Gymboree Play

Every Tuesday this summer I take both kids to Gymboree Play & Learn. They love it! I, on the other hand, end up worn out by the time the 45 minutes is up! Emerson runs around like a monkey climbing and crawling on everything with no fear in sight while Landon follows her around. It's so funny to watch a 3 year old follow a 14 month old around and imitate her. Landon has actually finally gotten over his shy phase as he will participate in the older kid activities by himself while I chase Emerson around. He didn't do that at the beginning of June, so I am very proud of him. He even has begun to jump off of things and do risky things, which is big for him as he is Mr. Cautious. They both love climbing all of the equipment and really love parachute time and dance time (most of these activities are the same every week). My kids are dancing freaks! This is where Emerson has learned from Landon as she imitates all of his dance moves. It's so cute watching them dance side by side as they look like twins. However, the rest of the time Emerson will not sit in my lap, sit still, or stay on the mat for longer than 5 seconds. We always say her time limit is 5 seconds! Miss Busy Body and our social butterfly! Unfortunately, I made Tuesday our last day. :( It just wears me out and I'm ready to have some free days to play around the house and hang out. We have been on the go non-stop since summer started and need the last 3 weeks to chill out. I know the kids will enjoy it! We still have several playdates scheduled as well as speech every Wed. and Fri. and some plans to go on some fun outings.

"Working at the Car Wash"

On Saturday the kids enjoyed "washing" their Cozy Coupe car. That thing has been the best money we have ever spent! Landon has worn the tires down. We are definitely going to request that Santa Claus bring one for Emerson this Christmas. Ever since she could somewhat walk and get around she has enjoyed the coupe, way before the age that most kids can maneuver in it. Our little girl seriously thinks and acts like she is 2! It's so much fun watching her learn everyday and she even teaches Landon a thing or two! :)

Children's Museum

On Thursday my mom and I took the kids to the Children's Museum. We haven't been since Landon was about 19 months old. It's difficult with 2 kids in different age ranges. However, Landon still did seem to enjoy the Tot Spot as he is used to playing with "baby toys" and doesn't seem to mind. Emerson was in heaven...free to roam and tons of stuff to touch. She was all over the place, running people over, and having no fear whatsoever. She's something else! She enjoyed touching everything, sitting in the car, putting plastic rods into holes that lit up (she's got great fine motor skills!), checking herself out in the mirrors, and walking up and down the curvy path with steps and bumps (about 10 times). She meandered her way through everybody and did her own thing with no regard to us. She even pushed and hit a kid (a kid bigger than her) over the head with a plastic plate! She's one tough girl and has learned a lot of things from her brother (both good and bad).

Landon really enjoyed the Flow Works outside as we visited it twice and had to pull him away crying in order to go home. He enjoyed splashing in the water, building a boat, watching the water dump/spray everywhere, and just observing all of the sights. Emerson dove right on in too when we let her loose out of the stroller. Once again she was in heaven...I was not! Chasing her down is wearing me out! And she once again barreled her way through kids of all sizes. Landon also enjoyed looking at all of the exhibits and building things. He really enjoyed looking in the periscope too and watching what all of the other kids were doing. He just loves to observe so there was a lot for him to look at. We also ate at the overpriced cafe and made a trip to the gift shop to buy a few things. We can't wait to go back again especially once summer is over as it was pretty crowded and we didn't check out a lot of the exhibits. Some of it was also too advanced for Landon. Once he is close to 5 years old he will enjoy it even more. We walked through the Kidtropolis which is a little city for kids. It was awesome, but way too crowded even at 10:30am. We checked a few things out in there and Landon painted a picture and we headed on out as the crowds were crazy.

The Greatest Show on Earth

On Saturday we took Landon to his 1st circus at Reliant Stadium while Emerson stayed at Nana and Grandpa's house and got to play (and have all the toys all to herself!). I'm glad we waited until this year to take Landon as he LOVED it. He would of been terrified last year as he gets scared easily. He was a little shy during the open house prior to the circus (after we stood outside sweating to death for 30 minutes before they would let us in!) but still enjoyed checking out all of the animals up close and enjoyed watching the dogs up close doing tricks. He wasn't quite sure of the clowns up close though! We had fantastic seats as we were center stage and only 6rows from the floor. During the entire 1st hour of the show Landon bounced his head to the music while holding his light-up toy, sang to the music (of course his favorite song was sung...We Will Rock You), and really enjoyed all of the sights as he is Mr. Observant. Luckily the few fireworks didn't scare him too much...I just looked straight ahead and pretended like I didn't hear them. His favorite parts were the music of course, the tigers, and the motorcycles (they had 7 of them inside the cage...amazing!). He seemed to enjoy the clown acts as well as he laughed loudly and would say things out loud (very loudly) to the clowns. The lady sitting next to us was cracking up listening to him. The circus is definitely different from when we were kids and it is much more expensive....by the time you buy the tickets, pay for parking, buy a hot dog, pretzel, drinks, cotton candy, and a toy you are broke! But, like I told Jason it is only once a year so it's okay to splurge! You are only a kid once! I hope Emerson is old enough to go next year because it was so much fun and we felt bad not taking her. But, she would of been all over the place....she would of ended up becoming one of the acts!

Lifelong Friends

I took both kids (what was I thinking as Emerson is a HANDFUL!) on Thursday to meet up with Reagan and Julia for some jumping fun at Monkey Bizness. These three have been friends since the beginning, attending each others birthday parties (Reagan and Landon have the exact same birthday and Julia was born 3 days after them), going to Gymboree music class each week for almost 2 years, meeting up for playdates at various locations, etc. We try to get together often, but life seems to be so hectic for all of us. But, each time we get together it's like no time has ever passed and everyone picks up right where we left off. True friendship!

It's a really neat story too how we all re-connected. I went to high school with Jennifer and Mandy (Reagan and Julia's mom) and even went to Elementary school with Jennifer and we were in Girl Scouts together, played at each others houses, grew up together, etc. Once we hit the later part of high school we went our separate ways (involved in different activities and classes, different friends, etc.). Then, right after Landon was born Jennifer saw my profile on our alumni website and contacted me telling me that she had a baby boy too on the exact same day and even considered the name Landon. Crazy! Then, Jason and I happened to be at Babies R' Us on the Sunday before I had to go back to work after maternity leave and ran into Jennifer there as well the day before she was going back to work too as a teacher, in the same school district, and at a school down the road. Wild! We e-mailed throughout the remainder of the year for moral support getting through the last 3 months of the school year without our babies. Once the summer arrived I decided to join Jennifer and Mandy and all our kids for Gymboree music class which we continued to attend for almost 2 years. So, here we are with our kids turning 4 in November and I definitely feel like this is a friendship that will last a lifetime! I'm so glad that Landon has 2 very neat, wonderful, and precious friends.







Over the years....

Celebrating their 1st birthday during our Gymboree music class

Reagan and Landon at Landon's 1st birthday party

A playdate last summer at 2 1/2 years old

Jumping at Monkey Bizness at 3 1/2 years old