Mommy, Daddy, and Landon's Day 'o Fun!

10 points goes to anyone who can leave a comment telling me what the Friends reference in that title is!

We took work off today to recover from our week of VBS, and we decided that Landon could use a special day to make up for how crazy busy we've been lately.

We didn't want to tell him where we were going until we got there, just in case something fell through. We just said we were going to have a special adventure. But when we put on his water shoes, he said, "We're going swimming!" So I told him, "No, but we're going to have Mommy, Daddy, and Landon's Day 'o Fun!"

So what did we do? We took a drive up to our local AMBUCS park (a playground designed to be accessible to kids with disabilities), so we could play at their splash park. Landon had a ton of fun in the water. He preferred hanging around the edges rather than running through the sprays, but he kept saying, "You having fun!" (meaning, "I'm having fun!"), so we knew he was having a blast.

At the beginning of this video, Landon's saying, "Look at that!"


It turns out it's a really cool park all around. They have a lot of playground equipment, including a few items that most parks don't have, such as some large xylophone-type instruments.


We spent a long time playing, and we hope to go back before summer ends


We went home for lunch and naptime, then continued our fun day. We took a walk and ran some errands along the way, including a stop at the library to check out a new stack of books for Landon. He got to play outside while we grilled a very summery dinner (chicken with White Barbeque Sauce, grilled corn on the cob, Kashi Pilaf with butter and homegrown basil, homemade bread, and cherries). We ate outside, then went out for ice cream. MMM!!!:)

"It look like Spot Windy Day."

Remember this kite that Landon made a couple of months ago? It's still getting good use; I just took this picture this afternoon. He loves to swing and pull it around like he's flying a kite. He usually says, "It look like Spot Windy Day."


Spot's Windy Day is a collection of three Spot stories by Eric Hill that we checked out of the library a month or two ago. The title story is about Spot's kite getting stuck in a tree. After Spot helps Mr. Kangaroo find his hat, Mr. Kangaroo returns the favor by getting the kite out of the tree.

The book went back to the library weeks ago, but since Landon liked it so much, I considered buying a copy. It seems that version is out of print, but I'm thinking about getting Spot's Giant Treasury instead. It contains all of the stories that are in Spot's Windy Day, plus many, many more. Several of the stories are seasonal in nature, which you know I'm fond of. For example, one of the other stories we read in Spot's Windy Day is about a day spent playing in the snow. The online table of contents also shows stories about seasonal topics like picnics, fairs, and swimming. And, the entire treasury is less than $9 on Amazon! I'm definitely keeping this book in mind for the next time I'm looking for a special treat for Landon.

Caterpillar

Daddy found a caterpillar on the back porch today. Landon got to look at it and touch it before we put it out in the backyard.

Toddler Sprinkler

I got the idea for this Toddler Sprinkler from The Toddler's Busy Book, and I've been wanting to try it out for a while. We finally got a chance today. All you do is poke holes in the bottom of a clean milk jug and fill it with water for your toddler to play with.


It's a fun way for your child to help water the plants.


I do recommend putting the lid on it, or this happens.

Landon's first week of VBS

Landon finished his first week as a Vacation Bible School participant last night. This is actually his third year of being there, but this is the first time he's participated in a class with lessons and activities. We had enough kids between the ages of 18 months and 2.5 in the nursery this year (plus a great volunteer to lead the group) that this year we decided to offer a more structured evening for the little guys.

Landon had a lot of fun. The teacher said that his favorite part of each day was the storytime, and he really did remember the Bible stories well. He could always tell us about them when he came home. Of course, he loved to join us in the auditorium for singing, too.

By the time we cleaned everything up and got home last night, Landon was pretty exhausted from the busy week. It was a good tired, though, since had such a good time learning and playing with his friends each night.

Here are a few pictures, both taken during snacktime.

Queen Anne's Lace Update

Tonight we were finally able to see the purple tint to our flowers! It's not dark enough that it would show up in a picture (red might have worked better for that), but it's definitely there.

We had our first garden green beans today. They were really good. I asked Landon where they came from, and he said, "The garden! From the dirt!"

VBS Carnival

Tonight was our VBS kickoff carnival. In my mind, Summer and VBS just go together.

Landon got to try his first sno-cone. Mmm!


Landon and his friends had a great time blowing bubbles. They got awfully messy!


We had a special toddlers-only time in the bounce house after the other kids went home. Well, it included parents, too. But that way, the little guys didn't get smushed by the big kids. Forgive my goofy look. I'm bouncing!

How does your garden grow?

We planted a garden for the first time this year. Tony and I have been enjoying the lettuce for a few weeks, but Landon doesn't care about lettuce. However, today we had our first peas and tomato, so Landon got to sample his first taste of our garden vegetables. He thought that both were pretty yummy!

Showing off a pea:


Tasting a tomato:

Queen Anne's Lace

When you were a kid, did you put Queen Anne's Lace in colored water to make the flowers change colors? I think I did this every time I found the flowers in our yard. Now it's Landon's turn!

