Weekend to the cities

Josh (9), Jack(6), Grace(2)

I had to go to the cities for the weekend to attend an annual trade show and was able to squeeze in a visit to my sister Maureen's house. It's so much fun to see my niece and nephews! They are
a great bunch and all so funny. I wish I could have brought Paul with me and I can't wait to plan a weekend to bring him. We had burgers, sang Karaoke, and played with Grace, Jack, and Josh. The older boys, Gabe and Spencer, were kind enough to let me play a few rounds of Guitar Hero...I struggle with the "easy" setting but they fly through the "expert" levels. It's amazing how well they can play. I love that game but I'm glad we don't own it because I think I would become addicted! I'm really looking forward to our next visit to the Ryan's!

Grandpa Bob

Paul and Grandpa Bob always have fun together! This past weekend a favorite game of Paul's was to be bounced up and down on Bob's legs and then be bounced off on the the floor...then Paul would say "more, more" by both saying it and signing it. "More" is the one sign language word we taught Paul. Sounds like this game went on for awhile but it's hard to resist Paul when his little hands come together and he says/signs "More, More"!


Another favorite game to play with Grandpa at the camp is for Bob to chase Paul with a mounted deer head that hasn't been hung up yet...we haven't got any pictures of that particular game yet but it is so funny to watch! Bob with come towards Paul with the deer and wave its antlers back and forth and Paul will laugh hysterically and jump up in the nearest lap. Then he wants to do it over and over AND over. "More, More".

Weekend with Grandma and Grandpa

Paul spent Saturday night with Bob and Diane at the hunting camp because I had to do some work at the bookstore on Saturday morning and had a race on Sunday morning. Paul absolutely loves it up at the camp and always has so much fun with Grandma and Grandpa! Diane sent me a few pictures from the weekend and gave me a nice detailed description of each so I will pass along her descriptions with the pictures shown below. Sounds like they had a fun weekend...we're so lucky to have such great grandparents for Paul!

Diane: Paul looking thru a Lund boat catalog. He was mesmerized by the boats in this catalog and kept paging thru and paging thru and paging thru. He loves looking at the boats especially the red ones.

Diane: Paul laying on the coffee table is actually Paul getting in the boat. He'd lay the catalog on the table and then climb into the boat. It was hilarious.

Diane: Paul has done so well with Minnesota Mammals that we have added the Buffalo from South Dakota and now the GOAT. He likes to look at Uncle Kevin's goat mount in his hunting shack. This weekend he went in there by himself ... back and forth, and back and forth. Then he petted it for a long time ....

Thanks for the pictures and funny captions, Diane! The climbing on the coffee table to get INTO the boat catalog was the best! Another great weekend of memories at the hunting camp!

Bye-bye bottle

We've been able to switch Paul over from a bottle to a cup for his milk without any major problems...he was still getting a bottle in the morning and one before bed but I noticed he would just be playing with it a majority of the time or would want several "refills" of the bottle and then wouldn't really have an appetite. I thought it would be harder to phaze out the bottle but it went smoothly...now we just have to work on the pacifer.

Today, I decided to pack away all the bottles and toys that Paul wasn't interested in anymore. That, of course, turned into a bigger project as more and more items were packed away that Paul has outgrown or doesn't need anymore...burp cloths, rattles, Robeez, etc. Another big box was added to the pile downstairs of stuff that Paul no longer needs.

Wow!!! When did my little baby go from this:

to this?

Library meltdown

I took Paul to the library yesterday afternoon...he'd never been there before and I thought he would enjoy walking around and looking at the books. We had fun reading a few books and looking out the big windows at the river. In the kids' section there was a red wagon filled with board books that Paul would take books from...we were having a pretty good time! I saw a friend from high school and we chatted. As we were chatting, I noticed the red wagon being pushed across the carpet and the back of a little red head bobbing along. Yep, that's my son pushing the large wagon around the library! He did receive a few smiles from other library patrons as I retrived him AND the wagon.

