Rowland Ramblings: April Already

April 2015 was a busy month! It started right off with Birthdays, and Easter and didn't slow down much. Lots of memories and pics for this month.

Will and Beth:

Easter pic

First of all an announcement for Will. at the end of last month Will tried out for ILEAS (Illinois Emergency Alert System) basically The metro east combined swat team. He passed all the tests and they wanted him on the team. He even got to go to his first 2 day training this month. It was kinda last minute and unexpected that he got to go this month already but he enjoyed it and learned a lot and is looking forward to next month already. He will train 2 days a month with the team and hopefully go to a week long basic swat class in September. He has to complete that before he can go on call outs with the team. Its something he has wanted to do every since leaving Emporia and getting off the swat team there.

the only pic I got from the day.....we were kinda busy running.

Will and I had a great run at the St. Louis GO! Half Marathon. Will was starting to get a cold and we both felt just barely trained enough to run the race so we ran it together again. (this was my 8th half and I have always run by myself and been fine with it but wow I cant believe I have run the last 2 in a row with my best friend!) We got in just under the 2 hour mark at 1 hour and 59 mins! About 10 minutes faster than our February half. Our next official race is in July in Chicago but well see what else comes up between now and then.

Boys:

Grandma entertaning the boys with "cat pictures" at Easter Brunch

Rex and Ezra playing in the back yard

Rex got to watch the Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi this month.

Rex was a pro at egg hunting this year

Rex:

Rex had a good last month of being 4 although I kinda think he was ready to be 5. Im not sure how many times he asked me how long till his birthday waiting till the end of the month is hard. Of course as always Rex's is full of Star Wars business this month. He got to see the Empire Strikes Back for the first time ever for a family movie night. It is very fun watching the movies with him because he know so much about it already. . He has also been very busy planning his Clone Wars themed Birthday party. (He doesn't know we are planning to take him to Lego Land on our way home from our Nebraska trip for his bday.) He and Grant both got colds in the middle of the month and I kept him home from school one day. (I think that was the first sick day he has had from school all year long.) Im glad he doesn't get sick very often he was very dramatic about it and milked it for all it was worth.

Grant at the expo before the race.

Grant:

Grant was in love with the Easter Bunny at our Easter Brunch. We hadn't really been around anywhere to see a costumed easter bunny (and personally im not a huge fan of the life size easter bunny costume) but Grant wanted to know where he was every minute and talk to him and hug him (and of course get easter eggs from him).

Can I just say that so far I am loving 3 year old Grant. (of course not that I didn't love 2 year old Grant but you know we were just all done and over 2). I know there will still be some ruff patches and times but so far 3 year old Grant is so fun. He and Rex seem like they are playing longer and better and having more fun than ever.

Grant is very very busy pretending with his Batman toys and also dressing up. No more naps for 3 year old Grant but honestly its ok. He had such an awful time waking up from naps we were all miserable every day listening to him wail and grump and whine. I still try for a story time in the afternoon and maybe even boys playing quietly in their own rooms but it is nice to plan and do stuff and not have to worry about the nap schedule. Also we do bedtime at 7 now and he's ready for bed and goes to bed pretty quickly. Im not sure if I will ever be able to say that Grant is a great sleeper. He is still up many nights in the middle of the night wanting a drink, or in bed with mommy, or a change because he is soaking wet. but he is sleeping all night some night and sleeping in later. Usually 7 or later most days now. Also Grant is kinda my little buddy now. He wants to help me cook and measure stuff, (something he never cared about before,) and if I go on a walk he always wants to go with me and as long as he has Mr. Freeze or his favorite toy of the week in his hand he is pretty happy to do errands with me.

Sir Grant

fighting the evil knight

And of course a knight does have to sleep from time to time

Grant crashing at the end of a walk

Grandma Cindy and Papa Rex took their camping trailer out to Durley Camp ground to dust off the cob webs from the winter and get it ready for the year. The boys and I went out and visited them for the day and we all had a great time. I have so many childhood memories from Durley Camp it was fun to take the boys there. I think I spent at least 1 if not 2 weeks of every summer there from elementary school through High School. I had not been for years and quite a bit had changed. New dining Hall, Game room, bath house, updated cabins, and more. Now Im the old lady saying when we were kids we didn't have air conditioning in the cabins, and the bath house we used was old and there was never any cold water. Also I have to admit it all seemed a bit smaller than I remembered it.