Feeding the Ducks

The weather has been so nice lately that we have been spending alot of time outdoors. Today we went to feed the ducks at a near by park. Joshua was so excited about feeding the ducks, that he kept chanting "feed the ducks! feed the ducks!" These ducks are used to being fed because we were able to get close without them trying to fly away. I am sure the ducks are full now, because we fed them about a half loaf of bread, not to mention what was thrown to them by the kiddos that were there before us. It was a great way to spend the afternoon.

Of course we had to stop by the playground before and after we fed the ducks!

A Day Out with Thomas

Joshua's school had a flyer that they put in all the kids take home folders advertising that Thomas the Train was rolling into town on Oct. 1,2, & 3. Joshua is really getting into trains now, and so Dan and I thought it would be fun to take him to ride on a real train. We bought our tickets online like 2 weeks ago and today was finally the day. Joshua does not fully "know" who Thomas the Train is, he just calls it a choo choo train, fair enough! Our departure time was 9:20am and we were supposed to arrive an hour early, so that meant that we had to get up at 6:30 in order to leave by 7, because the train station was about an hour away. Let me just say that no where on the website did it say to get there an hour early. I only found this out when the tickets came in. I would not have chosen this early of time if I would have known that, but it actually worked out nicely, because it was not crowded at all. When we arrived we got to see Thomas and take a picture in front of him. Joshua wasn't into smiling that early in the morning, so we took a couple of pics and moved on. While waiting for our departure time, we saw a man on a unicycle that was juggling and Joshua thought that was really neat! We also went into the imagination tent, where they had a few train tracks set up for the kids to play with and a couple of bounce houses off to the side that looked like trains to jump in. Joshua loved(understatement) the train tracks and promptly asked for his choo choo train that we had brought from home so he could test out the tracks. He kept saying "All Aboard" real loud and then would move his train along the tracks. He was having a good time. Then the conductor blew the whistle to let everyone know that Thomas was coming into the station and that made Joshua jump a little. It was finally our turn to ride the train, so with a little coxing we pulled Joshua away from the pretend train tracks, and boarded the train, Thomas the Train! Joshua was a little skeptical at first but once the train's whistle blew and the conductor said "All Aboard" it was all good. Joshua loved looking out at all the different scenery and kept saying "train moves fast, train moves slow" The conductor came through and punched our tickets and said hello to everyone. The train ride was about 25 mins long and that was just enough time. We went to the gift shop on our way out(I know bad move) to see if there was anything reasonable to get Joshua for his Day Out with Thomas. We settled for a Thomas the Train balloon, which he was perfectly ok with! Below our some pics from the morning!

Happy Friday!!

End of Summer

What marks the end of summer for us is when we take down our pool. It is easier to take down than it is to put up for sure. It is always cool to me to see all the water come rushing out once it is taken down. This year Dan had a little help in taking down the pool. Joshua was so excited to see all this water coming from everywhere. He was a great helper and did exactly what daddy did(literally)!

And the walls come down...

Like father...

like son.

Joshua was pushing with all his might and making grunting noises. It was funny!

Now to the fun part...playing in all the water from the pool. It was like a mini lake in our backyard! Joshua loved it!!!

You can see how high the water is in this picture. Almost to Joshua's knees.

Good-bye Summer!!! Hello Fall!!!

A Trip to the Zoo!

Today, we met Mimi and Papa at the Waco Zoo! It was a great day and the weather was perfect! This was Joshua's 3rd time to go to a zoo. In his short little life he has been to 3 different zoos, The San Antonio Zoo, The Nebraska Zoo and now he can add The Waco Zoo to his list. I will have to say that today's trip he was a little more into seeing the animals and making the sounds that they make. Granted he was only a baby when he went the other two times!

Joshua's 1st trip to the zoo went a little something like this:

His 2nd trip was in Nebraska and he is about 8 months old, at least he is awake, right?

and now 3 years later; we got to the zoo right when they opened so, it was not very crowded while we were there. It was really nice and Joshua was having a blast!

Showing us on the map what animals he wants to see first

Mimi and Joshua in the Rain forest.

Fierce lion! Well, not in this picture, but he did show off a little for us by rolling over and putting his tummy in the air...funny!!

So, towards the end and after alot of walking Joshua was about done and all he wanted to do was play with his cars.

He did stop long enough to view the elephants and tell us what sound an elephant makes. He was pretty close!

The giraffes! I can't get over how tall these animals are! Super tall! Joshua wanted to "pet" them, ummmm I don't think that would be a good idea!

