Morton Arboretum

On Sunday we made our first (but likely not last) visit to the Morton Arboretum using (free to us) Groupon tickets that our neighbors gave us. We only went to the Children's Garden area, so we left much of the park unexplored, but we had hours of fun!

First up: Will he or won't he? No, he just wanted to look in, but he didn't crawl in.Next up: the first of many water features for the kiddos to experiment with. You were supposed to be able to step in certain spots to get the frogs to spit, but it seemed like they just all went all of the time.

The first of at least three water pumps to check out!

And who can resist the giant slide!

Or climbing back up to ride again! I was shocked how easily he mastered this climb.

Then it was off to practice walking across the pond on stepping stones.

And stopping to get a peek at the tadpole in the water

And then peacefully walking hand-in-hand with Daddy on our way to the tree house craziness!

I didn't get any pictures in the tree house area since it was a tag team effort to watch Will, but he had so much fun tearing across the bridge and through the whole structure! No fear for this kid! A lovely fall day with the family!

Trike Time

This weekend was our neighborhood's semi-annual children's clothing and toy sale. As a seller, I got to "pre-shop" and snagged this Radio Flyer tricycle before the sale for only $10! Will loves the ones at daycare, so we were hoping there would be one at the sale. It's amazing how fast he can go just using foot power. He can also pedal a little, but it's not as fast. He's also wearing new wind pants that I scored (50 cents) and leather Stride Rites (overpriced at $8, but I bought them anyway). I put the shoes on for fit but should not have let him outside to ride the trike in them; there goes the toes!

I actually bought almost all of my stuff (including the trike) from one woman whose youngest son is 3 1/2. I told her next year to just have me over in advance and save us both the trouble at the sale! I told her to call me when she's ready to sell her train table! :-)

I sold the last of the baby gear that didn't sell at the last sale and sold (or donated) all of his 18 months and younger clothes, so I went out today with my earnings and stocked up on 2T jeans to go with all of the 2T and 3T shirts that I bought at the sale. He's ready for fall/winter!

It's Pajama Time

I should have titled my last post "It's Cold!" We had a great night last night at the Shields house because another tax season is done! I worked until 6:30 (incredibly late for "the 15th") and then my train line shut down due to an earlier accident where a train (the one I had hoped to be on) hit a pedestrian. So, I carpooled in a cab with some other commuters from my town and got back home only about 30 minutes later than had the train been running. Will waited up for me and we played and then took pictures to document the first cold night of the season.
Oh my goodness we had so much fun using that paper towel rod as a noise maker! These are his new 2T jammies; they looked huge on the hanger but fit very well!

Jason was telling him to frown for the picture and this is what we got. He was being so silly!

He loved his jammies so much that he refused to part with them this morning. So, I sent him to school in them! We had to take the tags off of his new rain boots, too, since those were the only shoes big enough to stuff those footies in! I sent another outfit in his bag but he was still wearing the jammies when we picked him up this evening. His teacher said he seemed to be enjoying both the jammies and the boots today!

It's Fall!

Fall is just around the corner according to the calendar, but it has mostly arrived here. Football is on TV, the first batch of chili has been made, and another tax season is almost behind us. I worked all day Saturday, but on Sunday took a sick day with a nasty cold. Finally around 6 p.m. I had enough energy to walk down the block to the park with the guys so Will could burn off some energy on the swings and slide. He's either watching kids play soccer or a new puppy in the picture below; there were both, so lots of fun distractions!He's getting very skilled at scaling the playground equipment and doesn't want help. And he's got a lot of self-confidence and pride: whenever he accomplishes something he smiles, raises his arms in the air and says, "I did it!" Whatever he just "did" we are always proud. :-)

Stay tuned for more and better pictures next week. We have a family field trip tentatively planned to the Morton Arboretum one day this weekend.

Staycation

No Labor Day travels for us - unless you count this Cozy Coupe cruisin' through the neighborhood! The boys played at home on Saturday while I worked. On Sunday, Will and I enjoyed the beautiful weather by playing outside for 3 hours - and we never left our block! Most of the time we played in our neighbor's back yard. Will's favorite was standing on her bridge to throw the frisbee for the dogs (her two plus Rachel). She even made Will lunch so he could have a picnic. We finally went inside for a mostly failed attempt at a nap.

Monday brought a visit from one of Will's favorite people. We took Uncle Ryan swimming with us at the indoor pool and then ate lunch and played before another very short nap. We finished out the evening with some indoor golf and basketball and then called it a day after eight rounds of "one more hug." Because who could deny that little voice requesting a hug even though you know he's stalling for bed?!

Handy Will

What a sweet face! This one is my new screen saver! You'll notice Will continues to sport a band-aid over his scratched up mosquito bite. He is really attached to the band-aids, but he also broke it open through scratching several days last week. Last night he wanted a replacement band-aid after I took this one off in his bath, so we put it on his other cheek (yes, seriously) so the other cheek could air out. We spent Sunday doing outside chores. It was beautiful outside in the yard - especially in the shade. We put Rachel on a leash around the tree and Will helped pick up the tree and bush trimmings. He did a really great job with that, but did eventually get bored. Then he played golf in the front yard while I picked a few more weeds and Jason trimmed the hedges.

You may notice that Will is starting to dress himself. He was very impressed with putting on his own shorts - that he picked - so we came outside to show Daddy. So cute!

The Weekend in Pictures

We brushed our teeth - this new Thomas the Train electric toothbrush has been a hit! We did laundry and picked up the house:

We made blueberry muffins from scratch - and then had to eat them, of course! We colored on construction paper and ourselves: We also took a trip to the zoo with Uncle Ryan! Will didn't seem to have that much fun at the Stingray Bay or Dolphin Show while we were doing them, but he keeps talking about them when we turn on his Baby Einstein aquarium at bedtime since there is both a dolphin and a stingray.

Stingrays: while running his hand over his Pillow Pet dog as an example: "Uncle Ryan touch stingray!"

Dolphins: while doing the wave with his arms "Dolphins jump high! Big splash!"

The Haircut

It was quick; it was painless; it was free! I cut Will's hair on Saturday evening after his bath. It was a last minute decision but I didn't foresee an opportunity to take him to a salon anytime soon thanks to my work schedule (and I didn't want to miss it if Jason took him), so I just put his bath towel over the office chair and Jason distracted him a little while I snipped off the crazy hairs in the back and around his ears. Not too bad.

ABCs

Seriously, every single day Will has started doing something new that I didn't know about! This time it's singing along to his ABCs. He hit the button on his music table on Friday night to start the ABC song and all of the sudden I realize he was chiming in on some of the letters. Wow!

Along that line, we decided to create of our own "back to school" pictures, since I have been enjoying all of my friends' photos as their kids head off to school this year. Will's backpack is full of golf balls, race cars, and other assorted toys. He loves to haul stuff around!

He's sporting a Big Bird band-aid because he's got a mosquito bite that he keeps itching and opening up a scab. The top picture is a good "before" photo of his out of control hair. I didn't see when we'd have time to get him to a hair salon, so I cut it myself on Saturday night. Luckily it turned out fine! I'll post those pictures soon.