Splash Park
Found another splash park to go to with friends.
It's just about the only thing to do in this stifling heat.
Happy Birthday Lens Baby
We celebrated a special birthday today.
Our playgroup, Lens Baby, has been around for a whole year now. Can't believe it's only been a year, actually. Feels longer! We got together for an ice cream party and had a great time. Sam was...okay. He's still a toy-hoarder and let out a whopper of a scream here and there, but overall he's playing better than he used to. He loved his ice cream, that's for sure! As soon as I scooped the vanilla ice cream into his bowl he said "No chocolate!" So sprinkles it was.
The last picture is one I took of him at our first meetup, the same house where we were today. He talked on a toy phone at our meetup today, too!
July 27th, 2010
Happy Birthday Lens Baby!
The Cweek!
Sam and I had a fun playdate yesterday. Several of us "momtogs" and our boys met at a neighborhood creek to let the kids splash around in their rainboots. The water is very clear and shallow and the creek is nestled in a quiet spot, downhill from a walking trail. The only thing missing yesterday was a little sunshine, which would have made for some pretty sparkles on the water. But Sam had a pretty good time, anyway, especially considering we came directly from school when he's often tired and cranky. He was a little reserved in the water, but did wade out into the creek with me and had a great time playing with a stick on the "shore". We'll definitely have to go back to cool down on a hot sunny day this summer!
Farm to Market to Table to Tummy
Warning: This post contains no Sam pictures.
It's tales from the
NEST
, you know. It's not
ALL
about Sam.
Who am I kidding. I know it's all about Sam. But there are other birdies in this nest, too! Birdies who like to take pictures of..... vegetables. Lots and lots of vegetables.
I visited the Dallas Farmer's Market with some friends last Saturday while Gram and Pops took care of Sam. We had several reasons for going: to take pictures, to get some yummy local produce, and to have a few child-free hours to ourselves!
We had a great time. There are lots of things to see at the market - plenty of colors and interesting people to watch. I came home with zucchini, new potatoes, tangeloes that tasted like candy, tomatoes, a small pot of Cuban oregano to plant in our herb garden, and one pound of peanuts (in the shell) for Sam! I thought he might like to know where peanut butter comes from. After all, he is peanut butter's biggest fan.
Sunday night I made dinner for Brian and I with some of our market finds. It was delish. We had baked chicken with Crash Hot Potatoes (from the market), seasoned with herbs (from our back garden), and sauteed zuccini (also from the market). It was mighty tasty - I wish we lived closer to the market. We may try the Frisco or McKinney Farmer's Market this summer.
I'll make sure to bring Sam with me and get some pictures of him holding a vegetable or something. Because, you know, it IS all about Sam.
Heritage Homestead
I came here on a field trip once when I was little girl, and again with
my
first class over ten years ago.
Yesterday, I got to take Sam and that was the best trip of all! We went with our photography group and there were lots of great photo ops.
Sam loved everything - the chicks, horses, sheep and hens. He got so excited over the eggs, both the toy-eggs and the real eggs, that we found in the hen house. And he loved watching the tractor, throwing sticks in the creek, and learning how to jump on a hopscotch game.
I think he like the red one-room schoolhouse the best, though! Doesn't he look like a model student? Ha! He didn't stay in that desk for long - he wanted to play the piano that was "like Granny Nell's"!
Jumpin' Land
More like Slammin' Land.
I took Sam to a playdate at an indoor playground. We wanted the kids to burn off some of their winter wiggles. Sam took it a step further and burned some skin off his face - rug-burned that is. He went down a slide that was just too slick and despite the fact I was right in front of him he kept going, on his belly, like a torpedo through the water, face-down on the indoor/outdoor carpeting. He cried for a bit, but once I washed him off and determined the blood coming out of his nose was from a small cut and not internal bleeding, he wanted "DOWN Mama!" so that he could run and climb some more. I shook for a good three hours, and checked him for concusion over the next couple of days.
Other than that
it was a decent place, but the moms decided to try another one like it that we've heard better things about. Hopefully we'll stay injury-free next time!
Dallas Children's Museum
Sam loved his first museum visit.
We visited the Dallas Children's Museum at Fair Park with our playgroup. It was a great place with different rooms set up for the kids to play in. There was a fire station, complete with a truck/slide, coats and helmets. We explored the theater with fun-house mirrors and the musical instruments station and the construction site, where we pretend-sawed some things in half. Sam's two favorite spots were the water table, where fresh, cold water trickled down from a mountain (and gave giant rubber duckies a place to float) and the farm where we played with fake veggies, collected wooden eggs from clucking chickens and milked Elsie the cow. I liked the backyard exhibit, despite the many glass cases full of creepy-crawly bugs, because the termite tunnel wore Sam out for the long ride home!
The Big Orange Pumpkin Patch
It was SO big, and SO orange, we had to go twice!
The first time we went to Celina's famous Big Orange Pumpkin Farm, Brian and I took Sam on a Sunday afternoon, after waking Sam up from a short afternoon nap (a nap on Mama, no less). Late afternoon naps tend to make Sam cranky, as do naps cut short because we wake him up. He enjoyed the farm just not as much as we had expected. There was a lot of whining.
A lot of whining.
And I'm pretty sure we made the hayride fairly unpleasant for three other families. The massive crowds didn't help anybody's mood either!
But when we went with our playgroup, on a weekday, we pretty much had the place to ourselves and Sam had a bit more fun! He enjoyed running around, feeding the goats and playing on the pumpkins.
Do I look like I'm ready for the hayride to be over? Because I am.
And with both trips to the farm, we got to pick a small pumpkin straight off the vine. Happy Fall!
Playgroups
Sam's always very quiet at first, and does his little scowl whenever a new person says hi or, for that matter, merely looks at him. But eventually he warms up and starts smiling and babbling and everyone ends up loving him. These pictures were taken at Chick-Fil-A in the play area. A first for us! This three-year-old boy loved Sam, and Sam was in awe of him, until a Chick-Fil-A employee gave him his very own balloon to take home. Then it was all about the balloon. Oh, Sam!
Our March calendar is full of playdates (except for next week when we have some very special visitors coming to Texas) and our April calendar is filling up quickly. It's fun to get out together and I enjoy watching Sam interact with other kids. He's something else!