Meg, Brad and Brady: 2011

Brady's First Track Race - 200 meters

Brady ran his first track race this evening. His age group was 4-5 year old and he was very excited to be participating. They ran 200 meters and unfortunately he came in 2nd. He was a little disappointed, but we told him he just has to keep practicing. It was a good experience for him.

Coming down the straight away. The boy on the right beat him out, but Brady did great!

Looking good crossing the finish line

The other kids in his heat. There were 2 separate heats for the age group.

Brady wanted to practice right away so Brad took him over and set up some drills for him to do.

Swim Lessons

I signed Brady up for a 2 week swim lesson session. We went Monday - Thursday from 6:15-6:45 for 2 weeks. Of course it was outside and right in the middle of the 100 degree plus heat wave so quite miserable for the spectators, but Brady had a good time staying cool in the water. His biggest complaint was not being able to wear his goggles. He definitely improved over the 2 weeks and is getting more and more comfortable in the water. We will continue to work at it over the next month before the pools close.

On the last day they brought in inflatables and got to have a ride

His class consisted of all girls, but he did not seems to mind

Coke and Mentos Experiment

Grandpa Wes, Grandma Cheryl and Aunt Steph made a trip to KC last weekend. Regardless of the extreme heat we had a great visit. One of our activities included an experiment that Wes and Cheryl heard about. It involves Coke and Mint Mentos. If you put the Mentos in the coke the coke will shoot out of the bottle. Here is the preparation of the experiment. It all happened so fast that both Cheryl and I missed the actual explosion. Later we learned that Diet Coke actually works better and found some different techniques to a successful explosion on YouTube. We will have to try it out again.

Birthday Dance Party

Brad turned 31 on July 20th. My mom was in town and we had Lori and Meredith over for some dinner and funfetti cupcakes. After dinner we had a freeze dance party :)

4th of July

On the morning of the 4th we headed out the annual Lenexa 4th of July Parade. We had lots of company including Lori, Meredith and Roxie, the Friels, the Newlins, the Gertsemas and the Bohrs.

Meredith and Brady waiting for parade to begin.

Brad and Brady playing and wasting some time

Meredith smiles big with her cute pig tails

Meredith let Brady try out her Scooter

Brady is definitely ready for his little sister to arrive. He loves to hold Max.

Kate gets a better view from her daddy's shoulders

The night of the 4th we went to Johnson County Community College to watch the Cooperate Woods fireworks. Brady caught some fireflies while we were waiting for the show.

More Baseball

Brady continued to enjoy being on his baseball team and definitely made some improvements throughout the season.

He quickly learned that one of his favorite things to do was slide into home plate

Brady finally got a chance at the catcher position. He did great and looked quite professional in his gear.

La Petite Graduation

Brady graduated from Pre-school at La Petite (sniff sniff) back in June. I can not believe it is already time for kindergarten. I blame my prego hormones for being THAT mom who got a little emotional. He is ready and excited for big kid school. We are so proud of him!

Walking in with his cap and gown

Standing with his class. Miss Alyssa did a great job getting them ready for their day and they put on a great performance.

Brady receives his diploma. We learned that he wants to be a fireman when he grows up :)

2nd Annual Memorial Day Weekend Trip to the Lake with the Friels

The Friels invited us back to the lake over Memorial Weekend. This is our second year of bringing the kids with us. This year I was the pregnant one. We had a good time out on the boat and just hanging out as usual.

Brady loves Max. He always wants to hold him and play with him (despite the look on his face).

Brad getting some baby holding practice too!

Posing on the boat

Kara and her beautiful children

Max taking a nap

Trip to Michigan

We took a trip up to Michigan for a long weekend back in May. Wes and Cheryl's building trades class was still in session so we stopped by to check out the house their class was building. It was cement day! Brady got to see the cement truck pour the concrete and help spread and smooth out the sidewalk and walkway. We only had one mishap :) Brady turned and walked through some freshly smooth concrete. We got him hosed off and went and bought some new shoes! It was quite funny and unfortunately happened so fast that I did not get any pictures.

Brady watching on as the truck pours the concrete

Wes gave Brady a hard hat to take home with him

Wes at work teaching the kids the proper technique

And giving instructions

Brady's turn! Grandpa Wes was a great teacher.

Brady did a great job getting it nice and smooth. This is right before we had our episode of walking through it.

Daddy helps out too

and shows Brady the importance of cleaning the tools when the job is complete

After our big day on the job site we headed out to Sturgis High School to watch the regional track meet. This is where Steph and Brad spent A LOT of time training and competing for the successes they accomplished in the Pole Vault event.

Brady clearly had a big day and did not make it through dinner. He fall asleep in the chair before his food even arrived.

The next day we all headed back out to the track to do some pole vaulting of our own. Brad was able to find Brady a cross bar to use as a pole. Steph and Brad both showed off some of their skills as well.