Happy second birthday Skyler!!!

I can't believe he's two already. Time seems to be stuck in fast forward! I took him down to my former place of employment (John Deere dealership) yesterday so he could see and drive some tractors.

My sister has a nice post for Skyler today too. :)

We pulled into the dealership to find this, a 9460RT tracked tractor.

Skyler really loved the bogie wheels on the tracks.

You can see just how huge this machine is! A few facts, 460 engine horsepower, 46,000 pounds, $350,000.

I took him for a ride in a less expensive (this is around $100,000) tractor.  A 6125R tractor made in Mannheim Germany.  He was quite happy!  I let him steer a little later.

View out the front.  

Part 2.

As promised, here's some more pics of Skyler's 2nd birthday party.

Pre-party.

Go fish!

Note the dog.  "Play?"

Balloon crab.

Rachael and Chris surprised us with a quick visit.

The kids' were consulting about how to fish.

Party beverages.

Skyler's spoils.

Jordy and Bryn playing corn bag toss.  The bags were sewn by Altair and filled with corn from our garden.

The birthday boy sporting his new Hawaiian shirt made by my sister Karen.

Nemo cake wasn't long for this world...

Opening presents.

Thanks to everyone that made it to the party.  We had a great time and it was fun to spend time visiting and enjoying each others company.  :)

Happy, Happy Birthday!

We celebrated Skyler's 2nd birthday at our house yesterday.  He is one lucky and very loved little boy!  I grilled a variety of seafood, Hawaiian beef, and pork Shish Kabobs.  Everyone had a great time including us!  Usually parties seem like so much work at first, but this one was easy.  Skyler got tons of presents, (some not even opened as of today) and he'll probably get a few more this Tuesday on his actual birthday.  A huge thanks to my parents (again) they baked and decorated the Nemo cake and my Dad made the bean bag toss and all the balloon fish.  Thank you Mom and Dad!  It sure makes it easier to raise a kid with you two living so close and helping out as much as you do. :)

The kick-ass cake my parents made!

The kick-ass balloon animals my Dad made!

Balloon octopus!

Bean bag toss my Dad made!

The pool game was a big hit.  It ended up becoming a wading pool instead of a fishing game though.

"C'mon, C'mon Grandpa!"

He wanted Grandpa to go into his new Teepee that Altair's Mom made him.

Opening a present...

Is it?

Could it be?

It is!  Elmo!!  Elmo spent the night last night next to Skyler in bed.

This was what I walked in on at 6:30 last night.  The dog was equally as tired as the boy.

So tired!  We woke him up after about 40 minutes.  He slept real good last night.

I'll have even more photos from the party tomorrow.  Lots of cute pics to share!

A teaser...

This is how awesome Grandpa is! Balloon sea life for Skyler's party today. I'll have a full report with photos tomorrow.

Spring...

May actually be here this time. Eddy cat "testing" the outside temp before deciding it was warm enough to go out.

Like his position?

I was fearing this was going to be a reality here in Utah...

Eatin'!

Skyler loves veggies. He also loves pasta. What better than to combine the two? Ramen noodles (minus the salt laden seasoning) and frozen veggies. He ate nearly all of what you see on his tray. Quite a bit made it overboard too!

"I don't see the problem here."

Another Johnny Cash line, "One piece at a time!"

Somewhat related to Skyler eating, home made Nachos!  These are super easy to make.  Preheat your oven's broiler.  Line a cookie sheet with foil, (I like the non-stick) place your chips in a single layer,  take some taco seasoned ground beef, shredded chicken, or pinto beans and place on your chips.  Sprinkle with shredded cheese, diced tomatoes, pickled jalapeno peppers, Macayo taco sauce, (available in Utah at Smith's Marketplace) and place under the broiler for approx 5 minutes.  Remove when the chips are toasted and cheese is melted.  Place olives and shredded lettuce over the whole ensemble.  Taking a sandwich plastic bag, put sour cream or in our case, Ranch dressing inside the bag.  Cut the corner off of the bag and play cake decorator with the sour cream or Ranch dressing.  Mmm! Mmm!  This is usually a go to when dinner is either too late or I'm too tired to cook a real meal.  Like last night.  I made these for Altair.  After a 15 hour day. With no nap from Skyler. Sigh...

Altair's nachos last night.  I got to spend a whole hour with her yesterday!!  Woo! Hoo!

Riding with the dog.

I fabricated up a sweet bike rack to transport ALL different fork sizes of the various bikes we own for my truck over the weekend. We tried it out Sunday evening. The rack worked flawlessly! We brought Skyler and Maizey along on the bike ride. Maizey dog learned to run along side my bike a few years ago when Altair was going to MBA school in the evenings. She still remembers how, she was just a bit older and a little more out of shape this time. We'll work on that. The plan is she'll come on mountain rides with Altair and me this year.

Watering cans.

This was Sunday afternoon's newest activity. Altair would fill the big watering can and Skyler would use it to fill the small watering can. You can see how pleased he was.

Sunday pancakes.

We have a tradition to have pancakes almost every Sunday at our house. I make them while Altair feeds/entertains Skyler. He loves his pancakes! Almost as much as he loves raspberry syrup!