Matthew loves Hockey

Tonight we celebrated my niece's 17th birthday.  (Am I old enough to have a 17 ear old niece?)  Anyway, Matthew got to play street hockey in the driveway with his cousin Austin and his friends, and you would think the kid died and went to heaven.  He had a permanent smile plastered on his face.  Matthew loves to watch hockey, loves playing hockey, and loves playing with the big boys.  This was a dream come true for him.

When it came time for dinner and we called him in from outside he yelled back, "I never need to eat again!" 

When it came time to go, he said, "Mommy I want to stay here forever!"  I told him that we would miss him so much at home and he says, "You can view pictures of us online."  Geez, kid, thanks a lot!

When we finally got him in the car, he cried big tears for the entire 20 minute ride home, saying that he missed his cousin (i.e. hockey) and wanted to stay there forever.  It was 9 o'clock at night and well past his bedtime, which certainly was a factor.  And, of course Andrew didn't help matters by playing old-school George Strait in the car - a song about losing your friend.  I told Andrew he was torturing the poor kid - kind of like when you break up with a boyfriend and force yourself to listen to "love songs after dark."  

As he was drifting off to sleep he said, "Mommy I want to invite Austin to my birthday and play hockey in the driveway."  Sure buddy, we'll see what we can do...What can I say?  The kid loves hockey.

  

The kid can eat...

The Welsh kids have always had a good appetite.  From day one, they came out hungry, and have continued to eat and grow much faster than average kids.  People asked me how I lost the baby weight, and my only response is, "breastfeeding."  Both kids drank up to about 40 oz per day at their peak, and boy does that take a lot of mommy's calories to make.

Matthew at times can out-eat any adult.  It often surprises me because I can't quite believe that his tummy cannot possibly hold all of the food that he can put into it.  Tonight was no exception.

We have developed a wonderful weekly tradition.  Every Saturday evening the kids have swimming lessons.  Afterward we go to Chili's for dinner.  Mommy gets her delicious Blue Pacific Margarita and Daddy gets his tall Guinness.  Tonight Matthew ate enough to impress even a professional sport eating champion.  He ate an entire kids pizza (which would have been a challenge for any adult to finish off), and his corn on the cob.  Then he finished off Kayla's corn dog.  Then he proceeded to eat about 20 of my french fries, and about a quarter of my Oldtimer (hamburger) with Cheese.  He then further shocked me by deciding to eat the remaining partial tomato slice on my plate and a handful of shredded lettuce bits.  This was all washed down by a smoothie and some of Kayla's chocolate shake.  Good Lord!  I don't know how he does it.  

The best part was at the end of the meal when I said, "Wow Matthew, you must have been really  hungry."  And he replied, "Yeah, I really Hoover-ed that up."  Where do they get that stuff?

A quick update...

So here's a short update on the Welsh Family.

Mother's Day was filled with lots of activities. We went out to breakfast in the morning with my folks, and then washed both of our cars, planted tomatoes, and went to a fun barbeque at my sister's house (complete with swimming). It was a great day, although not what most would call relaxing. But hanging out with the kids, and my family is something I don't get to do during the week as much as I would like. So, it was just the perfect way for me to spend the day. Andrew and the kids got me two bottles of my favorite 'sanity juice' (a.k.a wine). Yummy.

Gearing up for our family trip in mid-June - a cruise to the Caribbean! We were originally booked on a cruise to Mexico, but with the recent H1N1 (swine) flu scare the cruise line made a change to the itinerary. They gave us the choice to either get our money back, or cruise the revised itinerary: LA --> San Francisco --> Seattle -->Vancouver. Although much of the fun of being on a cruise is being on the ship itself, those destinations just didn't cut the mustard for us. We booked on another ship. It's huge, and has an ice skating rink and a rock climbing wall, and a kids water play area, and much much more. I cannot wait!

I have so many fond memories of going on cruises as a kid, and I'm so excited to share those fun times with our kids. There will be 22 of us going, including my Aunt Carol and my Grandmother. Matthew is most excited about the fact that we are going where pirates used to hang out. We are leaving out of Cape Canaveral, so that means we also get to take a tour of Kennedy Space Center, which is a big highlight for me (Ms. Space Junkie).

Speaking of space...Andrew and I saw Star Trek last weekend, and loved it of course. But, I walked away with quite the little crush on the new Captain Kirk. He is one tasty piece of eye candy - yummy!

Other Pics from the OBX

Here are some shots from our side trip to the USS Wisconsin in Norfolk, VA.  Talk about some big guns!

I call this one my calendar shot.  It was taken of the Whalehead Club historical house in Corolla, NC.

Here is a shot of Matthew at Jockey Ridge State Park.  It is the largest natural sand dune on the east coast.  Basically, a giant sandbox with hills you can roll or even sled down, and great wind for kite flying.  It was one of the highlights of the trip.

OBX 2009

I just realized how long it's been since my last post.  We got back from our wonderful vacation to the Outer Banks on April 19th and suddenly it's May 8th.  Where does the time go?

First things first...our vacation!  What a fun time that was.  We traveled all the way across the country to spend a week with our dear friends and all of our kids in a beautiful beachfront house in Southern Shores, NC.  The weather could have been a few degrees warmer, but the company more than made up for it.  We spent our days touring the area, and our nights (after all the kids went to bed) laughing like crazy.  It was a great trip, and I can't wait until the next time we are all together again.  Here is a video of the adults playing the Olympics on the Wii one night, and looking very silly.  It's a swimming race...alcohol may have been a factor.

Here is a shot of the house we stayed at.