Going to Mexico…

To look for a dragon! What an adventure for Jack this afternoon. After church, he was upstairs changing his clothes and he came down dressed in gray sweatpants, his Neewollah sweatshirt (tucked into his sweatpants) and wearing his little bug backpack that he won on the Easter Egg train.

 

He then announced he was a woodsman, hence the sweatshirt tucked into his sweatpants, and that he was leaving for Mexico to go look for a dragon. Charlie was not coming with him, because Charlie was going to grandma’s house for four nights and then Jack would go pick him up. What does a woodsman take to Mexico? Well, the list is long…

- 4 popsicles

- 2 lookouts (Lego windows). He needed two because it is easy to lose stuff in Mexico.

- 4 candy bars

- binoculars

- a gun, because he’s going to shoot deer from deer stands. However, he is slightly confused about the nature of deer stands because he then asked how the deer get up into the deer stands.

- a chair, for the car so he won’t have to sit on the floor

- a wind-up penguin to scare away the deer because they don’t like the noise it makes

- the shot from his doctor’s kit, because if you fall down you might get scratched

- strawberry, green bean, lemon soup – stored in his tackle box

- a few pieces of his train track and two trains, plus a toy car. All to play with in his tent during his nap.

His dragon finding adventure is based on a great book Aunt Regina got him for Christmas called “My Father’s Dragon.” It was the first chapter book that we read to him and I love how he is using it, plus his imagination, to come up with his own adventures.

Playing Together

The boys have been playing together a little bit more lately, instead of just playing in the same room or taking toys from each other. It usually doesn’t last all that long, but they are starting to learn how to play with each other. Yesterday they had a lot of fun being in a band together. They were hot after coming inside so they both had to take their shirts off.

Then they slid backwards across the kitchen floor together (one of Henry’s current favorites).

Henry wants to do everything Jack does, but this morning he had a great time being home alone with Mommy while Jack was at school. I got out the rice box for him for the first time and he really loved it. I am lucky I got even one picture of him looking at the camera. He was so focused on filling up the bucket and dumping it out – he had no time to look at me.

Gone Camping

Nathan and Jack are camping tonight with the Turvey boys. The boys were so excited and looking forward to hiking this afternoon, and then hot dogs and s'mores on the campfire tonight. Here they are ready to leave. I was making them look into the sun in the first picture so Jack couldn't keep his eyes open.





Henry just realized at bedtime that Jack and Nathan really are gone and not just hiding somewhere in the house. He is a bit heartbroken. Daddy always puts him to bed and he always waves to Jack from over the balcony. Not getting to do either of those things has upset him significantly. He's currently upstairs yelling, "da-da" and "all done."

Lego Town

Today during naptime Jack used every Lego in his room to build a Lego town. He wanted to take a picture and put it on the blog for "all the grandmas" to see.

Mission Specialist Lewis

Jack learned about space this week at school. So at pick-up time today, the kids came out of their classrooms wearing space helmets they made this week. Jack also informed me I do not draw space shuttles correctly and he'll have to show me how they really look.






Henry continues to love climbing. He was very proud of himself today when he snatched a remote control and got up into the chair.


He had his ENT follow-up appointment today -- it's been one month since he got his tubes. He passed the hearing tests with flying colors, and lots and lots of crying. He is not a fan of having his ears looked at, in or touched. We are thankful for a good check up and hopeful that we will not be at a doctor's office again for many months!

Easter Pictures

We tried to take pictures this morning before church. Henry was not excited about the photo shoot. He really wanted to go to the backyard instead of sitting in his chair next to Jack. This is how most of the pictures looked… Henry either trying to escape or starting to run to the backyard.

Here are a few more that are pretty funny, but the best we got!

The Golden Egg

I think today might have been one of the best of Jack’s life. We went to Baldwin to ride the Easter Egg Train with Grandma Pam and Grandpa Glen. First, we got to ride a real train (not just the zoo train, according to Jack) for 5 1/2 miles. That doesn’t sound like it should take very long, but in fact it took a long, long time – about 40 minutes to reach our destination. The reason for the slow pace was that all the kids got to meet the Easter Bunny during the train ride. Jack and Henry didn’t care much for the Easter Bunny, but Jack was excited to get a whole pack of M&Ms. We felt bad for the Easter Bunny because it was hot on the train. Nathan thinks it was 90 degrees. I tend to agree. It was 86 outside and it was much hotter on the train.

Henry had fun playing peek-a-boo during the ride and climbing up the seats.

After the ride, it was time for the Easter egg hunt. There were 200 people on the train; we thought lots more adults than kids. There were 800 eggs to find. And one golden egg. And guess who found the golden egg? Jack! Here he is lined up ready to hunt.

He started off picking up two eggs right away and then he took off running through the crowd. When I got over to him, he said, “Guess what I found Mommy!” It was the golden egg. He said he saw it shining the sun and decided to run for it. I don’t know who was more excited – Jack or me!

After we got back on the train, he got to go with the conductor to pick out his special prize – an Easter basket filled with toys. He could not stop smiling.

When we got back to Grandma’s house, we all cooled off and Jack unpacked his basket. He got all kinds of bug toys. Then Henry got to share his first ever milkshake with Grandpa. Maybe it was one of the best days of Henry’s life too!

Splish Splash

We got the water table out for the first time last week. Jack started playing immediately, but Henry took a few minutes. He cried the first couple of times water got on his feet -- and for good reason, the water was very cold! After 30 minutes they were both soaked and we'd refilled the water table up at least five times.











Henry is becoming a good little climber. I was cleaning up the kitchen this morning and went out to the living room to check on him -- and there he was, reading a book in the chair. He was very proud of himself.

Moose Cake

I need to do one more birthday post for Jack… this time for his moose cake! We made this cake for his family birthday party last Saturday.

He had a great time and gobbled up lots of cake. So did Henry – he discovered he could walk around the living room, stopping at each person, and get lots of bites of cake. And that’s a golf glove on Jack’s hand in the picture below. He got his first set of real clubs for his birthday.

Shatto Dairy Farm

We went to Shatto Dairy Farm today and got to try all kinds of yummy (at least the boys thought so, I didn't try any) flavored milk and see the cows. Henry loved the orange milk and was mad when it was gone. Jack got to try root beer, chocolate, strawberry and the newest flavor -- cotton candy! Jack even got to milk a cow. We also saw two little calves and some tiny little kittens. Jack really liked it and Henry liked parts of it. He was very upset I wouldn't let him walk around whenever he wanted to. Here they are in front of the milk truck.


And here's Jack milking the cow.


Looking at the baby cows.





And holding the kitten.


Luckily I had extra pants for Jack in the car because he somehow fell off the picnic table after we had lunch and got covered in mud. Oh well, that was a minor mishap after such a fun morning.