Play Dates

We've enjoyed having a more laid-back schedule this summer and have especially enjoyed play dates with friends. Tuesdays have kind of become our days and we look forward to that time! A couple of weeks ago we went out to the water park at Tickfaw State Park. True to form, Ethan LOVED the water!

This week we went out to Jump n' Jive bounce house with our friends. Ethan really enjoyed getting around the big toys and playing with the other kids. Here he is playing in the bounce house with the balls...a whole new world of fun!

We went down the big slide together. It was quite a climb up to the top...and quite a drop to the bottom! Ethan laughed and smiled both times we went down.
He especially liked playing in the Little Tyke houses they had in the rooms. I think he spent most of his time in these (partly because it required less energy from me, too!).

Time for more inflatable fun!
Climbing and sliding all over

Faceplant!

Another little house to play in! Ethan loved walking in and out and opening and shutting the doors and windows.
Trying a smaller slide this time! He and Drew had some fun crawling around together.
Summer has been lots of fun and we have been enjoying our play dates with friends! We look forward to more as the school year kicks off again! We are so grateful for good friends.

Life With an Almost One-Year-Old

As always, life with an almost one-year-old is keeping us very busy! He is so full of energy and is always getting into something to play with or trying to "help" us with things around the house. Here's a quick debrief of our summer.

We decided to give Ethan his first birthday present early (by about a month) since he was showing so much interest in walking and standing. He loves pushing his lion around and listening to the music it makes!

Grandma Walker came down to visit in July and we got to spend some time relaxing at the pool. But we kept her pretty busy while she was here!

We've been spending a lot of time in the water during these HOT summer days. Grandpa Walker sent Ethan a fun toy to use during our pool-time! He looks a little uncertain here, but he actually really likes it!

It was finally time for an official first haircut. We decided to let Dad be the barber. Overall, Ethan did really well but he was uncertain at the beginning...

Who's that?

Daddy and his little man
The after shot

This is just a random pic of us one morning being silly! I love playing around with my boys!

Ethan loves to get into the spice drawer and play with the jars of spices. Lately, he has been favoring the bottle of Tabasco. This picture just cracks me up...I think the cajun food down here is rubbing off on him!
We started moving him to naps once a day when he started giving us trouble going to bed at night. In addition to that, I will be going back to home-schooling in a few weeks and on the weeks that he goes with me, he won't get a morning nap. I figured it was best to start weaning him off now, rather than after school starts. The first few days he really struggled to make it through lunch.

It's been fun giving Ethan lots of new foods to try and overall, he is a good eater! He seems like he's a bottomless pit these days!

Happy boy!
Tristan ordered a sample of some barley grass supplement that you add to juice...in the spirit of trying new things he decided to let Ethan have a try. Amazingly, he couldn't get enough. I think it was more because he liked drinking out of a glass, but either way it made for a good picture!
Ethan just loves the tongue depressors that his pediatrician gives him at his appointments to distract him. They usually stick around for a few days after his appointment and he likes to chew on them. What a weirdo! The laughs just never stop around here with two silly boys! Oh yeah, and there is one other important part of life with an almost one-year-old...hit play and see what fun we're having now!

A Visit From Home!

We were so excited that Kelly and Anderson decided to come visit us in Louisiana. We picked them up from the airport on Friday and night and hit the bath tub first thing. We could tell right away that it was going to be a lot of fun!

On Saturday morning, Tristan surprised us with a special pancake breakfast! Anderson was excited about his giraffe.

We decided to go out to Tickfaw State Park and hit up the water park they have there. Ethan was crawling all over the place and didn't mind the cement or the water flying everywhere. It was almost hard keeping up with him!

It was perfect for the boys. They had a variety of fountains that ranged from small ones that trickled out of the ground to larger ones that sprayed from overhead.

Ethan was fascinated with the buckets that dumped water at random intervals. He stood like this, watching them for quite a while.

Tristan and Anderson shooting us with the water cannons

Sunday morning, Kelly stayed home with the boys. As you can see they were busy loungin'! Last time they were in this crib together they were a lot smaller!

We spent the afternoon at the pool...loungin again'!

On Tuesday we decided to make a day trip to New Orleans to celebrate Tristan's birthday. Our main purpose for going to New Orleans was to take the boys to the aquarium. It was a first for both of them and I think it was a success! Here's a family picture as we started our adventure!

Taking it all in...

Two sets of best friends

The white alligator is always a highlight when we go to the aquarium.

Time for a quick photo op with the two buddies!

We stopped by the play area to let the boys stretch their legs a little and they had a blast!
We made a stop by the shark tank on our way out. The boys were fading quickly...

Luckily by the time we were done with the aquarium the rain had let up (temporarily) and we were able to take a walk along the Mississippi River.

All tuckered out from the aquarium
We finished our day off by taking a stroll through the French Market and going out to a late lunch to celebrate Tristan's birthday. We went home wet, but we had a great time!

We spent a lot of time just watching them play and be crazy! They had a lot of fun just finding anything to play with...

...like spatulas. I don't know what it is about kitchen utensils, but Ethan LOVES them. Apparently Anderson does as well!

Thursday Kelly and I decided to hit up the mall with our boys. Since we were on a shopping marathon, the boys got a little restless so we decided to stop at the play area and let them stretch their legs. This was Ethan's first time at an indoor playground so I wasn't sure how he would do....Needless to say, he did just fine! He had never been on steps before and he climbed all the way to the top of these without any help and without hesitation!

Good buddies

On their last night here we decided to go to the Bass Pro Shop and see the sights. We started with a stop by the aquarium to see the fish!

Checking out some of the non-living animals
We made a stop by the duck pond to see the ducks, fish and turtles. We wanted to see Rocky, the raccoon, but he was sleeping. The boys weren't overly impressed but we still had fun!
It was a busy week, but we had so much fun! We are really looking forward to the next time we can get together when we go home to Washington in September!