Wonderland

I have a strong feeling that most of your blog readers have noticed that I am becoming a non-poster. I seem to have zero time to post about Thomas and all the things we've been up to lately- sorry.
Just to give some of you an update, we will be heading up north to Colorado to visit my family and get some snow. Thomas has been thrilled about all the things Santa might bring and I'll be sure to take many videos and pictures of the trip (promise)!
While we're waiting for Christmas to arrive, please enjoy the below video from Thomas' school performance. He's the one wit the ASU hat, he's also the most handsome guy in the video!

Green Light Go

Thomas was playing with some cars and didn't notice that I pulled my phone out. I thought it funny to show you how into his cars he can get.
Click HERE or copy and paste the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eNbI3-r9qY&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Costumes and Football

These past few weeks have been a lot of fun. Here are a couple videos of what we've been up to. This first is Thomas in his Halloween costume as Thor.



This second video is at an ASU tailgate when Thomas was learning to roll down a grassy hill.

Drum

Thomas will often show signs of his hilarious personality, or his incredible athletic skills, but today we saw his musical abilities as he created and played a drum slash pot.

Taquitos Dance

Last Saturday night we tried a new Mexican restaurant which served delicious food and had very authentic Mexican music. After Thomas ate his dinner he was moved by the rhythm to jump up and move. This is the video, and yes that's Oma Katie and Mommy Jenn laughing in the background.

Fight Song

It's pretty official that this is the longest we have ever gone without posting. It's strange because I haven't been hearing many complains about where are the videos and pictures, and blah blah blah.
Many of our loyal readers and followers know that these last several weeks have been crazy in the Ash house, because the Ash house has changed.
Jenn, Thomas and I have bought a new home, still in Arizona, and these last weeks/month we have been busy bees getting everything ready.
Even as you read this, know that my computer is in a box somewhere and that I am typing on Oma Katie's computer.
I have taken the time to video tape Thomas singing the Arizona State Fight Song. The lyrics are below the video, I'll try and include new home pictures for the next post, stay tuned.




ASU Fight Song
Fight, Devils Down The Field
Fight With Your Might and Don't Ever Yield
Long May Our Colors Outshine All Others
Echo From The Buttes, Give 'Em Hell Devils!
Cheer, Cheer For A-S-U
Fight For The Old Maroon
For it's Hail, Hail, The Gang's All Here
And It's Onward to Victory!

Thomas and Oma Go Viral

We have all heard about internet videos that go viral, but this is simply a picture. Oma Katie works for Arizona State University, just like Jenn and Tony, and she was asked to pose for a picture on ASU's HR page. You can see the picture there, you'll have to wait as the photos scroll through. I've copied it and pasted it below.
They told Katie she could bring any "ASU" stuff for the photo shoot, and so she picked Thomas!

Ketchup

I love ketchup, and I enjoy eating it on fries and many other fried items. As a consequence of my liking ketchup, my son also likes ketchup, as seen in this video.

Wedding Weekend

This past weekend was a lot of great fun, because Jenn and I were invited to attend my best friend's wedding! Garrett whom I've been friends with for over 20 years was marrying Janice in Maryland, and we had a great time. Sadly Thomas stayed in Tempe with Oma, but don't feel too bad because Uncle Tony, Auntie Laura and Ernesto were in town visiting, so Thomas was very busy with all this Aunts and Uncles and of course Oma.

Here are a couple pictures from the wedding weekend.

As you can tell by the pictures a good time was had by all.

Before you begin to complain that you haven't seen Thomas, please scroll down and check out some pictures we took the other night when he got out of the bath. Also there is a picture in his converted crib, which is now his big-boy bed.

Dance Party Time

On Friday night Thomas and us were over at the Hache house with Gabriel and Kiera. Gabriel has become the musical DJ and so while playing some music he showed the younger kids how to dance-it-up.

Take a Break Thomas

I know that most people love reading this blog because they see pictures and videos of Thomas. I am also aware that videos with me or Jenn are not as good as seeing Thomas. I found this video today and it made me laugh, so I thought I'd share it on the blog and see if our readers found it amusing, enjoy.

Idiots with Zoe Saldana & Kate Bosworth from Zoe Saldana

End of July

This has been a really fun month with our Denver trip at the beginning and 4th of July after that. It seems to go by so fast especially for me, because school will begin in August. Since I haven't been putting up any pictures or videos lately I thought I'd share several videos. And remember if you want to subscribe to these videos on YouTube, then you'll get emails as soon as they get uploaded.

First video is a couple nights ago when Thomas was trying to finish up some of his dinner with Uncle Tony and Auntie Leia, we were asking Thomas to laugh, enjoy:




Second video is from yesterday when Thomas and I took my car into the dealership to be serviced. We walked into the showroom and stayed there for about an hour "driving" all around town.




