Tuesday, April 27, 2010

It's a great life!

Nick captured this picture of Julian "hanging out on the tree swing". JuJu's favorite way of swinging these days is best described as the crazier the better!!!! He even pushes off the tree for a little extra fun -- agh!!!!

Julian often likes to sit as his very own picnic table for lunch, snacks and dinner. He must have thought his spot was a little too sunny, so he improvised a shadier seat with a rain umbrella.
The Pages' Circus (it has a Spanish pronunciation, by the way) came to Pekin, IL last Wednesday. We toured the arena grounds during the morning and were able to see the elephants, camels, ponies, horses, tigers and lions. Julia's favorite thing t0 watch was the park ranger mowing grass on the riding lawn mower!!! Later that night we did attend the live show; Julian laughed out loud, clapped enthusiastically, jumped out of his seat and attempted to perform some upside-down acrobatics and spins of his own, and even cuddled up to an 8 yr. old girl to enjoy the second half of the show!
What better way to raise Mom's heart rate than to fly down the slide on your belly!
Julian's trying to keep up with our neighbor, Tom, who has a riding lawn mower!!!
We toured the "Art of the Brick - LEGO" exhibit at the Lakeview Museum with our friends, Walter and Monica. The boys were most captivated by the permanent hands-on exhibit with plastic pins that you press back and forth.

And, finally I must confess to dragging the boys (Nick and Julian) to a Primetime Expo on Saturday that was sponsored by our local newspaper. We were the youngest attendees...apparently "primetime" is a bit older that I imagined. Many in the crowd were participating in chair aerobics to the Golden Oldies. The antique car show was pretty cool though, and the Elvis impersonator bestowed a silk sash on Julian!

Monday, April 19, 2010

Fun in the sun!


Thanks to all the time we spent outdoors in the backyard last summer, the dogs have become very proficient at digging in the dirt. Their favorite spot is this shady area next to Julian's play house. Julian doesn't seem to mind; in fact, he's benefited from the dogs' actions. The dirt (when dry!) is really lose, and the hole has really grown in size. Julian grabs his "sandbox" toys and digs right in. Here he is with his safety glasses from Lowe's as it was a breezy day and he was tired of rubbing dirt out of his eyes. The outfit was of his own doing too!
Lots of dirty fun!

A little clean fun, too!
Concentrating while climbing at the playground.
Give a kid a shovel, and he'll spread mulch around for you!

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Have lawnmower ... will travel

Shhhh! Don't let the IRS know about Julian's new toddler lawn mowing service! It's quite the set-up. He crawls into the red wagon, hauls the plastic lawn mower in with him. Then, Mom gets to pull him along to the "work site".

Here are some photos from the past week:Hanging out in Grandma Shari's forsythia bush.Swinging along the zip line that Grandpa Jerry installed.
Looking for what the Easter Bunny left in the yard.