Strawberry Picking

Two weekends ago we with some neighbors went to go pick strawberries. It was supposed to be a neighborhood event but at the last minute most people cancelled. While their cancellation was regrettable the other family (Cris and Cory) that joined us is our favorite family in the neighborhood.

The Eckert's farm is a fully working farm. I'm sure they make a lot of money out of growing food the conventional large farm way. However, they've also perfected the small farm experience. During the year they have all manner of crops available for people to come and pick their own; strawberries, peaches, apples, and pumpkins to name a few. To get to the fields you take a tractor ride which pretty much made Alyce's day. On top of picking as much as you want you can also eat as many berries as you want while out in the field. A first I was a bit skeptical but looking at the vastness of the fields there are more berries going bad on the vine in a day than they'd lose from people eating their fill.

Picking the strawberries wasn't easy work. It was really hot and dry out in the fields. Alyce withered first. After 10 minutes she said she was ready to go. I don't think she was too hot, I think she wanted to get back to the farm house where a bounce house was setup. Mom and I picked over a flat of strawberries. However we made it back to the farm house with a single flat. The reason for that is another story.

I really enjoyed picking strawberries with my family. I think it is one of those unique family events that can turn into a tradition. I'm not sure the kids got as much out of it as I did but stuff like this has a way coming back around when you least expect it.

Watching the Sun Set

Alyce was hanging out with her cousin Andy at my Mom's house this weekend. The kids were running around outside having a good time. They took a break from the action to sit on the grass and watch the sun set.

Neither of them were wearing shoes because Mom and I forgot to pack comfy shoes for Alyce after our family event. Andy seeing Alyce barefoot wanted to join in on the fun. I thought it added an innocence of summer to the photo.

Candy Land

Last night after I put Luke to bed I came down to see Mom and Alyce engaged in a board game.  Not just any board game, Candy Land.  Mom wanted Alyce to do something other than watch TV before bedtime and luckily was able to find it in all of the boxes around the house.  We had given this game to Alyce some time ago and she didn't really get it.  She followed the game but couldn't keep focused.  This time around she knew what was going on and completed two entire games.

I joined in for the second game and it was pretty much neck and neck until the final few bends.  I took the lead and won the game.  Rather than saying I won and got to go into Candy Castle I told Alyce that I would wait at the door for her and we could go in together.  Alyce came in second a few rounds later.  After that Alyce and I decided to wait for Mom so we could all go inside together.

One thing Alyce didn't get to do during the game is take the short cuts on the board.  In two places if you land on specific squares you get to jump ahead.  Lots of games have things like this and I can't remember a time in my past that I've ever hit one of those.  After the game was over Alyce asked if she could take bridge and after we gave permission (like we needed to?) she put her game piece on one side of the bridge and moved it across.  It's the small the successes in life that really add up.

Pumpkin Patch

A long while ago a week from Monday in fact the family went to get pumpkins at the pumpkin patch.  Mom tried going the day before with Grams but the line to get into the place was too long so she bailed.  Alyce was so looking forward to going to the pumpkin patch that Mom decided to try again the next day.  I was home that day working on the wall and decided to go with them.  Both Gram's and Pa Pa came with us too.

Once we got to the pumpkin patch Alyce knew exactly where we were at as she squealed "pumpkin patch! pumpkin patch!" as we pulled into the parking lot.  Getting out of the car and after a short cart ride Alyce first tried to get one of the biggest pumpkins on the lot.  Mom and I found our pumpkins pretty quick which left us a lot of time to just hang out with the kids.  Alyce swung on a big girl swing, climbed through some tunnels, and played on a fort.  Luke was in a great mood and enjoyed the nice day from his car seat and our arms.

When we left Mom and I had our two pumpkins.  The next day Mom, Alyce, and I carved pumpkins.  At Alyce's recommendation mom carved a bat into her pumpkin.  I have yet to do mine but I'm thinking of doing a traditional face.  Alyce helped as much as her agility could to carve the pumpkins but when it came time to scooping out the goo she was no where to be found.

