Happy 4th!

A Rainy Sunday Parkways

It was a little rainy, but today Portland Sunday Parkways came to our neighborhood, so we braved the elements, strapped the little guy into his seat, and set off on a family bike ride. Paul promptly ate a bug but gamely soldiered on.

Sunday Parkways is fun- the city closes off major streets so you can ride your bike traffic free. The route goes by different parks where there's music, Zumba classes (we didn't partake) and food stands (we did partake). Great people watching.

Anthony fell asleep within minutes of us setting out, which he always seems to do on the bike lately. He spent the first part of the ride nodding off or being cranky.

Refusing to have a good time.

A stop for ice cream made it all worthwhile, though.

Next Sunday Parkways is July 28th in North Portland.

We're Having a Garage Sale!

We're not busy enough around here so we decided to have a garage sale. It's going to be pretty cool so if you're around these parts this Saturday be sure to come on by. The theme is "When Worlds Collide". We need to clear out 1) a ton of baby/toddler gear and clothes and 2) two tons of Sci Fi collectibles, action figures, and comics so Paul can make room for more. (You do know he's a bit of an action figure enthusiast, don't you?). There's been a lot of unpacking and organizing in preparation for the big day, which means lots of fun boxes to  play with.

Mint in Box!

We Love You, Daddy!

Memorial Day

Willamette National Cemetery, where Grandpa Paul is. 

Both of Anthony's Grandpas were WWII veterans. 

The Big Red Farm

Anthony's preschool hosted a special event at their farm school this weekend. Despite some rain and mud, the day was a lot of fun.

This is Indy, the miniature horse.  Don't call him a pony!

Nice, right?

Anthony got to feed Indy a carrot.

And chase some ducks.

When he came to this building, he kept pointing at it and signing "farm." We explained that the whole place was the farm, but he insisted that this particular building was The Farm. 

 I blame the Peek-a-Boo Barn app.

One of the activities was Farm Bingo, a game like I Spy. All the kids got stickers and a "bingo board" with pictures of things like a horse, tree, chicken, etc. When they found each thing, they put a sticker on the picture. 

The Bingo game is a great idea that could be adapted to help teach sight words. You could make a board showing words instead of pictures and go on a hunt. For example, you could read a homemade book about going to the park, then really go to the park with your word board and go on a hunt for things like the slide, grass, swing, tree, bug, etc. Or you could make one for a trip to the grocery store, with words like apple, banana, crackers, etc, or you could hide items around the house and play a game to find them.

But as Anthony's Dad tells me, you don't have to turn everything into a learning opportunity! Sometimes you just want to hang out with a miniature horse and have fun, and that's okay too.

HAPPY MOTHER's DAY!!!

Happy Mother's Day to the most wonderful, dedicated, fun, loving and wonderful mommy in the world! Daddy and I love you so much!