Ocean City, MD

Hey all! We've been plenty busy lately and I just haven't had time to update. Besides that all of my photos are on my laptop and for some reason the internet connection has decided to cease to work.
Anyway, July 12th we headed to Ocean City, MD for a few days. In prior years Kaiden has been petrified of the beach. He wouldn't even play in the sand. But this year was great! We walked down to the beach and with no coaxing at all he was down in the water and rolling around in the waves. I was completely surprised. He didn't waste any time. When the occasional BIG wave would come up and knock him all around he would get up and run back down ready for more. I was thrilled! In years previous we would go to the beach and end up leaving within the hour because it was just no fun when he wouldn't do anything. Now, he was upset when we left.
He also LOVED the boardwalk with it's numerous treats (that he doesn't normally get to have), and games and rides all of which he LOVES! Needless to say he wasn't much to happy when we had to leave a mere 4 days later! He has already been asking when we are to return to this wondrous of places. He also got to spend a lot of time with his cousins Mikey and Noah which he also enjoyed.
When I tried to take him for his yearly Old Time Photo that he has been getting since he was 11 months old, he outright refused to get the picture taken. I tried to explain that it was just like Halloween. He was even going to get to be a pirate. He very calmly explained that while he enjoyed this wonderful holiday with its candies and dressing up, he DID NOT want to dress up no. Oh well, I'm not paying all that money for a forced, crying photo, so I guess that tradition is atleast skipping one year.
I'll be sure to upload some pics as soon as my computer and internet decide to work together as a team!

Mario Kart!!!!

When we got Mario Kart we were pretty excited. We've had the other versions from the original Nintendo to Super Nintendo to N64 to Gamecube. So it was no surprise that when it came out on the Wii we (ha ha, I said wee wee!) had to get it. At first Jon and I just played it and Kaiden would get really excited and beg us to play....A LOT!
Then one day, Jon had an idea! Kaiden was so good at driving his gator in the yard, why not let him try Mario Kart. So he did....and that was the last day we have NOT heard the words Mario Kart come out of our son's mouth. He asks to play pretty much every day and at first would freak out if we said no.
He's actually pretty good....he makes 2 laps for every 3 we do and sometimes even gets to the final lap. He actually finished a race and beat someone once when we played online. He gets so excited when he gets to use the special things that are associated with the game especially the bullet.
Here is a pic of him playing Mario Kart with Daddy:

Mini Golf

We took Kaiden mini golfing for the 1st time last night. He wasn't sure what we were talking about when we told him what we were going to do but it didn't take long for him to start putting on his own. Every hole the ball atleast stayed on the green which, I think, is quite an accomplishment for a 3 year old! And according to him, he won. I guess he goes by whoever gets the highest score!

Fireworks!!!

Kaiden had his 1st up close and personal fireworks experience. Our neighbor had purchased some very nice, very loud, and very illegal fireworks to set off for the 4th. We were excited because Kaiden had never really even seen fireworks, i mean beside sparklers! And we thought we don't even have to go anywhere!
The fireworks started and Kaiden immediately wanted to go in. I, personally, LOVE fireworks and wanted to see them. We had some friends over and Melissa suggested holding on to his ears. (Why didn't I think of that?) Well, I did and he calmed down and started laughing and smiling. At times, I would take my hands off to clap and Kaiden would clap the fastest I've ever seen anyone clap and then put my hands back on his ears.
He did end up loving them though! You do what you gotta do!

Soccer Class

So Kaiden has been waking up everyday for the last month asking to go to a soccer class. I wasn't sure what exactly was offered for his age so I told him I would look into it. When he would ask I would say, "Let's go out in the yard and play soccer!" Well, silly me, that wasn't good enough. He simply responded, "NO, Mommy soccer CLASS!"
Well, a friend of mine takes her son to the rec center. They have a class there for 3-5 year olds. So I signed him up and last night was his first class. Needless to say he had an absolutely wonderful time. It's was the first class of the season so only 3 kids showed up (apparently there are usually 20-30)
Me being the controlling mom was upset cause they couldn't really play and Kaiden was getting left out due to the fact he was the youngest. So Jon went out to play with him and he was informed that he needed to go back to the bench cause Kaiden wanted to do it "All himself." He dribbled down the field and kicked into the goal about a 100 times and would've have gone longer except for the class was only an hour.
Well, Kaiden had a great time and he wouldn't have cared if they ignored him the whole time, which they didn't. When it was time to
go he was very upset and asking to come back another day. I guess we will be going every week! I'll be sure to take some pics next time and post!