Weekend Goings On

I'm going out of town this afternoon for the remainder of the week, so I decided to hang out with Anders for the day. We started the day with some bus watching. We seem to be on at least 3 bus routes, maybe 4 - it is very exciting.

Anders likes to stand on the window sill for a different point of view.

Next, we headed for the play ground at the nearby elementary school. It was around 25 degrees or so, but nice and sunny.

Anders loved the slide, until the one time when he went a little fast and ended up laying down at the bottom.

This thing was only kind of fun for him, despite the smile.

This weird swing was his favorite thing.

He wanted to walk home - this is what happens when you let him walk home. So I put him back in the stroller and got to the corner of our street and let him walk the last block home. I bet that took us a good 15 minutes. We met some of our neighbors that we didn't previously know. They have a 2 year old and I cannot remember the mom's name - annoying! At any rate, I think we have some good play time ahead of us this summer. They were heading out to take Huxley snowboarding - people after my own heart - we just ordered skis for Anders (skis is one of his words).

After our big trip (we were gone for 1.5 hours) we came home and had a smoothie together. Anders loves smoothies. Now I'm hoping for a good nap as I need to pack!

The rest of the pictures are from this weekend. We weren't too busy - stayed home and watched the Olympics, Anders and I went for a 4 mile run both days (for some reason my quads are killing me - I think from pushing the stroller in the snow), went to music and walked around in the snow.

Will's mom called shortly after Anders and I got home from music. Anders was playing in the living room when suddenly it got very quiet. I discovered him in the back bedroom.

I have no idea how he knows this is a phone, but he does. Will and I never use it, but it is plugged in and now a favorite toy.

He is getting better about putting things away - they are working on this at school.

I also went to REI and discovered they were having their super clearance - an additional 50% off anything ending in .83 - REI Super Clearance and Scratch and Dent sales are a good way to get some good deals.

Here he is modeling his new rain coat. The pants that I bought to go with it come up to his shoulders. This will be good in a few years - hopefully they will keep the rain away on a canoe trip!

Some hijinks were had in the box that Will's new bike came in. Actually, Anders might think it is his bike - I heard him say "me bike" on Sunday.

And Anders got to eat his first piece of toast without having it cut into tiny pieces! I wasn't there for this, but Will said he ate it right up.

I'm not saying Betsy's comment (after the previous post) about keeping the Play-Doh colors separate is wrong...

But anyone who would do this with their breakfast might be inclined to not mix up the Play-Doh.

Happenings, in no particular order

Lots going on in MN: work, work, & more work, Grammie came for a visit, New Mamas went to Roller Derby, skiing and snowshoeing in the North Woods, and more...

Valentine's Day Party at school - good food and lots of fun was had by all.

A huge milestone - peed in the potty for the first time ever! We were all very excited, the reward: lots of cheering and flushing the toilet!

Play dough from Cindy Lou - he loves it!

Helped Dad put fenders on his bike so that they can start riding home from school and work sooner than later.

Found something better to watch.

Goofed around a bit.

Helped shovel a bit.

Added a few more words to his repertoire: gentle, down stairs, skis, stink, cereal, shovel, apple and figured out how to climb up on the chairs and the couch, now we have to figure out how to keep the counters and table tops clean! Never a dull moment.

Winter in Wisconsin

We headed up to Wisconsin this past weekend for some time with Grandpa Bill, Grandma Kathie and Josie. Will and I got a very rare chance to go out skiing together, while Anders hung out with Grandma and Grandpa - thanks! I skate skied for the first time in 2 years and the 8K ski I did was exhausting, I did change into my new classic skis for a quick 2K loop while Will finished up his ski. Oh, did I say we skied together? I meant we drove there and back together - Will has surpassed me in his skate skiing skill. Here are a few pictures from our trip.

Anders is really into dogs these days - he was exposed to several of them over the holidays and seems to really love them. Here is Josie being very patient with him. She was very tolerant, though I'm wondering why we decided we would let him pester her on her bed long enough for us to take a picture! I tried to get Anders to understand that the bed was Josie's space and that he should leave her alone - he didn't always listen to me.

I'm a huge advocate of getting Anders outdoors in winter - I am really hoping he embraces outdoor winter activities as he grows up in Minnesota. So, he got lots of outside time over the weekend. An no, he isn't down on the lake alone.

Here he is making sure his dad's sled is in good enough shape to ride in. It passed the test earlier in the day with Grandpa Bill, but he had to check out again.

Here Anders and Grandma Kathie seem to be wanting to go to different parts of the lake. We ended up making a big loop and they both seemed happy with that.

We went out with Grandpa on Sunday and this time the sled really wasn't worthy of a ride (in Anders' mind, anyway). He really enjoyed walking and pushing the sled. He fell a few times and would get stuck in the downward dog yoga pose as he got up. He would saw "oh-oh" as he fell - it was pretty cute. He also enjoyed picking up snow. He just loved it out there.

I love the trails he made in the snow.

All that fresh air and a full belly led to falling asleep within a couple of minutes of us leaving the house. We didn't even get to the mailboxes before I took this picture and the mailboxes are less than a mile from Bill and Kathie's place! He slept almost the whole 3 hours back home. Thanks for a great weekend Bill and Kathie!