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Park adventures with my boys

Posted on April 27, 2008 10:14 pm by TheAngelForever

Last Sunday before the second Passover seder we decided to take the boys to the park for some fresh air. We also thought it would be wise to let NHL to run off some steam. It was an absolutely gorgeous spring day.

Upon arriving at the park NHL bolted from the car (with permission) like this:

JSL was not so sure about the thing in the sky. Thanks to the long, dark, cold winter he forgot what the sun was like. For a while he was content to stay in his stroller under some shade with his sun hat on.

We watched as NHL climbed on anything and everything in his path. My what some amazing therapists can do for a kiddo. Last year at this time he would have asked for some assistance. Now, he could care less if we are there.

Wahoo - sliding fun!

Quickly JSL was getting very antsy and wanted out of the stroller. He saw his big brother having fun and wanted to get closer. JL decided to show him around the park. Please note the big smile behind his binky.

Unfortunately for JL, the little guy did not remain entertained by being out and watching for long. Before I knew it all three of my boys were running all over the playground. The first stop the BIG slide.

Do you think JSL liked his first adventures on the slide? Check these out to see what you think. Be sure to hover over the photos for some captions from Flickr.

Wait for us NHL

Check out who won

JSL's first time down the slide

Even more fun the second time

Third times the charm!

The little kiddie swings here were not too great. They were made for ages two and up and we quickly saw why.

Swings a little too big

When this did not work out JL and JSL ran to catch up with NHL to try something else. The two boys wanted to do a brother train down the smaller slide together. Run ~~Forest~~ JL Run!

The boys go on the slide together

Smiles all around

NHL ran all over the place while Daddy and JSL tried to keep up. Still it was amazing to watch JSL be so happy following his big brother and being in Daddy’s arms.

NHL was very serious as he contemplated the next location to go to in the park.

Serious kiddo

Before I knew it they were all off again . . . to the other side of the park. Before arriving at their final destination, JL and JSL stopped for a quick swing. Not NHL trying to be patient in the background while the other boys were swinging.

Look at NHL waiting patiently in back

Then it was time for everyone to go round and round and get a little dizzy. At first JSL was not too sure about this. Before long he was barking at JL to go more!

Soon it was time to go and get ready for our second Passover seder. Before heading off it was time to catch a quick ride on the T-Rex.

This afternoon we went back to the park for another fun trip before the rain comes in for the week. JSL immediately wanted to go and play. He is so anxious to be able to go and run with his big brother. Soon enough we will be yelling at both of the boys to come back to us.

The nice thing with today, hours after we went Passover is officially over! It is now time to break out the bagels, pizza and other yummy chametz people!

Categories:
brothers fun jl jsl laughs milestone my boys nhl photos weekend

Hat appreciation & Package O’Fun

Posted on April 26, 2008 11:09 pm by TheAngelForever

A few weeks back my parents went to my Cousin M’s wedding in California (still bummed I was unable to go). My father was in his glory because he is a HUGE LA Dodger fan. After they arrived home the boys and I went to visit. Dad quickly showed JSL his new LA Dodger hat and placed it on his head. Here are some photos from JSL trying to fill Papa’s large hat.

BTW – No Dad, I am not saying you have a big head. Mayor Big Head is the one with an extra large cranium!

Be sure to hover over the photos for the captions.

Making Papa proud

As you can see, JSL enjoyed playing with the hat more than actually wearing it. Hopefully he will appreciate the wearing more as the warm weather will require on in the days to come.

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On Monday when we went to take the boys outside to play a package was on our doorstep. I immediately noticed it was not an ordinary box (in a good way). This box was covered in lots of fun stickers and things to make me even more excited about the contents from Kim & Jason of Lemonade Stand and Escape Adulthood. When I went inside I was blown away with how it was packaged. Here is a collage of the photos of the box and the goodies waiting for me inside.

BTW – in case you were wondering what it was that was inside the box it was the book Living Out Loud – Activities to fuel a creative life by Keri Smith. It really looks like a fun read – I can not wait to get a good look at it. Thanks again to Kim and Jason for all of the surprises inside and out of the box!

Categories:
family fun interesting jsl photos Web business

Turtles, Dinos & Bears. . . oh my!

Posted on April 25, 2008 10:23 am by TheAngelForever

A week ago now we were finishing up the final preparations for Passover. Is it over yet?!?! Sunday evening can not come quick enough. Ahhhhh, I feel much better. Thanks for letting me vent.

Anyway, back to Friday. JL stayed home to finish things here and I took the two boys to a birthday party. Laura’s son Isaac turned 4 and invited NHL to go to Build A Bear Workshop with them and then to lunch. Thanks to Laura for being flexible and moving it off of the little monkey’s real Birthday (Saturday) because of Passover.

