Rocket Science

Today Zander was schooled for the first time in science, using a rocket. Miss Eva, 7, was his teacher. Prior to this video he had fun playing trucks and legos with her while I caught up with her momma!

Random Photos in No Particular Order

Here are just some random shots of Zander in the past month or so.

At work in the office!

Snack time in the back yard.

Hanging out with Ramone (or as he says "Mone")

We took him out to a stable to see horses impromptu one Sunday, because he loves saying all the animal names. He was kind of stand offish but liked it overall.

Standing on a hay bale at Boktoberfest!

Construction on Zander's Birthday

My friend Kirsty threw Zander a Construction themed party at her house last weekend. We were not planning to do a party for him this year since his little sister is coming so close to his actual birthday, if we did it would have just been impromptu with us. It was a really fun time with some of his little friends. Here are some pictures from the big day!

The cake Kirsty made for him.

Party Favors



Zander and Owen in their construction hats

Zander's friends Ezra and Jesse.

Zander's friend Grace.

Zander's friend Elias

Kirsty and her daughter Eva (son Elias in previous picture)

The Beach

So we decided to hit the beach this past Sunday for the semi-annual beach baptisms our church holds at Bethune Beach, close to New Smyrna. It was the first time we had Zander at the beach since he was about 9 months old. It was a good time. Evan and I were both baptized at this same beach about 4 years ago and while we were there this time, Dwight Howard, who goes to our church, was also baptized. Since Evan and I have always had a love for the NBA, this was kind of fun. It wasn't a spectacle or anything, he didn't try to attract a lot of attention, just had a few family members and friends with him. Somehow the media did get ahold of it though, so you can read more about it here.


During the service they hold on a grassy area overlooking the beach, Zander was hamming it up with everyone, demanding high fives. Everyone was grinning ear to ear watching him, including us. Here are a few pictures and video footage.

The church provided BBQ for everyone and the weather was perfect. It was a great day in God's creation enjoying our family!

Singing and Dancing

It's been a really busy few weeks. I have pictures piling up and haven't had much time to post them. I will likely not post things in chronological order, but wanted to get a few photos out there so you can see how our little man is growing up - too quickly! Here is a video of him dancing to an ABC learning video he absolutely loves! He is talking a lot more. Words are not necessarily coherent to anyone but mom and dad, but he asks what things are all the time. He repeats all the letters of the alphabet on this little video he watches, but in this clip, you will just see him dancing and singing.

A few random pictures

This could potentially be the last post until we welcome Zander's sister to join us in about a month. We've been busy, I've collected a few pictures, but have failed to blog anything about our adventures. So here are just a few random things for now.


Zander chases his friend Elias (3) around a little garden area at Bok Towers during Boktoberfest.


Zander wears his initiative vision glasses he got at church. These glasses help you in "seeing what needs to be done and doing it." He has lots of initiative for two years old. He is always helping us with something. That's all for now folks!

Morning in the Park

We spent this morning at the park. The weather is getting cooler and there was a breeze. Zander was climbing all over the toys like never before.


Up the slides, down the slides. He chased a squirrel for a little while and then took a break for a snack.

He was all smiles until we had to leave:)

Bippity Boppity Boo

Zander was running around today with his Gymbo the Clown toy trying to turn Ramone into a frog, or maybe a cow? Not completely sure, but he was making himself laugh and it brought me joy.

Labor Day Weekend

We didn't have much of an agenda on Labor Day weekend. But we did a few things around the house and went to Chipolte for dinner one day. We had our church small group over for dinner on Sunday and went to visit one of our small group families that just had a little boy. We also learned of some heartbreaking news that our pastor's niece, who was five, passed away 10 weeks after being diagnosed with a rapid form of brain cancer. You can read more about that here. That put a somber mood on the later half of the weekend.

Here are a few pictures of our little man from the weekend.


Helping dad wash Ramone.

Eating beans and rice at Chipolte.

Chore Boy

So I mentioned before Zander loves to do chores. Actually, I'm not sure a lot makes him happier than helping in some fashion, besides chasing the dogs around. I give him a baby wipe and he goes to town on the windows. Here is a little visual.

