Summer Fun

Last weekend we took Payton to Paradise Park.  It is a fun place for kids of all ages with lots of interactive play.  He loved the pretend town where you could go to the bank, the grocery store and the pizza parlor!   While we were there we there we played minature golf as well.  Payton had never played before so we were not quite sure what to expect, but he got 2 hole in ones!  I think it was proably just a fluke, but we were pretty speechless when he did the first one! 

He passed his swimming lessons with flying colors!!  Everyday in the bathtub he shows me what he learned.  I am amazed at what they can teach preschoolers.  I am anxious to take him to the pool myself to see what he can do. 

4th of July 2008

We had a wonderful trip to Iowa for the 4th of July!!  The weather was terrific.  High 70's, low 80s the entire time!  The entire trip was jam packed with visiting everyone.  We got to spend a ton of time with lots of family and friends.   It was great to get to see Payton interact with other children of all ages.  We do not have a lot of kids by us, so besides at preschool, he doesn't get to play with other kids that much.   On the way up, we drove through the Iowa City/Coralville area to see the flood damage.  It was heart breaking to see a place I used to call home devasted like that.  We spent the 4th at the Dixon park and enjoyed awesome fireworks!  Payton got to spend a lot of time swimming, which is great since he started his second session of swimming lessons on Monday. 

He seems to be enjoying his swimming lessons.   He used to be a little hesitant around the water, but not anymore.  So I guess they are paying off! 

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend!

Disney

We had a WONDERFUL time at Disney World!  It truly was magical!  The trip started on Monday with the alarm going off at 2:30 am! We had to be out the door by 4:15am in order to make it to the airport on time.  We were at our hotel by noon and we were instantly submerged in all things Mickey!   We spent all day Tuesday at Magic Kingdom.  And by all day, I mean ALL DAY! (7:45am until midnight, with a 2 hour break in the afternoon!!)  Wednesday was at Epcot and Thursday at Hollywood Studios, then swimming and home on Friday.  Payton was able to meet many of the Disney characters in the parks and at the character dinner that we booked.  He was literally giddy with excitement.  He kept jumping up and down and screaming.  It melted my heart to see him so excited.  He did amazing the entire trip.  Especially considering the lack of sleep the whole trip and constantly going, going, going.  I think we will be planning more trips to Disney World in the future! 

I added a bunch of pictures from the trip to the photo album for you to enjoy. 

The countdown begins!

We are going to Disney World!  We are so excited!  Payton askes me no less than 10 times a day (I am not kidding) when we are going to Mickey Mouse's house!  Justin is even getting more excited as the days go on as he talks to other people that have gone there as well.  We both have stressful and demanding jobs, so we are thrilled to get away from it all for a bit.  What a better way to do that then go to the Happiest Place on Earth!

The trip is very special for me.  Disney was a big part of our lives when we were children.  We were fortunate to be able to go many times.  I even used to also collect anything Mickey as a child.  So, I have lots of fond family memories there.   So to be able to share the same thing with my family feels wonderful.

And, for anyone who knows me, they know I am a big planner.  Planning for 3 full days in the parks (relatively short trip in Disney terms) takes a lot of planning and organization.  So, this is perfect that I get to go on a trip and do lots of planning as well!!

Spring is here!

This weekend was wonderful!  It was near 70 degrees all weekend so we took full advantage of the nice weather and played outside a lot on Sunday and did some shopping outside on Saturday.  

 

 

Watch out dad!!

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Video: riding jeep

 

Check out my swing!

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Video: playing ball

 

Payton has now learned how to spell his last name and is learning about the planets this week!

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Video: spelling last name

 

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Video: planets

 

Also, for some reason he is now very into picking out his own clothes.  I had heard about the daily clothing battles from my friends that have girls and I thought that since we had a boy we could maybe skip this.  But, nope!   We compromise though, he can pick out his PJ's and play clothes and I get to pick out what we wear out and to school.  His choice of PJ's is usually quite interesting!  I put a photo of one in the album.  

Anniversary!

Today is our 5 year wedding anniversary!  Can you believe it has been 5 years! Justin has actually put with with me and my slightly obsessive cleaning/organizing/etc. for that long!  (For a bit of nostalgia, I am adding a few pictures from 5 years ago to the album).

Due to the Easter weekend and the fact that Justin is working today, we celebrated our anniversary last wekend.  We had a little getaway.  Not really away, but we stayed downtown and went out to eat at a really nice restaurant.  I was even able to squeeze in a very much needed massage at the hotel health club.  It was great to get away.  Not that I don't love being mom and running our household, but it was nice to not have to think about any of that stuff for 24 hours.  While we were there, Payton spent the night at my moms.  We weren't quite sure how it would go considering that he has never stayed anywhere without us before.  But he did great.  He had a great time at Grandma Joy's.   He is always much more behaved for her than he is for us (isn't that typical) so it all went well.

 

On another note, Payton is still amazing me at what he learns and how fast he can pick things up.  He is working on spelling his last name and is beginning to write.    I have learned that he is ahead of the other kids at day care/preschool his same age.  I guess that helps balance out the minor behavorial issues we are having right now!  (See post below)

 

I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter!

3 years olds...

Whoever developed the term “Terrible Twos” obviously did it before their child turned three!!  All’s that I can say is WOW, I don’t even recognize my child sometimes.  I have learned that I am not alone though.  I have been doing lots of reading and talking with other parents and most of them agree, that the Threes are much worse than the Twos.   With Two, we had the occasional tantrum, but nothing major.  And it was usually when he was overly tired.  But with Three, you get the attitudes, stubbornness and pushing every limit possible. 

They strive to be so independent at this age, which is great, but can also be part of the problem.  For example, Payton loves to help clean around the house and help me in the kitchen.  So he just doesn’t understand why when he is sitting on the counter helping me clean off dishes (and spraying water everywhere and flooding the kitchen at the same time) he has to get down, because to him he is helping.

I just keep telling myself that this is a phase and he won’t be three forever.  Only 8 months and 15 days left of the Threes.  (Not that I am counting or anything!!)