Prior to this NHL and I had never really seen how the Build a Bear thing works. This is the view of the store when you walk in.

Thanks to the overwhelming amount of choices for two four year olds, Laura decided to give them three stuffed friends to select from. There was a bear, a dog and a dinosaur (triceratops to be exact). Care to guess what the two boys selected?

Both Isaac and NHL selected the dinosaur and were on their way to making their new friend. Here are some photos of the events. After Isaac stuffed his dino it was NHL’s turn. Here are some photos of the dino getting some fluff.

Once this was done NHL had to pick out a heart for his new buddy. Once he selected it he had to give it a kiss, make a wish and put it inside to be sewn into his dino pal.

Next it was time to clean off the dino. A dino must be clean before getting dressed and heading out into the world you know. The actual thing is a pedal that controls air to help get fuzzies off your stuffed friend.

When both dinos were clean we tried (note the tried) to get a photo of the two boys and their dinos together. Good luck with two overly excited four year olds!

It did not work at all. Thanks to this they continued to get a shirt for their friends. Naked dinos were not acceptable thanks to Isaac’s Nana (thanks Mrs. D!!!!). Both dinos were dressed stylishly in a dinosaur t-shirt and super cool dinosaur slippers (they even had shades on them).

Of course having a dino is really great, but he needed an official name. Next up we went to the computer to give them a name and register them. NHL immediately called his Trike . This was in honor of Trike from Harry and his Bucket Full of Dinosaurs (great books and show). In addition to this the boys were allowed to get their big dinosaurs a little dino friend. NHL named that one Shane in honor of The Upside Down Show.

During this entire time JSL was being really good. He refused to nap, but watched carefully. There was so much going on he loved it!

Before heading to lunch we tried one last time to get a photo of the two boys. This is what happened.

From here we walked our dino friends to Pizza Uno for lunch.

As soon as we sat down JSL grabbed the menu and knew what he wanted to order!

Lunch was delicious and we had a great afternoon. Thanks again to Laura, Doug, Isaac and especially Mom D!

Categories:
birthday friends fun interesting jsl nhl photos

Wordless Wednesday – No Table Manners

Posted on April 23, 2008 7:17 am by TheAngelForever

What ya lookin' at Mommy?

**Be sure to go over the photos for a small Flickr caption.

Categories:
interesting jsl Wordless Wednesday

Happy Passover – 2008 Seder 1

Posted on April 21, 2008 8:17 am by TheAngelForever

As I sit down here to type, both of the Passover Seders are over and done with. Although it was a lot of work for JL, Mom, Dad, and I to do both of them at my parent’s house, it was well worth it. Thank you again Mom and Dad for working with us to make it happen.

We started the morning off getting something out to eat before we started cooking. Then we realized that we needed a few quick things at the store for the Seder. We stopped at a store for a new peeler and some sneakers for NHL. We did not realize his current ones were getting snug on him. We bought a pair of more plain ones and the following that he loved.

Then we went to the grocery store for a quick stop and back to our house. At home we packed up more Passover items and then went to my parents to work on the meal for the evening. We made a lot of food including charoset, brisket (thanks to Mimi and Aunt T), sweet and sour chicken, oven roasted sweet potatoes (JSL’s favorite) and cauliflower. In addition to this we had matzoh ball soup, hard boiled eggs, dried fruit (thanks Aunt T), strawberries, and some brownies, cookies and jelly candy. Here take a look:

The seder plate and table looked really great thanks to my mother getting everything so pretty. This is what the table looked like before we sat down.

And the seder plate is here:

Just before the seder both of the boys fell asleep. They were exhausted so we let them sleep while we talked and finished preparing everything. We were in no real rush. Our seder was the four of us, my parents and Aunt T. See how quiet they were:

NHL and JSL finally woke up and were ready to head to the table. NHL was thrilled to see he had a special setting. At his spot were the 4 Question finger puppets all ready to go.

Then it was time to put the matzoh bib on JSL. What do you think his reaction was? Here it is:

Eventually he warmed up to it and was amused by the kippah we put on him.

Thank goodness for the naps. It really helped the boys to be patient while we did the seder before the meal part.

We had a really nice first seder. I think JSL enjoyed his first Passover experience . . . especially the sweet potatoes and all of the attention from everyone. He ate some matzoh, but eventually realized it was not anything he loved and started to toss it. NHL was into participating this year and really wanted to help us read the haggadah. . . probably next year he will be able to do it.

Seder 2 also went smoothly thanks to lots of yummy leftovers and two new additions to the meal. More on this later.

P.S. A special thanks to JL for being flexible and working your butt off to kosher everything for the seders.