4th of July Fun at the Lake!

We all went to the lake for the 4th of July!  We had a lot of fun visiting with everyone.  Grant got to fish, ride in a canoe, ride in the boat, swim in the lake and feed the ducks.  He is already asking when he can go back again. 

I bought Grant the game, Candy Land.  He loves to play but HATES to lose!  He legitimately beat me the first 3 times we played but got really upset whenever I got in front of him.  I had forgotten how simple the game is to play so it is perfect for his age.

New Hairstyles and more pictures

Girls hair is definitely more difficult than boys!  Sloan's hair is always in her face unless she has a bow and she actually likes her bows now and understands the purpose of them.  I have been trying out new stuff lately, particularly ponytails.  Most of them pull her hair so I have been buying all different kinds and haven't found the perfect one yet.  She screams "ouch" when it hurts.  She also has a cow lick on the back of her head that swirls.  So getting her hair to part in the middle is next to impossible.  But her hair is not long enough yet to just have a back ponytail, lol.  I have tried to braid her hair but she doesn't have the patience to sit still yet.  I got one braid in there but haven't been able to repeat that again.

Grant demanded to have ponytails too.  So you will see a picture of his below. 

New phrase for Sloan: "Bad brother".  She says this whenever Grant gets in trouble.  She also says "have it please" whens he wants something.



The braid 

Building blocks and she is getting pretty good at it even if they are crooked 

Grant with ponytails...a little hard to see 



The Zoo, Children's Museum, a BIG bubble bath and more

We have been busy with fun activities in the last week or so.  We went to the zoo and both kids really enjoyed it.  Sloan loved seeing the panda bear especially since it got so close to the glass.  They both loved feeding the birds and petting the goats. 

Some of Sloan's favorite lines these days:  I want that, give me that, nooooo no thank you, read book, sit on couch, read night night moon (which is Good Night Moon), want go outside, build blocks, bye bye paci, brother get that, ouch, toot toot (and yes, she will toot and call herself out, lol), holy moly (she got that one from Grant, lovely) and there are many more that I am forgetting.  She repeats everything and copies everything Grant does, for better or worse!

Playing in her room.  We actually got a great smile.  It is so hard to get her to smile for the camera.

Grant and the goat

The panda! 

The birds!  We bought little sticks with food on the end and they flocked to eat it! 

We learned that a tiny amount of shampoo goes a long way when the jets come on!  Grant was in paradise! 

Getting ready for the pool 

Manning the crane at the Children's Museum 

Playing in the moon sand 

She says, "Hello" and then starts babbling away 

This was a classic picture of when we went through the car wash!  She freaked out which was sad, but it was quick. 



New Pet, Swim Lessons resumed, and Stroller Fun

We went to return a duplicate toy that Grant got for his birthday finally.  It was at the Learning Express store and I told him that he could get whatever he wanted that was in the same price range.  He saw the frogs (yes they are alive) on the checkout counter and that was it!  That is all he wanted so we now have 2 pet frogs.  The store said they are very low maintenance so we shall see.  They have to be fed only 2 times a week which has already been an issue.  Grant wants to feed them everyday.  The kids fight over who gets to sit closest and neither of them wants the other to touch the tank.  I am hoping the novelty wears down a little soon.

Sloan is getting more teeth so now she has 13 or maybe 14.  She will bite me when I try to look so I have to be careful, ha.  She now understands how to negotiate which is pretty funny.  If she wants something and I need her to do something else, I can say "if you sit down, I will get you the frogs" and she will promptly sit down.  It has come in handy for many things.  Grant is officially "brother" to her.  That is all she will call him.  She now says "mommy at home" when I come in from work and runs over to give me a hug.  Her vocabulary continues to grow and shock us daily.  She says "brush teeth" now in the bathtub since she sees Grant brushing his teeth.  She has a toothbrush and will brush her teeth and then try to spit like Grant.  It is so funny to watch.  She tries to copy everything he does, good and bad!

Grant has started swim lessons again.  His first lesson was this past weekend and he did great.  He is doing one on one lessons this time.  He took his back float off for the second half and was starting to get the hang of it.  The goal is to be swimming by the end of summer so we shall see.

