Ted's New Bike

Ted has pretty much mastered his balance bike so we (or Santa) thought it was time to upgrade him to an actual bike. The theory behind the balance bike is that your child should be able to go from a balance bike straight to a 2-wheeler. Completely bypassing the need for training wheels. 

What we did not take into consideration was the fact that his new bike is a lot bigger than his balance bike and he can just barely touch the ground while sitting. The training wheels were put on but hopefully his time in the balance bike will give him more confidence... who knows.. 

Today was a big day. Ted, Tidus, and I road bikes to story time! One of my Christmas presents was a baby seat for Tidus. The library is about a 30 minutes walk away and has quite a few major intersections and roads to be encountered. Ted did amazing! I was kind of a nervous wreck but Ted does really well with listening to what I tell him to do. Plus he knows his right from his left. 

The only down side is that by the time we got to story time Ted was so tired he just wanted to lie down while listening to the stories instead of dancing along. But he still made the long ride all the way home! 

The only thing Ted needs to work on is his ability to get started with his pedaling. On the way home Tidus had fallen asleep in his seep and Ted got stuck going up a curb. I scooted by bike up next to Ted to give him a shove up the hill and in doing so I lost control of my bike and it crashed onto its side. Tidus let out a loud cry and I quickly lifted the bike back into a vertical position. By the time I got myself back on my own bike Tidus had fallen back to sleep. Sheesh! I wish I could sleep that well. 

Ted's Favorite Part of the Day

Each day as our family sits around the dinner table we go to each person and have them share their favorite part of the day. We even ask Tidus. He usually babbles something like, "babbababa" so we just fill in what we assume he means... probably food... or bath time.

Today Tyler worked late, but fortunately he was able to go into work a little later than normal so the kids were able to see him, play a few games and wave him goodbye.

With just the boys and I at the dinner table I asked Ted what his favorite part of the day was. He said, "saying goodbye to daddy." When I questioned him on his reasoning he said it was because he liked saying goodbye to him.

I replied, "and you probably liked climbing on daddy's legs and keeping him from leaving."

"daddy said get off so I did, but then I got back on because I am silly."

Today I took the kids swimming in the hot tub in the rain, we went on a bike ride, I set up a few science experiments and art projects and we stayed up a little late to watch a movie, and Ted's favorite part of the day was saying goodbye to Daddy. It is one of those moments that puts life into perspective. All the activities I planned with the kids were fun and beneficial but the truly important things are the simple times with family.

watching The Lorax after bath time. 

Bop-a-top with Ted

Last year Tyler and I were introduced to an invention that has greatly improved our lives, the Bop-a-top. It is a little devise that is basically a hole punch for drink bottles. We found it at a booth during our visit to a children's expo. We keep one at home and one in the car for our frequent fast food visits. The Bop-a-top punches a hole in the lid of a drink the exact size for a straw to fit into. This eliminates spills even if your kid drops the drink! Huzzah! 

We recently ran out of straws in the car. One day while Tyler was driving with Ted they decided to make a stop by McDonalds. Ted was anxious to drink his chocolate milk to which Tyler replied he would have to wait until they arrived at home since the car was out of straws (they have to be smaller size straws to fit into the hole). Ted's response to this was, "Can you show me we are out of straws?" 

Now, unbeknownst to Tyler, I had replenished the straw supply in the car. So when he went to open the center console and prove to Ted there were, in fact, no straws he was shown an entire bag of them... we both agree Ted will never believe Tyler ever again. 

Taking a walk in nature

Everyday seems to begin and end with an infinite list of requests from Ted. He begins the day asking to watch a show and that is often the last request of the night as well. 

Today's list included asking to go to the zoo, the aquarium, Costco (to buy chips and dip), the park, but his most pressing desire was to go back to the nature center where he would find all the numbers. 

The Shipley Nature Center, as I have most likely mentioned before, has a loop with numbered stops and a map that explains what each number is marking. Since we had the car today I decided to drive there sans stroller. I really did not want Tidus to fall asleep because then he would not take his nap later in the day.

 As it turns out Tidus is a walking machine. He walked almost the entire loop. This is even more impressive when you take into account the trail is covered in wood chips making it very difficult with little feet to walk through.

 Ted was our guide for the day and lead us to each numbered and then pointed out where the number was on his map.

 Anytime you see a picture of Tidus pointing up you can bet that he is pointing at either an airplane or a helicopter.

 Tidus was also super into feeling all the different plants as we walked along the trail. This gave me anxiety because there are signs in a couple areas warning of poison ivy and I have no idea what any of the poison plants look like... other than the voice of Marge Simpson in my head warning, "Leaves of three, let them be."

 We took a few of the side trails this time and found this cool little hut. Next to it was a cougar pelt complete with the head. I tried to get either of the boys to stand next to it for a picture but they were too afraid. Some day we will go on one of the tours so we will know what all we are looking at. For now we just like exploring.

The Festival of Flight

Most of the activities we participate in are found out just by chance. One morning, after dropping Tyler off at work, I was driving the kids to the aquarium and noticed a billboard that was advertising the Festival of Flight. Luckily I was in tons of traffic so I had plenty of time to read the info. Also the festival was to be held at the Long Beach airport which we are very familiar with around here, and it is free so double bonus.

The festival has booths, food trucks, music and tons of airplanes to check out. Most of the airplanes had a not touch policy but a couple were letting people have a seat.

 Ted was filmed giving a thumbs up in this plane when it was his turn to have a seat. I have no idea what he was filming for but it was still cool.

 Ted also got to sit in a police helicopter.

 We all sat in the luxery helicopter that you can pay a couple hundred dollars to get a ride in to Catalina Island. Tyler and I discussed investing in our own one of these. ;) It was so comfy.  

 It's Bulldog from Planes! :)

 This giant plane behind Tidus is a medical plane or something. There was a line that stretched around the world so take a walk through it so we passed on that.

 Ted has become quite the big brother in the past week. He is always helped Tidus, holding his hand, and making sure he is taken care of. Ted also still sits on Tidus and shoves him over so... basically they are brothers.

 Tidus LOVED pointing out all the planes and helicopters that were flying overhead. I think he was more into the planes in the air than the ones on the ground.

The festival even had a bounce house for free. So that was our last stop. In total were at the festival for a little over an hour. We arrived right when it started which was smart because it was starting to get more and more crowded. Plus the clouds were burning off in the sky so it was also getting hot outside. It was a lot of fun! The perfect activity family Saturday activity :) 

Another video for Tyler

It is the second annual Father's Day video for Tyler. Last year I did it way before Father's Day and this year I did it WAY after... but at least I am averaging one per year. 

Tyler is an awesome husband and father and I am so blessed to have him as my own!! 

Going places with a GroPro

That is a pretty misleading title. I am not really going anywhere new. Tyler bought me a GoPro and gave it to me early for my birthday. Having never thought I would own a GoPro this was shocking... but not that shocking since I am pretty into cameras and I have quite a few. I still have another week until my birthday. I am hoping (fingers crosses) Tyler will get the day off work so we can go to Knott's Berry Farm.

The GoPro is famous for its super wide angle, pretty much fisheye, lens which makes for some fun pics. And it is a lot easier to carry around than my big DSLR.

Check out my video I made at the bottom :)