Touch-A-Truck

I took Ethan to our local parks department's Touch-A-Truck event last summer, and he had a blast! Now that he is a year older, he was even more excited about seeing, sitting in, and exploring lots of different types of vehicles. Even though the forecast threatened rain, the weather did not deter people from attending this huge event. The weather ended up being ideal (low 70's and overcast), and there were very long lines at many of the vehicles. Ethan got to explore a fire truck, old-fashioned fire truck, police car, school bus, race car, golf cart, drag racecar, really big lawn mower, mail truck, and the chicken limousine (yes, a limo with a huge chicken on top). Even though we were there for over 2 hours, we still only had time to explore about half of the vehicles that were there! While we were at the event, Ethan said that his favorite was the mail truck, but now when we ask him, all he talks about is the "chicken car". This year Ryan was along for the ride in his stroller (sleeping most of the time). I'm sure that he will enjoy the event next year with his big brother.

Sitting in the modern fire truck
Ethan and his buddy Sam "dancing" by the fire truck

Ethan enjoyed trying to steer the police car. He turned the steering wheel hard enough that the car's wheels actually turned.

The old-fashioned fire truck was fun too

It was neat to play with all of the switches and gauges

Playing around on the back of the old-fashioned fire truck
Ethan the drag racer

I'm sure that Dan would love to take Ethan for a spin on a golf cart!

Ethan on the bus with his friends Sam and Quinn
Notice Ethan's huge grin in the two mail truck photos. I'm not sure what prompted the excitement about the mail truck specifically, but he loved it!

The chicken limousine

The Cars movie was playing in the chicken limo, so it was difficult to convince the boys to come out!

Ironically, when we arrived at the Touch-A-Truck event there was a sign on this race car that said "Do NOT touch". Fortunately someone removed the sign at some point during the morning and allowed kids to sit in it.
My little race car driver

Brotherly Bonding and So You Think You Can Dance

Ethan has been very sweet and gentle with his baby brother since we first brought Ryan home. We are so glad that he is a wonderful big brother and takes such good care of Ryan. Lately he has been really into "reading" to baby Ryan. Tonight he pulled his chair over to Ryan's bumbo seat so that he could read books to him. It was cute to watch them- Ryan loves all of the attention from his big brother! (Ryan doesn't have a shirt on because part of his evening meal of sweet potatoes and oatmeal ended up all over his shirt).
I really need to clear some items off of the memory card in our digital camera. I was disappointed that I couldn't record any more of Ethan's dancing with So You Think You Can Dance tonight. He was in rare form! He danced and danced and danced, and he came up with some new moves. He had Dan and I in stitches as we watched him. Here is the little snippet of one dance that I was able to record before the memory card reached its capacity.

Visit to a Fire Station

Today we joined Lori, Caelyn, and Elise for a visit to a local fire station that was organized through our public library. Ethan was really excited to see the fire trucks, and he enjoyed listening to a presentation by the firefighters. The firemen talked about various equipment that they use to fight fires, and one put on his full firefighter garb (including an oxygen tank and mask) so that the kids could become familiar with what he looked like and not be fearful in case they encountered a firefighter during an actual emergency. The kids learned how to stop, drop, and roll from Sparky the Firehouse Dog (Ethan thought he was really neat). The firemen also demonstrated 2 different types of water rescues in a pond behind the fire station and sprayed kids with water from the fire trucks. We didn't stay for the spraying, but were able to enjoy the presentation and water rescues.

Sparky demonstrating how to stop, drop, and roll

Ethan wanted to see Sparky, but was a little intimidated by the crowd of older kids

After waiting patiently, Ethan got to hug Sparky twice and give him a high five

Caelyn, Ethan, and Elise got to sit on one of the fire trucks

Ryan's First Cold and Ear Infection

The inevitable finally happened. Ryan caught his first cold, courtesy of big brother Ethan. Ethan came down with a really yucky cold the day after vacation Bible school ended, and Ryan started with symptoms too a few days later. I called our pediatrician's office when the congestion and cough lingered for 2 weeks, and they suggested waiting just a little longer to bring him in to see if it would clear up on its own. Unfortunately the congestion went from Ryan's head to chest and back to his head again and he was not sleeping well, so I took him in to the doctor today. Turns out he was beginning to develop an ear infection, so it was good that we were able to start him on an antibiotic today. While we were there I had him weighed, and he was 14 lbs 4 oz with his clothing on. This charts at the 5th percentile, which was a bit disconcerting for me since he's dropped from the 25th to the 5th percentile over the last 3 1/2 months. Our pediatrician wasn't very concerned though since he figured that Ryan was probably eating less than normal the last couple of weeks due to his illness. We're hoping that his weight gain is decent when I take him back in for his 6 month appointment. Fortunately he has been in a great mood even with the cold symptoms, so we are very glad for that!

