Made in the Shade

Summer is off to a great start.  Cael is keeping busy outside between his yard work (he's always mowing or weed-eating) and time spent in his new sandbox.

He's also becoming quite the little fish.  Cael is a big fan of his swimming lessons and we've been enjoying plenty of pool time.

Cael's love of summer also includes a love for summer gear, specifically sunglasses.  The little man has a pair of shades with him at all times whether driving tractors,

 

 

riding in the car,

 



working on projects,

or taking his "motorcycle" out for a ride.

We get a kick out of his love for all types of shades and look forward to more summer fun (with matching sunglasses, of course).

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!

Well, it was actually Saturday in our case, but either way, our family had our first (but probably not last) Monster Jam experience this spring. 

Cael LOVES trucks.  He confidently identifies car transporters, tankers and recycling trucks whenever we're on the road.  He is overjoyed when we pass a construction site where he can see a few of his favorite "constructions."  He also excitedly screams "MONSTER TRUCK" whenever he sees a large pick-up truck and hears its diesel engine rumble (which is very common in this part of the world).

Based on his monster truck enthusiasm we thought he might enjoy seeing the real deal in person.  Monster Jam happened to be coming to Austin so we figured this was a perfect excuse for a road trip.  Now that we live by all of our family, we really don't spend more than an hour in the car with Cael but he was totally up for the adventure, especially since donuts were involved.

Two of Zac's cousins are in Austin so we got to enjoy the afternoon with them and their sweet families.  After a wonderful visit with family we headed off to the Pit Party which was our chance to check out some of the Monster Jam fun before the show.

Cael inspected huge tires,

test-drove the quads,

and got all excited for the fun that was about to start (that is a look of enthusiasm for our slow-to-warm kid).

We found our seats and settled in with Monster Jam necessities ... popcorn and ear protection.

Cael was in awe of the giant trucks, their big noises and their even bigger jumps.

Cael even managed to pick a favorite truck that evening ... Grave Digger.  I love that he picked a legend but hearing my sweet 3 year old talk about "Grave Digger" was a little much.  You can't blame the kid since that's "the green one" and it has glowing red eyes ... very exciting.

Cael had a blast at Monster Jam and all of the fun of the day wore him out.

He must have gotten his ability to sleep anywhere or through anything from his mother (willing and able to sleep through hurricanes or on top of mountains).

The Monster Jam fun came to an end but we all had a great time.  And Cael now has a new sleeping buddy ... Grave Digger, of course!