First Trip to the Park!

After school and ice cream, Mom and Dad took us to our favorite park.

I loved every minute of it.

While Cole was off chasing the big kids around, I was going up and down the slide time and time again.

The best part was how my baby hair stood up from the static.

I also spent time talking to the ladies - of course!

Mom got a great shot of Dad and Cole watching the turtles in the pond.

What a great first trip and the first time I got to walk around the park.

Videos

The Momparazzi dusted off the videocamera this week.

Here's a glimpse into life at our house.

We are currently re-enacting every scene from Cars 2. 

B is very big into Monster Trucks and loves to drive them around making the noises.

Cole is very much into snowmen.  This is Harold, our newest family member.

Watch through the end to see B's other new favorite pasttime - rough housing!

And of course, we still open Club Vandy every evening when Mom finishes work.

We all love to get down - but the highlight is always Dad's funny moves :)

Tyler

One last shout out to our new friend Tyler. 
Mom asked for our very own Elf from Santa and he came!
Each night he goes home to the North Pole to tell Santa
how good we were and each morning we have to find his new spot.

Our Elf is named Tyler and he is EXCEPTIONAL.  Can you believe
he found us at Grandma's house?!  Then he was already home waiting for
us when we got back.  That's a pretty good elf if you ask us.

Birthday Treats

Baba and Didi got lost en route to my birthday party.  I wasn't upset though
because I got to see them one on one instead!

We had a fantastic time laughing and snuggling and singing.

They brought Cole the COOLEST little scooter bike (pictures to follow)
and they brought presents for me too!  I gave them pictures in return.
Cole gave them some Christmas cookies and an original portrait of each of them.
It sure was nice to see you both. 
We love you!

Finish With a Bang

I was certainly not done partying after my first birthday bash.  I had one more stop and reason to celebrate - Papa and Nana's house!  I am thankful for them too.  Cole and I had a blast fighting bobey and 'sploring.

Thanks for an awesome meal and a much needed nap for Dad before we hit the road back home.
Love you Papa and Nana!

Split Second Spoilers

Look who stopped in for an afternoon of cuddles, silly pumpkins and noisy toys?! 
Papa and Nana have speed spoiling down to an art :)
So nice to see you both.  What a treat.

Wedding Bells

After a full day of play, I was starting to think about a bath and bed.  I was a little surprised when Mom plopped me in the sink right after dinner, but as is my nature, I just went right along with it.

Then Cole joined me and it was GAME ON!

Mom and Dad wrestled us into some really weird clothes and shipped us off just when I was getting excited about bedtime.  I was a little annoyed until I realized we were going to a party for Aunty Heaven! 
Cole was happy to see her looking like a princess, but pretty bummed when he found out she was officially off the market.  Lucky Rob!

Cole was a champ throughout the ceremony.  I was really busy flirting with the pretty girls behind me and had to be escorted out.  I think Dad was worried about their dates getting jealous because I was really a big hit.  I hear weddings are a great place to meet people, I guess I just need to be more strategic and flirt only with the ladies who are there with no date.

Guess who was the first man on the dance floor.  It was pretty hard to get this kid OFF the dance floor actually.

And guess who sat and ate the entire reception.

I'm not sure who this lady is.  She bears a vague resemblance to Mom, but there's no way it's her.  Where's the ponytail and dirty sweatpants?  What's that on her face and how come she doesn't smell like my barf?  I'm telling Mom about Dad's pretty girlfriend just as soon as I figure out how to speak.  I can't believe Cole didn't bust him!

I may be a flirt, but my big bro is a world class ladies man!  He gave Aunty Heaven a LOT of smooches and hugs and asked if she could please come and stay the night at our house.  I was sure she'd say yes, but shockingly she decided to hang out with that Rob guy instead.  We are officially second best.  Lucky dude.  Lucky dude.

Congratulations Aunty Heaven!  You are the most beautiful bride and we're so happy you're happy.  We love you!

Godparents!

We got a special treat on Sunday.  Uncle Rick and Aunty Marianne stopped in!  Cole had big plans to scare Uncle Rick and even spun a web for him to get trapped in when he walked in the front door.  Ha!

I took a much more direct approach and just drooled all over him.

Cole got to go in Uncle Rick's Jeep!  They sure do know how to spoil a kid.

TJ was a huge hit in her new "doggles"

I was a little sad when Cole told us he was going to live at the Carl residence.  Fortunately, Uncle Rick says "No Live Ins!  Only Visitors!"  Whew.  That was a close one.
Thanks for an awesome morning Uncle Rick and Aunty Marianne.  We love you!

Team Vandy

Mom came home very late Friday night.  When we woke up Saturday morning, we all had cool stuff to show off.  Mom had two scraped up knees and a front page picture in the Colorado Springs Gazette, B had a new tooth and Cole mastered a new big brother move!

Look at what a great team we make!  Go Team Vandy!

Love

This post is dedicated to love.  First, a shout out to Papa and Mama Vandy who have officially been hitched for 5 years today.  All that love has built an incredible family and a wonderful life.
Second, in honor of this milestone, B and I got to spend the evening with someone else who loves US to bits and pieces - Grandma!  She hung out with us while Mom and Dad went on a date.  Lucky us, eh?

Grandma was impressed with B's motor skills.  She worked hard with me on the little walker she gave, so it was only natural to put the little man on it straight away.  He loves it! 

