Last "New" Holiday

Our town had it's annual Memorial Day parade this morning.  It was great weather, and it seemed like the whole town was there.  I am just enjoying small town life so much.  Peanut was in his red, white, and blue and proudly clutching his flag.  Normally anything he has gets inspected and then promptly tossed aside, but strangely enough he held onto this little flag throughout the entire parade (which lasted about 3 minutes..smile).

 The boy scouts.  So impressed with these young men and all of the contributions they make to our community.  Hoping Peanut will want to be a part of this someday. 

After the parade we headed over to Memorial Park to hear the mayor speak.  He and his family are friends and he is also one of Best's coworkers.  We also ran into some friends who were so kind to share their blanket with us.  Peanut was also quite happy to accept the cracker(s) offered!  He was so cute and I got so tickled when the band started playing and he stood up and danced!

                           I remember how hot it was last year and what a big belly I was lugging around, which got me to thinking...It is Peanut's last "new" holiday.  Then I remembered that he still has one more "first" holiday.  Maybe every child's favorite: His Birthday!  Besides, he seems to find a reason to celebrate everyday.  Have a happy Memorial Day friends and family!

Bubbles, Books, and Bargains

Bubbles and books are two things Peanut loves.  We spent Mother's Day with Gammie and Papa and had a wonderful time.  Gammie got out the bubble machine for Peanut:

and he LOVED it!  We had fun in the yard and what great weather.  Papa and Gammie are so sweet to Peanut and enjoy him so much.  The feeling is definately mutual.  He squeals with delight when he sees them.

We all pitched in and had a great lunch of Chicago style hot dogs, broccoli slaw, and Gammie's famous Butterfinger cake.  Such a relaxing time with the family. 

 

    The rest of the week we enjoyed the outdoors and lots of walks to the park.  Peanut starts talking and pointing when he gets in sight of the park now.  It's so cute how he calls to the kids playing.  He loves the swing.  He is just now getting to the stage where he fusses a bit when it's time to go.  He makes a quick recovery once we start rolling and likes to wave to the passing cars. This day we headed next door to the library to say hi to our librarian friends and check out some "new to us" books.

         I love that he loves books and know we will spend lots of time at this library together.  They have a great story time and the librarians are so kind and know Peanut well by now.  We are working on our "library voice"...Smile.

      We rounded out the week with the city wide annual garage sales.  Peanut seemed to enjoy browsing and got lots of new clothes.  The footie pajamas are my favorite and he now has plenty to take us through winter.  Here is one of my faves:

As you can see, Peanut is very busy in the mornings! (and afternoons and evenings as well, smile)  I had just turned the over head light on in the picture above.  I love that expression!  Have a great week friends and family!

For Mom

This blog is dedicated to Grandma Sharon.  Love you Mom!

    Peanut and I are park regulars, but often we walk and tend to go to the two closest to our house.  Friday we decided to pack up and drive to the "Firetruck Park" which is a little farther from home.  It was a beautiful day and well worth the trip.  Here he is exploring...so nice that he can walk around now...he has a cute little swagger and leads with his tummy:

We went down the slides together.   In the tunnel slide he loved the echo.  He has discovered his echo lately and loves to test new places with a loud "aaahh!"  As soon as we got to the bottom he was ready to climb up and go again. 

There is a baseball field next to the park and Peanut and I wandered over to check it out.  Thinking of how fun it will be to watch him learn to catch a ball.  He is getting really good at throwing already!



Sunscreen and a hat are a must for this pale face and he is really good about wearing both, but not always...

"Hat Head"

Peanut was worn out when we got home and took a nice, long rest.  He just looks so big to me in this picture.  He really is a toddler now.  Bye Bye Baby, I love the little boy you have grown into just as much!

  Saturday morning we were up bright and early helping Best hand out Gatorade at the town's half marathon/5k.  I love taking part in community events and love that Peanut can get involved too!

Then it was home, a quick nap for Peanut while I gathered last minute supplies, Best packed the car up, and off to the water park!  Peanut was a natural and LOVED the water.  He squealed and laughed and "talked" to the other swimmers.  A little elementary school aged girl swam right up and told me I had a cute baby.  Smart kid.  Smile.

