Late Night Activities

It seems like every day there is a new season in the life of our children. Some of those seasons are great ones. They learn to say "thank you" when people give them something or come up and give hugs without being asked. Then there are other seasons that prove to be a bit more trying...

Jackson has gotten into the pattern of not wanting to go to bed and also really looking forward to the time that he has...by himself...in his room...with the lights on until 11:00 at night. And yes we go in there and turn off the lights. Many times. Wanna know what he is doing? Yeah, I would love to know as well, but as far as I can surmise here is what he does:

• Sits in his chair and reads a book and then dumps it on the other side of the chair. After about 35 books you make quite a pile.
• Plays with the keyboard he got from Cam for his birthday. Turns on the demo song and dances the night away.
• Tries to set up his train tracks but isn't quite there yet.
• Pulls out his cars and drives them across the table to hear the crash...this one is a dead giveaway.
• Takes off his diaper (least favorite activity)
• Plays with blocks. I have come in and seen a stack 12 high. Well done Jackson!
• Kicks the wall, kicks the bed, kicks the floor, and kicks the door.
• Checking out the window for Jakie's Big Truck to show up and to leave. Either one will do, Jackson is not picky.

The night always ends the same. Jackson. Passed out on his bed. Waiting for the morning sun to come into his room at about 6 AM to start singing songs, reading, dancing, and waiting for Mommy and Daddy to rescue him so he can drink some milk and watch Dora the Explorer. He loves life.

We have quite a little boy.

-Posted by Jeff

Uh-oh....

We had spaghetti for dinner tonight.

After "eating" her meal, Bella proceeded to look at me and say,

 "Messy Mommy!  Uh-oh...."

Staycation!

After a crazy April, Jeff decided to take a few days off last week.  Rather than packing the family up and going somewhere, we decided to just stay home and enjoy our new home.  A staycation.  It was fantastic!

Some highlights of our staycation were:

A bouncing good time at Pump it Up

Games at Chuck E Cheese

A picnic at the BIG fountain

Followed by rides & lollipops in Riverpark.

But the best part of our staycation happened on Friday night. 

We had heard from lots of people about riding the train to Hanford, getting ice cream at Superior Dairy, and then riding the merry-go-round. 

This sounded like a fantastic idea.  So we purchased our tickets, picked up some McDonalds for the train ("O-Donalds chicken & apples & milk!" exclaimed Jackson joyfully), and headed to downtown.  We had been talking up the train for the past 24 hours, and Jackson was sufficiently excited- he brought his toy train to the station. Even Bella couldn't wait. 

We were waiting for the train to arrive at 5:20.  And then we kept waiting. And waiting.

Finally we found out our train was stuck on the tracks and wouldn't arrive until around 6:45, changing our arrival in Hanford to 7:15.  Considering our train back to Fresno left at 7:45... this wasn't going to work.

But we had a bag full of O-Donalds & a little boy that wanted to see a train.

So we hopped in the van and drove to Hanford, promising Jackson 

he would still ride a train, just a little later.

Once in Hanford, we found Superior Dairy.  We ordered a 4-scoop sundae for all of us... and were completely unprepared for what we got.  

HUGE!!!

The ice cream was delicious, and we barely made a dent in it.  Across the street was a fountain (do I even need to say that we had to go see it?) so we headed over to see it.  Both kids were delighted.

Finally, we walked across the park to the merry-go-round.  Sadly, it was closed.  Apparently you have to make reservations to ride it (??????).  

At long last, it was time for the train.  We found the station and waited behind the yellow bumps it to arrive.  When the kids heard the whistle ("CHOO CHOO!!!") they were in awe.  Jeff took both kids on the train, and I drove the van home to pick them up.  

Jackson stared out the window the whole time, looking away only to tell Jeff, "Daddy, train so cool.  Train so awesome."

All in all, a pretty great staycation.  So cool, so awesome.

posted by shara

Chris Martin would be proud

While Bella is growing so fast, she is busy learning her color.  That is not a typo, I did say color.  Or at least that is what she knows so far.  Check it out...

Posted by Jeff

Sweet Dreams, Bella

One of the highlights of our night is checking on our sleeping children before we go to bed.  We used to find Jackson asleep in all kinds of funny ways.  Now it's Bella's turn....

White Trash Bachmans

So our new house is amazing.  We love it.  It's perfect.

But it doesn't have a backyard.  

We are okay with this.  But with the summer here, our kids love to play outside.  What do we do?

Play in the front yard.

Over the past few weeks, we have enjoyed many a morning with the sprinklers going, kids in bathing suits, and various outside toys littering our front yard. 

I'm sure our neighbors love us.

But it sure is fun.

And how cute is Bella in a bikini?  

posted by Shara

Binky the Zebra

For 3 years, Jackson has loved his binky.  At first it was something we gave him as a newborn to help him sleep.  (It didn't).  We talked about getting rid of it when he was 18 months, but with Bella soon to be born we were advised against it.  So he kept it.  Shortly thereafter, he became VERY attached to the binky.  With a 19 month old and a newborn, we weren't looking to make our sleep any worse than it already was.  So we let him keep it a little longer. 

Somehow, Jackson turned 3, Bella was now 18 months, and he was still holding on to that binky. (Only for sleeping). We decided it was time.  Time to say goodbye to the bink.

So we loaded the kids into the van and headed to the mall.  We went into Build-a-Bear and told Jackson he could choose any animal he wanted.  (Well.... any animal that would fit

 into his bedroom's jungle theme).  He chose the zebra (Mommy seconded that choice.)

We gave him his binky, he took one last hit, said bye-bye, and 

he put binky into his new zebra.  I was surprised at how sad I was.  It was like I was saying goodbye to Jackson being a baby.  He was now, officially, a little boy.  

He helped fill the zebra with fluff and put a little heart inside of it.  Then we made his birth certificate.  Official name: Binky the Zebra.  Jackson was instantly in love, hugging Binky and putting him in his "house".  

That night we told Jackson he no longer had binkies for his mouth, but he had Binky the Zebra to hold on to.  He put his little arms around Binky's neck, kissed us goodnight, and we never heard another peep out of him.  We had put it off for a year fearing the sleeping repercussions, and were amazed to see how well he did.  Kids are amazing.

He did ask us to "open it" over the next few days, but never threw any fits.  He now introduces his "new friend" to people that come over, and is quite proud of Binky.

And we are so proud of our little boy.

posted by Shara