Circus

Last week we took the kids to Ringling Bros. Barnum Bailey Circus. Our friends Josh and Tammy invited us to go with their kids Gideon and Sylvie.


At first I wasn't too excited to go. But with tickets at $12 a seat I relented. The seats were pretty good and the circus was entertaining. Luke spent most of the time in my lap with his hands over his ears. It was kind of loud and he's sensitive. Luckily he didn't freak out and burst into tears like he had done earlier this year at a baseball game.

Six Flags

What spring and summer would be complete without season passes to Six Flags? One of the nicest perks we have living where we do is making quick trips to Six Flags. 5 minutes down the road and you are parking your car. A few minutes after that you are in the park.

We ride the same rides every time we go. The kids don't mind. I think they prefer the routine. One bonus on going late in the evening is that all the other children have gone home. Leaving our kids with the run of the place. So much that the Bugs Bunny Airplane ride didn't have anyone in line providing Alyce and Luke the opportunity to fly their own planes.  Upon taking off Alyce went straight up to the top. Luke well it took him most of the right to figure out that he had to pull back hard on the stick to go up. He managed to get off "the ground" but never got all the way up.  No worries though he enjoyed himself.

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.

Birthday Bowling

For my birthday, way back in December, we went bowling. I thought it would be a fun way to spend the day before New Year's. We picked up a good deal at the local Brunswick where for $60 6 people got two hours of bowling, shoe rental, a pizza, and unlimited soda. We thought we'd invite Gideon and his dad to join us to make 6. We also invited them so Gideon's Mom would have the house to herself and Sylvie so she could clean for the New Year's Eve party they were hosting later that night.

To make the bowling experience as fun as we could we had bumpers setup in the lane. The bumpers keep all of the balls in the lane and out of the gutter where balls usually go when kids are bowling. Josh being an old pro at this also brought over a bowling ball ramp. This ramp will allow the kids to put the balls up high enough that the ball has some decent speed when it hits the pins. The increased speed keeps the action up and the kids interested.

Even with all of that Luke's interest waned about 3/4s the way through the first game. Both he and Gideon thought the circular ball racks would be more fun than bowling. We made Luke finish his game and after that one of us bowled in his place. He didn't seem to mind. Luke was also a big fan of the ball return. So much so that he wanted to stick his hands down the hole. We had to explain to him a few times that it would be really bad if he left his hand where it was. Luckily he did figure it out without having any pain inflicted. Normally he has to learn the hard way.

Alyce did well. We thought it was going to be just normal bowling but instead it was Cosmic Bowling. Cosmic Bowling is when they turn off all the lights except for black lights and other special effects. Add in some music and you have a party; if you're a teenager. We thought Alyce with her delicate sensibilities would freak out with the instant darkness and noise but she handled it like a champ. Even last year while on vacation she was very fragile when her environment changed. Since then she has been able to handle that stuff a lot better. It's amazing how things change and so quickly.

Pool

One of the big reasons we bought our house was the neighborhood pool. Since the pool opened 9 days ago Alyce and I have been to pool 4 times.  The pool is pretty great for both kids and adults. It has slides, fountains, and walk in access so the kids can go as deep as they are comfortable with.  I like the pool because we are only 9 houses away and it only takes a few minutes to get there on foot.

Alyce isn't a fan of the slide structure. It shoots water all over the place and if you get to close to it will splash you. Alyce dislikes getting her face wet so much that she will stop what she's doing, get out of the pool, and dry her face off. When we were at the pool this weekend we had a breakthrough that will get Alyce closer to the spray. I gave Alyce the baseball cap I was wearing and told her that it would keep the rain off her head and out of her face. That must have been enough because as long as she was wearing my hat she'd go up on the slide.  Not down it mind you, that would get her face wet.

Tonight after mowing the lawn Alyce and I took a trip to the pool to cool off. A few minutes after we jumped in Alyce's friend Madison showed up. Madison is a girl Alyce met while we were out for a walk one night a few weeks ago. While I was conversing with a neighbor Alyce walked over, said hi to Madison, and they started playing together. I kept my eye on them from across the pool but my involvement was not needed. They two of them played as if they had been friends forever. After 10 minutes Alyce noticed that I wasn't around and started to look for me. Even when she found me and made eye contact she didn't come over. I think she just wanted to check in.

While they were off playing I talked with Madison's mom Kim. We went on about our kids. Kim described Madison as a girl who never met a stranger. I went on to describe that Alyce is reserved and that she could learn a lot from a girl like Madison. I'm hoping that the two of them will become close friends over the summer and during school. Madison is also 4 and her birthday is just 20 days before Alyce's.

Later on near closing time I joined in the play. I was the kid's safety net so they could jump off the the edge of the pool into the "deep water" as Alyce likes to call the 3'6" deep end of the pool. Both kids had inner tubes or "floaties" around their waist so I was there to make sure they didn't jump on each other and not much else. Alyce didn't seem to have much of a problem with water splashing on her face as long as Madison was around; go figure.

When closing time finally came Alyce ran and grabbed her towel to bring it over to Madison so she could dry off with her friend. When the two parted company they shared a hug and yelled bye to each other as we turned down our respective streets.

The entire trip to the pool tonight was an absolute joy. I pleased me to no end seeing my little girl crack open her shell and have some unbridled fun. I could have sat there all night watching the two go round and round.  I have a feeling i'll be seeing a lot of the pool this summer. I'm ok with that.

Forts

Today Mom made a fort for Alyce and Luke to play in. Judging by this picture I'd say they enjoyed themselves.


The fort was a blanket over Luke's crib.

Lunch at the Park

Today Mom and the kids picked me up for lunch at the park. It's the first time this year as the weather and our schedules finally lined up.It has been a long time since I last saw Luke on some playground equipment and I was very impressed with how he progressed. He was able to manage the entire playground without our help. Also he was able to sit down and scoot forward to go down the slide all by himself. Very impressive indeed. Alyce used a digger and with my help we were able to move some really big scoops of sand. Alyce enjoyed doing it however she did have some trouble doing it by herself. There are three different hinge points on the digger so it can be difficult to use them individually. Afterwards Alyce had to use the restroom so we swung past my office. It is always fun to show off your kids to your coworkers. After they left I had more than one coworker comment on how big they are getting. I guess they are... I hadn't noticed.I'm glad they came out and I look forward to doing it again.

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.