Bryce is a GRAD!

Friday May 15th, Bryce graduated from preschool. The school had a little program and Bryce stood there for most of it. He didn't sing, but he did well and we are so proud of him.

Here are a few pictures taken during and after the ceremonies!

Arriving on stage


Pledge of Allegiance

Falling into the planter

Mom's BIG grad! She is sooo proud....

Great Wolf Lodge 2009

We went to Great Wolf Lodge for 2 nights this week. We left Monday and came back home on Wednesday. I am glad that we decided on 2 nights this trip. It was much more relaxing and we didn't have to rush around and try to get to the pool before we had to leave. It was nice to have one day where we could come and go as we pleased. Jason wasn't too much fun and preferred to sit on a chair and watch Bryce and I play or stay in the room for most of the trip, but he did occasionally come out. Jason and Bryce both loved the arcade though. Bryce played every game that had something he could ride--for example a motorcycle racing game or car racing game. I have some great pics of Bryce on a "crotch-rocket" (as Bryce informed me it was called) and a Harley.

We are hoping to get back again next year, but we will have to see since Bryce will be in kindergarten next year. This will severally limit our weekday trips.

Coming off the water slide all crazy

Riding a Harley

Practicing riding his "crotch-rocket"

We upgraded our room this time and got one with a fireplace. It was very nice to keep the chill away.

Bryce enjoying our balcony/deck. It was freezing outside, so we were not out long.

Chocolate World 2009

Today Breckin, Bryce, and I went to Hershey's Chocolate World. It was Breckin's maiden trip on the ride. He kept pointing to the lights and seemed to enjoy all the sights and sounds. As always, I enjoyed the smells---chocolate--yummmmm. Bryce became a factory worker for the first time today and he seemed to enjoy it. He and Breckin donned factory hats and went to work. He enjoyed pushing the BIG green button to drop kisses into the little box.
After our tour, we went shopping and bought a large shopping bag full of different chocolates--mostly kisses. I have a new love of coconut filled kisses!! Bryce is in love with the caramel filled ones. By tomorrow, we will be sick of them all, but we are enjoying them tonight.

Standing outside Chocolate World


High 5's and smiles for a great day at Chocolate World


Making sure that my hat is on straight


Placing the lid on the candy filled cog


Reaching into the bin for a cog to fill up with kisses

At least I'm happy......

After weeks of coaching Bryce that when Mommy is tired she gets cranky, he finally understands this concept. This little endeavor started about the time that Bryce discovered the XBOX 360. He is completely addicted and will play for hours on end if you let him. He will only stop for water and bathroom breaks. "Mom--there is no time for food. I need my hands for the controller." So when I would call him to dinner, bath time, bed etc his few minutes would turn into 5, 10, 15, 30 and so on. I would venture downstairs upset that he wasn't listening, turn off the XBOX to loud crying, and make him come upstairs to eat, wash, sleep etc. On one such trip, he asked me why I was so mean. I told him that when Mom is tired she gets really cranky when little boys don't follow directions.
That being said, I was having a conversation with Jason last night about how taking a nap only made me more tired. To which Bryce innocently responds, "At least you are happy tonight, Mom." I busted out laughing. I guess he does pay more attention then I thought. He is also a whiz at playing and listening to telephone conversations at the same time. I also possessed this skill at his age and would quiz my Mom about her telephone calls once she hung up. I guess the apple doesn't really fall far from the tree.......

Christmas 2008

This year Bryce was old enough to write out his list for Santa. Topping the list to Santa was a jar of pickles. When Bryce came down to the tree Christmas morning, right underneath it was a large jar of pickles with a HUGE red bow. That was his FAVORITE present out of everything!

Bryce posing in front of all of his presents.

Opening one of his HOT WHEEL sets


Jason helping Bryce open one of his presents

Sea World

Since we drove to Florida, we also did Sea World. It POURED that day and was chilly! I would like to be able to go again and enjoy it in the sun, and ride a few more rides. They closed the rides and cancelled one of the shows due to lightening. We did have a nice time despite everything though.
We did get to see Believe--the daily show though, the Christmas show, and we even rode one ride. Since it was Christmas, we also rode the Polar Express ride.

