Category Archives: play

Lazy day at the beach

Not counting California, we’ve only gone swimming once this summer… several weeks ago.  Not quite as often as I had originally planned, but what can I say? Neither Josh or I are very big swimmers, even though we do like the water.  The kids are still getting plenty of water exposure, though, and are enjoying water days more and more.  They do love sand, however, and that’s one thing we don’t have at home so we should probably try and take them to the beach at least once more before the summer ends.

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Enzo’s an old pro at this point when it comes to wet sand and building castles, but Phoebe was a tad reluctant for me to even put her down. After a little coaxing (and once she saw Enzo digging in) she decided she was ready to get down, but she absolutely did not want to get her feet wet. Ha ha. That meant she also did not want me going in the water with Enzo, but he was having such a good time splashing in the water and didn’t even panic when he fell and got water in his face.

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Eventually they both got more brave and Enzo decided he wanted to go further out than usual while Phoebe finally figured out that a little water between your toes isn’t such a bad thing. She didn’t necessarily want to go in the water, but before I knew it I was fetching her bucket after bucket of water so that she could dump it on herself.   It was a nice victory.  It’s funny how they surprise me in random ways almost every day.

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Must do everything!

Camping was… interesting.  Ha ha.  It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t terrible either. Let’s just say that Baby Girl isn’t a big fan of it yet.  That being said, at least it was another summer activity that we were able to cross off of our (non-existent) list.  I know Summer isn’t over yet, but now that we’ve hit August and the temperatures are getting nicer, it’s apparent that there’s still so much I want to do before Fall hits.

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While we never did get the kids in swimming lessons, they have started to actually enjoy water more and more this year, so perhaps this Winter we’ll see about finally getting them swimming so they’re ready for even more fun next Summer.

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At the beginning of Summer Phoebe wanted nothing with water and was pretty unhappy during the first water day at day care.  While she still prefers to stay on the sidelines and splash with her feet, she’s now at a point where she’ll gladly get in a kiddie pool and splash around on her stomach – if the water is warm enough.  If the water is too cool she isn’t a fan, even if it’s 90 degrees out and feels awesome.  She might run through a sprinkler, but that’s hit or miss if the water temperature isn’t what her ladyship likes.

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Enzo has also gotten much braver this year.  It helped when he got to watch his Colorado cousins run through the sprinkler and splash around, and slowly he’s getting more and more into it.  He still doesn’t like to get his face wet at all (not even in the bath), but we’re working on it.  I’m just thrilled he’s been much more willing to try new things and has discovered how fun it can be.  It also helps that there is the whole “Monkey See-Monkey Do” aspect of siblings – if one of them does something then the other obviously has to as well.

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Also… why do these little pools always look so much bigger on the box??  I guess we’ll have to get a bigger one next year.  It was slim pickings when I found this one.

Road Trip to Colorado – Part 4: Relaxing Cousin Time

We had a couple of days set aside before it was time to make the long trek home, and it was nice to just relax and let the kiddos run around and play.  There was some napping and quiet time mixed in as well, which was pretty nice too. I was even able to get a little reading in, which rarely happens during the day, and hardly ever on vacation.

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We did end up getting out (because kids get stir-crazy) and went to an indoor bouncy house place.  It was thankfully not very busy when we arrived and the kids had a lot of fun.  It was also nice to see Enzo overcome his fear of the tall slide after watching his cousins. Needless to say, he thought it was awesome once he gave it a try.

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The kids got some more much needed outside time that afternoon.  It was still warm, but not uncomfortably so.  Knowing we’d be headed out the next evening, it was nice to have a lazy day watching the cousins play together as it doesn’t get to happen often. Two years is a long time to go between visits, but even more so when you realize just how quickly kids change in that amount of time.

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Things and Stuff.

The weekend was good, but more on that later since pictures are still on my camera.  We got out of the house on Saturday for haircuts, but didn’t get out on Sunday since it was drizzly.  The dark clouds and the missed nap the day before gave us a grouchy little boy and a sassy little lady.  C’est la vie. They might also be picking up on a little stress from their parents.  Our downstairs is crazy with boxes and piles everywhere as we try to get everything sorted for our garage sale that starts on Friday.  Plus, we keep coming across new things to add, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

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All of this decluttering has also made me realize just how much stuff we have and why it’s so important to buy toys on sale unless I am absolutely certain our kids will get a ton of use out of it.  This cardboard house I got on super sale, and they played with it a handful of times before Enzo told me he wanted his ball tent back and no more house.

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It turns out we also have a lot of the same toys that they have at day care, which is sometimes good, but then also means that they’re often bored with these toys at home and want different ones.  I guess I’ll have to coordinate with day care from now on.  One thing we have a ton of that they don’t play with are stuffed animals. Some have been handed down and some I lovingly chose before they were born and others have been gifted.  Every once in a while they’ll suddenly pull them all out and play with them, but it might be time to let some go and let them choose their own plushy friends when they want to.

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However, the best toys are always the toys that aren’t actually toys.  Phoebe decided pulling movies off the shelf is especially delightful and therefore Enzo also had to join in.  They were quickly reprimanded, but now Phoebe likes to still pull them out because she saw us pulling out random DVDs to sell.  I’d like to say it’s because she wants to be helpful, but the naughty grin says otherwise.  She gives the same grin right before she starts throwing food, dumping whatever she’s drinking and running away from diaper changes.

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I totally get why some people like the minimalist lifestyle, though.  So much less to pick up, which makes it easier to keep clean and takes less time to do so… however, I’m a “collector” by nature, as is the man I married, so I can’t imagine us ever becoming minimalists.  I’ve heard a lot about The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, though and I’m going to start reading that in the hopes we can find some balance.

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Because no one wants to end up on an episode of Hoarders, right?

Home… yet again.

I had to stay home with our “sickie” again today because she had a mild fever yesterday and the rules are that a child has to be 24 hours without a fever before they can return to day care.  While she does have a nasty cough and sounds a little like Darth Vader at times, part of me wonders if she’s already figured out the fake fever routine.  While she was a bit clingy, she was not nearly as miserable as her teachers made it sound she was.  Oh, but she was thrilled to have me come get her early.  Poor Enzo was a bit concerned about his sister, though.  One of the teachers saw him a little mopey by the bathroom and asked him if something was wrong and he said, “My sister is sad.”

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This boy has been so very nurturing lately, especially to his sister, but also to his stuffed animals.  When Phoebe isn’t feeling good he checks on her and does everything he can to help “mother” her.  Not gonna lie, it’s ridiculously cute and so endearing.  I’ve often found him caring for various dolls as well. Last night he said that Goofy was tired and tucked him into bed.  I decided to play along and said I was tired too, proceeded to lay down next to Goofy only to be told, “That’s my Goofy,” as Enzo then gave me a stony look, picked up Goofy and walked out of the room muttering, “Leave my Goofy alone.”  Oookay.

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I’m thinking it might be time to get a proper play crib for Phoebe’s baby doll and perhaps for Enzo’s various stuffed animals since they can’t always sleep in Phoebe’s crib.  Also, his bed is becoming overrun with friends at night.  Not only does he have his stuffed animals, but when it’s time to sneak in and turn off his rocket flashlight we often find Ninja Turtles and books scattered all around him as well.  I do so love his many sides, though.  On the one hand he’s rough and tumble and loves to play “Bad Guys,” but on the other hand he also loves to nurture and care for others.  I’m glad he’s so balanced.