Checking out the Clydesdales at Grant's Farm on Memorial Day. Lane loved petting them and Grant enjoyed reading their individual name plates. Now that he knows how to read-he reads everything. Every sign, menu, speed limit sign. Lol
It was a great day to visit Grant's Farm. I thought it may be too busy with it being Memorial Day but it really wasn't...at least not while we were there. And the weather= perfect.
The boys really enjoyed themselves. They had a lot of fun!
They have a mister/sprinkler for the kids to run through...most kids probably run through once maybe twice...not our boys... I lost count...probably 20 trips in and out of the mister.
New since the last time we visited....the walk in bird cage. 200 birds ready for us to feed....I loved this. It was just so neat to have the little birds land right on your arm. They were beautiful. Lane loved this.....Grant did not love this. He was terrified.
Science Center
After Grant's Farm we hit up the Science Center for more fun. The boys had a great time playing here too. Grant's favorite exhibit was the tornado.
Lane's favorite exhibit: the dinosaurs!!!!
Grant loved radaring the cars passing by too.
This was nearly impossible to build with Lane with us. Grant, Jason and I would get the arch nearly built and Lane would punch it down! Grant would get soooo mad. Finally we got it built (for a few seconds).
Bye Bye Pacifier Party
For weeks we have talked with Lane about how he is just too big for his pappy (pacifier) and we would need to tell him good bye soon (the pappy not Lane of course). He had two pacifiers and he chose to throw his blue one away in the trash but said, "I'll keep my green one..I like the green one." I didn't know if it was going to be as easy as it was when we had to tell Grant to get rid of his pappy. He just threw his in the trash and "gave" it to the garbage man. Easy peasy. I have read that you can just cut off a little bit of the tip each day until eventually they just don't want it anymore because they can't suck on it like they used to. I knew Lane would be on to me and would be smart enough to know that I sabotaged it. I also heard of digging a hole in the ground and burying the pacifier only to find a tree had grown in it's place overnight. This seemed to be a cute idea but far too much work and besides...I have too many darn trees to mow around as it is..heaven knows we don't need another tree in the yard. He didn't want to part with his last remaining pacifier by just throwing it away as I suggested so I decided we would take the approach we took with potty training. We told him we were going to have a Pappy Party. A "Bye- Bye Pappy Party" with snacks, juice, balloons and toys. We asked him when and where we should have this party and he replied, "at the park tomorrow." Lol...this response confirmed my belief that he is far to big to still have a pappy. I act as though he had to have it all of the time....this is not true. He just depended on it when he hurt himself and was upset or when it was nap/nighttime. So....we took him to the Dollar Tree to pick out his toys and balloons for his party. He really enjoyed this part....I think it helped to include him in every step of the process. We then gathered up our dollar store purchases and then headed to Duncan park. We had spent several days explaining to him that when we got there he could tell his pappy good bye and then we would tie his pappy onto the balloons and let them float off into the sky. He was really excited about this and talked about it often all the way up to the time of release.
Grant picked out some fun silly string to shoot to make this party more festive. Notice that in this picture we have 3 balloons.
One would think this would do the trick and would be enough helium to
take that pappy off into the sky without any problems but NOPE.....it
just floated right down to the ground. We were all laughing so hard. So, Jason being the good ole Dad
he is took off to another trip to the Dollar Tree for more balloons.
Meanwhile....Lane blew his bubbles and was very content with waiting around for Dad to return.
Grant must have thought we said "Dance Party" cause that was what he was doing.
I told them that I wanted to take a picture of them waiting for Dad. This is the pose Lane struck and Grant copied. Hilarious.
Dad came back with 5 more balloons- (8 balloons in total). This is Lane holding his pappy one last time and telling him bye-bye.
We held our breath as we waited to see if this time the pappy would soar off as expected or float back down to the ground like last time. Will it sink or will it float?????????
They did-they took off- and soared
And soared...
Right into a tree! Oh my....Lane didn't see this happen as he took off running for the play equipment immediately after telling his pap bye.
It was a very successful pappy party (minus the balloon dilemma) and worked like a charm. He only asked for his pappy once since Saturday. I explained to him that his pappy is probably up in the clouds floating around playing with other paps and reminded him of how much fun we had at the park at his pappy party. I think it helps that he was the one who let go of the balloon string and I didn't have to take any ownership of his pappy being gone. I didn't have to cut it, throw it away or bury it. HE DID IT! And he had fun while doing it. He hasn't asked for it at night or when he has gotten hurt as I thought he might. It's been a breeze and I would suggest this method to anyone else wishing their toddler would kick the nasty pappy sucking habit. Worked better than I ever would have dreamed. Of course I praise God cause I did pray on this for a while and I feel certain he heard me when I asked for a smooth transition away from Lane's beloved pappy.
Cassie's Birthday Bowling Party
Sunday we went to Quincy to celebrate my niece, Cassie's 7th birthday party at the bowling alley. This was Lane's first attempt at bowling.
They had this nifty little rack for the little kids...all they had to do was set their ball up there and give it a little tap. Of course they had the bumpers in the gutters too so Lane often got most all of his pins down.
We had a very busy and eventful weekend. This weekend kicked off the first of many busy summer weekends. I love when we are active and go places that not only entertain the boys but also allow for memories to be made....even if that means my chores at home accumulate. Which they most certainly did...you should have seen my laundry baskets! Holy Laundry! I say, "bring it on!" Bring on summer fun! Bring it on in heaps and piles-just like my laundry. For- all too soon...our boys will be grown and Jason and I will wonder what happened to our babies.
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