Ever since Scout went flying from a swing which put him in a body cast for 2 1/2 months, he has been really cautious. He has always been very careful, but he has gone backwards just a bit. Like when I was trying to teach him to ride a bike, he wasn’t grasping it because it scared him. (And falls can have really bad consequences.) So I heard about the balance bike from a bunch of people — and they all said it was the best thing in the world. So when Pottery Barn Kids had their floor model on sale for $20…I took out my Amex! And let me tell you — it was the best $20 I’ve almost ever spent. First off, Scout loved cruising on his balance bike. But better yet….when he went to move his “real” bike today, he realized that he could ride it!
He made his dad watch, and then they called for me to come see what all the hype was about!
And it was well deserved hype! This boy took off and rode for an hour without any problems. He went up and down the curbs, he went down hills, he just cruised like he had been riding all his life.
As soon as Icka came out, Scout betrothed the balance bike to her because he didn’t need it anymore. Clearly, she was excited as she couldn’t get her shoes on fast enough!
He cruised, and she kind of cruised.
He continued to cruise, and she went to her tried and true — her scooter!
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Ever since the new realization of Scout being a two-wheel rider, he won’t leave his bike.
He shows everyone his new skill, and literally has to take it everywhere!
Thank you balance bike.
We went with Micah’s family to the river.
It is always fun, but may have been more fun this year because my kids are a bit older and are in serious love with water.
In a pictorial story….this was our week at the river:
My kids got sugar cereal.
A major hit.
Dash, the recent crawler, stayed pretty well put on his towel while he ate his snacks each morning.
The weasels hung out with each other and got along really well.
This trip included some jumping off our dock.
(Although I thought there would be much more jumping than there was. Maybe the current was a little off putting?)
Lots of sun blocking and gearing up in life vests.
A good amount of floating with the river to get to different destinations.
Plenty of boat rides.
My favorite was this one where Icka just relaxed in the back with her eyes closed while soaking in the sun and the bumps.
And some “horse rides” where I pulled the kids against the current.
Some manly love.
Although Tim and I agree that there is nothing manly about a Speedo.
Especially a pink one with big lips on it.
Lots of Dash time.
And girl cousin time.
And then some boy/girl cousin time.
Games and puzzles.
Scout learned “War”, and he loves it!
Some bobbing for pears.
Over and over.
Some soaking in post-bobbing pear water.
And loving it.
Some Klondike bars in the sun — after earning them.
Lots of brother and sister time.
And solo time in the world’s biggest/fullest diaper.
Some skiing on glass.
While bystanders watched back at the house.
Some ski fitting.
And ski encouraging.
And practice skiing.
Some skiing with dad.
And tears after skiing with dad.
But getting over it.
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All in all, it was a fun-filled, very HOT trip.
(113 degrees at times.)
But of everything…the best part of all:
Being with these three weasels, and the guy who got a call from 1995 asking for their white sunglasses back.
Poor little Dashy was teething at the river. You wouldn’t have known it barely, because he is SUCH a good boy.
But his waking up in the night, his somber ways on day one and two, and his few whines gave it away.
ON day two, I thought it might be teething, so I stuck my fingers in to check it out (because he NEVER will let me move his lips back and actually look), and there was already a tooth. I am not sure if it is his top right vampire tooth (the worst from a teething standpoint), or the one off the middle. Time will tell. The rest of the time, the same tooth on the left side was trying to make its way through.
It never quite made it, but with a little help from our friend (AKA Tylenol), Dash was mostly himself during the rest of the trip.
(Sidenote: With his two bottom, and two upper vampires — we are going to have one freaky looking dude!)
Daddio got quite the day from his kids this year.
Scout — the sweetest boy on the planet, never forgets the all-important breakfast in bed.
You can’t beat a buttered-bread (from a few days back) whole strawberry sandwich.
I’d like to document that Micah ate about half of it, which I considered very impressive!
Navy went for the indoor plant, and brought Micah the never forgotten flowers she constantly gives out.
Even Nonnie came through this father’s day (I actually think she always comes through) with a book about someone stranded in a life or death situation.
(Sound familiar?)
Then Scout and Navy went up to wrap their gifts.
An anchor T shirt and anchor socks from Navy.
(See the correlation?)
A bunch of major smiles from Dash.
(Although he did give Micah three new life vests to keep the kids safe at the river.)
And two pairs of big and mini matching shorts from Scout for them to match.
They were having a bit of trouble wrapping, so Curly Sue came to their rescue.
