Vehicle Day!!

The Atkinson's clued us in on ECFE Vehicle Day in Minneapolis a few weeks ago and we put it on our calendar as we knew it'd be something James would enjoy.  The basic premise of the day is to let the kids explore community vehicles and talk to the workers that operate them.  Besides the yucky weather that morning that we had to contend with the kids had a blast!

James and Dad on the school bus checking things out.

Elliot taking his turn driving the bus!  Look out folks!

Elliot and James conferring where they'd like to head to next.  "City bus, then fire truck ... or fire truck then city bus?"

James was initially scared of the police car due to the sirens but then warmed up to it and walked right over to check it out.

James taking his umpteenth turn driving the fire truck.

Learning how the hose on the fire truck works.

Another ride on the city bus.  James walked right on like he's done this before.

The kids had a great time and we had fun watching them explore things and learn what they were interested in.  James continued to talk about buses and fire trucks all week so we're thinking Vehicle Day was a success!

Rites of Spring

We think spring has finally found its way here - and boy has James been excited to get outside and play in the dirt and move around in his Cozy Coupe car!

James has been Daddy's little assistant digging up dandelions in the yard.  So much so we might have to get him his own tool for next year.  Although he doesn't appear too happy that Dad popped the dandelion out from the yard above - he typically is thrilled!

James can play with his car and be content outside for hours it seems - getting in, getting out, pushing it a bit, pretending to fill it with gas ... and then repeating the entire cycle again.  He's a happy little guy when he can go "out-tide" and bask in the sunshine!

Living in a neighborhood filled with families we've learned to enjoy all it has to offer.  Walking paths to the river, the nearby movie theatre and James' new favorite - the ice cream truck!  Which just so happens to make all too frequent visits on our street due to the number of kids that live near by.  James picked out a selection the other night and got his first taste of a fruit bar - he kept saying it was hot but he finally learned to hold it by the stick in order to eat it without freezing his hands!  Yummy!

Happy Spring!!

Easter - Cupcakes, Eggs and the Hunt!

Easter celebrations a few weeks ago created a flurry of photo taking opportunities it seems. 

Grandma Kamrath visited us and her and James had a fun evening decorating cupcakes!  Mom baked them up - but James and Grandma were the true artists!

James got some help putting the frosting on, but loved putting sprinkles on himself.  He wasn't too sure about the bunny marshmallows but setting it aside, he focused on his task at hand.  He devoured his cupcake and for good measure had a handful of sprinkles at the end too.

James took his turn at dying eggs this year.  He loved being Mom's helper and managed to get dye all over his fingers and even take a taste of the vinegar based dye, "Yucky!" he noted, but continued to taste the other colors too.  The eggs went into the fridge and then were used in our egg hunt the following day.

James wasn't in the best of spirits on Easter Sunday, teething and tiredness led to a anticlimactic egg hunt.  He got the hang of it pretty quick, but then wasn't sold on the idea anymore after about six eggs.  The time he did enjoy created some cute picture ops though so we'll call it a success!

After perusing through his Easter basket goodies from Mom and Dad James had his eyes set on his chocolate bunny.  He finally got a taste of it this week - and if we hadn't taken it away from him I think he would have eaten the entire thing!  The ears were a good start!

We hope everyone had a blessed Easter!

New Words

James' vocabulary continues to grow. New words these last few weeks include:

- Sorry
- Beep
- Apple
- Baby
- Broccoli
- Pizza
- Cracker
- Cheese
- Duck(ie)
- Turkey
- Tractor
- Touch
- Shoe
- Cow
- Wash
- Sock
- Fly (usually referring to butterflies)
- Hat
- Abby and Ernie (of Sesame Street fame)
- Cooking
- Star
- Clock
- Winni (Rob and Liza's dog)

... I'm sure there are many others and trying to remember them all is getting difficult.  We are finding ourselves being careful about what we say these days as James is quick to pick up on words coming out of our mouths lately.

James also has begun to string words together with two of his most common phrases currently being ..
- "I don't want it"
- "I'm gonna get you"

Sharing just a few random pics from the past few weeks ...

Gotta wear shades Mom!

Drum! Drum! Drum!

Making a break for it!  Running with Momma and Poppa on race day.



We have been blessed with a few nice days of weather here and there ... spring really is in sight - at least the calendar says so - so we're looking forward to more evening walks and playing outside with the little guy after work.

Edinborough Park

After umpteeth recommendations to visit Edinborough Park this winter - we finally managed to visit a few weeks ago.  With the winter we've had this season it's no wonder Edinborough Park is a bustling place on the weekends!

Although the climbing gym was a lot of fun - James isn't quite old enough to explore it on his own just yet. Mom and Dad took turns traversing the course and lifting James up to the next level, going down slides, and crawling through tunnels. It was a workout needless to say! Our friend Michael met us there with his daughter Kendal and she showed us the ropes and led the way all morning. She has visited many times and knew her way around the gym!

Following the time in the climbing gym we headed to the open gym where there were lots of cars, scooters and balls to play with.  James was enthralled with this little blue car and I think he played with it for over an hour. 

Now the spring is almost upon us I'm not sure when we'll venture back to Edinborough but you can guarantee that we'll be back again when the weather turns cold and wet - particularly as James takes great naps when he's been busy all morning!