This "big cat" was asleep when we first went to look at him and then he woke up and rolled over like he wanted us to scratch his belly. Ha! He put his paw up and Joshua gave him a "five". In the picture below it looks like Joshua is saying you want me to do what!?!? haha!

Joshua had such a great time at the zoo and getting to spend time with Mimi and Papa. He loved looking at all the animals and trying to "call" them over to him so he could "pet" them. His favorite part of the zoo, I think were the aquariums and the otter exhibit! He loved that otter exhibit. He would get so tickled and excited every time the otter would swim towards him or spin. It was really cute to watch him. After the zoo we met uncle Eric and all went to have lunch. It was a great time and Joshua did very well for all the walking he did and not getting in a good nap. He actually fell asleep about 10 mins after we sat down for lunch and slept throughout the meal.
He woke up just as it was time to leave to head home. Thanks for the fun day Mimi and Papa!

Nursery Rhyme Parade

Joshua's school put on a Nursery Rhyme Parade today! It was really cute and each class (including the babies) presented a nursery rhyme. Johsua's class recited "Little Boy Blue". They have been practicing for the last couple of weeks and we even practiced at home with Joshua. Ms. Maria let them pick if they wanted to be a cow or a sheep and Joshua chose to be a sheep. One of Joshua's little friends said that he didn't want to be little boy blue, he just wanted to be Lukas(hahaha)! So, I went early to help get the kiddos dressed in there cute costumes, but when it came time to put on Joshua's sheep costume, he was not having any part of it. He refused to put on the sheep costume and then I tried a cow costume and he said "NO!" to that one too. Oh well! I decided I would sneak out so I could go and get a seat while Joshua was distracted with some blocks(I really didn't feel like being part of the parade).

They all marched in a line starting with the babies and ending with pre-k.

and when Joshua's class came around the corner, I see Joshua holding his blanket and Ms. Maria's hand.

Then Joshua decides he doesn't want to march anymore and just stops right in the middle of the parade. So Ms. Maria had to pick him up and carry him the rest of the way.

"Little boy blue come blow your horn, the sheep in the meadow and the cows in the corn. Where is the boy who watches the sheep? He is behind the haystack fast asleep..."

Yes, Joshua has his finger in his mouth, not his thumb, but his index finger. He has been doing this lately. I don't know if it is a nervous habit or what. Still cute!

All done! YAY!!! Great Job Turtle class!!

So, today showed Joshua in true form with doing the exact opposite of what he was supposed to do, but that is ok, because there were no tears and he sat there and they all did a great job!

YAY FOR THE NURSERY RHYME PARADE!!!

Casual Conversations

There are alot of random conversations at our house these days. Joshua's vocabulary is expanding and his personality is full steam ahead! These conversations are random, but if I don't blog about it then I will forget them since everyday is a new day!!

Dan: Joshua please take a bite of your rice
Joshua: No, thank you, just chicken

Dan: Let's play bowling on the Wii.
Joshua: Oh yeah! Give me a five!!!

As he is drawing a circle : It's a fish, it's a "b", it's a "6", ummm, no it's a circle!

After he eats anything that he likes, he says "mmmm, delicious"

Me: Joshua did you play with Andrew at school today?
Joshua: yea and with cars.

Me: Joshua it is time to get up and get ready for school
Joshua: Where's daddy?
Me: Daddy is at work, but mommy is here
Joshua: (sighs) and then says "bye, shut the door!"

When he is trying to decide what to do he says " how bout ______"

When watching football, he yells at the TV "go, go, go, touchdown!!"(even if it isn't a touchdown)

We are working on the concept of sharing. In Joshua's mind it is one-sided.
Dan: I will play with the red car and Joshua can play with the yellow car
Joshua: No, I play with red car
Dan: No, you have the yellow car, you have to share.
Joshua: Daddy, share wit me
(Still needs some more work, because apparently you share with Joshua but he isn't to keen on the idea of sharing with you.)

Joshua to our dog: Get down and go time out, right now!

Before bed one night:
Joshua: Go see Andrew
Me: Not tonight, in the morning when you go to school
Joshua: Go see Andrew, please!!!
Me: If you close your eyes and go to sleep then you can wake up and see Andrew
Joshua shuts his eyes and then opens them and says "where's Andrew" I guess I should have explained it a little better. Genesis kid!!!

Joshua: Momma, I have hiccups, hear them....as he makes this crazy noise with his throat and shrugs his shoulders

These are just a few of the conversations or sayings that I can remember. I know there are many more. It is so cute to hear him talk and have actual conversations. He is growing up so fast!