Then countdown to meltdown...

I wanted to check out a couple of new DVD's because ours are getting a little stale. I found 2 and handed them to Paul to bring to the checkout desk. Major catastrophe when I took the DVD's from him to have the women check them out. Of course, I hadn't dug out my card yet so I had to set Paul on the floor and yep, full-on yelling and leg kicking. Wonderful. The lady quickly checked us out and handed them back to Paul...tantrum over.

Now, I'm sure it felt worse to me because it was over pretty quickly but it felt so magnified because we were in the QUIET library and all I could hear were the irritated screams of my little angel. I didn't even see anyone looking to see who was making the racket and even if they were annoyed, who cares! Bring on the trying two's!

Helmet head

Grandpa Bob bought Paul a helmet for when he goes on the 4-wheeler and it was really funny when we tried it on in the house. He didn't know what to think of it and didn't really like it until he realized that having it on meant he could go with Dad on the 4-wheeler. We could hardly get his jacket and shoes on when he knew he was going to go for a ride! It's a crazy-looking helmet and we all got a good laugh when he was walking around with it on.

Weekend at the cabin

We went to the hunting camp again for the weekend and we had a great time even though it rained pretty much all day Saturday and Sunday. There was a race in Bigfork on Saturday so I ran that in the morning while Paul stayed with Bob and Diane at the cabin. I can't say I ever thought I would find a race to do while we stayed at the hunting camp but it's a new race that's sponsored by the Bigfork hospital. It was held on a road that is quite popular for grouse hunting and since Saturday was opening day for grouse hunter's, I'm sure there were some VERY confused hunters as to why their favorite hunting road was closed in the morning!
Diane found some great animals for Paul at Target...they're very realistic looking and she bought animals that are found in Minnesota. She also bought a "Mammals of Minnesota" book that has great pictures so she and Paul would look at the pictures and then find the matching animal. It was a great game and was played LOTS because we were stuck inside!
Ryan came up late Saturday night because he sees patients on Saturday mornings and then went bowhunting in the afternoon. Paul was very excited to see him and stayed up well past his usual bedtime! He loves his daddy!

King of the castle

This is Paul's chair...most definitely, HIS chair! He looks like he's perched on his throne when he's on this recliner and I guess that's fitting because he does rule this household. Sometimes, he likes to be on it by himself and will push us off if we try to sit with him but this is his favorite spot to read books or watch a movie. He won't share the blanket though!

I don't need help!

Paul is working on using the spoon by himself at meals...he's really good with the fork but the spoon tends to be a different story. He always starts out great, scooping and putting it right in his mouth BUT as he loses interest in the food, the fun begins! Like most kids, the spoon and food become a toy! Yesterday, he ate about half the applesauce and then I caught him with a big spoonful headed towards his hair.
He doesn't use the spoon as much as the fork and it's my own fault. I worry about the mess he'll make or how long it will take to eat...I should get over it and let him use it more because it's really fun to see him concentrating on scooping and getting it to his mouth. Or hair.

Paul and Isla

It was a fun weekend at the Pender house! Isla and Paul don't really interact with each other UNLESS they happen to be interested in the same toy. There were a few minor tug of war's over some toys but for the most part, both are content to move on to something else. It's fun to see Isla's development because she and Paul are very similar in what they can "do". The Pender's have a great yard and deck for the kids to run around and their dog, Molly, is a big treat for Paul.
This picture may look like they're playing with this wagon but I think there was a squabble over a shovel...oh well, the picture is cute! Both kids were seriously nap-deprived on Saturday but we still had a really fun day. I'm looking forward to our next visit!

1/2 marathon

We did it! The race on Saturday was great, the weather was perfect. Sunny but not too hot or too cold. This will be my last half marathon for the year and it's always a fun one to end the summer. Ryan's Anytime Fitness partner, Tim, did a great job as well in completing his first half-marathon. Next up are a few races in Grand Rapids and a 5K in Duluth in October with two of my sisters!

