2, two, due, dos, dwa, 2!

I have to apologize for the past 6 months, I'll try to catch up, but let's go to the most important stuff -- 

We have a two year old! I wish I could give you some stats, but life has been so busy (and fun!) that we haven't been to the Dr. yet for Henry's 2 year check up. I can tell you this: Henry is an energetic, kind, loving, very talkative, fun, and go-go-go 2 year old! 

Henry is busy. He is non-stop and although it is exhausting to the point of crashing at the end of the day the instant we put him into his bed, we are having so much fun. This age is awesome. I love it. I love that we can have conversations where I can understand what he is saying to me! I love that he's a great eater and almost always says, "I yike (like) it, Mama!" I love watching him explore and ride his bike and just be a big kid! I'm not a big fan of the new words "no" and "mine" but it's okay (for now) because he's learning... and learning so much! 

And now that's he's two -- he's starting to understand birthdays and gifts! So... what did Henry get for his 2nd birthday?!?

A new bike from Gammy!

And a new helmet. Thanks Gammy and Aunt Katie, I love it!

And he got to have cake that Mama made (with her mixer from her wedding that has been in a box for 4 years -- cheers to using wedding gifts!)

And the cake had Scooby Doo(by) (as Henry affectionately calls him!) on it!

Henry was a champ and blew out both the candles!

Breakfast with Scooby!

Playing his new fishing game with Daddy!

And using his new t-ball set. 

And marching around the house with his new backpack and lunch box. (Thank you Rachel and kids!)

And after all the excitement of birthday, Daddy just wanted to sleep.... Did Henry let him? Nope :) 

Last weekend we headed to the park with friends -- and played played played... while waiting to ride the  awesome mini-train a guy in Royal Oak builds and then has running one weekend a month for everyone to ride. How cool. So we played, had a picnic and rode the train and then headed home for nap. What a great weekend!

"Let's race Charlie!"

Tire swings are the best!

"Henry, don't walk on the tracks, that's dangerous!"

Riding the train at Jaycee Park

And because I'm playing catch up with this blog, I'm going to add the most recent adventure we went on -- to the zoo with Henry's daycare! We had a blast!

The hippo outside the zoo... waiting to go in. 

Riding the train!

Getting ready to feed the giraffes!

Henry fed him and he loved it!

And on to watch the polar bears play!

"wow!"

"Mama, he's swimming in the water!" - Henry age 2. 

And we saw the zebras, monkeys, anteaters, gorillas, lions and finally the tigers before heading back to to car with droopy eye lids, sunbutter and strawberry stained face marking a day of fun, and a nice long nap on the horizon. 

We had a wonderful day at the zoo, we had a wonderful birthday weekend over labor day and we are just having an amazing time being a family and having fun with Henry! 

Love,

The Beach Family

*At some point I will try to post some pics from our summer adventures.... try, but I can't promise anything!

The last four months...

Whew,  almost 4 months have passed since I "put pen to paper" on this blog. Err, sorry about that! We've been a busy family. Let's see... Henry is now closing in on 21 months - last we checked he was about 26lbs and 35 inches, but that was almost 3 months ago!

I've been working hard on making sure I make good on my new years lists. Ryan and I ran the 5/3 River Bank Run 25k two weekends ago. For those of you non runner/non metric peeps, that's 15.5 miles. More than a 1/2 marathon, less than a full. The weather was perfect, 50's and overcast. We had fun. I know I know. running 15 miles doesn't sound like fun, but it was. The fun part was crossing the finish line with my husband, who stuck by my side even though he could have wizzed ahead at the end of the race. The fun part was our long runs on the weekends through snow, wind, rain, sickness and making one another accountable to prepare for this race. The fun part was "planning to work and working the plan" (as my Dad often said) and as the weeks went by gaining the feeling that we would be prepared for the race. There is nothing better than going out for a 'quick' 8 mile run and feeling really good. And now that this race is over, and we are back in our running shape, we are looking for our next race!

Before running 15.5 miles....

... And after! Still smiling!

I've also attended book club 2x since the beginning of the year. That's more than the last few years combined, so I'm putting this in the win/completed column already!

List completion is officially underway!

Henry is barreling towards age 2 and not showing any signs of slowing down! I should have known from the moment I started to feel him move when I was pregnant that he was going to be a go go go kid, but no joke, the only time he isn't moving/talking/climbing/doing is when he is sleeeeeeeping. And I love it. I love this stage. I love his words, his non stop chatter, his exploration of everything, his singing from the moment he wakes up to the moment he goes to bed. His body is definitely showing signs of being a toddler -- the bruised up knees, 2 year molars starting to make their way in, and his hair is really starting to grow!


Okay, get ready for some (a lot!) of pictures... it's been awhile, so, enjoy!

Finally Spring and at the park!

It's almost summer... time to bust out the shades!

Even at breakfast... shades are a must!

t-shirt time, Henry is a bruin baby!

20 months old!

Watching the birds in our yard

At the zoo with Daddy

Check out Henry's new ride... vroom vroom!

At Mama's elementary school. 

Enjoying Boardwalk -- the playground Grandpa Sobczak helped build!

Hey! 

Enjoying the weather and eating outside

At the playground

Climbs up and goes down all on his own!

"Hey Mom, can I drive?!?"

"I'm caffeinated and ready to go!"

Memorial Day Weekend Project

It all started off with getting the mulch delivered, and then we decided to do a little more... So, a few trips to Home Depot and swipes of the credit card later we had a plan, our supplies, and a forecast for a great outdoor work weekend.... but first, a dump truck came to our house and delivered 3 yards of mulch!

"whoosh!" 

Like most people in our neighborhood, we have a 1.5 car garage and about 20 feet of space behind it that isn't used for much except hiding stuff that wont fit in your garage. Ours was covered with ground cover called vinca. 

It looked like this: *

(* note: this is not the exact space that we ripped out, this is another spot in our yard that is also covered in vinca)

We decided that this great space needed to be used, so we ripped out all the vinca and it all started to take shape. 

Day one

vinca ripped out

all gone!

We get ample sun back there, so we thought we would take a shot at a garden this year, so Ryan built these: 

4" x 8" garden boxes

We put down the weed plastic stuff and covered with mulch

End of Day 1

Day 2 we planted the gardens, watered them, and Daddy started to build Henry's playhouse!

Henry watering his garden

"Mama, more water!

Watering the transplanted chives

"Grammy, I can help with that!"

End of Day 2

At the end of Day 2 (Sunday), we headed to a friend's BBQ. Henry had a blast. He met 3 horses, fed them carrots, and even got to pet them! He has been talking about them non stop and still remembers their names. (Silver, Sweet Pea, and Pepper)

Henry and Pepper

Feeding Silver a carrot

I'm bummed that I didn't snap a pic of Henry going INSIDE the fence and petting the horses with Tracy -- the smile on his face was priceless. We are invited back anytime, and you can be sure we will be out to see these gentle animals again!

Okay, onto the final day of our weekend project....

Henry woke up on Monday morning to see the progress on his house

A few hours later Daddy finishing the house

And... we are about done... for now.

"If you need me, I'll be in my house!"

We also put nice edging in the front of the house -- I didn't snap any pictures before the rain started, but it looks great. We also put our flag up too for Memorial Day! Next weekend we will do the flowers in front and even some in Henry's garden boxes on his house! Hopefully I can take some more pictures and maybe our plants will be starting to come up! Stay tuned...

We hope everyone had a great weekend!

Love, 

The Beach Family