, leave it alone.

Christmas Comes Early

After our car was broken into a few months back, and the boys beloved iPads were stolen, we decided that an early Christmas gift was in order for the twins. New iPad minis and wireless headphones for all (Connor still has his new cell phone from the summer and his Kindle, so he just got the new wireless headphones).

I'd say the boys are pretty happy with their early Christmas.

Ten

It simply doesn't seem possible that the twins turned 10 today. How did that happen? Where did all those years go. Some days it's seemed really slow, but most of the time it seems much too fast.

For the first time ever, Xander made requests about what he wanted for his birthday, from the type of cupcakes (white with red icing, with Minions on them), to the type of party hats (also Minions) to the types of presents he really wanted (think dancing Minions and plush Elmos)!



Sawyer, on the other hand, was less impressed with the birthday festivities. He just wanted to watch a movie and play iPad all afternoon!





Sawyer did enjoy putting together his new Melissa & Doug stained glass mosaic (always a favorite) ...

Happy Birthday!

In many ways, Xander's social awareness is improving. Just as he looked forward to Christmas this year, he also looked forward to his birthday. We're still not sure that Sawyer knows or understands upcoming events, but Xander told us all month about his birthday, about what kind of cake he wanted, what other items he wanted at the party (hats, balloons, candles)! It was fun to see him excited about his birthday for a change.

Xander requested a white cake with white icing. He's still on a big Minions kick, so we opted for a Despicable Me 2 theme for his cake. Sawyer doesn't like cake, so his cake was something Mommy came up with on her own. He LOVES Sour Patch Kids. So instead of cake, my little OCD boy was surprised with Sour Patch Kids sorted by color and surrounding a flashing LED candle. Mommy knows her boy!

Best gift ever, Xander says. He LOVES his "FedEx trucks-es"!

Magnetic letters, coloring supplies, and Play-Doh. Sawyer was also a happy boy.

In yet more firsts, Xander has started showing an interest in toy figures. These aliens are his favorite characters from the Toy Story series. He walks around saying "Strangers ... from the outside ..." all the time.

Happy, happy birthday, my big boys! We got to celebrate with dinner at home, along with our extended family. Grandma and Grandpa from the lake drove up, though they left a little earlier than plan when it started snowing. Grammy, Pappy, Grandma Jo and Aunt Kelly also came over to help celebrate.

Fall Soccer Tournament

For the past few years, the twins have both played TOPSoccer. One of the highlights of the fall season for some of the players is a little regional tournament that the team is invited to in a neighboring state, where they play other TOPSoccer teams instead of simply scrimmaging against their own team each week.

On Saturday, we got up bright and early to head north for the regional tournament. We needed to arrive by 9:45 in the morning, and it's a two-hour drive. We were a little disappointed on our drive. I had planned to stop at Chick-fil-a for breakfast on the way. Except the exit we needed to take was closed for repaving. And they didn't bother to warn anyone ahead so that you could take a previous exit to still get there. And that's the only Chick-fil-a on the whole two-hour drive north.

Let's just say Xander and I were very disappointed. And a little hungry.

We eventually made it to our destination. The day starts with a team parade where spectators line both sides of the drive to cheer for all of the teams and their players. It's a little loud, but with their hands over their ears, the boys survive.

Next we get ourselves registered so that we can start our first game at 10 o'clock. Sawyer played defense (his specialty as it means a lot less running) and Xander played offense. He scored a couple of goals, which made him incredibly happy. Sawyer made some blocks, with a little help. He didn't mind, mostly, except for the one he blocked with his stomach. That one stung just a little.

We took a lunch break under some shade trees in the parking lot. The boys also had some time to explore all the free carnival attractions. Xander tried most all of them. Safety darts. Bean bag toss. Basketball shots. Basketball tic-tac-toe. Strong man challenge. Bounce slides. Sawyer joined in for that last one, but wasn't impressed with any of the others.

And the boys thought the day was over. They really hoped so anyway.

But we had one more afternoon game to play. They did so, if a little unwillingly.

And then they also lined up for the group photo with their medals. I can still hear Xander talking about his "Oooh. Shiny medal!" (points for those of you who get the Wreck-It Ralph reference).

And then the boys got some Chick-fil-a for a late lunch on the way home. 

It was a long day, but overall a good one. The boys are slowly learning to get used to new places and new things without total meltdowns. They are handling disappointments (like having that second game after they thought the day was over). And they're participating in a group sport with a little help.

We'll call it a win.