Wheels

Dylan is obsessed with anything with wheels, specifically two wheels. He has been riding a tricycle since last August and a two wheeler with training wheels since October.

He is also a terror in his power.wheels at Gammie and Papa's house. The driving has improved as long as his eyes are pointed in the direction he is driving.

He desperately wants to ride a dirt bike or motorcycle. It began very early - 2nd bday party - and this hot.wheel was a Christmas present. He has discovered, through feedback from his parents and grandparents that he must ride a bike with peddles and without training wheels in order to progress to his dream.

We have been riding rails to trails as a family since last summer. Pete has been hauling Dylan around in a kid's bike seat since then.

Dylan has been riding his two wheeler with training wheels since the driveway cleared from snow in April. Loves it. He has also been happily riding with the family on Daddy's bike in the seast on the trails but the seat has become too much. He is within a few pounds of the weight limit. So, we moved on. Trail-a-bike. Pete got it of craigs.list just before beach vacation and they broke it in good! Pete thinks that he rode, with Dylan, about ~25 miles during the week.


The only other thing that has been happening - just before vacation - was that Dylan started riding the two wheel scooter. I'm still looking for a picture - think Pete has one? But he mastered that as well.

So right after vacation - literally the next day - Dylan started riding his two wheeler with no training wheels. About 15 minutes in the driveway with Pete and here he is!

Trip to the Park and a Picnic at Home

Nora the explorer at the park...

So hot! I need a drink..."I do it."

Saturday was beautiful! Hot, sunny...good day for a park trip and for a picnic. We did both.

I am really enjoying Dylan at the park this year. He is so much more free to roam and try on his own this year. I watch his every move but he is so independent. He LOVES slides and all of the climbing that goes with it. He tries desperately to keep up with the big kids. Little legs only move so fast.

Gavin has taken his independence to a new level as well. He quickly found some kids near his age to play tag with and was all over the entire playground. We played at the park for more than an hour and they were all so tired they ALL took a nap. Very little push back and were asleep in minutes. Amazing. It did help to have the bribe of fireworks, picnic, fire and playtime with Hutchinson family.

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We indulged Pete's inner-pyro this weekend and stopped at Prism fireworks. Nothing giant but some good rockets, small mortars, and some fountains. Eric and Carrie Stopped down with their girls and fun was had by all. The kids had a blast. We had a campfire and fireworks after dark. So much fun!

You gotta wear shades...

What's vacation without a little drama? A little crazy? A few boo-boos, a few health challenges? After reading this post, you might begin to think that our vacation was a bust, but it just wasn't. It was awesome. We had a blast. Maybe I roll with the punches better these days. Act more like a seasoned parent, influenced by the addition of the third child - a little boy on the move. Who knows!

Not long after arriving on the beach, Pete and I had the big kids in the water jumping waves. Pete still had on his sunglasses. I pointed this out to him (shouldn't have - tempted fate or something like that). His comment further angered the gods of fate and not long after, he and Gavin got rolled pretty good. After throwing Gavin at me (in deeper water than Nora or Gavin could stand in), Pete actually quickly recovered his glasses. We got to hear about the miracle for a while and how much he loves his $5 Wal-Mart CHIPS-sunglasses. Oh, but he would have been mad replacing them in SC for $12! So, we all smiled and moved on (after I reminded Pete-again-that he had already left a pair of RayBan's in the waters of Myrtle Beach in the past - knock it off).

A few hours later, we were all back in the water. Trading big kids around on the boogie board. Gavin would go as many times as you would take him - literally! Nora on the other hand was being a bit of a scared-ie-cat about it. She would dramatically announce when she got off that water was in her eyes or that she went "too fast" or that she was afraid of the waves. So she only went 2-3 times in a row and then she would go back to the sand, surf, tide pool, whatever. There had been a recent switch and Nora was swimming with Gammie. I had Dylan out past the break so we could float. Gavin was being slung up the beach on the boogie board. Pete was out in deeper water and Papa was in shallow to "catch" Gav. So, then Gammie and Nora get tossed a round a little and Gammie loses her sunglasses in the surf. [Oh man - instant panic - Papa had just told her to take them to the beach. In her defense - she can't see her own hand in front of her, let alone Nora and anything else without them.] I heard her say, "they're gone!" They slipped away through her fingers down into the Atlantic water. Dylan and I moved quickly and lined up behind her (ocean, us, Gammie, beach - straight line) and began walking in. I shuffled through the sand. We all converged and I stepped right on them, caught them with my toes. I yelled out, "I've got'em!". Before I knew it, Gavin was going to Gammie and my Dad was diving under. He unfortunately swam down to the wrong foot and began to fumble in the sand. In the meantime, Dylan is hanging on to my hip and my foot with the glasses is sliding out to sea. My Dad has a hold on the other foot - I'm getting shorter. Through a few kicks and no recovery, Dad must have realized that he had the wrong foot. About this time (what 4 or 5 seconds have gone by), I turn to check the ocean. Yah, know, never turn your back to the waves. I was teaching the kids that one early that day. Well, so true. I mentioned my feet were getting further apart. I had no leverage in order to hold on to the glasses. And here came the wave. I thrust Dylan up in the air as far as I could as I had been doing all day but it wasn't enough. We got rolled-twice. It was short lived, no major undertow or anything like that but he came up coughing, spitting, snotting and crying. Poor baby. Little does he know that he was the hero of the day. Papa had recovered Gammie's glasses from the grips of my toes before we rolled up on the beach. WOOHOO! We laughed, rejoiced, enjoyed the excitement even. Another Tuesday, another day at the beach.

Grandparents...Sandbox, Priceless!

Pete and I have been trying to take advantage more often when we see Gammie and Papa for date night or at a minimum, shopping or afternoon errand running - kid free. We recently went to a picnic for a friend's wedding celebration. We had planned to go as a family. This would have been fine but far less socializing and relaxing. My parents watched the kids for the afternoon and evening. This resulted in watery-sandbox-messy-muddiness...followed by early baths, good supper, playful evening, movie night and books and a successful off to bed.

Grandparents will let you get away with anything...

Yup, Nora's feet strike again. She is standing in, maybe on, the bucket. She is not afraid to get dirty. Neither in Dylan. He was still a little confused as to what sand is for. He repeated tried in out as a new food. He won't eat cooked carrots or broccoli but will eat sand?!?

WOW, I'm so glad I didn't have to clean up this mess, or them for that matter!