Catching Up

Hi Everyone! I figured I'd come and catch up a bit. As most of you know we will be stationed in Hawaii at the end of the year. We are so very excited about this! What an adventure. And, as all of you know, everyone is welcome to visit. We don't really have any detail besides we know that is where we'll end up. As soon as we get more details we'll let you all know. We don't have exact dates or anything and won't for a few months.

As far as the job hunt goes, well...not so much luck and that's OK. I've decided to stick with Pampered Chef for now which is actually going really well now that I've put some solid effort into it. It will be so nice to be able to enjoy the summer with Carson. We've already been able to get out to both the Minnesota Zoo and Como Zoo recently (Como twice) and to the park and just generally getting out and enjoying things. It's such a change from working 40 hours a week and having to try an cram in quality time.

I have my Turbo Kick certification on 5/16. I have already taken and passed two YMCA certification classes and the Red Cross CPR so I'm well on my way. It's very exciting. I'm thinking teaching exercise will be the greatest job in Hawaii. Seeing as how I won't have to work full time and it will be a great way to keep in shape while still being able to get out once in a while.

Carson is getting so big. It's amazing how his vocabulary is just growing and growing. He's getting excellent at stalling and manipulating but what 2 year old isn't an expert at those things? And on Monday he had his first complete embarrassing meltdown/temper tantrum at the mall. Complete with him laying face down on the floor and crying. It was a first and I'm sure not a last! At this point he's still easily distracted from the temper tantrum. If you ask him to help you with something generally he will get excited about that and switch focus from whatever he was crying about to helping you with something. It can be as simple as "Hey Carson, can you help me find X at the store?" and he'll perk right up and say "Yeah, Sure!" it's pretty cute.

My favorite "Carson-isms" right now:

If you ask him to do something he will say "Yeah, Sure!"

If he asks a question and you give him an answer he'll go "Oh, Right."

If he asks to do something and you say, "No, we're not going to do that right now" he'll go "Awwwwww" in the most cliche whiney voice and inflection possible. It's perfect and I have no idea where he picked it up.

He says "Hello" and talks to EVERYONE in stores, walking by on the sidewalk, at restaurants, everywhere. And usually he won't stop talking to them until they respond. It's funny

I'll leave you guys with a few recent pictures and videos and I'll be back soon!

Riding his bike in the driveway, I can't believe how much better he is this year compared to last year!

Not sure you need any caption for this one :)

Playing Soccer in the yard, makes me appreciate how much it's greened up since this picture!

From our last trip to Como, he was crabby and this was literally the only picture he would even look at me for. Ugh, I was hoping to get a picture of us in this spot. The cat building has the BEST lighting ever! I love it! Ah well, I'm sure there will be more zoo trips this summer!

Zoo Fun

Since it was such a nice day out today we decided to venture out to the Como Zoo. It was Kate, Lydia, Dave, Carson and me. It was way busier there than I thought it would be. I originally was going to bring Carson on a week day but Kate and Dave wanted to go too. I think it will be better when you don't have to go into buildings for everything. The only animals that were really outside were the big gorillas and a couple large cats and reindeer. Otherwise everything was inside and the polar bear exhibit was under construction. That was one of my favorites as a kid!Carson was really excited about seeing animals but only if you were holding him. He was terrified in the primate exhibit when the monkeys would walk past the glass. It was pretty cute to watch him try and figure out what the heck was going on. 

We're on our 3rd night of no pacifier. I think it was harder for me to give it up than it was for him. We just cut the tip and told him it was broken and that was that. It has taken him a little longer each night to fall asleep but other than that not a big deal at all. Again, I think it was a bigger deal for me. My baby is all grown up now. But I am glad that we can be rid of that.  I worry that it will be bad on his teeth. 

I'm considering becoming a certified instructor in Turbo Kick. I spoke with an instructor at the YMCA last week and she wants me to come to an early class on Tuesday morning and meet with the Area Promotions Director for Turbo Kick and is also in charge of Group Fitness Product Development for the Greater Twin Cities YMCA. I'm a little nervous to meet him but am excited about the thought of teaching the class in the future. It's one of my favorites! The certification is in May so that will give me some time to ask questions and get a feel for if this will be something I can do. 

Carson slept for about 20 minutes in the car today and that was all the nap he had. As soon as we got home he was up and at it and ready to play again. Dave and I were exhausted! YMCA and then straight to the zoo was exhausting!! Here are a few pictures from the zoo today!