Summer 2014 - Day 15 & 16

Wednesday, July 2nd - Day 15

Two weeks down, many more to go!

Today was a pretty low key day.  We spent most of the day at home, except when we ventured out to run some errands for an hour or two.  I was tired and sore from mulching for the past two days (woke up early this morning to spread some mulch before Ryan woke up today, too!) so I didn't feel like doing much.  Lucky for me, Ryan didn't want to go to Marbles, the pool, Oma and Opa's house, or the park - so lazy day at home it was!

When Ryan finally woke up this morning (he picked a great day to sleep in so Joe and I could get more mulching done), he wanted to play with his food instead of building towers.  He LOVES his play food set - loves cutting the food apart, pretending to eat it, making different dishes, etc.  We made and cooked lots of soups and stews today with his food, and even made Daddy a tomato, watermelon, and butter sandwich :)

Hmmm, what are we going to make today?

"You slice it like this, Mommy"

After cooking, we went fishing (another one of his favorite toys):

 I think Ryan wanted to "go fishing" since we are going to be at the beach next week (we're all pretty excited about the Everitt family beach trip).  We talked about all of the sea creatures, if they had "good manners" or "bad manners", and if we could eat them.  Of course, any edible creatures were gobbled up :)

Then, we painted with watercolors:

I think Ryan mostly enjoys painting with water colors because then he can play with the water cup.  He really enjoys dumping water into the water colors, painting with colored water, painting the coffee table with the colored water, filling back up the little cup, etc - not so much with the actual painting of anything or really using the colors to create anything, other than a mess.

Because we know that Ryan loves water so much, we're beginning to use this to our advantage.  We bribe him with trips to the swimming pool and baths in the "big boy tub" (the bathtub in our bathroom).  He LOVES both the pool and the big tub, and will pretty much do whatever he's supposed to do (like, not walking/running/jumping on the couch or picking up something that he intentionally dropped).  All we say is "if you want to take a bath in the big boy tub, you need to do X" or "if you want to go to the swimming pool, you need to do X".  And he'll do it 95% of the time.  It seems to be working pretty well with his 2 1/2 year old listening and obeying skills.

Some funny things Ryan said/did today:
--"I had a long day at Paul and Jan's house.  I need some water".  He proceeded to try to pour himself a cup of water.  We didn't go to Uncle Paul and Aunt Jan's house today so I'm not sure what he was talking about.

--"Daddy, thanks for bringing home the bacon".  Joe brought home watermelon from the store and I asked Ryan to thank him (since Ryan is a watermelon monster).  I guess Ryan felt the need to thank him for more than just the watermelon.




July 3rd - Day 16

Today was a busy day!  Ryan slept in until almost 8:30, so we all got some much needed rest!

You'll never guess what we did this morning.

After a round of building trains and towers and watching the latest updates on Hurricane Arthur, we got ready for the day and went to Marbles.  We had a special guest with us today - OMA!  We had a great time today at Marbles :)  I know it's one of Ryan's favorite places, but I love it just as much to watch him investigate the world around him, interact with other kids, and see him play and just be happy.

Happy to be at Marbles!

Watching the coins go around and around and around

My budding engineer

Something to climb??  Sounds good to me!

"I made it!"

This last picture is probably my favorite picture from our Marbles trip.  Ryan has been obsessed with bubbles (and water) for a long long time now.  Today was apparently bubbles day at Marbles, and kids had the opportunity to see what it was like to be inside of a bubble.  Ryan waited in line so patiently (and was by far the youngest kid in the line) and we talked about how he was going to wear goggles and he needed to be very still while they were forming the bubble around him.  We practiced how he was going to hold his hands so he wouldn't pop the bubble.  He did so well and despite his expression, he LOVED it!  He asked for another bubble, and that one turned out to be much better, but I couldn't get a picture in time.  Either way, it was a very special event for him and I'm so glad that Oma was there to witness it as well!  

After we came home and napped, we had a dinnertime playdate with a friend and Ryan enjoyed jumping on the trampoline and playing with legos (and building more towers).  He took a bath in the "big boy bath", so I'd say it was a great day!

Summer 2014 - Day 13 & 14

Monday, June 30th - Day 13

Today was a busy day!

When Ryan woke up, he wanted to build towers and trains (again).  So, we built towers for a bit.

Because Joe and I did a lot of yard work yesterday, we put a big pitcher of water on the front porch for us to use to stay hydrated.  We brought it inside yesterday evening, but didn't dump it out due to sheer laziness.  I went upstairs to grab Ryan some clothes, and came back down and he was playing with the water:

He loves pouring water from one container to the next.  I think he might enjoy Chemistry when he gets older :)

We also played with the alphabet train puzzle again.  Ryan loves this train, and loves to joke around and pretend that the letters go in the wrong order.  When I play along with him and try to put a puzzle piece in the wrong order (and it doesn't fit), he cracks up as if it's the funniest thing in the world.

At around 3pm, a big dump truck full of mulch was delivered to our house.  Yep, 20 cubic yards.  Ryan enjoyed watching the dump truck.

How much is 20 cubic yards?  TOO MUCH.

After a few hours of spreading mulch, we went out to dinner to celebrate our anniversary.  Happy Anniversary to us - seven whole years!

Mmmmm, Azitra!

Ryan was decently well-behaved throughout dinner.  He even patiently waited while I took a picture of our dessert (you can see his arms/hands at the top of the picture).


Tuesday, July 1st - Day 14

Happy July!!  I love the month of July, even more so now that I have the summer off! We have lots of exciting trips coming up this month, so it's going to be a very eventful month!