And finally, this third video is from this morning. I brought Antonio and Thomas into my classroom to help hang posters and move furniture and between Antonio, Thomas and a laser pointer, hilarity ensued.

Colorado Trip, 2011

This past Thursday, we woke up early, boarded a 6am flight and went to Colorado. My Grandparents live there, and my parents were also in Colorado the same weekend visiting, so Thomas got to see Teta, Grandpa David, Grandma and Grandpa Don. It was great to see family and visit with everyone, but it was also amazing to get out of this Arizona heat. When you can ditch the triple digits and hang out with some 80 degree days and 60 degree nights, you take that deal!

Here are a lot of pictures from the trip, but to summarize, we went to two main attractions; the first was Tiny Town and the second was the Zoo. We first visited Tiny Town on Friday, and according to Grandpa and Grandma, this was a place they had tried to take my sister Allison and I when we were kids visiting Colorado, but every time we would plan a trip, it would rain all day. The Friday we visited was perfect weather, and so Thomas was able to run around and explore all the tiny buildings and streets. They had a picnic area where we had lunch, a jungle gym where Thomas and Teta played, and a little train which Thomas wanted to ride, but once one changed his mind.

The next day Saturday, we went with just Grandpa David and Teta to the Denver Zoo, and saw lots of cool animals. Again, the weather was great and Thomas really enjoyed walking around and constantly asking us, "What's that? What's that?". The zoo was fun and we recommend visiting next time you happen to be in Denver.

Besides our travels around the Denver area, we stayed around the house, and Thomas got to feed horses that live behind Grampa Don's house. Thomas had some cars to play with which he loved and the rest of us just enjoyed each others company, and we ate well and had a very relaxing weekend. Big thanks go to Grandma Dorothy and Grandpa Don for hosting us and showing us a great time!

CO June/July

Cars in the House

It's been a couple weeks since our last post, and I wish I could provide more excuse about what we've been up to. Since we live here in hot-hot Arizona, we don't go outside a lot, because 100 plus degrees is CRAZY!

This is a video from here at the house. I was noticing that Thomas was playing with his cars while in a trance. I found it entertaining and so captured this video of Thomas in his own world.



As many readers also know, Cars 2 from Disney/Pixar came out this past Friday, and so we took Thomas to the movies. Some parents may think it too early or too late that we haven't taken Thomas to the movie theatre yet, but we had been nervous about his attention span. Here are a couple pictures of Thomas in the theatre! We loved the movie Cars 2, and we got to eat popcorn and see the movie with Mommy, Daddy, Oma, Auntie Leia, and Uncle Steve, it was awesome!

Tire Swing

Although this happened earlier in the week, I did want to share the fun things happening this summer. On Monday Antonio came and played with Thomas at the part and both boys had a blast. Yes- it was warm, we still had fun playing, and we love that the summer isn't over yet!

Cars 2, Opening Soon

Thomas as many of you readers know is in love with cars. The cars that drive by, the cars we ride in, the matchbox cars that he always has in his hand and of course the movie Cars. Sometimes Jenn and I will be made to feel bad because we don't own the movie Cars, and technically speaking, Thomas has never seen the full movie Cars, but since the sequel is coming out on June 24th, Thomas has seen many commercials and therefore is excited.

The smart Disney/Pixar people have created a Cars tour, where you can go and see full size versions of some of the Cars characters. Below are some pictures from the event which we attended Monday afternoon.

Yes, we had to wait in line for 2 hours, and yes there were thousands of other little boys excited to see the cars. If you'd like to see more pictures just check out our photo album from this month of June (Cars pictures are after the balloon pictures).

Hot Air Goes Up

This past weekend, Jenn and I went on a hot air balloon ride, which Jenn has always been interested in doing. We have a couple friends (Dan and Anessa) that went along with us, and we floated around in the Arizona desert as the sun was coming up.

Here are some pictures and some videos from our exciting voyage, and yes, I definitely recommend hot air balloons. I think everyone should try a balloon ride at least once in their life- it's awesome.

Cruising

This is a video of Thomas for this morning. Thomas has become a lot better at pedaling and riding his tricycle around the block.

End Zone Dance

Summer has begun and we are enjoying every minute. Thomas is going part-time to day care, and the other days he's hanging out with me. Here are a couple videos from some of the things that entertain us.

Bathtub Cars

Thomas plays with his cars in the bathtub, the empty bathtub with no water in it. I had just finished cleaning the bathroom and Thomas wandered in with his cars, and so the rest is what you will see, I was entertained and I hope you will be too.

A Couple of Swingers

This past Thursday we were given a special show. The performers of the show were Auntie Leia and Uncle Steve, and they were swinging from the high trapeze- literally!

There is a place here in Arizona called Trapeze U, and Leia found a groupon for the place and so her and Steve went and got there circus on. Because Leia and Steve are not practicing for the circus every week, Jenn, Thomas, Katie and I had to go check it out and so here are several videos from the 'swingers'.