We had reservations and Dined with Shamu. It was a fantastic buffet and eating pool side right beside the Killer Whales was awesome! They showed us how they train the animals and we even got the trainer's signatures.


The only thing separating us from the whale pool is that small rock wall beside Bryce. It was so cool, we had to buy sweatshirts.

Mom and Bryce in their ponchos waiting for Believe to start. This particular show was cancelled and we had to come back later.

Tille the whale--stage name Shamu--swimming in front of Bryce

The huge BELIEVE golden ticket at the end of the Polar Express Ride.

Another WDW trip

Since I am so far behind in posts, I thought I would start with our last BIG trip of 2008. We went to Florida the first week in December. We drove this time and honestly, it wasn't too bad. We left on Black Friday and came home on Sat Dec 6th. We stayed in a time share called Liki Tiki Village. It was so nice to have SO much room, but for me I lost some of the WDW magic since we were not on property. It was a little stressful making sure that we got everywhere on time--even though it was really easy and the routes to the parks were very easily marked! Also we usually get the dining plan and not having that was a true bummer for me!

The best parts though:
Bryce tried rides that he said at home he would NEVER get on and LOVED them. He rode Splash Mountain (3 times), Big Thunder Railroad, and Soarin. He also rode Star Tours for the first time and loved it. He was always going to ride that one though. Now next time, he says he is going to ride Expedition Everest if he is big enough. I think we will try Space Mountain too.

My Mom rode for the first time ever: Splash Mountain--after chickening out the first time, Big Thunder Railroad, Soarin, and Aerosmith's Rockin Roller Coaster. I am SOO proud of her and now Bryce has made it his mission to make sure she rides Expedition Everest next time we go.

Now here are some of my favorite pics:
Bryce's favorite character!

Dinner at Chef Mickey's

Posing with our table companion at the new T-REX restaurant. This little animatronic guy was right beside our table.

Trying on a sombrero in Mexico

My Mom and Bryce looking at the HUGE Christmas tree in America in the World Showcase. There were trains running around the base and Bryce loved them!

Bryce wouldn't pose alone with Capn Hook and Smee, so I went along!

Tigger taking a rest on Bryce.

Posing in front of Splash Mountain after they both rode it.

The wait was well worth it to get to meet Disney's newest characters: Rhino the hamster, Mittens the cat, and of course BOLT the super dog.

Chance--the bubble eating dog

It has been forever since I have posted, but I am going to start again and TRY to catch up! First and foremost, these pics were taken today. Chance was tooo funny not to post his pic!
As Breckin's V-day gift, we got him a little dog that blows bubbles when you hold the handle. We were trying it out and it seems that both Breckin and Chance thought it was a hit.



Here is Breckin enjoying the bubbles!



Here is Chance eating the bubbles!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Happy Holidays to all!

Love
Nicole, Jason, and Bryce

Trick or Treat

This year Bryce wanted to be Peter Pan again for Halloween. Works for me....I refused to spend the $39.99 for the Scooby Doo, so when he decided Peter again, I was all for it. Breckin got to go along this year and he was the cutest Tigger I have ever seen. We went around our neighborhood to gather the goods, and pulled the boys in Breckin's little red wagon. It seemed to all that they had a great time. They got some candy, but there aren't that many people who participate in our neighborhood. It is enough candy to make Bryce happy though and that is all I care about! Here are just a few pics of the trick or treaters:

Getting a ride to the first house of the night

Staying warm and waiting patiently to get under way

Checking each other out once they were loaded up


Blue eyed Tigger!

Week in Review

Well, Bryce has finally adjusted to Bella not being here. He has done very well--after the initial 2-3 days of aggressive behavior and "deafness" to adult directions.

We tried to make it a fun week this past week, and tonight we are making cookies together. He loves to do that. I have hopes that one day he will be a famous chef.

We went out to lunch today and we took Breckin with us. Both boys did remarkably well, and it is nice to have a pleasant lunch with my son and nephew--just the 3 of us. I can't wait for them both to get older and we can go and do all sorts of fun things!

