Just pictures for my dad

This isn't a post that anyone will find interesting--my email is acting up and won't let me attach pictures, so I needed some way to get these pictures to my dad. So the photos and the boring text are for him :)

Dad, these first 5 are obviously pictures that Melissa took

before they took the set apart. This is a full view of the set.

The club house and rock climbing wall--the slide

(which they took off because their girls were starting to

jump from the top) attaches to the right side where you

see the 2 horizontal boards blocking the side of the club house

Back of the club house


Back view of the set (you can see where the slide
will go on the left)

Monkey bars (we obviously won't put up the board

they attached here to block access--the girls were

jumping from here too) and the swings

This is the ladder from the above picture

(leads to monkey bars)

And this is where all the fun begins :)

Another view of all the parts

At this age, I think Joshua is more excited about getting to see Papa again than about the actual play set :)

And the surprises just keep on coming!

Apparently, this little one decided to keep on surprising us! With Joshua, I knew from the moment I found out I was pregnant that he would be a boy. With this baby, I haven't really felt strongly one way or the other, but I just figured that it would probably be another boy. I mean, I have a brother, I always babysat boys, and I have a son now. Why change things up, right?


Well, baby #2 had different ideas. It was very obvious, very quickly that this baby was not a little boy! I was in shock for the rest of the ultrasound...I'm having a little girl? A daughter? Really? Wow!

David, of course, is thrilled--he was really hoping this baby would be a girl. And even though Joshua doesn't have a clue what is going on, I think he will love having a little sister! Now the big question is: since Joshua is essentially a mini-David, will this little girl look like her mommy, or do I only produce David clones? :)

Backyard Fun and Drama

My mom and dad came up to spend Easter weekend with us, and we had gorgeous weather the whole time! We spent lots of time outside, which made Joshua VERY happy :) Saturday morning, we went to the Farmer's Market, and among other purchases, we brought home a blueberry bush to plant in the backyard.

One of Joshua's Christmas presents that we've

waited to use is this awesome bubble-blowing

lawn mower. Joshua loves to watch Daddy mow

the lawn, so he was VERY interested in his new toy.

Who says you can't work on the lawn mower
with a golf club in hand?

Joshua was very curious about Daddy digging

a hole in the yard with the shovel...

...and decided it was necessary to inspect the

dirt himself (with golf club in hand, of course).

Once the blueberry bush was planted and my dad

started the watering, Little Man was VERY excited.

He LOVES water, and decided now it was time to

get involved!

After getting thoroughly wet, Joshua turned

around to run and tripped over the dirt pile...

...and found out that a wet body and clothes

plus a pile of dirt equals...

a muddy and VERY unhappy little boy!

(To be completely honest, I don't know if he

was more upset about getting muddy, or the

fact that we were all laughing at him!)

Once he realized that he could get clean by playing

with the hose again, he cheered right up!

That water was cold, though!

Back to being his happy, active (and very wet) self!

Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt

We love our little neighborhood! One of our neighbors hosts an Easter Egg Hunt each year for all the neighborhood kids, followed by a cookout lunch. She shares the Easter story with the children, and then there are 2 egg hunts: one for the toddlers, and one for the bigger kids. Once the kids are done, her husband grills hamburgers and hot dogs and everyone who comes brings drinks, side dishes, and desserts to share. There were lots of kids and parents and we all had a great time!

The event was just down the street, so we walked

down, Easter basket at the ready!

I wasn't sure if Joshua would really get into

the egg hunt, but he loved it! I carried his basket

and he ran and found eggs...

...getting him to give up the eggs and put them

in the basket took a little more convincing :)


But with a little encouragement, he dropped
each egg in the basket and ran to find another one!

A pretty good haul for an 18 month old,

don't you think?

Adventures in Joshie-land

These pictures are from a few weeks ago, but I thought I'd give you a little glimpse into a typical Joshie escapade. I was in the living room, straightening up, while Joshua was playing in the kitchen with his fridge letters. He got pretty quiet, and then I kept hearing, "Up! Up!" So I come around the corner, and...

...this is what I see: Joshua's feet hanging out

of the second shelf of our kitchen island.

And this was the view from the other side.

And this was the view when I decided to take
a few pictures instead of rescuing him immediately :)