Swimming Pool Part 2

While Mom was feeding Luke I took Alyce into the kids play area. The play area consisted of a big bucket that would constantly fill with water and then dump itself out. There were water shooters of all sorts of which most of them could be controlled by turning valves which I thought was a nice touch. Alyce was mystified and terrified at the big bucket of water. From a distance she would watch it go through its cycle, however, when up close she would jump every time it dumped. She got over her fear and she and I walked around the kids area playing with some of the water shooters. While in the area Alyce must have been really tense as she never let go of my hand if I could even manage to put her down. There was a tunnel that ran from one side of the tower to the other and Alyce was drawn to it. Once there weren't any other kids in the tunnel I brought Alyce over then she and I crawled inside. While in the tunnel the bucket above us emptied its contents right in front of us. This must have been more than Alyce was ready for; she started shaking and yelled "mommy!" at the top of her lungs. She never broke into tears and didn't run away from the play area so it must have been more surprise than fear.


After our time in the kids area I noticed that the skies were starting to darken. I knew that Mom wanted to ride the water slides before we left so I went to relieve her of Luke duty. Right about the time I got to Mom over the loud speaker we heard that swimming was to be suspended due to weather. The pool rule about weather was that when no thunder was heard for 30 minutes swimming would be resumed. We decided to stick around for a while since it wasn't too terribly hot, Luke was asleep, and we were enjoying ourselves. Mom, Grams, PaPa, and I relaxed while Alyce examined every square inch of deck chair and the surrounding area.


The thunder continued for a while and after some time Mom and I made the command decision to call it quits for the day. We were going to get our hand stamped just in case the weather were to improve. It turns out that we didn't need the stamp. While exiting we were presented with two rain checks good for another admission before the end of the season.

Swimming Pool Part 1

On Sunday Mom and I brought the kids along with Grams and PaPa to the pool. We wanted to get in the water a few more times before summer was over and the outdoor pools close. This time we decided to forego our usual pool and went a little farther to another municipalities pool. This pool is a bit more expensive (1$ extra per person), but it does give you your monies worth. This pool has a big kids play area, two water slides, and a lazy river with inner tubes (for free).


The weather map on Sunday didn't look too encouraging. Mom and I thought we should give it a shot since we there weren't many days left in the summer. A lot of people must have had the same dilemma and decided to stay home. When we reached the pool the parking lot was almost empty and there was only a handful people inside. With the pool being so empty we were able to stretch out and everyone got their own lounge chair. Luke didn't need one since his chair had wheels. We got Alyce into her life jacket and we were in the water.

It took a little while for Alyce and Luke to get used to the water. Alyce walked right into the pool and kept walking right to the point she couldn't touch anymore. I wasn't nearly as worried this time compared to the past as she was wearing a life jacket. I have to give PaPa and Mom some credit they got it to fit Alyce perfectly. The jacket didn't come up and strangle her even though she was relying upon it for buoyancy. Once we got Alyce off of her back, her feet underneath, and calmed down she wanted to swim towards the ladder. She did her best doggy paddle and with some help she made it up to and on to the ladder. Once Alyce was on dry land she would turn around and want to come back into the water. I would help her back in, she would swim towards Mom, sit down, and the process would repeat. Mom was holding Luke while in the water and it took him a bit to get used to the cool water. When first placed into the water he would arch his back in protest. Anytime more of his body was submerged he would protest anew. By the time I was holding Luke he was more than content to sit in the water and even kicked his feet and bit.


After the pool we wanted to try the lazy river. I would say the lazy river is the best part about this pool. For the cost of admission you can get an inner tube and ride all day in a big circle while going underneath two waterfalls to cool off. There are single and double tubes available and for those with small kids they make a double tube where one of the tubes is solid so the kids can't fall through (brilliant!). Mom took Luke and I took Alyce with Grams and PaPa following behind. We had a great time taking a few laps around the pool. Alyce wasn't a big fan of the water falls and wanted me to "go around" rather than get her wet. I made half hearted attempts to keep her dry but I wanted Alyce to experience getting drenched. After a few laps Luke was getting hungry so Mom, Luke, and I got out while Grams took Alyce for another two laps in the river. By the end Alyce wanted to get out.

