Addison is walking!

Last week Addison finally got the nerves to walk by herself! She is a super mobile girl now, getting into whatever she wants. She is loving walking!

A mini-vacation!!!! Micheal had to go out of town for work for a few days, and we got to go with him! We stayed at a place called Wilderness Resort in Wisconsin. It was a really cool place, it had 4 indoor waterparks, an indoor giant play fort thing, mini golf, arcades, laser tag, restuarants....on and on...it has lots of outdoor stuff too, but since it's still winter here, we didn't explore any of that! It was so nice to get away and even though we love family, it seems like one of the first and very few times we have taken a trip away and it be just us, so that was nice. It was a very nice trip. It was so wonderful to spend the day relaxing. Our room was really nice and the kids of course did great. During the day when Micheal was working we would go explore dry land things like the play fort, go eat lunch, come back for Addison's nap, and when Micheal got back we would rush out the door to the waterparks. Then we would come back after an hour or two, eat dinner, and then go out to the pools again, and still manage to be in bed by 9! Parker was so brave. He wanted to ride the big rides with us. So we strapped on his life vest and off we went...riding the big tube rides. Addison did well also, she was too little to ride rides etc, but we were able to float the lazy river and play in the toddler areas. She had fun, and even began to crawl in the water. I was worried about how she'd do, as when we were in NM she was stressed and scared of the water....but she wasn't well yet, so I think that was a lot of it. We also had to stop and buy some Wisconsin cheese curds in Wisconsin too! Yum Yum!

Parker and Micheal getting off one of the rides. I think he liked them more than us...we have to admit we are getting old, and would get dizzy riding in the dark tubes!


Parker and Addison in a raft in the wave pool. Parker really liked riding the waves...but all those pictures were blurry. He would want us to take him way up to the front with the big waves. Addison had nothing to do with it when they were going.

A view of one of the water parks. The kids could climb stairs, stand under buckets, go down lots of slides.....

Addison, ready to swim! She's easier to take a picture of these days, Parker doesn't want to cooperate a lot of the time when the camera comes out.

Daddy, Addison, and Parker in the tree swings. Addison loved these swings, her feet went in and out of the water as she went back and forth. Parker was really too big, I think he scraped his foot on the bottom from this. But, he had to do it if she was!

Addison, loving the swing!

Another one of the water parks. Parker and Addison didn't like this one as much, it had lots of spraying water...they don't want to be sprayed...just splashed.

This was the view from our patio...in the summer it would be really awesome to look out your window and see the water park and all the kids playing! But, obviously, the pool was like a giant ice cube!

Parker in the giant playfort. I had a hard time with this, because we went when Micheal was at work. It was 4 stories high, so he could climb endlessly, it was hard to keep my eye on him so that stressed me out, plus I had Addison, so what was I going to do if he got stuck!? Pull her and my silly self through this kid zone?! Thankfully he was safe and figured it all out on his own and stayed where I could see him to cheer him on.

This is Parker looking at a map on the wall to tell me where to go. He stood here forever, which his finger on his chin thinking about where we were going next. It was so cute, I had to take a picture!

Parker in the toddler area, about to slide down the beaver tail!

Addison did it!

All ready to go in the pool.

Addison after her first ride in the lazy river. All smiles!

This is Parker and Addison before we went to the pool the first day. Addison has a look of uncertainty, Parker is over filled with joy and excitement!

She can climb the stairs!

Addison has learned how to climb the stairs! ARGHHHH! I can not tell you how many times I have gone up and down them lately! She can go up, but not down...so when she gets to the top, you hear her call....if Parker leads her up there, they go exploring, and chase each other in and out of all the bedrooms. Oh joy! There is no way to attach a baby gate, so below you'll see my attempt to block the stairs when I've had one too many trips....Parker though likes to dump his toys in the wagon, and Addison likes to try to figure out a way around the wagon to get back up the stairs.



She made it to the top! Yay!


Here she goes, up and up the stairs! Notice the balloons? Every week at story time the the story teller gives out balloons to the kids afterwards. Addison is in love with these balloons and now he gives her her own. She loves to have them on her wrist, and when there is one in the house that is still floating, she wants them on her wrist at all times. I insist she take it off when sleeping and when we go outside though. She does keep them on during playtime and meal time!

February

Oh how the time flies again and again. A good thing I guess. This month started with us returning from our wonderful trip to New Mexico and getting settled back into our routine. We are getting a little cabin fever and ready to do some outside things, but it's still too cold, even if it's in the 30's. We had another big snow this month, getting several inches at once. We went to the bounce house place again one morning, and were able to go bowling one day too with people Micheal works with. Parker is learning more and more each day. He is really starting to know and identify so many things he sees. Parker has really grasped the concept of big and small and short and tall. And one day, I came into the living room and found that he had 2 eggs from the fridge wrapped in a blanket, for real, 2 real eggs! When I asked him what he was doing, he said that eggs had to be warm, not cold. So I had to convince him that these eggs didn't need to be warm, they needed to be cold so we could eat them. This was not an easy task, and he kept wrapping them up and walking away from me, as I was also scared he was going to drop the eggs. Eventually we agreed to put them away. Parker loves dinosaurs and we have been learning a lot about them and what they eat....leaves like grass or meat like hot dogs. He has also started singing the theme songs before his cartoon shows that he likes to watch. He loves to dance, and climb, and run. Addison is back at 100% and into so much now. She loves to explore and take things in and out still. She is learning to chase Parker, and he loves it.


This is us bowling. Everyone had the gates up on the gutters so that was really helpful in making sure Parker knocked down some pins. The balls were all too heavy for him to really roll, but he did it granny style and enjoyed it. Addison just hung out with us, after a while she was more annoyed she could get on the floor and crawl around.


They even had bowling shoes in Parker's size! So cute!


Parker's Aunt Kelly always makes this face at him, I have never seen him actually do it on his own until now.....now if you ask him to make a silly face, this is what he does.

A little blurry, but Addison the beautiful anyway.

Parker got a haircut from mommy this month! We convinced him he was wearing a superhero cape and that seemed to help...this is before the haircut, after the haircut, he stresses himself out so much he's sweating everywhere and red in the face. He doesn't like it, but his hair isn't over his ears now!

Addison loves to give love. This month she really learned how to give people kisses and hugs, and Parker is now able to handle it and she too without either of them getting hurt.

Parker can now open the fridge all by himself. And Addison thinks that whenever you open the fridge she should be in it. Yet another job for mommy!

Book Review-The Story of Easter Retold by Gwen Ellis, Illustrated by Steve Smallman

On one of the blogs I follow, I saw that a friend was doing book reviews in return for getting to keep the book for free! I thought I'd give it a try for a while.

I read The Story of Easter, Retold by Gwen Ellis and Illustrated by Steve Smallman. This is a children's book, and includes a DVD with short videos related to the story of Easter. The book is based on the story of Easter as told in the Bible. It starts with the request of a donkey colt by Jesus and tell the story of how He went from that point to His death and into Heaven. Each scene in the story is referenced by the passage in the Bible that it can be found. It also as a "thinker" box that asks a question or makes a statement to help promote discussion. This book is for children as young as 3, but with the "thinker" boxes it can easily be utilized with older children as well.

I liked how this book was clear in presenting the message it intended. The illustrations are colorful and pull the reader into the story. I liked that there was the basic part of the story for young children, but also challenging things for older children to think about and discuss with a parent or mentor. The DVD that came with the book contains illustrations and animations parallel to the book. The stories are accurate with what the Bible says and are short and easy to understand. The DVD is more appropriate for older children, and a great bonus to the book.