We got to spend the day shopping with Grandma on Saturday for Back to School stuff.  B is getting slightly jealous that he doesn't get to go, but he'll be there soon enough.  Speaking of jealous, that little man has his first cold and will NOT let Mom out of his reach lately.  He gets really mad when anyone or anything gets in between he and Mom snuggles.  Yeesh Kid!

Happy Birthday Mama Vandy

Here in Vandyville, we really know how to treat our Mom right.  Since today is her birthday, we let her sleep in and have been really good boys ALL week.  We gave her the exact gift she asked for, and even threw in a singing Spongebob Squarepants birthday card for her listening pleasure.  Even though she's pretty old, she's still our #1 girl and we make sure knows how much we love her everyday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FROM YOUR TWO BEST GIFTS EVER MOM!

As a bonus, Cole accompanied Mom on her run today.  You never know when these old ladies might break a hip or something...

Do They Dare?

Daddy finally put the birdhouse Baba made for him up.
We are hoping there are some kamikaze birds around who might be interested in nesting on Ft. Vandy so we can PLAY with them!  C'mon birdies, we dare you to move on in!

Vandy's Law

Because Dad has become a regular "domestic diety," Mom came home to a spotless house, stocked fridge and two very clean, healthy, well fed and happy little boys last night.  You'd think she'd be thrilled, right?  Nope...  we could tell she was feeling slightly threatened and a little unneeded after three weeks away.  So, we made a pact with Daddy and scrapped the perfect schedule he had rolling to enact "Vandy's Law," which states that whenever things get too smooth around here, all offspring shall do whatever it takes to keep parents on their toes.  Here's how it played out:   Cole stayed up til 10:30 and bawled everytime Mom left his sight (including when she closed the bathroom door) last night.  Bryce went to bed at 6, but took his shift at 2am when he woke up ready to party.  He even upped his game by pooping ALL the way up to his shoulders at 6am.  NICE WORK!
Then, Bryce totally blew it out of the water by napping for only 1 hour today.  What a rockstar.  Here he is telling Mom that's what she gets for leaving us for 3 weeks in a row. 

Don't think Cole didn't do his part...  He slept in until 8am, then would only eat every OTHER bite of a banana and bacon that had been smached to smitherines by Hulk for breakfast.  Then he put every toy he owned into 5 boxes and presented them to Mom as a gift.  If you know the Momparazzi, she likes things sorted and in their right place...  What a great project for her to go back through and sort all that out!
As an added bonus, today was Air Show day.  Those fighter planes were cruising over our house ALL day.  Cole took it all in stride.  Here he is pretending to be a plane.

Bryce was NOT a fan. 
Finally, after 30 oz of formula, 3 slide burns, two scraped legs, 16 hours of laundry, and about 5 failed attempts to settle Bryce in for a nap, we both passed out at 5:30 pm.
So...  we DO need ya Mom!  Who on earth would sit around missing us and typing about us after a day like today?

Best Buds

We sure did have a great time at Grandma's house while Mom and Dad were on vacation last week.  We are well rested and really happy to be home playing together.  And Bryce is laughing up a storm!

The Momparazzi is traveling quite a bit this month, so we're also enjoying a break from the non-stop picture taking.

Look Who Hopped on Down for Easter Fun!

Today Grandma and Bugga drove all the way down to take all of us kids out for lunch and to the movie "Hop."  Bryce got stuck walking around shopping with Mom for 2 hours so we big kids let him have extra Grandma snuggle time to make up for it.

Look how grown up my cousin Oli is looking.

Bugga snapped a rare shot of Mom and us boys. 

Grandma brought Easter gifts for all of us.  I got PUNISHER!  Aunty Heather and Uncle Gavin also gave me two bad guys.  What a score!

And... as I like to do, I tested to be sure Bugga was still on his toes. 
Nobody is safe when I'm around.

Happy Easter Grandma and Bugga! 
We sure do love you.

Little Flirt!

Lately our house has been FULL of pretty girls.  We got to see the lovely Opperman ladies last weekend, then Julie and the girls on Saturday, then Aunty Devan on Sunday!  Since we Vandygriff boys are pretty partial to the ladies, we have been LOVING this trend.  Here we are cuddling up close to our gorgeous Aunty Devan.

Bryce was absolutely shameless making faces and smiling so big we thought his face might break.  Okay, I was a little shameless doing moves and showing off for 2 hrs. straight myself.  We can't help it!  We're suckers for a pretty girl.
Thanks so much for spending the afternoon with us and for all the cool presents Aunty Devan!  We love you.

We Love Kurt Daddy

We haven't had a shout out to the big man around here in awhile and man is he overdue.  Not only does our Daddy take excellent care of our family finances, home, automobiles and other "manly" areas of expertise, he spends Tuesday-Friday with Cole and I.  We are truly the luckiest boys around.  Daddy takes us to soccer, to school, to the park, outside to play, to the doctor and ANYWHERE else we need/want to go.  He plays with us, feeds us, gives us baths, dresses us, hugs us when we're sad and roughs us up when we need a good wrestle.  Then when we finally go to sleep at night, Daddy fires up the computer and studies for his tests so he can make more money and be an even smarter Dad.  You might be thinking "wow, I bet he really enjoys the weekends when he can rest."  Nope, not our Daddy!  On his weekends, he's off to work 12 hr. days.  

Thank you for being a Superstar Dad.  We sure do love you and we miss you when you're gone!
Love, your two little mini mes.