1st Fishing Trip

We took a short trip to the river over the weekend just to get away and spend a little time with Popa and Abu.  Claire had been asking to go fishing so Popa was all set to take her on her first trip (just to the pier a few houses down.)  She was so excited!  Unfortunately Fielder was not so excited about his life jacket so I had to take him back to the house, but they fished for a little while and Abu took pictures and video for me.

ewww......bait

She came back with a very proud look on her face, but then apologized because she didn't catch anything.  That's the way fishing goes kid!  I remember fishing with my grandpa - bottom fishing in the sweltering heat and we couldn't even jump in the water to cool off because of the nettles! 

Fielder was a bull in a china shop at the river house.  So many new things to get into and climb on.  I don't think he actually broke anything, but he tried really hard.  Oh, he did spill an entire box of orzo pasta all over the kitchen floor.  I was starting to lose it with him so Popa took him for a walk in his stroller.  Then Claire and Daddy went on a jet ski ride - she was nervous at first, but absolutely LOVED it.  She keeps asking if we can go back tomorrow.  It was adorable to see her holding onto her Daddy with a big huge smile on her face.

Thank you Popa and Abu for letting us come and wreck your peaceful, quiet weekend!  I am looking forward to many more weekends at the river as our kids grow up.  (Hopefully by next summer Fielder will be more manageable!)

Sleepover

Daddy was out of town for work for a couple nights so I decided it would be the perfect time for a sleepover with my girl!  Claire and I had popcorn, watched Sofia the First, and she slept in the bed with me.  I got kicked all night (make a note to trim that girls toenails!) and she stole the covers, but it was sweet!

 

Lewis Ginter

We had 2 free passes for Lewis Ginter so I took the kids yesterday for an all-morning-you-better-take-a-darn-good-nap-later adventure!  I think we managed to pick the hottest day of the summer so far.  By the end, we were all a sweaty, sandy, stinky, wet mess.....but we had fun!

They both loved the tree house and looking through the windows to find turtles and fish.

Clarie LOVES the sprinklers there, but Fielder wasn't too sure.  He had fun running around, but wouldn't get too close to the water.

The butterfly exhibit was really fun.  It was sweltering inside and I had to carry Fielder so we didn't stay long.  Claire's favorite part was the "nursery" - a box with monarch caterpillars and some cocoons.

Claire says her favorite part of the day was climbing this tree.



We had a picnic in the shade before hitting the water area one more time (Claire went home in a sopping wet dress.)  Her "challenge" was to keep Fielder awake for the car ride home!!

Bayou Barnes

This is our little friend we found in the driveway yesterday morning.  So random!!  At first from far away, I thought it was a baby bird that had fallen out of the nest, but as I got closer it looked more and more like a lobster.  What in the world is a crayfish doing in our driveway, I have no idea!  Claire didn't want to get too close to the little guy.  I had to go back in because we had abandoned Fielder in his high chair and by the time we went back out he had disappeared.  I feel bad to not rescue him, but no clue where to even put him!  Apparently my neighor also found one the day before so they must be from a creek in the woods or somehow washed up from all the rain.

Train Park

Claire and I used to have occasional "home days" where we just hung out at home, watched tv, read books, and stayed low-key.  There is nothing low-key about Fielder.  These days we have to stay busy, busy, busy!  I can't handle the pool with both kids but so many days a week so when we had a nice cool morning last week I googled "best playgrounds in Richmond" and this one came up.  I call it the train park because it has a train to climb on, but also because it's right above a train track where the kids can watch them go by.  Unfortunately we never saw a real train, but this playground was a winner.  They loved it and we will definitely try again to see a train!  And when I'm *really* lucky and sufficiently wear out Fielder, I get a nice long naptime!  The other day, I snuck in to check on him after 2 1/2 hours (because anything over 2 hours I figure there must be something wrong) and this is what I found.  I can't imagine it's comfortable, but I certainly didn't try to move his feet and risk waking him up.

 

Father's Day

I almost forgot to post about Fathers Day - sorry Rob!
The picture above is the kids making their cards for Daddy.  (He never got Fielders b/c Fielder thought it was more fun to eat crayons and rip up paper.)

Claire got to choose what treat to have for Father's day and she chose going out for ice cream. 



The rest of the day the kids and I disappeared so that Rob could enjoy a quiet house and time to do whatever he wanted (I'm sure that included a nap.)  I took the kids to visit Mimi and Papa and swim at their pool.  Claire had a great time showing them her new swimming skills!

Happy Father's Day!

 

Some Really Random Stuff

Since I am a complete failure at keeping a scrapbook, this is the best I can do to keep track of funny moments, memories, and pictures.  Here are a few random things that happened recently that I just wanted to write down.

Swimming
Last night was Claire's last swim lesson for the "fast-track" class.  We are so proud of her - she went from being scared to put any part of her face in the water to being able to actually swim!  She loves to go under the water, jump in, dive for rings, and can do a roll-over onto her back to "catch a breath."  I can't say enough good things about Aqua Tots!  She loved it so much and has learned SO much that I have signed her up to go once a week now. 


Toys
I snuck into Claire's room for these 2 pictures of her toys.  (I told you this would be random.)  I love to see her creativity and all the little things she has "set up" in her room.  She gets really mad if she has stuff set up for a game and we try to clean it up!  One of the things she does is to read a book and then act out the book with her pet shop animals or other toys.  If you can see, she has 3 animals sitting around just like the 3 in the book.  There's also a little animal on the table and a little one asleep upstairs in a chair like the book. 

This one, I have no idea what exactly she was doing, but it looks to me like the pet shops were having a camp out.

 

 

Conversations

I love the conversations that have been going on around here lately. 

 

I went into the kitchen and overheard this one:

C:  "Fielder, we're going to have pizza tonight!!"

F:  "pee pee"

C:  "I knew you were going to say that.  I love you!"

 

Then yesterday, I was going to turn on a Thomas show for them to watch. 

Me:  "Claire, which Thomas show do you want?"

C:  "The one about friends because Fielder is my best friend!"



Climber
So what has our 19 month old been up to these days?  Mostly just climbing, getting into stuff, and wreaking havoc in our house.  We no longer have chairs at our table - they are stashed away because he either climbs up or has a great time throwing the chairs backwards onto the floor.  I love his little personality, but man, he can tire me out!!