Boats, Boats, Boats!

Last weekend we went to the opening of a new park. Jack was enamored by all of the boats. First stop-the pirate ship. Tom and Jack got to climb aboard and tour the entire thing. Jack’s favorite part was the bunk beds below the deck—he thought it’d be fun to sleep in one of them!

 

The park also has a pond dedicated to sailing model boats. During the celebration they had a bunch of sailboats on the pond that sailed naturally with the wind. They gave kids sticks with tennis balls on the end of them. When a boat came to the edge of the pond and needed to turn, kids could use the stick to help the boat tack.  Jack thought it was the coolest thing EVER.

Look At Me!

No, he’s not walking yet, but Emmett is getting pretty good at standing by himself. He’s even getting brave enough to take a couple of steps on his own before falling down.  I’m guessing he’ll be walking by his first birthday! My oh my…

A Few Things…

I know, I know, my blog posts have been splotchy, at best. Maybe I can blame it on the change in the weather—fall is definitely here. Every year, I mourn the end of summer only to remember how much I LOVE fall. So, in the spirit of fall, here are a few of the fallish things we’ve been up to lately.

Husky games. We took the boys to the Syracuse game (which we won—yippee). It was no small feat to pack up the family, find parking, get to our seats, and then entertain a 2 year old during the game. But, we made it to the end of the 3rd quarter!  I must give ALL of the credit to Tom who ran all over Husky stadium, and beyond, to keep Jack entertained. I had a great time watching the game with Emmett snuggled up to me in the Ergo.

Crafts.  I love to craft, but I rarely find the time (go figure, right?). The turn of the weather, coupled with the need to be creative, has spurred me to do some crafting. I’m currently obsessed with pumpkins. These are some that I’ve made. There are super simple (really, they are!). I can’t take credit for the design, but here is who can: Fabric Pumpkin Tutorial

 

  Yard work. Believe it or not, I actually like doing it! I’ve been wanting to take out the large, overgrown shrubs (which are now more like small trees) for quite some time. I think they’ll make our home look less dated and will let more light in.  So far, I’ve taken out the two big ones directly behind the lamppost (between the house and the carport). I’m finding that I have to take them out one week at a time because I don’t have enough room in yard waste.  It is so satisfying to chop those suckers down!  I’ll post more pictures as I hack more down.

The Rodeo

We spent Labor Day east of the mountains in Walla Walla. Our weekend was filled with cowboy fun at the fair and rodeo.

We started off the weekend with the parade. Now that he has been to several parades, Jack knows well that they throw candy at a parade and he spent the entire car ride to the parade asking us when he was going to get to catch some candy. In addition to candy, Jack also loved watching the bands, fire engines, and tractors.

Later that afternoon we ventured to the fair. Jack wore his hat, just like a cowboy should. He liked seeing all of the animals, but his favorites were the horses. He even got to take a ride on a pony. This was his second time riding a pony and this time he didn’t want Auntie Jane to hold onto him at all. He spent the entire ride yelling “yeehaw” to just about anyone who would listen!

   

Jack even got to ride on his first fair ride. It was hard to find a ride that he was tall enough to ride on, but finally we found the balloon ride. Jack could hardly wait for the ride to begin, and once it did, he said “ooohh” and “weeeeee” nearly the whole time.

 

That night the boys got decked out in their cowboy gear, complete with Wrangler jean shirts, courtesy of Nana, and we hit the rodeo. The boys loved the loud music and the action. We didn’t make it through the whole thing, but the boys got to see the cowboys ride bareback broncos and calf wrestling—they were mesmerized! By the time we left the rodeo, we had two very tired cowboys!

Cowboy Jack ready to watch some bucking broncos!

Cowboy Emmett enjoying the life on the range.

Yeehaw, what a fun weekend!

Binky Substitute

A few days ago Emmett and I were playing in the rec room. I looked over to discover that he was crawling around sucking on the handle of a puzzle piece. At first I just thought that he was putting it in his mouth (like he does with nearly everything) but when I took it out, he proceeded to put it right back in. I finally realized that he was using it just like a binky. Funny, yet resourceful, little guy!