Outdoor play

Landon received several toys for outdoor play at his birthday party this weekend, so we've been enjoying them plenty this week, since the weather's been gorgeous. Here are some photos from yesterday (5/18).

The Fisher Price Bubble Mower has been a big hit. It's too bad doesn't really mow the lawn, because Landon's covered almost the entire yard with it. I like that you can refill it with any bubbles, rather than having to purchase special Fisher Price ones.


This sand and water activity set is a Toys R Us exclusive item, but I couldn't find it on their website to provide a link. However, it would be worth looking for in their store, as Landon's having a blast with it (plus it's a great price--only about $13!). It comes with a truck and four boats, and there are gates that raise and lower, a movable crane, and a paddle for making waves. I also like that it's small enough that we can bring it inside during cold weather if we want. In fact, it will even fit in the tub if we want to contain the mess.


Bounce, bounce, bounce! Landon now has his own mini trampoline. He's getting plenty of exercise with this item. He'll bounce for a few minutes, go do something else, then come back and bounce some more. We do plan to store it in the garage when it rains, since the online reviews mention that it doesn't hold up well when exposed to the elements.


And here's what Simon did while we were outside yesterday:

Hello, Spring!

Finally, spring weather has returned! We spent some time in the backyard this afternoon.

It was baby Simon's first time hanging out outdoors.


Daddy and Landon worked together to build a big mountain in the sandbox.


I don't think the nice weather's going to stay, but we're enjoying it while it lasts!

"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.

Spring Kite

I haven't posted any seasonal projects lately, because we've been spending too much time outside to do much by way of projects. However, tonight Weather.com's radar showed a huge patch of green right on top of us, so we chose not to go on a walk. Instead, Landon and I made a spring kite. I'll admit that it feels more like summer than spring right now, but the calendar still says spring, so I pulled out this project that I've been intending to do for a month or two now. (By the way, it never did rain, so we could have taken that walk. Oh well.)

As you can see, Landon decided he needed to paint with his hands.

Tractor

My Great Aunt Lois and Great Uncle Larry gave Landon this incredible John Deere ride-on tractor. Someone Uncle Larry worked with was going to throw it away, because his kids had outgrown it (This thing is worth $250 new, and it's still in great condition!!!), so Uncle Larry salvaged it from him, and they wanted Landon to have it. My parents picked it up from them last weekend and brought it to Landon tonight. It is definitely a big hit with him. He can't reach the pedals, but he still thinks it's a ton of fun. It's got a trailer to pull, too. I think it will be an even bigger hit next spring, but he sure is happy with it right now. We had to put the tractor in the garage and tell him it was sleeping to convince him to stop sobbing when it was time to go in for dinner.

Tomorrow's birthday party day! The house is decorated, and we're just about ready to go!

May Day

Happy May Day! We celebrated by making a spring flowers collage.

(Sorry, Landon had a very busy schedule today, so I had to take his picture while he was on a conference call.)

Instructions for this project are on the Spring page of Toddler Celebrations.

We've been very busy here this week mulching a play area in our backyard and preparing for Landon's birthday party this weekend. Pictures of all those things will be coming within the next few days.

A tour of some of Landon's favorite things

Today we have the nicest weather so far this spring. We were supposed to be hosting playgroup at our house, but no one showed today. But since I had the backyard all set up for outdoor play, and we had plenty of time carved out for playing, Landon and I spent a good part of the morning outside. One thing we did was take a walk around the parking lot adjacent to our house. Here is are photos of some of his favorite things to see on our walks:

First off, we have the church bus. Landon loves to look at the bus. We hear, "Go see da blue bus?" a lot.


"And what's that he's holding?" you say? It's his flag hat, of course! Grandma and Papa bought that for him last week. It lights up even. The reason that they bought it is that Landon is American flag-obsessed. When we drive, he points out each one: "American flag! 'Nother American flag. Diff-ent American flag! More flag?" Actually, I think that Landon picked out the hat himself. Quite the treasure, isn't it?


This red trailer is next to the blue bus. Usually Landon doesn't care much about it, but today he was very interested in it.


Usually there's a dog that we look at when we walk, but today we skipped that part and went straight for the stop sign at the back of the parking lot.


Today Landon even had a hug for the stop sign. He wanted to kiss it, too, but I stopped that one. He also wanted to hug a passing van and some trash. I had to say no to both of those requests, too.

Rainbow cloud

Landon's been under the weather since Saturday; he's got a cold and/or is teething or maybe both. However, we managed to work together on this project. It took two days because of his sad state, but here it is:

Directions for this project are on the Spring page of Toddlercelebrations.com.

Kite flying

We grilled tonight for the first time this year. While our Lemon-Butter Pork Steaks were cooking, we got out Landon's kite that Grandma Rita bought him a few weeks ago. We didn't have much luck getting it up in the air--not surprising, since there was only a light breeze--but it was fun to try.

Playing outside pictures

Landon and I were able to spend time outside this morning. We blew bubbles and played with chalk.

When Tony came home for lunch, he pushed Landon on the glider on the new swingset a bit.

Warm weather

Hooray for warm weather! Landon and I got to spend a good hour outside today. His swingset is up, so he did some swinging. We also spent lots of time just walking around. He likes to go see the blue church bus, a dog that lives in a neighboring yard, and a nearby stop sign, so we hit all those spots. Tomorrow's supposed to be another nice day, so maybe I'll get pictures of the swingset tomorrow.

MOMS Club and Today's Playgroup

Landon and I are joining a new MOMS Club that is starting up in our area. See http://www.momsclub.org/ for more information. I'm very excited about it!

Today at playgroup, Landon got to decorate a styrofoam cup and plant tomato seeds in it. We'll see if anything grows!

Rain, rain, rain

It's been raining all evening, so we did a raindrop painting project tonight. Landon and I pressed the sponge brush down together. He enjoyed saying, "Dab, dab, dab," each time.

Instructions for making this project are in the Crafts section of the Toddler Celebrations Spring page. Thanks for looking at Landon's artwork!

Swing set!

Spring is slowly on its way, and we celebrated by buying a swing set yesterday! Pictures to come once we get it up!

Easter and Spring projects

Here are two projects we did the week before Easter.

Painted egg project that we did over several days' time, adding one color each day:


Here is our colored paper/contact paper Easter egg project:


More information on both these projects is available in the Crafts section of the Toddler Celebrations Easter page.

Now that Easter's over, it's time for Spring projects.

This week at playgroup, Landon colored a picture of an umbrella, then added blue paint raindrops to the picture:

I made Landon a bird's nest out of an oatmeal can and bluebirds out of clothespins. We talked about how birds live in nests and looked at pictures of them. Then I showed him how to drop the clothespin birds into their nest. He also likes to shake the nest, so the birds fly out.

Learn how I made the nest game in the Activities section of the Toddler Celebrations Spring page.