Soccer Style

This is Thomas playing in the backyard with a soccer ball. It's kind of entertaining, I enjoyed watching him play.

Party part 2

As mentioned in the earlier blog post, the birthday party was crazy fun and I took tons of video. Here are a couple more classics, and remember to subscribe to TheDonAsh on YouTube, so you can see videos as soon as they are posted.

Party part 1

This past Sunday was the 5th birthday for Gabriel and the 3rd birthday for Keira (not actual birthday but the party).
Thomas was geared up for the fun all weekend, and had a blast. I was on my "A" game with the videos, and so here are 4 of 7 videos from the wildest birthday party around!
Enjoy!

Singing and Jumping

This video is from one afternoon when Thomas and I were in the bedroom playing on the bed.

Cars and Catch

A lot of you blog readers know that Thomas is all about his cars. When it's his birthday or Christmas or you really want to make his day, then a car will do the trick.

The other night, I was hanging out and it was almost bedtime, and thought I'd take this little video to show you how much he loves his cars.

Enjoy- Vroom, Vroom, Vroom!




Of course, when your the parent of a 2-year old you can never have the camera far away, and sure enough as I was preparing to only post the first video with the cars, Thomas starts entertaining.

Yes, Thomas still loves cars, but he's also demonstrating to us how athletic he is. Sometimes he and I will throw a ball back and forth and then other times he will become independent like what you can see in this video. I hope these videos make you smile and improve you day, because that's what they do for us!

THINK FAST!

Tickles

Last night I took this video of Thomas getting tickled and giving tickles. It's pretty funny, check it out HERE.

Spring Time

These are some videos from the past couple weeks. This first one was from an evening when Thomas and I were home alone and Thomas decided to start singing- sadly he gets interrupted pretty early in his performance.




This second video is from a day during Spring Break. Because I'm a teacher I have the week off, but Jenn also decided to take some days off, and so here is a video of Jenn snowboarding. This was only her second time and she was vertical most of the day, which anyone who has tried snowboarding will know is challenging.

Turning 30

This past Wednesday Jenn turned 30, and the Saturday before she was greeted with a surprise party. I told Jenn that was I taking her out for a fancy birthday dinner and that her best friend Anessa offered to babysit Thomas. Jenn and I dressed up, and drove Thomas over to Anessa's house, where there was a surprise party waiting for her!
As mentioned above, Jenn turned 30, but her brother-in-law, Steve turned 40, and her cousin-in-law, Melynda turned 30 also (all 3 birthdays are within a week of each other). Since so many people were hitting mile-stone birthday's, the party was combined and named a 100 year celebration (30+30+40=100).
The first surprise was Steve, 30 minutes later, I walked Jenn in the door and 30 minutes after that Melynda walked in. Here are just a few pictures from the evening, graciously planned by Anessa, Leia and Holly.

Spring 2011

Orange You Glad...

These two little videos are from Saturday morning in the Ash's backyard. As some readers may know, we have two orange trees in our backyard, and so Mommy and Thomas decided to go out and pick some of those oranges.

This is the first video:


This is the second video:



And, just in case some of you wanted a little laugh, here is a video I took last Monday (President's Day). Antonio (Jenn's cousin) and I went snowboarding up North at Snowbowl. You can identify Antonio because he's the one coming right toward the camera, and this was also his first day of snowboarding, so he'll just a little shaky.

To Sing or Not to Sing

Thomas was politely asked to sing the ABC song and here is the resulting video.




It became very obvious that the talented two year old singer was only performing when the camera was not on... but I knew you blog readers wanted to see the brilliant talent, and so this next video should please!

Turning Two (Video)

Hello blog readers. This video is a month old, unless you've subscribed to thedonash on YouTube. This video is from Thomas' birthday and it shows his amazing lung capacity as he blows out his candle.



As mentioned in previous posts, I'll try and begin posting more regularly as well as posting more videos and pictures.

Turning Two

I know that lately I've been a terrible blogger, and I wish I could give legitimate excuses, but you wouldn't be interested, and who cares- right?
The biggest event in the last several weeks has been Thomas turning two. Below are many of the pictures from his actual birthday (January 11) and pictures from his birthday party which took place in Oma's back yard.

Thomas Turns Two

Also I promise to post more pictures and more videos. Hopefully we'll get back into a nice, happy blog routine again.

Remember Chritmas?

I've finally uploaded several photos from December. Some of these photos are of Thomas at his day-care Christmas show, and some pictures are from our San Diego trip, and then a couple at the end are from Christmas Eve.

Christmas 2010

Also if you're a really big "Thomas-Fan", then you'll know that Thomas just turned two. Yes I have photo's from his birthday, but I haven't uploaded photos from his birthday party. Be sure to check the blog in a couple days for those exciting pictures. Everyone loves to see Thomas' face covered in cake!