This past Saturday we went to Hershey Park in the Dark. Bryce rode the Trailblazer last year---the smallest roller coaster there---and cried the ENTIRE time. At the end, he wiped away the tears and stated that it wasn't so bad. THIS YEAR, he screamed the whole time and had a blast. We had to ride it 3 times in a row and he wanted to go more. However, Mom was the one who was starting to feel sick and had to put a halt to the rerides. **Note to others--don't eat a soft pretzel and drink Pepsi before riding** There weren't that many people in line, so when we would go back, we would walk right into a waiting car. He screamed the entire ride all 3 times, but at least I knew he was breathing.
Then he rode the kiddie pirate ship and loved that as well. Bryce vows that he WILL ride Splash Mountain when we go in late November to Walt Disney World.

On another note, Bryce got his school pictures back this week. He wears his glasses all day at school, so he has them on in the picture. The photographer was able to "fix" his puffy purple lip from the fall he had 2 days before the pics. I am impressed with the result!!!



I think he looks about 10 in this pic, but it is just because he is growing so quickly. The last time we measured him, he was 42 inches. That was almost 4 months ago, and I KNOW that he has grown since then.

Sad Day

I hate to write about sad things on the blog, but this was too important not to acknowledge it's occurance. Tonight we had to put our oldest dog, Bella, to sleep. She had a tumor on her hind quarters that we had removed a year or two ago, but it just kept growing. It was to the point that she couldn't walk properly and the last week she really had trouble going to the bathroom etc. You could tell she didn't feel well, and she actually started to hemorrhage into that area internally. As a family, we decided that putting her to sleep was the humane option. Bryce was included in the decision and was there when she was put to sleep at his own request. I think he handled it very maturely, and the tears he cried were for one of his very best friends.

Isabella Marie Durham was born December 22, 2000. We adopted her in March of 2001---with my first tax return as an RN. She was a great dog and we all have very happy memories of her. So this page is dedicated to the memory of a stubborn soul with big chocolate eyes full of life and love for her humans. We will never forget you and know that you have found your star in heaven.

Below are just a few pictures of Bella. Unfortunately, all of her puppy pictures were taken with 35mm film--digital cameras weren't that popular when we first got her.

Bryce and Bella were inseperable when he was small

A final picture of the duo taken this afternoon

Chance just keeps growing and growing and ......

Chance is officially 4 months old today. He is getting HUGE and we lovingly refer to his as our horse. He is not that big, but compared to Bella he is HUGE. We know that he won't get too big--we hope--but the rate of growth is phenomenal.




Here is an old photo from when we first brought him home for comparison:

Fat Lip

Every wonder what happens when small face meets playroom floor at high rate of speed: well, the picture isn't pretty! Bryce was playing in the playroom last night and went to run after the puppy. Instead, his feet slipped out from under him and he fell lips first into the floor. There was quite a bit of blood involved and LOTS of tears. These pictures are taken the morning after it happened and it doesn't look any prettier.
AND by the way, tomorrow just happens to be school picture day!! At least we had professional pictures just taken at the beach.

The aquarium and a MONSTER truck

While we were in the Outer Banks, we went to the aquarium. It is rather small, but Bryce loves it. They have touch tanks and this year he actually touched a sting ray. He also touched the starfish, but he did that last year too. New for this year at the aquarium they have a green screen, and they can put your pictures into funny backgrounds. The two we chose are below. Bryce really loves the shark. It was fun to do.


FROGS everywhere. Do we look fly sized??


HELP, Jaws has got us!


On the way into the Outer Banks, you pass the home of Grave Digger. On our way back home, we did a little side trip and stopped. We happened to be there at the right time because on Saturdays they offer rides for $5 per person. Bryce was ECSTATIC that he could ride in a monster truck and I think my Dad was just as happy!!! Bryce now vows that every year we go to the Outer Banks, he needs a Monster Truck ride.

Bryce and Pap getting settled and buckled up for their ride


Bryce's favorite part--driving over the school bus


Bryce and Jason posing beside/on an older model of Grave Digger