The Shore

 Summer means it's time to head to the beach.  This year Dylan was a little more suspicious of those waves than he was last year.  

 He *STILL* really enjoys the sand though.  Putting a little sand on his feet turned into this....

 Which led to this.....

 and this....

 and ended with this: 

He enjoyed it so much, he kept asking to be buried in sand over and over again.

The shore would not be the shore without a stroll on the boardwalk.  Grandma spoiled the kids with tickets to the rides.  

 This year, Dylan was even able to ride some of these big boy rides!

Circus Party

 Dylan was so cute on his birthday.  He kept excitedly exclaiming, "It's my BIRTHDAY? I gonna be three years old??" When we told him, yes it was his birthday and he was three years old now, he would yell, "YAY! YAY!" and begin singing the Happy Birthday song to himself.  We were fortunate enough to celebrate his party with family this year.  A while back, I decided on a "Circus/Dumbo" theme.  I had a lot of trouble finding Dumbo anywhere that was not outrageous.  So, it morphed into a "Circus" theme. Close enough!

The Food: We had circus food!

Nutter Butter "Peanuts"

                                      
 We had a variety of Chips and I made a "display" animal cracker tower.

Some gumballs.

 We also had hotdogs and hamburgers, watermellon, salad, corn on the cob, lemonade to drink and buttery popcorn just because it's another fun food.

As for the decorations, I found most things at the dollar store, Michaels and Five Below.  The hotdog/hambuger baskets were a pack of  3 for $1.00 at Target.  There was a triangle birthday banner in red, blue yellow and green colors, red balloons, popcorn bags and red/white striped bags for the "peanuts", and a red tissue paper ball we made. 

I made Dylan's cake from scratch using a recipe I found on Pinterest.  It was a funfetti cake inside and outside and very circus-y.  There's a lick on the icing on one side here, because Dylan told he he wanted to smell his cake, and then took the opportunity to lick it up one side. That became his piece.

 As for the games, we played ring toss with some old Root Beer bottles and some pool rings. There was also a "dart" game with nerf guns and coloring sheet pages I printed off the internet.

Another fun thing was setting up a 'photo booth' with some props (dollar bin at Michaels) and asking my sisters for random cosume stuff they had around the house, including a giant stuffed Tiger and a giant stuffed Gorilla. 

We had such a good time celebrating three years of life with Dylan.  We can't wait to see how he will continue to grow this next year!

Has it already been three years?

Tomorrow is little D's third birthday.  I have been reflecting on how grateful I am for modern medicine looking back on his difficult birth.  Without modern medicine, I am sure one or both of us would have died.  His apgar score at birth was a three.  I remember listening for his first cry and not hearing one. I was in pretty bad shape myself and in and out of consciousness. I was one hemoglobin point away from getting a blood transfusion.  The doctors were seriously considering one. 

  I remember not seeing him for the first time until hours later in the recovery room.  When I saw him, he was absolutely beautiful.  The nurses had nicknamed him "little Maximus" because he weighed nine pounds and was long and gangly.

 And now those baby days are really over. It's official.  How he has grown these last three years!  He is still long and gangly and he's also so strong.  He can plank off of the walls and the chairs like it is a piece of cake.  He has almost perfected doing a handstand.  He is my lover of animals and water and dirt. His favorite animals are elephants and aligators. His favorite song is "Frozen Heart" from the movie Frozen.  He is a daddy's boy through and through.  

 His best friend is his big brother.  

Since his last birthday he has learned so much.  He has learned to get along with his brother and other kids using his words.  He has learned his colors and shapes, opposites, and how to share.  We can't wait to celebrate three years of life with this wonderful little fellow.  We are so glad he is in our lives!

Zoo Camp

Hurray for summer! To kick it off, we spent the first week at Zoo Camp.  Bright and early every morning, Ryan gets dropped off with his little group led by some extremely peppy college girls.  Every morning during drop off time, they sit on a blanket and play a fun game, sing songs with sign language gestures and guess what item is in the mystery bag, which is their clue for what they will learn that day.

 Dylan impatiently waits off to the side and exclaims every few minutes, as a way to start conversation, "The alligator's back?"
"Yup."
"Not the crocodile."
 "Nope, not the crocodile."
 "He's so happy in his water!"
 "Yup!"
"Alligator a reptile?"
"Yup buddy, that's right."
"It not open yet?"
"Not yet, Ryan has to go first."

Then the little campers depart in their matching shirts, chanting their chants and singing their songs.  Then Dylan becomes the happiest boy on earth as we get to tour the zoo together, just him and me.  We've done some fun things while Ryan was in zoo camp.

Dylan found 50 cents so I ponied up a quarter so he could ride Simba.  It was the first time he has been on one of these rides and he was really impressed.

  We watched the elephants wrestle and play in their pond.

 We watched the polar bear swim.  He was amazing.  He was so graceful, trurning summersaults in the water, playing with his ball.

 

 We "oohed" and "ahhed," and I took a lot of pictures. Then he moved right in the light.  At first I was disapointed because I thought it would ruin my picture.  But then, it turned out all right.

Then it was time for Dylan's toddler class.  He learned about bugs vs. insects.  They sang songs about bugs and insects, including sign language and gestures.  They made a bug jar.  Ryan repeatedly complimented Dylan on his bug jar, and I'm not entirely sure there wasn't a bit of jealousy going on.   The next day in Dylan's class, he learned about farm animals.  He was able to pet a black rat snake, a chicken and a rabbit.

They made a muddy pig mask and learned about why pigs roll in the mud. Ryan has learned each day about a new type of animal: fish, reptiles and mammals, and has had some fun hands on experiences as well.  He also pet the rabbit, snake and got to pet a fox. Zoo camp ends very soon, but I'd say it was a great way to kick summer off.  Both kids came home bursting with new things to tell their dad.