The Real Purpose of Sliding Boards

On one of the cloudy cool Wednesdays in May, Awstin and I went to Muddy Run Park so he could enjoy the playground. We took his tricycle along because there is also a nice macadam area where I thought he might like to ride. We were the only ones there so he had the whole place to himself. After riding his tricycle a little and climbing on the playground equipment he went back over to the macadam and retrieved his tricycle. He began pushing it through the grass over to the playground. I asked him what he was doing but he ignored me and kept intently at his task. He succeeded in getting it through the grass and to the play area. He proceeded to push it over to the steps of the playground equipment. As I watched fascinated he grunted and heaved and somehow managed to get the tricycle up all the steps until he was perched with it at the top of the slide. At first I was afraid he was going to ride the tricycle down the slide and I was prepared to jump quickly to stop him, but as I watched, he carefully let go of the tricycle and laughed with glee as it whizzed down the slide and went crashing to the dirt at the bottom. He enjoyed it so much that he did it again and I took a video of him this time. By the time I got the video going he had already hauled the tricycle up one step to the first landing and was starting on the next two steps. Enjoy. Make sure to listen for his laugh at the end of the video. (Unfortunately you will hear mine as well.)

The inventive mind of a young child never ceases to amaze me. What in the world ever made him think of doing this? I know that is not what slides are intended for and obviously if other children had been there there, he could not have done this, but in this circumstance all I could do is laugh along with him.

Lydia Day

Selfie!

This year I decided that for each of the grandkid's (those that are old enough to appreciate it) birthdays, I would invite them to stay overnight and we would have a special day together. Lydia turned five last Thursday, so she came on Friday evening and stayed until Saturday evening. We had such a great time together and I think Lydia liked having Grandma and Grandpa all to herself.

We brought her home with us on Friday after the public auction for Steve's mom's house. We stopped for an ice cream cone at House of Pizza and were delighted to see my brother Les and his wife Marian there. We sat together at a picnic table, and caught up with each other while eating our cones.

On Saturday, we left Grandpa at home while we did a little adventuring. Our first stop was the Doll Outlet off of Route 30 in Ronks. This place has dolls and doll clothes and accessories all throughout the two story building. Upstairs there was even a nurse on duty and she let Lydia hold one of the "babies." The babies look pretty real and they are up for adoption. It was an amazing place and maybe even a little overwhelming for a 5 year old to choose just one outfit for her bitty baby. In the end, she made a cute choice of a little purple jumpsuit and then we also picked out a pretty dress for one of the American Girl dolls that she likes to play with at my house.

From there we headed to Ci-Ci's for a pizza lunch. Lydia had never seen a macaroni and cheese pizza and she looked at it doubtfully but did take a taste and even said she liked it! The next stop was the Choo-Choo barn in Strasburg. This is such a great place and we stayed there a long time just watching the miniature trains chug around the track. We admired all the other miniature people, animals, houses, etc. You can't begin to take in everything. Every time you look away and then look back you notice something that you hadn't seen before. Outside the building there was a kiddie ride with Thomas the Tank Engine. We took a picture and video of her riding it just to make her brother and cousin jealous!

After we left the Choo-Choo barn we drove around the Strasburg Railroad. We didn't get out of the car but just looked at all the big engines and railway cars. At one point we had to wait for the train to pass over the road in front of us, so we got to wave at the passengers and hear the train whistle as it whizzed by in front of us.

Back home we watched a video of Thomas the Tank engine that we had purchased at the Choo-Choo Barn and spent the rest of the afternoon playing dolls and games together. It was raining so we couldn't go outside but we didn't mind. It was nice and cozy inside.

Jay and Kristen and the rest of the family came for supper and Lydia shared with them the things we had done. As they were leaving to go home, Alexis informed me that in just three months it would be her turn! J

The "baby" the nurse gave Lydia to hold

At the Choo-Choo Barn

Lydia's cake (this was at her birthday party last Sunday)

Splish Spash

We are all a little tired of rain around here. It seems like in the last two weeks it has rained at least once a day. Sometimes we would catch glimpses of the sun, but always the rain would return. With so many days with so little sun, it can be difficult to stay positive. I've heard a lot of people remark that they are a little depressed and have no energy. Maybe we all should take lessons from Awstin. Instead of getting cranky because of the lack of sun, he just jumps into the puddles that the rain leaves behind and splashes around and has a great time. This may be a good lesson for life. When we hit bumps and discouragement on this journey through life, we should just find a way to make the best of what the situation gives us. Who knows, we may find that we even have fun with it!

Maybe the weather has affected me too, because I have had no desire to write anything on this blog. My mind can't think of one thing to write about. Thankfully it doesn't really matter because I am under so obligation to post anything. However, after spending the day with Awstin yesterday, I decided that a couple of videos of him enjoying the day might be fun to share. As I've said before, there is nothing like a little child to make you smile.

Even though it was cloudy all day, it was warm and we were able to be outside. We tramped down to our favorite place--the park. We started out with the playhouse...

Then we moved on to the hammock...

While Awstin was swinging in the hammock, I got a text from Steve wondering if I could bring sweet corn seed out to the shop as the guy was there to plant corn. I told Awstin that we needed to go up to the shop, but that I needed to go into the house first to get seed for Grandpa. He took off for the shop and after glancing around to make sure no big trucks were around, I figured he would be fine until I caught up to him. I went into the house to get the seed and when I came out I saw Awstin happily playing in this mud puddle.

He was having such a good time that I left him go for awhile. Why should I ruin a little boy's fun? Afterward, as we were walking into the house and his clothes were dripping with mud and his shoes were squishing he told me he needed to go to the "wash down." Clearly the boy watches too much of Thomas the Tank Engine! J

A Little Garden

Even though this blog is going to be about my little garden, I just had to start out with this picture. Isn't it beautiful? I am always sad to see the cherry blossoms come off the trees in the Spring, but I get to enjoy them a little longer when they fall and make a soft, pretty blanket on the ground and driveway.

I was home from work yesterday because the stomach bug that has been hitting everyone else finally found me. I woke up to nausea in the middle of the night and spent most of the day in bed. By late afternoon, I felt better and it cheered me up when I walked out to the mailbox and saw this lovely sight. Fortunately, this bug only appears to last for about twelve hours. Unfortunately, Steve said he is starting to not feel so good.

Last year I had no garden at all, and I really missed it. Megan got married right at the beginning of May and there was just so much stuff going on that the garden never materialized. Gardening was never my thing and I don't want much of one, but I do like to be able to go out and at least pick my own tomatoes off the vine.

We have an area at the back of the house, underneath the steps that is actually pretty messy. Years ago we had built up a little garden plot, piled dirt in it and put logs around it and planted things in it. As the years went by, it was often neglected. I usually put a few things out like tomatoes and eggplants but that was often the extent of it and most of the rest of the area was just grown up in weeds. Since it isn't really noticeable from the road, it is easy to just ignore this unsightly area. The other year Steve laid plastic over the entire plot and that has definitely helped with the weeds but not with how it looks. The black plastic doesn't make the area any more appealing.  

Last Saturday, we had Jay and Kristen's children for the day and decided to plant a few things in our garden. Steve and Mark went to a local greenhouse and picked up lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, lima beans and green beans. Steve cut out holes in the plastic and he and the children planted the vegetables. I know my garden doesn't look that great, but I am excited about it and that's what counts. I am looking forward to picking those tomatoes!

Alexis and Lydia watering the plants.

Mark  :)

Mark was Grandpa's helper, bringing him the plants.

This girl makes me smile :)  I love how this picture makes the cup look huge.