March Dates

For our March date, Edison and I left the rest of the boys at home to eat leftovers and we headed out to dinner. He was so cute just chatting my ear off and eating his dinner. Then we went to the store to get a few things for his birthday party.

It was a pretty awesome date. I even got a goodnight kiss.

Alex always wants to watch movies so Sam took him to see Mr. Peabody and Sherman.

Then they got frozen yogurt.

Alex lounges like he owns the place.

These dates have helped improve the boys' behavior. They have strengthened our relationships with each other and I am so glad we get these little dates with our boys each month.

The ARC

 The Williston Area Recreation Center (ARC) is open! It is a $76 million facility that has been a huge blessing to the area. I took the boys to the opening ceremony and ribbon cutting. I thought it would be quick but it was not. It lasted more than an hour and everyone and their dog spoke. There were a lot of comparison's to Noah's Ark and they also said a prayer. I love that about North Dakota.

The boys ran around on the tennis courts to keep themselves entertained until they let us into the rest of the ARC.

When they finally opened the doors, we entered the most gigantic building. It was free and open to everyone for the first weekend. We spent a couple of hours wandering around and it seemed to keep going and going. We checked out the cardio and weight rooms and just those areas are bigger than most gyms.

The boys were so excited about the turf.

I got interviewed by a news station and one of Sam's coworkers said he saw me on TV but I was never able to find a clip of it online.

We went back the next day and took the boys swimming. We got there right when the pool opened and so it was not busy at all. The pool area is pretty amazing. A water park with a kid section, water slides, hot tub, wave simulator, and lazy river. Then there is a 50 meter pool and a separate pool for lessons.

 

The Olympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky's grandparents are from Williston and so she did the inaugural swim in the 50 meter pool. I walked about a foot away from her as I was going to my seat but I didn't have my camera ready. Declan and I watched her do the first swim.

Swim, fishy.

We got changed out of our suits and then ran around the track a few times. Alex loves running with Sam.

We decided not to get a membership right now because it is almost summer and we want to play outside! It is a really nice facility but still cannot compete with playing in the sunshine. We plan to get a membership in the late fall.

WTD Bowling

My very first Williston Toddler Days activity ever was the bowling activity last year. Since then, I joined the committee, the group has drastically changed membership requirements, and now I am taking over the group entirely. It has been a fun ride and I am glad I can contribute to the Williston community in this way. We all love WTD and it has changed my outlook on this little boomtown.

Edison won in the last frame and celebrated in the usual way: by rubbing it in Alex's face.

Edison's Birthday in Minot

Our birthday celebrations have become a bit formulaic. Go to Minot, lunch, movie, shopping, etc. The boys love it though. They look forward to it, so we couldn't let them down. We loaded up the car and headed to Minot to celebrate Edison's birthday.

Poor Declan always gets cut out of these car pictures because he is still rear-facing.

We went to Target and Alex picked out a toy for Edison. Edison was very opinionated about what toy Alex was picking.

We went to lunch at Ebeneezer's. I wised up and ordered a plate of Irish fries and nothing else. Amazing.

We went to see The Muppets. We were the only ones in the theater so Declan got to climb around and we did not have to worry about him bothering people. The movie was lame and I almost fell asleep.

After the movie, we walked down to the water park. Last time we went to this water park, I was 37 weeks pregnant with Declan. It was fun to be able to go down the slides this time. I tried taking both Alex and Edison down on my lap at the same time and it was terrifying. The force of their bodies against mine made it so I couldn't sit up and then we started going really fast. After that I only took one kid at a time.

Declan was really whiny in the water at first but then started splashing. This totally changed his opinion of water. He now loves baths and everything to do with water. I am so glad.

We bought the hour pass but they let us stay for an hour and 40 minutes. It was plenty of time and we played hard the whole time.

Edison ran around pushing buttons on all of the arcade games outside of the water park.

Edison wanted pizza for dinner so that is what he got. After dinner, we drove back to Williston.

It was a fun birthday. We love our trips to Minot and we love our little three-year-old.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Edison!

Is it bad to describe a boy as sassy? I cannot think of a better word to describe Edison. He is so full of attitude. Being a parent to Edison is like being a first-time parent. Sometimes I stare at him completely baffled because we are so different and I have no idea what to do with him. Other times I am surprised at how well I understand him because he is too much like me. He does not listen to anything I have to say which makes me think I have a long 15 years ahead of me. If he stays so cuddly and forgiving then I think I will be able to handle it.

Edison's Blue Ombré Party

Blue is Edison's favorite color so I planned a blue party for his third birthday. I got the idea from my sister who threw a purple party for her son since it is his favorite color. I didn't want to worry about getting all the same shade of blue so I decided it would be a blue ombré theme. That way things didn't have to match and I could say it was on purpose!

I spent way too much time on this cake but I am proud of it.

I made a matching game using the leftover paper scraps from the popcorn cones.

We played Pin the Blue on the Rainbow.

All of the kids remembered to wear blue and they were so cute!

Edison was very excited about all of the gifts.

Declan was happy with the leftover wrapping paper.

We did a prize walk and the kids got to pick a glow bracelet/necklace/whatever once their number was picked.

The aftermath.

My three-year-old and me.

Each family got a book and a treat as a party favor.

Edison got this cool medical kit. He loves listening to the heartbeat of everything.

When I finally took down the poof balls the boys had a fabulous time.

Edison got a cute card from his Neil great-grandparents. It had money in it but he only cared about the dog with the soccer ball.