They were enthralled. So much that Navy couldn’t muster up the energy to hold her own hands up, so found a place to tuck them in.
And the finishing touches were a tag-team effort.
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Father’s Day was a success.
And only one day before our anniversary.
Wonder what he will do to make our day as special as this day?
Our excursion today was a Park Tour.
I packed up the kids and headed out to go to a bunch of different cool parks around town.
First stop:
What we call “Rock Wall Park”.
It’s right down the street, and a favorite around here.
The kids were big fans of the teeter totter.
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Next stop:
The park inside of Chick-Fil-A.
While Dash and I ate, Scout and Navy had the best time at their indoor “park”.
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Next stop:
Atlantis Park AKA Dragon Slide Park. I was So excited to take them to a childhood favorite of mine, but when I called before hand to see if they were open, they were booked for a private party.
So we opted for Dinosaur Park in Mission Viejo instead.
But when we headed out, we got a call from an uninvited guest who said the best park was right in our backyard. And that there was a party going on!
So we headed home to a Tackalack/Bray/Hansen pool party where slides and bars weren’t the entertainment.
But dads throwing their kids as far as possible was.
Scout and I came up with an idea for this summer. Along with Icka, we put everything we want to do this summer on paper in a jar. Each day we are going to pick something out and do it.
Day one — Scout picked out “Bike Adventure”.
While I was getting our supplies together, Scout’s new life vest got a little stuck on the rope swing out front.
After I got him down, we got working on our bikes. We made them beautiful for our adventure.
Scout went for the streamer balloon look.
Icka went a little more feminine with the colored tassel look.
The two bunnies loved the adventure.
Our stops included Seth & Cade’s house, Tree Corner (where Scout and Navy climb and jump from the olive trees), and the local church parking lot for “free ride”.
Clearly, the idea jar is going to be a huge hit this summer.
Scout celebrated his first graduation in style — at Abalone Beach.
Missy set it all up, (although I put my incorrectly-spelled-sign-making skills to use).
Then Miss Dianne had each class sit while there was a little graduation ceremony in their honor.
Scout was very serious the whole ceremony long because the hats were precarious and he wasn’t about to let his fall off.
At first, Navy was all ears — and kisses!
But during the ceremony — there were a few impatient sisters.
When Scout’s time came to get his individual award, Miss Dianne awarded him with the “Math Master” award! We were so proud (I might have even had a few tears in my eyes)! Later, Miss Dianne told me that she really wanted to award him with “Most Polite” also, but she didn’t think he would get as excited about that one. Math Master might be cooler, but I was more stoked on the most polite!
There was some Nonnie and Baby Brother support.
Some Bella support!
And a little Mommy/Daddy support as well!
After the awards, they got some goodie bags with cool treats and got t o break open a pinata.
And then end a great morning with a few hours at the beach.
Congrats Grad!
You are BIG TIME now!
Somehow Icka ended up in my bed tonight. I am sitting on my IPad right next to her heavily breathing asleep body. This girl definitely has some spice, but her sweet side trumps it all. I think it is safe to say that when she is in her sweet mode, she could melt anyone. A few things she said to me as we cuddled before she fell asleep:
-mom, when I am in kindergarten, I will always be your hero.
-mom, if you are slipping off the bed, I will catch you.
-mom, I will always protect you and never let bad guys get you.
-mom, you are AMAZING!
-mom, if you hear coyotes when we are sleeping, hold me tight.
I guess I was lucky to let her crawl in beside me.
Dash has dabbled in the scooting arena for a while. But after a second, he was done. Although I have had NO desire to speed this process up, I did work with him a tiny bit yesterday. Well, my quick study is a full blown crawler today! It is SO cute, but SO sad to me. I love my little boy who stayed in one place until I picked him up.
This is what I have seen for months — the superman.
He literally arches inside out and claps his feet together as if it were his hands.
But he is the Superman no longer.
Now I get to see the determined little Dash get wherever he wants — and pretty quickly for day one.
Here is a side view –
Icka started crawling to the phone also.
Hope this isn’t telling for the future.
And a front view — look at the intensity!
Jackpot!
It’s official — this crazy-haired boy is mobile!
I literally die over this little Dash of mine.
How couldn’t you adore someone who adores you with every inch of their being?
He was under the weather (remember Rosiola) last week, and I was praying that his happy days would return.
I was very capable of handling the sick side of things, I just didn’t want any altering on his demeanor.
Thank goodness, he is healthy again, and as happy as ever!
Scout was pushing the photobooth button while I was adoring my baby.
I die over him — and I die over these pictures.
They capture our true love.
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