I found some Queen Anne's Lace outside yesterday, so I picked it and stuck it in a glass of water. This evening, Landon and I discussed that the flowers are currently white, and then he got to choose a color to turn the water. He picked purple. He helped me add blue and red food coloring to the water, which made for a good lesson on blue+red=purple. (And we also talked about how adding green would just give us a murky mess.) Now we're just waiting to see if the flowers will turn purple.

Playing outside

The pool has been a huge hit. Today is the first time in several days that we haven't used it, but we did a few other things this evening instead.

I bought a giant bubble wand (Incredibubble Bubble Wand) last night for our VBS carnival on Sunday. Landon saw it and wanted to try it out. It's taking some practice to learn how to use it, but we are slowly getting the hang of it. Really, though, we had the most fun with the smaller ones. Landon is doing a good job of blowing his own bubbles now.


We also got out the Waterpillar, and all three of us took turns running through it. Tony and I thought the water was a bit cold, but Landon got a big kick out of us playing it in with him. I think he would have stayed in it all night if we'd let him.

Slam Dunk!

The basketball pool was as much fun as I'd hoped! Landon had a great time.

Instead of, "Cheese," he said, "Cheeseburger!" when he posed for this picture.

Basketball Pool

I wanted to get out of the house tonight, so we went out to dinner and did some shopping. Landon's inflatable pool from last year has sprung a few leaks. I put one patch on it yesterday, but it's still leaky. So tonight we went to Toys R Us and got a Step 2 Basketball Pool. It's pretty much a regular inflatable pool, but it has a basketball hoop on one end. I'm so excited about it, and so is Landon. He kept talking about it on the drive home, but it will have to wait for tomorrow to try it out, as it was dark and rainy when we got home, plus it was time for bed. I can't find any pictures of one online, but I'll be sure to post pictures when we get a chance to try it out. Here's hoping for good weather tomorrow, so we can set it up and PLAY!

Backyard Bounce

Our local Christian radio station has a program this summer where they are going to different parks in the listening area with their morning show on Friday mornings. They bring big inflatables for the kids to play on and collect change for orphans in Haiti. They were fairly close to us yesterday morning, so we met up with some friends there to check it out.

Landon didn't play on the inflatables (we were afraid he'd get squished), but he still had fun. He played with a beanbag game they had set up and got a balloon. He said he wanted to say hi to the radio people, but he just looked at them instead. It was a lot of fun to go to a playground we hadn't visited before, too. Here are pictures of Landon and his buddy playing. Can you tell how incredibly hot they are? Despite the heat, we had a great time!

Helmet

Landon wanted to take his four-wheeler outside on Thursday, but I told him he'd need to wear his helmet and knee/elbow pads. We got him all suited up, but then all he did was sit on the four-wheeler without turning it on.

The knee pads came in handy a few minutes later, though, when he tripped over the edge of the patio. We did a little walk with his trike, too, and of course, it's a good idea to always wear a helmet when you ride your bike.

Thunderstorm Collage

We had a very stormy, rainy evening, so Landon and I worked together on this thunderstorm collage. His favorite part was dipping the cotton ball in glue and spreading it on the shapes.

Contest!

I entered a contest today that The Soft Landing is sponsoring at Green Mom Finds. The Soft Landing is a great resource for information about BPA, PVC, and phthalate-free baby and children's products, particularly feeding products, and they have a shopping section too.

To enter the contest, all you have to do is leave a comment about what your favorite product sold at The Soft Landing is. Mine favorite is Bumkins Bibs. These are truly the best bibs we have come across. In fact, we have gotten rid of all of our other bibs and use these exclusively. They are lightweight, yet sturdy. They hold up beautifully.

Actually, now that I think about it, Bumkins Bibs are one of my all-time favorite baby products. That's quite the achievement for a bib, I'd say.

If you'd like to enter the contest, click here.

Oh, and what do you win?
BPA-Free Picnic Gear

Toddler Racer

Here are the photos of the Toddler Racer boat that I'd mentioned the other day.

Fourth of July Pictures

Happy Fourth!

Happy birthday, America! I hope everyone had a great holiday. We didn't end up going out of town this weekend. Instead, we attended a parade, had a cookout, did an art project, and saw the fireworks. It's late now, so I'll update tomorrow with photos. Happy Fourth of July!

Patriotic baking

I got these cute star muffin cups from the dollar spot at Target a few weeks ago, so I made some Cinnamon-Topped Oatmeal Muffins the other day for us to enjoy this week. The muffins turned out to be not-my-favorite, but they're okay. Here's Landon enjoying one for breakfast a few days ago.


Tonight, Landon helped me make star-shaped cookies. His job was putting on sprinkles.




Oh, and it was pointed out to me today that I mentioned Landon's pool boat a few posts back, but I didn't actually include a picture of it. I'll find one to post soon. Sorry about that.