Possession is Nine-Tenths of the Law

A very funny thing happened last week. We were out at a local restaurant with the whole family plus Grams.  Mom ordered her meal and substituted her fries for a salad.  When Mom does this she usually steals a few fries from Alyce's plate because how can anyone resist those golden brown sticks of salty goodness?  Mom isn't denying Alyce anything as she never finishes her food except for her milk, water, or juice.  This time was different.  Mom reached over like always and took a few of Alyce's fries with Alyce looking on.  Alyce then burst into tears.  Between her sobs and with the biggest frown she can make she said "Mommy took my fries" over and over again.  Can something be both heart wrenching and hilarious at the same time?  Mom ended up giving Alyce back her fries apologizing for not asking permission then proceeded to reach over and have a few of mine. Hmph.

It is great seeing Alyce develop the concepts of possession.  Every day there is something new she shows us that she has learned.  It must be pretty exciting / scary learning so much so quickly.  And for the record Alyce didn't finish her fries.

Gideon's Baptism and Family Pictures

Last weekend was a busy weekend for our family. On Saturday we went to an open house and Gideon's 1st birthday. On Sunday we attended Gideon's baptism. It was a busy weekend for Gideon too. The baptism was a very nice affair however Mom almost missed it. Earlier before the service started we got to the church early to drop Alyce off at the nursery so she could get use to it and the caretakers before we had to leave her. We thought that after 20 minutes or so she seemed well enough to leave alone. We had Luke with us in the sanctuary and he was more than content sleeping throughout the entire service.


Right before the baptism was about t0 start the nursery attendant found us and told us that Alyce's wheels had fallen off. The wheels term is one we use when she just loses control starts crying and needs a Mom or Dad to get her back to normal and put the wheels back on. So Mom leaves the service with Luke to take care of Alyce because I needed to stay and video the ceremony. I thought Mom had missed the ceremony but thankfully they watched and heard it through a window in the cry room. Mom stayed with Alyce the rest of the service and appears to have had a good time doing it. Later on even Gideon decided to join in on the fun in the nursery.



After the service everyone was visiting outside the sanctuary and the weather was really nice. Since the family was well dressed and color coordinated we decided to get a family picture taken with the church's grounds being the backdrop. Of course our usually smiling cheerful 2 year old wouldn't smile for the camera but that is the way things are sometimes.

Alyce Meets Her New Brother

Today Alyce got to meet her new brother. Brother Luke as she likes to call him was born last night. Alyce is staying with Grams and Pa Pa so that Mom and I can get situated with her new brother.

Grams and Pa Pa brought Alyce to the Hospital just before lunch. I met them at the entrance because I wanted to introduce Alyce to her brother. I took Alyce to the gift shop to get Mom some flowers and then we went upstairs.


When Alyce first saw Mommy she didn't quite know what to think. She seemed reserved and almost scared of Mom. I think seeing her in a hospital bed was quite unnerving. She got over her initial apprehension and started crawling over the couch in the room not even noticing her brother in the bassinet. That all changed when she hear brother Luke make some noise and move a bit. Alyce squealed, said "Baby!", and dropped everything to see her baby brother. We gave her a bench to stand on so she could get a better look. She was enamored with Luke. She continued to look at him for quite a while, but never reached out a hand to touch him.


After a while Alyce grew a bit tired of Luke; this was when we gave her, her presents from Luke. Mom had purchased some sticker activity books ahead of time for this moment. Mom is so smart when it comes to stuff like this.

To give Mom a break and some Alyce and me time I took Alyce downstairs to the cafeteria to each some lunch, just the two of us. The trip was uneventful and didn't warrant a lot of attention here, but one moment did stand out. While sharing a hamburger Alyce spotted my Daddy bracelet that allows Luke to be left in my care. Alyce pointed to the bracelet, said "Mommy", and burst into tears. I'm not exactly sure what she was crying about; most likely worried about Mommy sitting in the hospital bed. We got past all that and she was fine for the rest of lunch and the afternoon.

Fun at Lowes

This past weekend the family took a trip to Lowes to pick up some building supplies. We were getting some new trim for Alyce's new room. Because we were getting trim we needed to use a different cart than normal. Alyce was a big fan of this cart as she got to go surfing at about one mile an hour. We even saw Gideon's dad Josh while shopping.