Weekend plans

This weekend we are heading to Detroit Lakes to spend the weekend with the Pender family. Sara and I are running the annual half-marathon on Saturday and it sounds like the weather will be just perfect. Cool and partly sunny which is WAY better than few years ago when Laura and ran together. It had to be in the mid 90's and fully sunny. It was miserable...definitely the worst race I've ever ran. Last year, it down poured from start to finish but I would take rain over the scorching heat anyday!
It should be really fun this year because a whole group of members from Anytime Fitness in Detroit Lakes will be running and are all wearing AF shirts which will look neat! Ryan's partner, Tim, is running as well but I don't think I'll be able to keep up with him the entire race.
I'm looking forward to seeing how Paul and Isla will play together because they are so close in age...only 2 weeks apart. There may be a few squabbles over toys but I bet I'll be able to get some great pictures!

While you were sleeping...

So, this is a picture of what Paul was doing while I thought he was taking an afternoon nap. Clearly, he had other plans. How he managed to get his pants off, with a snap and a zipper, is still a mystery. I knew the nap wasn't going well when I heard him jabbering and laughing so I went in to investigate and found him proudly pointing to his pants on the floor.

We really don't have much success with afternoon naps...he's really gotten down to just one but sometimes after daycare he'll take a little one before supper. But obviously, yesterday wasn't one of those days. He was much more interested in de-pantsing! I'm sure the diaper was coming off next, yikes.

Darn you, Gymboree!

Just when I think I'm out, they pull me back in! Paul has PLENTY of clothes but I can always seem to find something at Gymboree. I think, "Well, maybe for later in the winter or how about next summer" and "He really only has a few pair of pants"!

Grr!

They have the best marketing strategies at this store...they group items together as a collection; the safari collection, the up north collection, the penguin collection, the list goes on. So of course, you see all these matching and coordinating pieces together and it's hard to refuse any of them.

THEN, they send out e-mails and flyers announcing the sales they're having...oh yes, on the very collection you've had your eye on! And don't even get me started on GymBucks!

Well, this all started because I opened my e-mail this morning and there was the "Save up to 50% off!" announcement from that crafty Gymboree. Did I try to be responsible and hit delete without even taking a peek? Ha! Just put me in the "suckers" collection.

One berry, two berry, pick me a blueberry!

After much coaxing from Ryan, I agreed to
go blueberry picking and boy, am I glad I did!
I'm not a big fan of trekking through a bunch of
brush or in this case, a marshy-like bog. I do not
like bugs, spiders, snakes...the list goes on and on.
BUT, it was really fun! Once I could see I was in no
danger of creepy-crawlies, we all had a great time!

It didn't take Paul long to figure out how to
pick the blueberries and of course, put them all
in his mouth! He has always loved blueberries so
this little adventure was super for him. He definitely
was more interested in eating them than putting them
in the bucket!

Of course, Ryan had to gloat a little bit
after by saying "SEE, I told you we would
have fun!" He was right.

Labor Day Weekend

We had a great Labor Day weekend! The
weather was fantastic...hot but not humid and the
breeze was nice. We had a busy weekend filled
with fun activities. We went fishing, boating,
blueberry picking, and of course, swimming.
Paul loves to be in the water and will even try to
blow bubbles.

This fun toy came from Great Grandma Maxine
and Great Grandpa Rayno...it's a perfect toy
for the hunting camp because there's tons of room
for Paul to drive around. He doesn't quite grasp
the concept of keeping his thumb on the button at
all times to make it move so we wrapped a rubber
band around the button. He also needs some help s
steering which is what Ryan is trying to teach him
in the photo below. He rode on this 4-wheeler for
almost an hour on Saturday afternoon!

We had a wonderful weekend filled with
great memories! Paul loves it up at the hunting
camp and the new trailer house is really nice.
The weekend went by too fast!