Boating, biking and Father's Day!

After church this morning - and a MAJOR meltdown - we headed to pickup lunch and go to Gray's Lake park. We ate at a picnic table by the swimming beach and boy was there some great people watching! Paul really dug his organic squirtable yogurt.....
Happy Father's Day daddy....you are the best!

Given Paul's obsession with his new big boy bike....we took it along so he could ride it by the lake.

We rented a peddle boat which meant we all had to throw on some fabulous life vests!

Check out Paul's fabulous peddle boat skills. He was quite the helper.



We all worked up a bit of a sweat and nothing cools you down better then some ice cream! Paul picked the pink one - no surprise.

We were all pooped out and headed home. Paul had to wear his helmet the whole ride home. I guess he was extra protected in case of an accident.

A little Saturday fun....and a new bike!

Saturday morning rolled around and mommy decided to make waffles and bacon for breakfast....a special treat in our house! While Paul's mood this week has been a little trying at times (ok, a LOT trying), we continue to be proud of his progress with the potty and want to reward his big boy behavior. I would love it if his tantrums and lack of listening skills would get a little more under control, but one thing at a time.

We cleaned up breakfast and headed to the Science Center - one of his absolute favorite places. He talks about the Science Center a lot and we try to limit our visits to no more than once per week....good thing we are members or we would be in the poor house! The Des Moines Menace soccer team made a visit and surprisingly Paul was not that interested. He is very excited about soccer right now and actually has quite the little leg on him. We have been looking at possibly starting him in a league this fall - no final decision on that just yet! Anyway, so several of the players and the team mascot were walking around which was kind of cool. Paul was playing at the domino table and noticed that the giant soccer ball head mascot was playing too....ha!
A little fishing......gotta watch him with that long pole!

We grabbed some lunch and then it was off to buy Paul a big boy bike! We started him last year on a Spiderman big wheel and he has been mastering the art of pedaling (versus just pushing off with his feet) this year. He seemed ready for a 12 inch bike and was VERY interested in buying a helmet so we decided to take the plunge. He got to pick his helmet....big surprise that we ended up with Spiderman! He insisted on wearing it around the store - he took it off just long enough for the clerk to scan it and then it went right back on his head. We got a few strange stares but oh well!

We raced home to put the bike together - the box said it was easy and would take just a short time.....30 minutes and some cursing (not while Paul was in the room) later.....his new bike was all assembled!

A small seat adjustment.....Paul was "patiently" waiting.....

And we are off!

Pedaling hard......

Big smiles!

He really did pretty well for his first time on his big boy bike. He kept wanting to push back on the peddles and brake and we had to give him some pushes to keep him going, but overall he did great! And then we got home and got to see his awesome helmet head! Unbelievable how sweaty his little head was after 2 trips around the block.

Aahhhhhhh....lemonade!

And we had to take video of his very first ride on his big boy bike.....

Fun with Gram and Pa....

Paul had SO much fun with Gram and Pa for 4 whole days.....I still cannot believe how many different activities they crammed in. Here are some pictures from just a few of the fun things that they did.

Fun in the pool with a long range squirter.
Is this what they mean by a water table - I just squirt it with a hose, right?

They took a fun trip to the park.....and Paul flew his very first kite!

Our little climber.....

Happy boy!

An afternoon at the Science Center.......

Fishing at the Science Center with Pa.....

They got to make a rocket and then fire it off......

Cool digger.....

And one of the high points.....a trip to Uncle Tom's special train room. A boy's dream come true.

Chicago or Bust!

Jason and I just wrapped up our longest time away from Paul to date....4 whole days! I had a retreat for our board of directors and spouses come along. So, we headed to Chicago and Gram and Pa came to hang out with Paul. We had a fun time staying right on the Magnificent Mile....oh, and I had a major celebrity sighting! I rode up 7 floors in an elevator with just me, Kelsey Grammer and his 2 wiener dogs. Completely surreal. I played it cool and we chatted about his dogs - he was actually very pleasant.

Jason flew back to Cedar Rapids a day early to participate in the pre-wedding festivities for our friends Jeff and Sisilia. I hurried to Cedar Rapids on Saturday to catch the wedding and reception....I was 20 minutes late to the ceremony due to a delayed flight, but I snuck in and saw most of the action. It was a lovely wedding and reception - congratulations to Jeff and Sisilia! Because we had been gone for 4 days, we decided to drive back to our house late on Saturday and wake up on Sunday with Paul. What a great feeling to see our little man after so many days away.

Daddy broke out a fancy new snow cone maker.....which Paul was very excited about. Instead of the nasty sugary syrup they provide, we used fruit juice instead.


The lid goes right here.....

And this is how it opens......

And this is where the ice goes......

Needless to say, he enjoyed the end result (of which I got no good pictures). We hung out most of the day - playing outside and inside and just generally spending time together. The poor kid was so tired after all of the fun he had with Gram and Pa...in the middle of dinner, he asked to sit on Daddy's lap and then proceeded to fall asleep while eating cashews...literally with his hand in the cashew bowl......funny little man. He went to bed at 5:30 and slept until 7:00 the next morning. Clearly tired.

Tractor rides rock!

Nice relaxing days are the best! Nothing major today - just some good quality play time, some shopping and a yummy dinner and tractor ride.


We had soccer, golf and baseball going at the same time!
On the run......

Checking out the bubbles in his mower.....

It's a bird, it's a plane....yeah, it was a plane!

Someone got a bit creative and decided to truly combine all 3 sports into one....a soccer ball being putted into the net with a baseball bat.

We headed to the mall for some quick shopping and then stopped by the Machine Shed for dinner. How many different cups does one kid need?

The cool part about eating at the Machine Shed is the fun John Deere tractor ride afterwards! Someone was in heaven. How ironic that Paul just happened to be wearing his John Deere shirt today.