Chilly Evening at the Splash Park

Despite the cool weather, we had a fun time meeting our friends Jackie, Logan, and Lauren at a splash park to play this evening. The kids enjoyed running around and through the various water features, but soon became too chilled to continue to be that wet. So, they took a break to warm up in towels and then "painted" with water on the concrete with foam brushes that Jackie brought. Ethan was a bit rough with his, so it didn't stay intact very long, but he and Lauren had fun while it lasted!

Logan and Ethan

Logan, Lauren, and Ethan (too interested in the water spray to look up)

Lauren turned the wheel to control the water flow

Ethan and Lauren "painting"Uh ohInvestigating the remnants of the foam brush

Fun with Friends

Ethan and I have been enjoying playdates with wonderful friends during this unusual-for-July, but beautiful nonetheless, weather.

Ethan and Annie in the sandbox

Elise, Ethan, and Caelyn holding hands

Dinosaur Show

A really neat dinosaur show came to a nearby venue this week, and we decided to take Ethan because he's recently developed an interest in dinosaurs. His favorite is the triceratops. The event was described as "edutainment" in a local newspaper article because it is narrated by an actor portraying a paleontologist (who provides facts and information about dinosaurs throughout the show) while 15 life-sized dinosaurs roam the floor. Some are robotic and others are really elaborate costumes. The show was very well done, and Ethan was thrilled to watch and learn about the various types of dinosaurs. Some kids in the audience were scared of them, but Ethan wasn't intimidated at all, even when they roared really loudly.

The "paleontologist" and a stegosaurus

Mother and baby brachiosaurus

A brachiosaurus "hug"Ankylosaurus and torosaurus

Some of the props around the arena were inflatable plants, flowers, and trees

Velociraptors eating

Pteradactyl

During the intermission we tried to get a couple of photos of us with Ethan. He was in no way interested in smiling for the camera though, as he wanted to keep his eyes on the floor for when the show began again.

Mother and baby Tyrannosaurus Rex

Moving Day

Today Ben and Nicole (along with family and friends) loaded their furniture and boxes into the moving truck.

I didn't realize until later that our outfits matched (this wasn't intentional).
Please excuse my hideous hair; I overslept my alarm and rushed out the door with wet hair in a ponytail

Unfortunately, it turned out that the moving truck that Ben and Nicole rented was not large enough, so they had to rent an additional U-Haul trailer. Even then some items did not fit and were donated to Goodwill. Nicole has an attachment to this big, old, green couch, and it's kind of a running joke. Their realtor had recommended that they remove it from their house (it was in Kara's play room) for showings since it is ummm... interesting-looking ;) It has been stored in their garage, and Nicole was disappointed that it was an item that didn't fit in their moving truck or trailer, so it was donated to Goodwill. We took one last photo of Nicole, her mom, and Kyle sitting on the couch before it was donated. Farewell green couch!

Packing and Playing

Our friends had a lot of packing to do since they had left most of their belongings in their old house when they moved out of state. I went to their house today so that Ethan and Kara could play (keep Kara occupied while the adults packed), and also so that I could visit more with Nicole.

Nicole with their new family addition, Kyle. He and Ryan are 4 1/2 months apart in age and will be great playmates in the future!

It was so cute to see Ethan and Kara hugging!
They have definitely missed each other.

The last photo in this big recliner- It didn't fit in their moving truck, so it was donated to Goodwill

I have lots of photos of Ethan and Kara sitting in front of Ben and Nicole's fireplace, so we had to get just one more before they close on the house! They both look so grown up to me in this picture.

Reunion with Friends

Our friends, Ben, Nicole, Kara, and Kyle, who moved out of state last Fall were in town for a few days to pack up the remaining items in their house because it finally sold. While they were in town, they took a break from packing to spend some time with friends at one of their favorite pizza places (Donatos-Yum!) Ethan and Kara were SO excited to see each other again. The last time they had played together was at the end of October. They were all smiles! It was wonderful to spend time with Ben, Nicole, and Kara as well as lots of other friends, some of whom we don't get to see very often. This was also the first time that we met their new family addition, Kyle, who was born in June.