Christmas: Part 2

Christmas craziness continues in our household. Christmas is one of the busiest days on our calendar and for good reason. In the morning we did our own family Christmas. Mom, Alyce, and I opened up our presents. Alyce received a battery powered toy train from me. This train is made to run on the wooden train set I gave to her for her birthday. I also gave her a wooden golden gate bridge for her train set. Mom gave Alyce a few books, some clothes, art supplies, and a toy mixer for her play kitchen. One other present of note was a marble race toy mom gave me. I will post about the marble toy in the future. I bring it up now because we have used it so much it deserves some buildup.

After presents at our house we packed up Alyce and traveled the few miles to Gram's and Grandpa's house for breakfast with them and GiGi (Great Grandma). After breakfast we open up presents with Mom's side of the family. From Grams and Grandpa Alyce got a new doll. This doll is a big girl doll with hair and clothes. We decided this one needed a name other than baby doll or dollie so I threw out the name Molly and it has stuck. At 1:00 we packed up the car and drove out to my hometown to have Christmas with my side of the family.

My Mom's house was a little crazy when we arrived. At around 8:30 in the morning the power was cut to a large portion of the town and surrounding communities. Luckily the it wasn't too cold and was sunny outside. The electric was eventually restored and our preparations for the extended family Christmas could continue. Before Alyce took her nap at my Mom's we opened up presents with my Mom, brother Tom, his wife Mary, and my nephew Jack. What began as a clean living room was in the course of thirty minutes turned into a disaster scene. There was paper and boxes on every square inch of carpet. Grandma spoiled Alyce and Jack with presents and clothes. The dancing DJ radio was Alyce's favorite toy. We decided to keep it at Mom's so that when Alyce comes over she has something new to play with and we know she will like it. In my opinion the cutest gift was given to Mom, Alyce, and our unborn baby boy. It was a matching set of aprons. There was a big apron for mom, a small apron for Alyce, and a bib for baby. It will make for a great mother children picture once all the children show up.


After a nap at Grandma's house it was time to get Alyce changed into her nice clothes and travel out to Uncle Eric's and Aunt Marilyn's for the big family Christmas. This is the first Christmas where we didn't have to watch Alyce's every move. We were confident that Alyce wouldn't misbehave and if she got into anything she shouldn't someone would stop her or at least get us before she didn't any lasting damage. It makes for a stress free evening when you have 10+ baby sitters with you. Alyce and cousin Jack spent most of the night entertaining themselves. They are at the age were they can play with each other and don't need an adult to direct their play. Sharing of toys was still an issue, but no bones were broken during the evening. The most entertaining game involved Alyce chasing Jack around the house and vice-versa. A video of this is forth coming.


As the evening came to a close our pj clad daughter was starting to falter. We packed her up in the family car and fifty minutes later we were back at home. We pulled our sleeping daughter out of the car seat, brought her up stairs, and laid her down bringing our Christmas to a close. It was a great day. Spending time with family is better than any present. Next year should be very interesting as the number of babies will be effectively doubled. We might need to rent a dining hall.

Christmas

So Christmas begins at our household. Tonight we had Mom's family and extended family over for Christmas. Before that our neighbors Jeff and Liz stopped by to give Alyce some Christmas gifts.

Jeff and Liz gave Alyce a cute butterfly pillow, some toy cars, and a picture frame. The butterfly pillow was very funny because when it was opened Alyce went to the bottom of the stairs and wanted to go up and put it on her bed. The picture frame had a picture of Alyce and a kid, Rachel, down the street. Alyce keeps pointing at the picture and saying me. I think she likes the fact that it is in her room on her nightstand. She kept looking at it while I was getting her ready for bed. Alyce and I both had fun with the cars. We started driving them all over the house. I had to teach Alyce how to go off-roading by driving our cars on the walls, doors, couch, chair, and everything else that makes for a cool race track. Thanks Jeff and Liz for some fun toys.

