Animal Farm

No, not about to give an allegorical tale of communism.  But, on a fine summer weekend, what better to do that meet up with some good friends from East Lansing at a Metro Park?  Once at the park, though, you must wrestle with the eternal dilemma - petting zoo or beach?  Smelly furry things that try to bite you, or cool wet refreshment to splash around in?

She's excited, regardless of the decision...



He's excited, as long as there's dirt to play with...

And the winner is...  Well, perhaps I should've framed the options from the parent perspective, rather than the child perspective: spend a hot day in the hot sun without any shade, dealing with the hassles of swim diapers and the perpetual fear of drowning children, or let the kids run around in a fairly safe area with big metal bars between them and the things that are trying to eat them?

The goats have it!

We ate lunch, so Noah must've thought the goats were hungry, too

They had a nice barn set-up... some of the features of a barn were on display for hands-on enjoyment.  Noah has since decided he is going to be a blacksmith... or really anything that allows you to bang two pieces of metal together very loudly - cymbal player, blacksmith, construction worker... whatever.



Ride 'em, Cowboy!

We made Noah carry water for the animals...



This tractor is even bigger than the one at home!

This is the back... nuttin special



Is he throwing her in, or helping her pet them?

Phew... she's still there!

Trying to pick up chicks with his new ride

Wooden, immobile tractors really ARE chick magnets!

Tired family... long day...

This is how he looks cool...

And this is how he looks cool...

Bye-bye, goat!  Time to go!

Such a hot day, and for some reason we didn't go to the beach.  Fortunately, it started raining... only, not really.  But sprinklers are sometimes just as cool - if not cooler - than jumping in puddles in the rain!



Cute kiddo!

We do have a cute little man.  He's getting so big!  I had to work all day/night.  Libby and Noah brought me dinner at the hospital, but then they went off to finish their day and I stayed to finish my work.  So, Libby put him to bed tonight.

She brushed his teeth.  She read him The Little Engine That Could, along with a few other stories.  And then she gave him a hug and put him in bed.

He insisted on singing a song or two, as he always does.  And then he insisted on praying, as he always does.  His completely independent prayer, as he lay in bed with his eyes scrunched tightly closed?

"Dear God,

Thank you for this day!

Thank you for this food!

Thank you for the visit to Dada!

Thank you for this bed!

Thank you for trains that go over the hill most of the time!

... "

And there were a few others that went on from there...  Not bad for a little guy!

The Joy of Summer

 

Like Father, Like Son...

 

 _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Camping!

This portion of the year, Jonathan's work-load is probably lighter than it will be for the rest, and for now there is only one little Egle running around, so when presented with a day and a half off, what better way to spend it than Noah's first camping trip?  Nowhere too special... just a campground on a lake near Port Huron.

 

And Noah wasted no time.  He immediately wanted to head to the beach.  Who could blame him?  So, we headed over and waded/swam/played for hours!



Baby girl will be coming soon!

Some people might let the rockiness of the beach discourage them or thwart play plans, but not Noah.  It was probably even better with rocks than it would've been with just plain sand.

Scooping them... flinging them...  throwing them...  splashing them...  Rocks are fun, and rocks+water=even better!

But of course there was swimming, too!  Noah's getting used to the idea of floating and kicking and paddling...  some day we'll have to get him in swim lessons, but for now, he's completely content to frolic!

But for all the swimming that was to be done, there was probably about twice as much rock throwing!  High... far...  two at once... one at a time... big ones... little ones... the variety never seemed to end, nor did Noah's delight.  He probably could've sat there for days just throwing stones into the water.

And even with rocky sand, digging holes is cool... and burying feet is even cooler!

Noah liked playing in the tent.  He liked the camp food.  He liked all the other little kids running around the camp ground.  He liked the campers that were loudly broadcasting the Tigers game on the radio.

Enjoying an early birthday present from Ellia - his own Lightning McQueen camp chair!

Dinner's cooking - stew!