Pip Pip Cheerio Zuni!

There was another reason we were all very sad on September 21st. It was our last Monday night dinner with Susanna. Well, the last for awhile...

You see, although she doesn't look very smart in this picture, Zuni is actually one smart cookie. And on September 22nd, she left for London to study abroad for a year.All the Hathaways, Rabenhorsts, Fixes and Brockmans gathered at my parents house for one final hurrah to send her off.
Although the younger generation will be sad without her...I think I will be saddest of all. There have been many times where I've left Susanna (for college, to get married, to move to California), but this is the first time she's left me!

There will be nowhere near as many smiles without my partner in crime, but Christmas is only a few months away so we'll see her again soon! Have fun Aunt Zuni and get on Skype often!

Official Stats

We waited 2 hours to see the doctor for Rock's 2 year check-up. This made us all very sad.

Okay so it made Rock's parents very sad. Rock was excited to watch The Aristocats on the waiting room tv.

Rock's official stats are: 33 lbs. and 35" high.

Even though we had to wait forever to find out this information, we were all happy to hear that Rock is healthy and still above average in weight and height!

Car-Obsessed Boy Turns 2!

So, Rock's birthday party last year was rather crazy. I went all out 'cause you only turn one once, right?

But I'll admit the matching t-shirts were a bit much. So this year I thought "Let's go simple." But then as I got into planning mode I realized that you only turn two once, right?!
I ended up making car cupcakes (yes, those strange bug-like gummy blobs are cars)...

And I made a banner that was also a game -- the car symbols were each numbered and the adult attendees competed to see who could correctly name them all...

And I made a cheeseball in the shape of a 2.

And Fix made little cars out of candy for each of the kids to take home.
And then we invited 46 people. Actually, we invited more, but only 46 were able to attend! It was crazy. So much more crazy than his one year old party. Buttttt.... it was FUN!

Fix cooked the burgers and dogs.

While Rock and I entertained the guests.

They spread out into all corners of our tiny townhouse.

Thankfully it was a nice day so we could move the present opening chaos outside.

I suggested on the Evite that people bring a matchbox car for the birthday boy. He got cars of all sorts and he was THRILLED.

My favorite gift was the cross stitch my mom made for him. I'll post a better picture of it soon.

Appreciate the belly.

Back inside we played the classic birthday game "pin the license on the car."

Unfortunately, only two of the kids wanted to play so it was kind of a bust.

As things began to wind down, Linus and Clip helped Rock break in his new train set from Uncle Jason and Auntie H.

These two are always good for a laugh.

When it was just the Hathaways and family left, we got the kids to play the "pin the license" game.

It got a little crazy when the adults started playing.

I'd like to point out that my license plate is VERY close to the correct spot.

All in all, it was a great day. Although it was crazy, as the birthday boy was going down for his nap he said "I want to keep playing with my friends." So I think it was a success. And now I can start planning for next year. You only turn three once, right?

Rock's Birthday

When we got back from vacation, we had no camera so I have no pictures from in between then and Rock's birthday on the 18th. My apologies. But I can assure you, nothing truly exciting happened.
So again, Rock's birthday began with the greatest thing. At least the greatest thing to him... a blueberry muffin. And candles. And singing Happy Birthday.

Then we came downstairs to where Fix and I had set up birthday banners the night before. Rock was fascinated.

Why? Because the banners were made up of little cards with various car symbols on them. Rock can identify most of the symbols so he sat there saying "Honda, Mercury, Ford, Chevy Corvette, Porsche..." until we reminded him about the whole muffin thing.

Oh so good. Now reader, see if you can identify the trend in the four opening-gifts-pictures that follow.

First Rock opened sheets (for his big boy bed whenever the carpenter finishes making it) from Juju. He didn't know what they were, but he liked that they had cars on them.

A cool card from Mommy and Daddy. It even had construction machine stickers!A superman shirt from Daddy (purchased on Fix's recent trip to Six Flags).

"New" puppets from Mommy and Daddy (thank you Cripe family!). Did you see the theme?

And a "new" puppet theater (again, thank you Cripe family!). After opening gifts, we got ready for the day, took a trip to Target (where the birthday boy got an Elmo coloring book and helped me pick out a shirt for his birthday party), and took a long afternoon nap.

That afternoon, Rock and Fix played a marathon game of "Trucks and Cars."

We ended the night at home where Rock got to watch a MOVIE. Okay so it wasn't really a movie, it was just the live performance of "Human" by the Killers (when they were on SNL). That is Rock's favorite song. The tongue is sticking out 'cause he's concentrating on his dance moves. Happy Birthday baby! We are so blessed to have you as our son!

More Beach Pics

This picture of Aunt Susi shows you three things 1) how cute she is 2) our awesome ocean front property view of the water and 3) a good example of the cloudy, windy weather we experienced for 6/8ths of the trip.

Even with the bad weather, we spent as much time as we could in the pool.

Three generations of Fix men.

The boys also took us outside to lead us around the neighborhood on a few walks. Rock helpfully pointed out the brand of each car we passed.

While Caleb found the other curbside attractions more interesting.

But again, we spent most of our time indoors and each of us spent it a little differently. Rock and Caleb gave us a few harmonica concerts (when they weren't fighting over cars).

Not only are they performers, they are also fans.

Papa John also spent his time performing. Puppets were his medium of choice.

While everyone else was performing, I spent most of my time sleeping and making a baby!

Heather listened in on a conference calls...

While Jason took self-portraits.

And then our camera lens broke AGAIN. Ugh. So you'll just have to guess how Kerry, Joseph and Elizabeth spent their time indoors.