Kiddie Festival (4/18/09)

Who knew I have pictures from April that I haven't posted. Back in April, there was a Kiddie Festival that we decided to bring the kids too. It's nothing big, but definitely enjoyable for the little ones.

The girls had their first encounter with mascots and surprisingly, they did just fine. They even played with them. :)

Thing 2 is showing off the pin wheel she won. Incidentally, this was the only time these dresses fit the girls.

Curious George and Thing 1. Notice the girls' hats. They were a part of their Easter Baskets.

Of course...Curious George in a fire truck and grinning like a fool.

We came home with a pet, too. This boy was beyond himself when he won a goldfish. He named it Punky. Punky is still alive and thriving today.

coin cars

Here are some pictures of the girls playing with the coin operated cars in the mall.

Thing 1 and her paranoid look.

Thing 1 drives like a maniac. (Curious George is in the background.)

Thing 1 and Thing 2 (green) fights over the car.

fun fun and more fun

I saw my chiropractor today and being Tuesday, I had the 3 musketeers with me. My appointment was at 9:30; I knew it would be a great time to venture out in the big big world with the 3 of them for the first time. So we went to the mall, played on the coin operator cars, had lunch and played at the play area. I think second to being a great time (early in the morning is usually a tantrum free time), what worked is that we had gone over the rules over and over before getting there.

Rule 1: You must stay close to me at all time. "I cannot protect you if you run far away from me."

Rule 2: You have to listen to Mommy or we will go home right away.

Rule 3: You have to potty with the rest of us. (Nothing worse than abandoning food at the table just to run to the bathroom - with a toddler and a double stroller!)

Rule 4: If we all cooperate with each other and have fun, we will do this again another time!

Of course rule 1 and 2 went straight out the window once we got there because he saw the new coin operated cars. But thankfully, thanks to a new parenting outlook I am trying to put into practice, nobody blew a top today and we were quickly right on track for an awesome time.

Of course the first order of business is to ride the train, what else?

Then off to the firetruck. With it being so roomy, I let the girls join in the fun.

But then they cried when the I put them back in the stroller. :(
(It's Thing 2 in the window)


Thing 2 and Thing 1 trying to follow big brother and conquer the tree slide.

Thing 2 tried to climb the bridge. But it was a little hard with shoes on.

Thing 1 investigates the boat. Thing 2 heads to something more interesting. All put the girls in the boat with Big Bro, so they got to enjoy the boat together.

running errands with a 3-year old & having fun!

I was on church nursery duty bright and early this morning and of course I brought the little man with me. I don't think the husband would let me keep volunteering if I were to leave all 3 chitlins with him. It was fun, even though there was a 1-year old and a 2-year old that would really prefer not to be there. But for some strange reason, the total of 11 kids that were running around wasn't really too bad. I guess it's because they weren't mine!

After church, the little man and I went to Costco and bought a few things, including one ginormous box of diapers and one equally ginormous box of wipes. The little man is getting to be quiet fun to be with when he isn't throwing a tantrum. And he only has them lately when he is getting sleepy. We saw a fireman rain coat and he wouldn't let me put it back down. I didn't really want to buy because it's lined, and this boy being as warm blooded as he is he would just sweat like mad while wearing it. But, we ended up with it anyway.

Here we are having fun while eating lunch at Costco.

trains, cars, fire trucks, trains, and more trains

I don't think you're ever seen this much excitement from a 3-year-old. The problem is, that we built up the trip by telling him he would be able to ride in a train. But the way the trip was structured, the train ride was after 2 hours of walking around and looking at the countless trains. When it was finally time to ride the train, he bee-lined for the train like someone was trying to nip his behind.



Look at this boy grinning like a fool.



Here is 3 generations in front of the this 1925 train (picture on the left), but it's actually 5 generations.. Papaw shares his story of riding on this train with his father, and his grandfather running it. Poor little man doesn't know yet that there is another legacy here in store for him - the big belly.

The picture on the right is Daddy and Big Brother's cousins...and no, they are not really funny looking. The sun just happened to be in their eyes.



And here we are, the women-folk. I got a work out carrying Thing 2, but Nana had Thing 1 who is even heavier. Silly me for leaving the stroller at home. Never again!

a 3-year old's attention span may be short, but their memory isn't

Matty had an invitation to a party in his cubby when I picked him up. Unfortunately, we won't make it because we will be out of town, at Nana's and Papaw's. So I explained to him that we will not make it.

Me: Matty, we can't go to Izzy's party. Alright?
Matty: I want to go!
Me: Matty, we can't because we won't be here.
Matty: Mommy, we can go. My sisters can stay home with Daddy and you and me can go!
Me: We can't because we will be at Nana's and Papaw's. They will take you fishing, remember?
Matty: And Nana will get me a big big firetruck!
Me: I don't know about that, buddy.
Matty: Yeah, it will be for Christmas. Nana & Papaw will get a big big fire truck, I can get it for Christmas from Santa.

Matty was on the phone one weekend with Nana & Papaw. He started talking about fire trucks and how he wanted one. I don't know if his Nana understood it at the time, but I think she said "Yes." So the next time they visited, Matty remembered and asked for it. Whoopsy.

It's a great lesson we're all learning: a 3-year old's memory is apparently very loooooong. I've been caught several times about something I promised (to keep the peace & quiet!), and so have Daddy. I wonder how long this will go on?

Oh and another thing (I don't want Nana to feel bad about this one so I'll add one that involves Grandma, too), because he and his Grandma had a phone conversation about dried Mango, he has been telling me that Grandma is going to send him some. At Wal-Mart this weekend, I asked what kind of dried fruit he wanted as part of his school lunch (I gave him a choice of cranberries, raisins, and as I was giving him a choice I happen to see dried Mango), and he said Grandma will give him dried Mango!!

I can only hope that if I take a picture, it would last longer.

Matty's obsession with fire trucks, fire stations, and Firemen started with Fireman Sam several months before Halloween of 2007. Though Fireman Sam was a wholesome, educational TV program for young kids, I thought I would go insane watching the same sets of episodes over and over and over again. The Halloween only cemented the obsession because we bought him a fireman costume. And then there is the occassional fire drill at school, and visits from the local firefighters. Oh, and there just happens to be a couple of fire stations on the way to school that he just has to see everyday, twice a day (on the way to school with Daddy, and on the way home with me). We thought it'd get old, but a year later, with firetruck toys big and small, his obsession is still going strong.

Sometimes when we eat out, we see firemen eating where we go. Oh boy, Matty just gets googly-eyed for those firemen. And there was acually once when the Fire Chief asked him if he wanted to get in the fire truck after he ate his lunch.

We saw a fire truck at Wal-Mart today, so I decided that from now on, I will take his picture with the fire truck. This may be fueling his obsession, but that's alright. I think it's a whole lot better than being obsessed with policemen (who have guns). Though a Policeman did tell him once that it's "Policemen first, Fireman second." Matty would disagree, of course.