My first fish

Well, would you look at that! Julian had barely sat down to fish, when he had a bite. Those whole wheat dough balls sure did the trick! Daddy was kind enough to take the fish off the hook and toss him back into the pond. Afterward we wondered if maybe we shouldn't have left the tiny fish on the hook as bait for a larger catfish. All in all, this was a very appropriate first catch for a two year old we thought!

Julian was very serious about winding in his own reel. And, of course, he brought along his blue Bass Pro Shop folding chair to sit on.

Trucks! Trucks! And more trucks!

We met up with friends at the annual Touch-A-Truck event hosted by the Peoria School District today. Each kid received a "I touched a truck." sticker and bag for collecting prizes, snacks, coloring book, crayons, etc. Julian was all business as he headed out to see the trucks!
Julian got into hip action with some other kids soon enough. Fun, lively music played the entire time. I wish I would have taken a picture of the DJ (husband of the clown we noted)- he had six huge speakers set-up. They did the trick that's for sure, as it was a windy day and truck horns were honking constantly!
Julian was the last to part with his hula hoop; it was difficult to carry with both hands!
We took a break from touching the trucks, and sat under some trees to eat lunch. Julian kept watching all the action though!
Not my ideal place for a comfortable nap, but Julian must have known something we grown-ups didn't because before long two other boys jumped into the front loader too!

They all seemed tickled by their cleverness!
Inside the stadium they had carnival like activities for the kids. Julian was calm, cool and collected participating in the craft-like task of filling an elephant charm necklace with colored sand.
He was pretty good at fishing too! Maybe we'll take him to the fishing derby in Peoria this Saturday!

He was really ready to take off and drive this tractor across the parking lot while wearing his hard hat from Ameren UE, of course. Julian was pretty proud of himself for climbing into the driver's seat of the school bus. In fact, he reached for the CB radio at one point and seemed to be role playing!

We'll probably go see more fire trucks this weekend at the 2nd Annual Fire Days in Pekin. There's a parade and free kid entertainment....they don't have to tell us twice!!

Farmer Julian

We headed over to Fon Du Lac Farm Park with friends today. Boy, was Julian ever busy lending a helping hand wherever he could! First, there was digging up a new sand pit at the playground.
Then, Julian helped wind up the ribbons on the May pole.
Here he is "testing" the cool shade in the pony's stable.
Julian checking out the saddle in the tool shed.
Milking the cow.
Then, dumping out the "milk" into the grass like he saw one of the volunteers on the farm do.

Needless to say, Julian fell asleep on the car ride home.

Mommy sang "e-i-e-i-o-u-1 farm park"!

That's what little boys are made of!

Julian has attended four Chiefs' minor league baseball games now. So, he was practicing his own baseball skills the other day. What do you think of this sitting down technique?! He was quite pleased with himself!
Bath time was a whole lot more appealing the other night when Mom whipped out a travel size can of shaving cream. Julian thought it was funny sticking the rubber ABC's to his belly too!
Julian attended not one, but two children workshops this past weekend. He was in full concentration with the rather large hammer Home Depot provided for the kids. Lowe's usually has only small hammers for the younger crowd, so the heavier hammer was a really big deal!
The picket fence planter seemed to have Julian's seal of approval. He even found a little house plant to set in it which he had to kneel down and admire in the middle of the aisle on the way to the check-out.
At Wildlife Prairie Park, Julian thought the giant frog was a hilarious sandbox playmate.
Most of the animals were behind enclosures, however, this little turtle was found along the walking path. Julian had to show Mommy and Daddy how its head goes in and out of its shell (poke, poke). Then, he released it back into the talk grasses along the side of the path with that new baseball arm of his while Mommy rummaged through her book bag for the hand sanitizer!