Elkie Zoo!

Yesterday we drove up to Kansas City to have some fun. We told Elkin we were going to go out to eat and going to the Kansas City zoo. He jumped out of bed in the morning and yelled "Elkie Zoo!".

Before we made it to the zoo we stopped at Habachi House at City Market to enjoy some Greek food. He had everyone in the restaurant charmed of course! Here's a funny picture of Elkin enjoying his baklava.



Here's Elkin on Papi's shoulders just outside the zoo - he can't wait to go in!



Elkin ran into the zoo and insisted we take a photo of him on this Elephant statue.



Here's a picture of Papi and Elkin watching the sea lions - they are Mami's favorite!





We had a great time looking at the animals but the highlight of the trip for Elkin was the train ride around the zoo. Here's a cheesy shot of him waiting to get on.



Here he is enjoying the ride...



... and looking really depressed when it was over.



Before we called it a day Elkin and Papi rode the carousel...



and Elkin said goodbye to some new friends.

Happy Easter!

Elkin had a great time on Easter. He woke up the morning and came out to see if the Easter Bunny had came. This is the look on his face when he saw his Easter basket.



He had a great time hunting for eggs in the house. Here's him showing off his basket with eggs.



In the afternoon we went over to Grandma & Grandpa's house and had a nice dinner followed by another Easter Egg Hunt outside. It was cold and a little rainy, but that didn't slow down Elkin. Here is looking for the next egg.



Happy Easter!

Busy Day

We had a great day today!

We woke up early and went to Elkin's soccer game. We don't think he really likes soccer that much - he has no interest in chasing after the ball at least - he might just be a little too young still. So here is a picture of him looking super bored.



But then we had some fun and went to an Easter egg hunt. See Elkin, Mami told you there would be eggs in the grass! :) Elkin didn't get any eggs (lots of kids and few eggs) but a nice older kid gave Elkin a few eggs when it was all over.



Mami loved to see the Easter Bunny and Elkin thought he was just okay. Hey at least no tears :)



After Elkin and Papi had a nap we went to Melvern Lake just to spend some time outside since it was such a nice day. Elkin loved walking on the beach...



and writing his name in the sand.



Mami loves this photo of Elkin running towards her on the beach.



We ended the day with some fun time at the playground. What a fun day!

Coloring Easter Eggs

We colored Easter eggs tonight. Elkin got the hang of it quickly and really enjoyed putting the eggs in the color dye.





After we colored Easter eggs we went to Smoke in the Spring - a barbecue contest and tasting in a small town south of us. We had a great time listening to the band and eating food. Elkin was just in awe of the live music.

On the way home from the festival we were talking about what we are going to do tomorrow, I was trying to explain that we were going to an Easter egg hunt. I told Elkin that there were going to be eggs in the grass he had to grab and put in his basket. Well, he thought this was hilarious. "Eggs in the grass - no Mami!" Which if you think about it, is kind of a strange thing. We'll see how the hunt goes tomorrow!

Yellow Flowers

Today Elkin and Mami picked some "yellow flowers" in the backyard. Elkin had a great time picking them and putting them in both of our hair.

Elkin Counts to 10!

Elkin counted to 10 today! In English as well! The last few weeks he has really been into counting EVERYTHING. A few weeks ago he was going "1, 2, 3, 1" and that lasted quite a while. Yesterday he was counting something in a book and got to six.

I was walking outside with him today and he all on his own started counting the steps. Before I knew he had counted all of them - 10! Of course when Papi came home Elkin had to show him how he can count the steps - and of course we got video of it!

Indoor Soccer

Yesterday (Saturday) was the first day of Elkin's 6-week Indoor Soccer program through local Parks & Rec and he had a blast! Not so great at the actual gameplay part but that wasn't important. He had a LOT of fun!

Before his actual "game" there was some kicking practice. Here's a video of Elkin kicking the soccer ball across the court and then, with a little help, into the goal.



When it was time for the game, he wasn't totally sure what to do. He and another boy his age looked a bit confused. :)

Elkin's Goose Egg

Today was Elkin's second day at preschool. I got a call about half way through that he had been running and fell down. I was told that he had a pretty bad goose egg and was very upset. They said I needed to come immediately and pick him up and take him somewhere to get it checked out. I was of course freaking out but not expecting to see something that looked this bad.



He was very upset when I got there but calmed down pretty quick. This was our first injury so I was pretty much panicking. I picked Papi up at work (the nurse told us to keep ice on his head and I had to drive) and we rushed him to the doctor's office. The doc said that it wasn't anything serious. He may get a black eye as well as it heals. He's in pretty good spirits now and so far still excited about going back to school next week.

Colorado Vacation

Last week we took a long weekend and went to Colorado. We took a break from the long car ride and stopped at Casa Bonita in Denver for lunch. Here's Elkin in front of the fountain near the entrance.



It was such a warm beautiful day that we decided to stop for some hiking in Boulder. It was a very steep and crowded trail and honestly Mami and Papi had a little bit of a time keeping up with Elkin - that kid has some energy!



Papi and Elkin enjoyed another warm day, this time at a playground in Fort Collins.



Finally in the mountains! Here's a picture of Elkin in Rocky Mountain National Park. He had a great time climbing on the rocks and taking in the scenery.



To end our trip we stayed at a very cool cabin for a couple nights in Estes Park. The weather turned very cold but luckily we didn't get snowed in. Here's Elkin on the deck showing off his new hat and Mami's shoes.



Since it was cold we spent a lot of time in front of the fire in our cabin playing games. Turns out Elkin LOVES Jenga and is quite good at it. Here is a very cute video of him having a GREAT time playing "JENGA!"