Lake Eola Park

So early this morning I put Zander in the car with plans to take him to a park, but I didn't really know which one. We settled on Lake Eola park downtown Orlando. I figured he would love to look at the ducks, people walking their dogs and we could also stop to play at the playground. Here are a few pictures from our adventure.

Looking out at a big patch of ducks and swans and other interesting birds. So excited!

Washing his hands in a fountain!

Taking a short break to watch the kids on the playground, before diving in himself.



Observing pigeons!

Bok Tower

We have an annual pass to Leu Gardens in Orlando that allows us to get into other gardens across the nation for free. We drove a little over an hour away after church Sunday to Lake Wales, Florida. There is a nice little place there called Bok Tower where we enjoyed a little family adventure. We went about nine months ago, but Zander wasn't really old enough to explore fully.

Walking on a trail with dad.

He found an orange along the way.

Stopping to get a drink from mom while we take a rest on the grassy area outside the tower.

Sitting outside the tower listening to the bells chime to wrap up a nice family day!

Picnic in the Gardens

Today we had a picnic at Leu Gardens which is a botanical garden a couple miles from our house. We took a walk around looking at trees and flowers and then had our little picnic. We all had a nice time just relaxing as a family. Here are a few pictures from our time there today.


Walking with dad!

Running from the alligator we are not supposed to feed:)


Zander was actually saying the word "cheese" when I took this picture of him eating turkey. He saw his dad had a cheesestick and wanted some. He was quite sweaty from our fairly long walk and gobbled up his whole lunch before heading home.

Make your vote count!

Time has gotten away and I haven't posted anything for a while. Let's see, Zander went to vote with me this past Tuesday. The people at the voting precinct were extra nice to him and gave him two stickers as we were wrapping up. I'm not sure he knew what to think!

New Hair Cut and Fashion Accessory

We found some kids hair clippers on sale for 50% off, so we figured since I'll probably continue to cut his hair to save us money, we'd make the investment. Here is the first hair cut he got with the fancy clippers. A lot came off, but I'm sure it will all grow back in about two weeks since that's about how often I have to cut his lovely growing mane. He's growing up for sure. Today I needed to run into the grocery store for a few things, so Evan took Z to the Dollar Store next door and then brought Z back wearing his new fashion accessory. (Apparently Evan couldn't resist;) He was grinning ear to ear and wanted to wear them the whole time in the store. Such a little star!

Just 3.5 short months before he becomes a big brother and turns the ripe age of 2. He's already learned to be a great helper on many fronts including picking up his toys, vacuming the carpet, helping mom carry laundry into the washer, taking out the trash and recyclables with dad and he loves to carry his dad's lunch box and water bottle to the car before he leaves for work every morning. We love him and his fun little personality.

Waiting for Dad to get Home

Right before Evan is about to arrive home, we play in the front room and wait for him. As you can see, Z expounds a lot of energy and is extra excited when he realized his dad pulled into the driveway!

Science Center and Swimming

Today our neighbors invited us to the Science Center with them. They bought a family pass and received some friend passes they kindly let Zander and I use. Zander and Owen had the best time looking at frogs, turtles, alligators and dinosaurs. Playing on cars, in water with little toy boats, even riding the elevator. It was a nice day. After we got home and had lunch and naps, Zander and I went swimming since it's been so incredibly hot. The water was almost not enjoyable, because it was so warm. It's been a nonstop day of playing and I'm sure we will sleep good tonight!

Airplanes

This weekend we took Zander to watch airplanes out closer toward the airport. Everytime he hears one, he points up in the sky and utters something that "almost" sounds like plane, but sounds a little more like uhhh...he got excited to see them a little closer than normal.


We also stopped by the park where we had his first birthday party.

He proficiently says mama and dada and squirrel (which sounds more like gurl) and lizard. (which sounds like dizard) He also says bird quite well. Cat and Dog which also sound like Hat and Awg. He does a lot of sign language, so that is our primary means of communication at the moment. We expect him to bust out in full sentences anyday now. He has been eating at the regular dinner table with us for the last month or so. Four months until he becomes a big brother. He loves loves loves babies and always sits next to them and marvels when he is around them. That's a good thing, we think!