A Week of Adventure

Last week I went on my first vacation since Xander was born, so we took a week off from Tot School.

Before we left, I decided to take him ice skating.  I realize he is super young for it, but I used to ice skate when I was younger, so knew I could hold him up if need be.  He was a little nervous at first, but I eventually got him on the ice.  Every once in a while he would stand and I would hold his arms and push him around.  He wanted nothing to do with the little carts they had.  For the most part, though, he wanted me to carry him while I skated around the rink.  He also thought it was really funny when I would spin (not holding him, he hung out with Uncle Brice while I spun).  He had a great time and cried when we left.  Mommy got a good work out!

For our "real" vacation, we headed to Wisconsin Dells.  I was a little nervous because he had never been in the car that long.  He did pretty well with some toys and a portable DVD player we borrowed.  He only slept for like 20 min!

We went to an amusement/water park, and he exceeded my every expectation for him!  He is a pretty serious rider, though.  He always made these serious faces on the rides, slides, or even just looking around at people.  He had a great time though, and always signed "more" at the end of each ride.

Train Ride

Waving from the giant swing

Go Karts!

Tea Cups (See what I mean about the serious face?)

Hanging out on a Rock

Water Park

I only really got pictures of the indoor water park.  Our locker was much too far to be able to get my camera in and out at the outdoor water park.  He had a blast though.  He jumped some waves in the wave pool, rode on the lazy river, played in the pirate ship, and went down some water slides.  Now when I say water slides, I don't just mean the little kiddie slides (which he did go on), I mean the BIG three and four story slides.  He wore a life vest and sat on my lap while I sat in the tubes.  I don't know where this kid got his guts, but he is a little daredevil!  He loved the slides and woke up from naps saying "slide slide slide."  Also, once I took him on the four story slide, he no longer wanted to go on the three story slide.  The only problem was that the water was COLD.  Even though the temperature was about 90, the water was cold enough that he would start shivering, so we didn't get to slide as much as we would have liked.  We would do a couple of slides and then warm up in the sun or the hot tub (more like a warm tub).  

An example of the size of slides he liked.

More Go Karts!

All in all it was a great trip.  He did really well and we had a good time.  He had so much fun, I may have to look into taking him to some of the indoor water parks that are closer to home!  Although it will be a lot easier when he no longer has tubes in his ears!  Anyway, I am excited to get back to a more normal schedule next week!

Spring Break - Field Trips

Last week was my spring break.  We had an absolutely wonderful week spending time together.  We also got to go on some fun "field trips" together.

First we went to the John Deere Pavillion.  They have a great big place with tons of tractors to climb on and explore.  Xander had fun exploring it all, from law tractor to giant combine.  They even had a kids play area.

 We were blessed with some amazing weather, so we took a trip to the zoo.  I didn't get many good pictures of the animals (we have been there many times before, and will no doubt go frequently this summer), but I did get a cute ones of him.  I let him get out of the stroller and walk whenever he wanted.  He was so proud of himself to be walking, he was just beaming.

My brother was in town, so we took a trip out to a disc golf course that surrounds a lake.  It was beautiful, and we had a great time walking around together.  Xander loved getting to carry his own disc, although he rarely tried to throw it.

River Museum

Yesterday was Father's Day and we spent the day with my dad (who is the best father in the world, by the way).  At my dad's request, I made blueberry turnovers for breakfast.  Brice had to work, so I took one to him there.  Afterward, we went to the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium in Dubuque.  It was Xander's first car trip and he did pretty well.  He slept most of the way until we got off the interstate.  We ended up having a lovely, although tiring day.  Xander enjoyed the greater sirens and paddle fish.  Grandpa enjoyed the old steamboat we got to tour.  I liked watching the giant, disgusting octopus.

Grandpa and Xander and best buds.

Watching the turtles.

Walking around the port.

Watching the big fish.

First Museum Trip

Friday some good friends of ours invited us to go to the Family Museum with them.  Of course, Xander slept through the first half of or time there.  However, he really enjoyed it when he woke up.  So much to see and do, SO many kids to watch.

I know he didn't understand any of the exhibits, but it was still a great outing.  He loves people watching.  I did sit with him the xylophone room and he enjoyed all the sounds.  We also played some of those Caribbean drums made out of barrels.  My little guy loves his music.

Speaking of music, I downloaded some solfege power points that have the music notes on the scale corresponding to the sound.  He is absolutely mesmerized every time we watch them.  Ever since we started, he struggles to see the computer screen, even if they aren't going.  I have horrible pitch, so hopefully we can develop his while he is in his language learning window.  :)