Splashpad Fun!

A few weeks ago, I took Nick and Henry up to Rosemont's Splashpad for some water adventures with Grandpa Mike and Grandma Patty.

Henry is a little too young for water adventures.

He mostly had napping adventures, and snuggling with grandma and grandpa adventures. Nick, however, had a ball. How many grandmas will brave the shooting water just for a fun time with their grandsons? Grandma Patty did!

The splashpad is an awesome concept. You don't have to worry about kids falling in the water, so they just run around and get wet.

I'm getting wistful looking at these pictures. That's because I had to get back to school starting yesterday. I already miss the (somewhat) lazy days of summer.

 

Building Block Towers with Grandma and Grandpa

Last Saturday, my dad and stepmom came to visit. Nick had a fun time exhausting them. He especially loved building block towers with them. Running from room to room, showing off his toys, Nick was super excited to play with his Grandpa Mike and Grandma Patty.

Nick gets everyone to build with him. He also insists that everyone sit on the floor while building. "You sit. You sit on the floor. Build. Build blocks!" He especially likes to build houses for his little plastic animals.

It's funny--I can remember my dad sitting on the floor with my sister and me when we were little, playing with Legos. It's kind of neat to see him building with Nick, now. I do think Nick, with his floor-sitting demands, is far more demanding.

It's funny how you revert to a child as soon as you start building. At least I do, and I've seen others do it, too. I like to build for stability, alternating blocks rather than making each wall seperately. Nick likes to build straight up, without much regard for whether the blocks will fall down.

Oh, and you know what made Nick even more happy?

Grandma and Grandpa brought cake!

Christmas Post #1

Nick gets more Christmases than most kids. You see, since Greg and I both have divorced parents, Nick ended up having four grandmas, three grandpas, and two great-grandmas. For three of his grandmas (and two of his grandpas), Nick is the first and only grandchild, at least until next year. He is a very lucky boy, and this is especially evident around Christmastime, both for love and attention reasons and for the obvious presents that come with lots of grandmas and grandpas. Nick is a total people person, though, and having new people to play with was the highlight of each of his Christmases.

Christmas #1 was on the 23rd, with Nick's Grandpa Mike and Grandma Patty. My dad has really been enjoying being a grandpa, especially since Nick has started walking and talking. I can remember him getting down on the floor and playing with my sister and I when we were little kids, and it's so nice to see him having so much fun playing with his grandson now. Although Nick doesn't look too thrilled in the above picture, as soon as he figured out what this car does, he got really excited. All you have to do is shake it up and put the car on the floor, and it drives itself. This was a revelation for my boy, who loves anything with wheels.

I love the above picture because there are so many random things going on. First, Grandpa Mike is looking at a picture Nick drew while Nick brushes his hair with a rather serious look on his face. You can see Nick's new tent in the background, and Grandma Patty, too, who is laughing at the whole scene. On the table are several Play Doh creations. Nick likes to make people roll balls and make him snakes. "Make snake!," he'll insist, handing the Play Doh over to Grandma Patty.

Above you can see Nick opening his favorite present of the evening, a tent with tunnel attached. As soon as I saw it, I knew that this present would be a winner. I can remember how much fun it was to play in tents and make forts when I was a kid. Nick's eyes got really big and he crawled inside as soon as it was put together. I think this is going to be our go-to toy for rainy days when he gets bored.

Nick got lots of play time with his grandma and grandpa, and he was so excited he wouldn't even eat his pizza. He just wanted to color with them and play with his new toys. I believe they both left here pretty exhausted from his hijinks. He kept begging them to come down on the floor and play with him. "Play with me. Please! Sit here." It was a really relaxing, low key evening, and a great start to our yearly Christmas festivities.

A Splashy Afternoon

For my dad's birthday, I took Nick up to Rosemont to visit the Splashpad. We tried to go last year, but it was far too cold the day we went. This year it was, if anything, too hot, but hey, that's what the water is for. Can you tell that he was having a ball? Nick just kept running through the water, again and again.  All of us got really wet, and my sister, who just wore her regular clothes, got her phone wet and it wouldn't work for awhile. Nick has been playing with hoses and in the shower a lot lately, so he's not afraid of water squirting him. Can you tell that he was loving the spray?

The fountains at the Splashpad are on a timer, so not all of them go off at one time. Instead, they start and stop, seemingly randomly. In the video above, Nick was busy trying to figure out where the water went. He kept saying, "Uh-oh."

After a few hours of running around in the water, Nick took a little rest and cuddled with his Auntie Mandy.

Then we ate pizza. Nick loves his pizza with veggies. He ate three slices!

There was cake for my dad's birthday--chocolate cake. Nick did NOT want to wait for us to
sing. He wanted cake NOW!

Happy Birthday Grandpa Mike!