Thursday, June 18, 2009

Visitor from Nature

For those of you that don't know my house, I have a bunch of woods behind my house. I think it is labeled as wetlands so they can never be developed. When we first moved into the house, everyone told us that we would probably see a ton a deer back there. We had not seen a single deer out there....until this morning. I was standing in the kitchen looking out the window when I saw a deer walking around back there. I went in the house to get the camera and it was gone by the time I got back out there. :( So, I stood on the deck watching for him to come back. An, yeah, he did. I had to zoom the camera in to get a good picture which means that the picture came out a little blurry, but you can see him. It was sooooo cool!

WhiteCaps Baseball

We got a flyer in the mail last week stating that National Heritage Academies (which Chandler Woods, his school for next year, is part of) was sponsoring the game. So, we decided to go. This was Samantha's first baseball game.I think she had fun. She was a little antsy in the beginning. So we got food. She had her first ballpark hotdog. Of course I had to cut it up into a bowl for her. Marc enjoyed his hotdog at the game as well.National Heritage Academies had stuff for the kids to decorate visors to wear during the game.The game started about 7:00 and ended about 9:30-10:00. After the game there were fireworks. The kids enjoyed that. :) After the fireworks, we could go walk the warning track on the field. Marc asked if he could do it, so Daddy took him out. (Samantha was so tired she cold hardly keep her eyes open).By the time we got home, the kids didn't get into bed until 11:30pm. So, needless to say, the kids are a little extra tired and cranky today. Wish me luck. ;)

Big Boy Bike

We got Marc a bike for Christmas 2 Christmas' ago. We had gotten him a full size kids bike thinking since he was so tall for his age he would be able to reach the pedals. We were wrong. For the last 2 summers we have been checking to see if his legs were long enough. Finally this summer they are! :)A couple of weeks before we went on vacation, Daddy Marc took Marc out with his bike and was planning on helping him (with a push here and there) ride it to the end of the street (like 3 houses). He did it by himself! He did so well that we decided to let him ride it around the block while we took our walk. He did really well. The only times he needed help was to get up a hill and slowing down when going down a hill. At one time he got going so fast (he kept pedaling as he went down the hill) that he fell off his bike. Luckily Daddy was there to catch him. So now, whenever we all go for a walk around the block, Marc rides his bike. :)

Outside Play Time

When we got back from AR, the weather was cold and ucky! Marc has been asking to go outsdie and play. Well, Monday the weather was finally warm enough so we went out to play. The sun was so hot that we only stayed outside for about 30-45 minutes then came inside. Both kids had pink cheeks from being so warm.

Bonfire at the Bray's house

Our neighbors across the street from us have a bonfire pit. During the nice weather they usually will do a bonfire once a weekend. Since the snow has melted Marc has been asking "When is Miss Amy going to have another camp-out again?!"
Saturday night, they had a bonfire. Marc was so excited! They usually have stuff for s'mores and dough-boys. Dough-boys are the refrigerator biscuits (the kind in the tubes). They wrap those around a stick and "cook" them over the fire. Once they are cooked, they roll them in melted butter and then in cinnamon & sugar. Yummy! I much prefer those over s'mores. Of course, I had one of those too. ;)Samantha was just glad to be out of the stroller. She had been in it all morning and afternoon at the Summer Celebration. She had fun crawling around their back yard.

Rockford Start of Summer Celebration

Every year we go to a "festival" in downtown Rockford. There is a parade, a carnival, food booths, crafters booths (selling stuff), and a kids' crafts table (for free!). Of course, I forgot my camera, so you will have to forgive the quality, all the picture were taken with my camera phone. (Thank goodness for that phone!)
We started out by going to the parade. Samantha really seemed to enjoy it! We was waving with her whole hand turning instead of her hand folding, it was cute. We decided she was practicing for Miss America. ;)The local fire department lets the kids dress up in their equipment......and shoot the water hose and do a "tug of war" type game with a ball hanging from a rope over their heads. Marc won his game!After we got done with the fire hose we went over to the carnival. We quickly discovered that it cost a young fortune to do anything. Each ticket was $1. Each ride was 3-4 tickets a person. We told Marc he could do 1 ride. He chose the fun house. So, of course Daddy had to go with him, so we paid $6 for Marc to go in the fun house. That is ridiculous! They also had midway games. We let him choose 1 game to play, because, again, he chose something that 1 of had to do with him. he wanted to do the game where you spray water in the hippos mouth and see who get to the top first. He would a really cool tie to wear. :)
After he "rode" his "ride" and played his game, we went to get something to eat. Again, we paid a lot of money, but it was ok, we were having fun.
We went over to the kids crafts table. It is sponsered each year by the local toy store. Last year they some really cool crafts (that we later went to the store to by some of the kits). This year they had t-shirts they could decorate (for free!). There were Do-A-Dot stampers (washable bingo daubers) and fabric markers. So Marc made one for himself and I made one for Samantha. They both turned out really cute. I brought them home and washed them, after all they had been sitting around in boxes and passed around by a bunch of different hands). I took them out of the wash and all the washable Do-A-Dot stampers designs had washed off. :( Luckiliy I have regular bingo daubers in the house. We will just get to have fun decorating then a second time. :)
After some crafting we were headed back to the car when we ran into Dee Jay the Clown. We was making balloon figures for kids. Samantha was memorized by him. She just stared at his as he made the things for them.Marc wanted him to make aballoon snocone. He said he didn't know how to make that but he did know how to make his a snowman instead. He said he was "the only kid today to get a snowman. So not to go telling everyone." ;) He made Samantha flower bracelet. She wasn't sure what to think of it at first. She eventually let us put it on her arm. But then we were too worried she was going to pop it she was playing with it so much.It was a very fun day!

"More" Somersault

When Marc was a baby, Daddy Marc would do somersaults with him. When he does he is more flipping them while holding onto their necks so they don't get hurt. Friday night Marc decided it was time for Samantha to have her first somersault experience. If you listen carefully after I ask her in the video, and will say "more". It sounds a little bit more like "moo", but we knew what she was trying to say. Since now we know she can say more (and all done), we make her tell us one or the other with food. She has to tell us if she want "moo" or if she is "aa daa". :) Enjoy!