While Colin was napping, Erin and I ran down to the subdivision’s pond which, due to the sub-freezing temperature we’ve had, was nicely iced over.  It gets cold in STL, but rarely does it get cold enough for long enough for us to walk out on the pond.  Pretty cool.  A couple of the neighborhood boys were cleaning off a section for hockey.  On our last run, though, we hit a small rock which did a number on my gluteus. I’m sure I’ll have a nice sized bruise in the morning. A couple pics after the jump…

I’m a little behind in getting the blog updated. Here are a few pics from Christmas morning…

Again, another belated entry in the blog. This was our first trip to Grandma P’s house since Colin joined us. We’re not really conducive to road tripping, but we had a good time with Grandma, Uncle Steve, Aunt Tara and the cousins. Pics after the jump…

Here are some pics from Halloween 2009. Colin is sporting the famous hand-me-down pumpkin and Erin is wearing the Princess Aurora costume that Grandma P bought her. More pics after the jump…

It’s been since the Fall of 2007 that we’ve taken a vacation so we thought we’d brave the 12 hour drive and head down to the Florida pan handle (Fort Walton Beach).  Erin had been wanting to go to “the beach” for months, even though I don’t think she actually knew what “the beach” was.  I think she may have heard her friends talking about it.  We kept the vacation a secret from her until a couple days before we left.  When we told here we were going to the beach I think she just about stroked out.  The drive was long, but worth it.  That was the first time we had even visited the Destin area.  The beach was fantastic.  We were a little worried about the weather, but had some of the best weather that area had experienced in quite a while.  We had fun, but as most parents of little ones know, these vacations are never very “restful.”  More pics after the jump…

Following in his sister’s footsteps, Colin had to have tubes inserted into his ear canal in order to drain fluid that had built up near his eardrum. He hasn’t had as many ear infections as his sister did at his age, but we were concerned that the fluid that was there may cause problems with his hearing and thus issuses with his speech. The proceedure is quick (10-15 minutes). Once the anesthesia wore off, he was a little inconsolable, but that only lasted about 30 minutes. He’s now back to his normal self. The worse part of the whole thing was that we had to be at the hospital at 5am for the 7am surgery.

The four of us met up with Kerry’s sis and her friend Dawn for the Children’s Hospital’s Make Tracks for the Zoo 5K. This was our second 5K of the season. Erin participated in the 1/4 mile children’s race. I was impressed as she ran it full steam for the entire distance. Colin laid back, snackin’ on some Cheerios. More pics after the jump…

Erin had her fourth birthday and first “real” birthday party with invited friends. Of course, we had to blow it out-the-block. Grandma P, Aunt Tara and Cousins Caleb and Abby made the trek from Indy for the festivities. Pics after the jump…