I think the later party with the family might have been a bit much for Alyce. Talking to mom she said that Alyce was kind of shy and not herself the whole night. I tend to agree. Alyce wasn't running around the the house dancing and singing like the usually does. Having 23 extra people in the house can cause some consternation. However, she was in her toy area playing with cousins Anna and Tess. So obviously she got past some of her initial shyness. Alyce liked all of her gifts and we are very grateful to those that gave them. The gift that Mom and I thought was especially cool was an embroidered lunch bag. The bag has a butterfly design with her name embroidered on the flap. Alyce won't be using it for its intended purpose for a while, but I am positive it will become a purse or other carry all bag. Maybe Mom can now get her purses back.

Making Cookies

Today Alyce helped Mom and Grams make Christmas Cookies. Mom sent me a picture of Alyce helping out and I wanted to share it with everyone.


Thanksgiving was very busy this year. The family had two meals to attend. The night before we traveled out to Grandma's house to help get the house ready. We didn't do much at night, but us being there in the morning made sure that we hit the ground running on Thanksgiving. Seeing my side of the family was great. My brother and his family were there along with all of my cousins who had kids right around the same time Alyce was born. It was very neat this year because all of the babies are now toddlers and they are beginning to interact with each other. You can definitely see the impact of the next generation. There was an entire table crammed with parents trying to get their children to eat something. The afternoon at Grandma's culminated with all of the kids and parents going down the hill to play on some playground equipment at the school.

After dinner and the playground at Grandma's we had to load Alyce in the car and get ourselves to Gram's and Grandpa's house. By this point it was past Alyce's nap time and we were hoping that she would fall asleep in the car. Our prayers were only partially answered because she fell asleep the last 10 minutes of the drive. Luckily dinner was running late and I could stay out in the car with Alyce and we both took a little cat nap.

Once both dinners were over we went back home, got Alyce into bed, and took a little break for ourselves. Alyce did great. We couldn't have asked her to be any more well behaved. Throw on little to no nap and it made her positive attitude even more impressive.

Pumpkin Patch

On Saturday the whole family went to the pumpkin patch. This is Alyce's first experience with getting a pumpkin and I think she had a lot of fun. Mom, Alyce, and I were there and Grams, Grandpa, and Grandma also came along. The weather cooperated with us in that it wasn't raining however, it was unseasonably warm and we were a bit over dressed for the temperature.

The pumpkin farm was definitely geared towards kids. They had hay rides, kiddie train rides, and you could ride on a pony. There was a few different playgrounds with slides and swings and a long concrete tunnel. And tons of space for a little girl to explore the great big world.

Alyce had a very independent moment with the concrete tunnel. There wasn't any traffic control as to which side of the tunnel was the entrance and the exit so kids were going through both ways. The tunnel really only had room for single child going one way and would allow bidirectional traffic if the kids really squeezed. On Alyce's second trip through the tunnel she ended up in the middle of a kid traffic jam with probably 5 kids on either side of her in the tunnel. Alyce couldn't go any further but she couldn't back either. Normally I would pull her out of a stressful situation like that. This time however I couldn't get to her; she was on her own. She kept her cool moved around the kids the best she could and emerged on the other side none the worse for wear. I was very proud of my big girl.

Alyce also had her first ever pony ride. In her case she probably considered it a Moo ride as she calls both cows and horses the same thing. When Alyce first saw the ponies she was enamored. She walked right up to the fence and watched intently as the kids rode by. She started walking around the fence to find the entrance so she too could ride the ponies er Moos. Mom and I decided that she could probably handle riding an animal and me being able to hold onto her while walking next to the ponies sealed the deal. The ride was kind of expensive and short, but to see the look on her face as she got onto her black Moo made it all worth it.


After all of the events focusing on Alyce's pumpkin patch experience we finally got down to finding a pumpkin. Well Mom, Grams, and Grandma got down to finding a pumpkin. I was chasing Alyce all over creation making sure she didn't get run over by a tractor.


By noon we had seen it all and were ready to go. The temperature was taking its toll on everyone especially pregnant mommy. I think everyone had a great time. I know Alyce did and I know that I did. Next up I get to introduce Alyce to pumpkin carving.