Just when you think your child would NEVER do something......IT HAPPENS!  This weekend we are all in the house and Grant runs over all of the sudden screaming and holding his nose.  He was sticking his finger up his nose and freaking out so we couldn't understand what he was saying.  I honestly thought he had a bugger and then it started bleeding since that has happened before.  But he was acting different.  I immediately pulled his finger out of his nose and said what is wrong and calmed him down.  He looked up and I saw something yellow in his nose.  He had gotten Reese's Pieces after swim class and shoved one up his nose!  I held the other nostril shut and said blow really hard.......and it shot out across the room!  Thank goodness he didn't get it up there too far.  His nose was bleeding too.  He said he was just playing and then it got stuck.  We had a nice little conversation about not sticking things in your nose or ears!  It scared him so I don't think he will be doing that again.

Our new pet frogs!

Swim class 

Some stroller fun!  They had a blast taking turns pushing each other around the house. 

Week with Papa Bill and CC

Grant and Sloan got to spend a week at Papa Bill and CC's house while Luke and I took an adult only vacation (we went to Mexico with friends and it was great)!  They had a great time up there and I think Grant would have stayed longer if we would have let him.  Sloan came home saying "Papa Bill" all the time.  The first few days home, she woke up saying "papa bill gone bye bye"....I think she was in withdrawal, ha ha.  She is now speaking in a lot of 4 word sentences which is shocking.  Her favorite right now is when she pulls you over to the couch and says "sit down, read book" and hands you a book. 

Grant started summer camp this week.  He goes Monday to Friday from 9am to 12pm for six different weeks throughout the summer.  I can't remember if I put this in here already but Grant passed his hearing and vision tests with flying colors during his physical.  He is going to start swim lessons again this weekend. 

Balloon art with Papa Bill

Water guns with Papa Bill 

Chilling out on the back of the couch 

Sloan and Michael hanging out......they both look so thrilled, lol 

Sloan and Papa Bill 

She refuses to sleep in the car for me but this is what happens with CC 

Looking at the cat 

Balloon Hat! 

Playing with my old toy which was solid wood back in those days 

Papa Bill and Sloan playing when they got back to our house 

Memorial Day Fun and a Mystery finally solved!

We had a fun Memorial Day weekend at home!  We went to the park and the pool a few times.  Grant loves feeding the ducks and Sloan would have loved to grab and squeeze a duck....so I had to hold her while she threw bread at them.  These ducks can be aggressive when you are holding food and they even hiss at you when you aren't fast enough throwing it!

We also solved a mystery with Grant.  He has been telling us for the past week that he wanted to go and eat at "Fish and Bones".  We had no clue where he was talking about.  He said it was near his school and they had fish that he could eat.  None of it made any sense to us but he was getting frustrated that we had no clue what he was talking about.  Then, I took the kids to Target this past weekend.  On the way there, Grant suddenly screamed "There's Fish and Bones mommy" and I was ecstatic and turned quick to see what this place was........wait for it......wait for it........Captain D's!  Their logo is a big fish made of bones and there is another one near his school.  I started laughing and was thrilled to have solved the mystery!  He demanded that he wanted to eat there but it was only 9am.  We took him there to get lunch that day and he got a kids meal (piece of fish, fries and hush puppies).  He took like 3 bites of the fish and said he was done!  I could have predicted that one.  I had never actually been there before and I don't think we will be going back but I must say they have really good hush puppies....even Luke agreed and he doesn't really like fast food at all.

Sloan is now cutting some top molars and her vocabulary continues to amaze us.  She can repeat almost any word you say and enunciate it nearly perfect.  Grant now hides from her and then says "I see you" and jumps out.  So now she says "I see you!".  Play Doh and Crayon are still favorite words.  She knows all of her body parts and will follow simple directions like "go put the diaper in the bin" and she will take it, open the diaper champ, put it in there and close it back.  Then she will open it again and say "all gone gone, buy buy diaper".  She and Grant roll balls to each other and she will say "catch" and throw it at him.  They both continue to fight over who gets to walk Mason.  Sloan will say "get leash, walk Mason"  but it she doesn't say Ws well, so it sounds more like "alk".  Sloan started calling Grant "brother" this week and it's pretty funny.  She tries to say Grant sometimes but it isn't very clear.

Grant goes for his 4 year check up tomorrow so I will have his stats soon.

Feeding the ducks

Sliding with a serious face 

She spotted more ducks down by the lake 

Having fun with the sand table 

This is what happens when she gets hold of the stickers 

Loving some pool time 

We have to beg Grant to hold his crayons the right way.  Sloan just does it on her own and we don't know how or why.  She will pick it up and adjust it to the exact position.  She seems very right handed too. 

She loves to color 

Playing ball