This morning, instead of building trains and towers immediately, we played basketball!  Ryan is really getting good at throwing the little basketball - let's be honest, really he'll throw whatever I give (and sometimes don't give) him permission to throw - into the basket.

Getting set to LAUNCH!

Almost!!

Then, we built some towers (of course).

Then, we painted with watercolors.

I took Ryan over to Oma and Opa's house so I could keep spreading mulch - it's kind of difficult to do when you're trying to watch a 2.5 year old.  When I picked up Ryan, I told him that if he was a good listener for the rest of the day, that he *maybe* could get a ride in the wheelbarrow.  As you can see, he bought into that bribe very easily:

Nevermind you've been spreading mulch, Joe.  Take our kid for a wheelbarrow ride!

Having fun!

Woo hoo!

Look at that happy face!

Summer 2014 - Day 10, 11, & 12

Friday, June 27th - Day 10

Today, we woke up and built trains and towers.  Whenever Ryan builds anything, he narrates almost every move - "this piece goes right here", "oh, this is perfect", "I need a single.  Where is a single?".  It's very cute :)

Examining the carts to make sure they are in good shape

"And this one goes right here"

We made chocolate chip cookies.

Carefully measuring and adding ingredients

Sampling the chocolate chips to make sure they aren't poisonous

Sipping on milk!  Nothing beats milk and cookies!

Then, Ryan took a field trip to Oma and Opa's house so I could clean out a closet and take loads of stuff to Goodwill :)



Saturday, June 28th - Day 11

Pretty lazy day at home today.

We woke up and built towers (shocking!).  We hung out at home most of the day today, organizing stuff, cleaning out closets (very difficult to do with a 2 1/2 year old).

After dinner, we all went to the airport to watch planes.  Ryan really likes going to the observation deck and watching the planes, but now that we know that the sprinklers come in at 8pm, we try to time it so he can run by the sprinklers too :)

Sunday, June 29th - Day 12

Today, we built some more towers :)

Joe and I are having a truckload of mulch delivered later on this week, so we needed to clean up our yard to prep for the mulch.  This, of course, led to use deciding to do some outdoor projects, so hopefully we'll have a decent yard with some defined areas sometime soon.  In order to get the yard ready, we sent Ryan over to Oma and Opa's house for lots of playtime while we trimmed bushes, clipped branches, and weeded the yard.  This is how we spent most of our day - while Ryan was playing with water and having fun outside at Oma and Opa's house.  He didn't end up taking a nap today, so he ended up falling asleep at 8:00 in the car on the way home.  We'll see how long he sleeps!

Summer 2014 - Day 8 & 9

Wednesday, June 25th - Day 8

Happy Birthday to Oma!

Today, Ryan wore me out!  I don't know how today was any different than any other day but I am beat!  We woke up this morning, and Ryan wanted to play trains and build towers immediately.  Then we made porridge for breakfast and played with towers and trains a little bit more:

Mmmmm, porridge!

Look at my big tower!

Such a cutie!

We took another trip to Marbles and Ryan immediately wanted to go upstairs and play basketball some more.  He also played in the other areas up there, but spent most of his time with the basketball and hoops.

balancing, balancing, balancing

This kid loves to bounce.

Money shot!

Learning how to use tools, just like Daddy!

We were at Marbles for two hours, and we went to the bathroom twice and had NO ACCIDENTS!  WOO HOO!  During the last Marbles trip we had one accident, so this is progress, friends!  After Marbles, we came home, at lunch, and then spent some time in the bounce house (I told you - my boy LOVES to bounce).  Then we took our afternoon naps :)  Ryan went to the pool after his afternoon nap, but was only in the water for about 5 minutes when they closed the pool for thunder - a much-too-common event this summer!  Here's Ryan after his not-so-long pool trip:

My watermelon monster!

Since he didn't get much pool time in, we decided to give him a nice long bath in the "big tub" before bed and tried to make it extra fun by adding bubbles....I definitely added waaaayyyy too many bubbles.

About 30 seconds after adding the bubbles....

About 3 minutes after adding the bubbles.  WHOOPS!

He LOVED taking his bath in the big tub (my and Joe's bathtub)!

Thursday, June 26th - Day 9

I didn't really have anything planned for today - but sometimes the best days are completely unplanned and we end up doing whatever we want.  After Ryan woke up, we went downstairs and built some towers (surprise surprise!) and then put together the alphabet train:

Walking along the alphabet train!

Making sure everything is lined up perfectly!

Ryan does really well with the alphabet train - he knows which letters go in which order, but sometimes struggles with getting the pieces to fit together.  We compromise and he will find the piece and hand it to me and I'll attach it to the back of the train during the times of frustration :)

After more playtime at home, we went to the pool for a bit:

Munching on a granola bar during the break

Ryan didn't want to venture to the big pool today, but finally went down the twisty slide on the playground at the pool!  He's been scared to do it, but I suppose watching a few girls go down it immediately before him gave him the confidence to do it and he of course loved it and then went down the slide again about 10 more times before we left.

After the pool, we came home for our afternoon nap.  After naptime, we went over to Levi and Julien's house to celebrate Oma's birthday (yesterday).  I love watching Ryan interact with his cousins - you can tell he loves them and loves to be around him.  Just the other day, Ryan said "Julien is my best.  Levi is my best, too."  I'm assuming he's referring to a "best friend" - which I'm not quite sure how he's picked up on that concept - and that just tugs at my heart!  

All in all, today was a pretty low-key kind of day.  We'll see what's in store for tomorrow!