Bubble Picnic

Last Saturday the family went to the Bubble Picnic. The Bubble Picnic is an event held annually by our local school district's early childhood development center. We first got in touch with the development center via the Parent's As Teachers program. We get regular visits from our Parent's As Teacher educator (Ms. Cathy) and Mom takes Alyce to weekly classes at the development center.

The picnic is held as kick off event for the new school year and to acquaint families with the services the center provides. We like to go because they have a lot of neat projects to do and equipment to play on.

One of the first stations we used was the water table. It is simply a big table with lots of bins and separations for soapy water. Alyce, always a big fan of bath time and water in general was a big fan of the table. She would pour the contents of one cup of water into another and also cleaned a toy cow with a scrub brush.

After the bubble table we tried the shaving cream table. The shaving cream table has little walls setup with shaving cream smeared all over them. The kids are encouraged to use instructions such as squeegees, combs, or their hands to interact with the shaving cream and make a mess. I thought this was particularly interesting because Alyce is kind of a girlie girl and doesn't like things sticking to her hands. This really wasn't an exception as Alyce wanted her hands cleaned off once they got all creamy, but she did manage to play around with the combs and other implements. She stayed relatively clean except some other kid accidentally got some in her hair.

After a hot dog and some fruit snacks for lunch we went downstairs for our last activity, the indoor gymnasium. The indoor gym has slides, a ball pit, and a lot of room to run. Alyce had a lot of fun on the slides and for most of them didn't need any of my help getting into position or going down.

The Parties Continue

To finish up our Independence Day weekend on Saturday we journeyed out to our Uncle Eric and Aunt Marilyn's house for the annual Independence Day family get together. The food at this party is always top notch as Eric cooks up a mountain of ribs and the side dishes are always great. Mom's green bean casserole is always a big hit as well.

This year's party is different than past parties because of the large amount of babies in attendance. If you count Alyce there were four babies in total. The other kids were Andy, Jack, and Rex. Andy is just about Alyce's age and took all of our attention to keep the two of them from walking all over creation. Jack and Rex are still pretty young and while they are able to crawl and cruise along they aren't yet able to make a decent attempt at getting away from their parents. I think next year will be the year that the kids can separate from the parents and start to do kid stuff on their own.

The evening culminated in yet another fireworks show. Mom, Alyce, and I all sat down by the lake to get a good look at the show. I think Alyce was just about tuckered out as she relaxed in my lap for the entire show. Alyce must have picked up on some social cues over the past two nights because this time during a good firework she let out some audible "oohs" and "aahs" plus she clapped for some of the fireworks. After the show it was getting late and it was time to go. Alyce was up past her bedtime for the 3rd night in a row.

I have to give her a lot of credit, she handled the changes to her routine very well with only a few minor issues here and there. In all the weekend was a big success. The family had fun and Alyce behaved herself as much as you can expect a 20 month to behave.

A Trip to the Zoo

On Friday July 4th we invited my brother Tom, his wife Mary, their son Jack, and Grandma to come along with us for a nice day at the Zoo. The weather was great and Alyce and Jack were both in good spirits. Of all of the animals we viewed the Hippos, Elephants, and Penguins were the big hits. They all tend to move around a lot and their habitats are easily viewable from a stroller. Alyce is starting to get to the age where tooling around on the stroller only lasts for so long before she starts asking to get "down" and pointing at her stroller belt buckle. As long as we keep moving and she has a juice box we don't hear too many complaints. Sadly we did have to leave before the rest of our party because we had to get Alyce home for a nap. We had a Independence Day party planned for later that night and we wanted Alyce to have as much sleep as possible. She was going to be staying up past her bedtime for the second night in a row at this point.

Dinner with Grandma

Sunday night we had dinner with Grandma. She was returning from a flight to Minneapolis to see my brother, his wife, and his son Jack. Alyce was in a great mood the all evening and through dinner which lasted until almost 9:00. To top the whole evening off Alyce even gave Grandma a big kiss. Mom and I were very proud of her.

Jack, Alyce's cousin just had his first birthday up in Minneapolis. He is growing big and fast. At one year he already weighs more than Alyce. He is a really great kid. Too bad he lives so far away.