Trip to Columbia

I survived a trip alone with the boys!!! Yeah me! I don't know why I was worried - Matthew is a pretty easy going guy & nothing much bothers him! The three of us went to Columbia just to visit my parents while Jason was on a recruiting trip to Kirksville. My parents were quite brave to invite us to stay after completing their moving adventure. They basically spend two days loading or unloading incredibly large & heavy furniture into a moving truck or into a storage facility. Yuck! I offered my services (I am ridiculously strong) but they had all the lifting done before we arrived. My mom, the boys, & I enjoyed dinner out at Fuddrucker's last night before heading home to hang out. Today was super-fun, especially for Nicholas. Grandpa taught him the "first steps" to tying his shoes! He was quite excited and proud of himself! Then Grandpa stayed with Matthew while Grandma & I took Nicholas to the neighborhood park. As you can see from the pictures, it is an awesome park! They have TWO SETS of swings, TWO DIFFERENT play areas, a sand pit, TONS of huge tires, and big rocks everywhere! Nicholas had a BLAST! Back at the house, Nicholas & Grandma made "Batman Brownies". It was great fun seeing them, even though it was exceptionally noisy! Their duplex neighbors opening the garage door is annoying and loud, car alarms go off randomly, emergency vehicles speed by regularly, and other people living nearby enjoy talking loudly on their front porch late at night! We CAN'T WAIT for their house on the farm to be finished!!!