We worked up quite an appetite at the pool...although we didn't do any actual swimming...hmmn..maybe we just got hungry when we noticed the Famous Dave's sign in the parking lot.  We had a yummy bar-b-q lunch and decided to show Peanut around Cabella's.  He was probably wondering why all the animals at this zoo were so still.  Not looking forward to that conversation...



 And then just happened upon some of the best ice cream we had ever eaten...Still miss Blue Bell, but this was darn good! 

Another tired boy tonight when we got home.  Put him in the bath and to bed while Best went to get groceries for tomorrow. My first Mother's Day and I am looking forward to spending it with my son.  Wish I could spend it with my mom too.  Love you Mom and Happy Mother's Day!!!







Eleven is Heaven!

I love to make up silly songs and rhymes for Peanut as we play.  They are not fancy and almost always to the tune of "London Bridges", but he loves it and that's what matters.  I was just thinking as I was singing the other day that even when I'm concentrating on something else like bathing him, I can always fall back on my trusty rhyme pair: "JOY/BOY".  Im glad those words rhyme because they sum up exactly how I feel. I am quite confident he is full of joy too!  Here is some evidence of that:

"I will be unloading this drawer shortly"

"I have been walking for awhile, but now I'm good at it, and fast!"

"Just playin'. I'm a lover, not a fighter!"

   Peanut is growing by leaps and bounds!  He loves to play and has never met a stranger.  I mean, when we go to the grocery store it takes forever because he leans out of the basket and squawks at anyone who will listen.  And they do.  They come over and talk to him and tell me how cute he is.  He LOVES the attention, and I love seeing him spread his joy.

   He is so curious about his world and if he is not outside you are likely to catch him standing on a pillow to look out the window.  I'm glad summer is almost here.  We love to sit outside in the grass in the evenings and throw the ball for Furry Pants while we wait for Best to get home.  Peanut gets so excited when he sees his Daddy...and so do I. 

   He is learning new words and can go collect items (like hat and book) when asked...if he feels like it.  Smile.

  He has a big appetite and loves mac n' cheese, hamburgers, chicken casserole, sweet potatoes, apples, pumpkin, pasta, broccoli, squash, and strawberries to name a few! 

   He has moved to a "big boy" carseat and we love it.  He has more room now.  I have also noticed he rarely sleeps in the car anymore.  He is usually busy talking, singing, or just looking out the window.  Still takes two good naps and sleeps 13 hours a night so this Mama has no complaints in the sleep dept.!!! 

 (Watching to make sure Furry Pants comes back inside.)

Hands down this has been the best Eleven months of my life.  Looking forward to more fun with my "little boy that brings me joy"... hey! that rhymes!  SMILE



The "Best" Zoo trip!

  Ever since we took our first trip to the zoo, Peanut and I have been anxious to get back to see what we missed and to do it with Best.  Early in the week we planned to go Sunday, but when the forecast predicted rain we switched the day to Saturday which was supposed to be much nicer.  Ahem... cooperation from Mother Nature just didn't happen, but we didn't let that stop us from enjoying our day and all the wonderful indoor exhibits at the zoo.

 "I'll show you around Daddy, I've been here before."

Mama was hungry so the first stop was the zoo cafe.  My family will tell you that I do not like to start an adventure on an empty stomach.  Just another thing I love about my Best: when suggesting we stop for a snack, he always happily obliges...what a guy... (BIG SMILE)

 Peanut had actually had a full lunch at home before we left, but here he is happily sharing some of Mama's hot dog bun.  He has quite the appetite.  Sign of a happy, healthy, active boy.  Love it!

"Look at those monkeys, we should get one."

Low light is tricky with a little boy who doesn't stop moving...but Im ok with a few blurry pictures.  Peanut  was so intrigued with the fish, talking to them and trying to catch them as they swam by.

The Minnesota trail included lots of interesting wildlife such as a wolverine, timberwolfs, mountain lions, and beavers.  We missed the bald eagle though.  His sign told us that he was gone "due to construction".  What a talented eagle...wonder what kind of construction he does?  Smile.

I love this look of facination.  Seeing him watch the animals in action was so much fun. 

 Not quite ready to dip our hands in the pool yet.

This is not the greatest picture "photographically speaking" but I love it because it captures the mood:
Family fun!
Hope you had some of that this weekend too!