Little Tike on His Little Slide

I thought Ramsey could use some new cool outdoor toys, so I found a Little Tikes slide on Amazon and bought it for him about a month ago.

We had it outside and we played on it a little, but Nana K thought it imperative that we bring it in the house so he could practice sliding like a big boy.  It's been quite hot and/or windy as of late, so inside play has been the choice for the most part.

For the last few days, he has been obsessed.  Nana helped him climb up at first, but, after a few assisted slides, he became independent and is now an expert slider!  

Success!

I know it's a small feat, but I'm a proud Momma.  I thought that was pretty darn good for an 18-month-old!  

He's going down the slide on his tummy in the video below.  He takes turns, I guess.  Sometimes, his stuffed animals and toys take little rides on the slide too!

Happy Birthday to Eric!

Eric's birthday was on Tuesday - same day as the National Night Out - but we did leave the festivities early to have a little campfire, in celebration of his big day.

We had a gorgeous night for a fire, albeit a bit windy.  But, we were enclosed in a nice little pocket in our yard, surrounded by trees.

This week, the boys had been busy, indirectly acquiring firewood; Connor had been demolishing old benches and pallets (he LOVES destroying things with his mallet) and Eric had been taking down tree limbs with the chainsaw.   Needless to say, we've had campfires every night!

Riggs was in Dog Heaven, helping break off branches and carrying around chunks of wood, playing.

The fires got rolling pretty hot and, at the end of the night, they had a good 10" of solid hot coals in the fire pit.

Happy Birthday Dear Eric.  We love you LOTS!

National Night Out

This past Tuesday evening, we ventured out to the city's largest park to celebrate and partake in National Night Out.   

National Night Out is an annual community-building campaign that promotes police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie to make our neighborhoods safer, better places to live.  Many neighborhoods across the nation host block parties, festivals, parades, cookouts and other various community events with safety demonstrations, seminars, youth events, visits from emergency personnel and exhibits.  

A multitude of local non-profit agencies were there to bring awareness to the community; from the police department, fire department, the Salvation Army, Bureau of Indian Affairs law enforcement, state highway patrol, the Sheriff's Department, Safe Harbor, etc. Eric was there to represent the police department.   We were there to take in the exhibits, have some fun on the bouncers, and have a picnic.  

Right at 6:00, all of the police officers and firemen let their horns and sirens blare.  It was quite a commotion!  (Eric was in charge of one police department vehicle.)

The BIA had two of their rigs on site.  

The first motorized unit was a mobile breath alcohol testing vehicle.  We toured the inside of it.  If officers would find a person to be over the legal drinking limit, they would be literally thrown into jail in the RV and then await an officer to take them to the area's brick and mortar jail.  Connor and Ramsey were thrown into the hot seat, "awaiting bail".

The second unit that was on display was a very high-tech surveillance vehicle that would be deployed in times of a hostage situation or other high-priority tactical needs.  Note the large satellite on top.  And, the unit is all run using an iPad, to include the automatic leveling system on hydraulics.   The BIA shares this unit with other local area law enforcement agencies in times of crises.

While the festivities endured, a local band from NSU played.  They were quite entertaining!

The bikes on the stage were given away as door prizes.  Connor won a pass to rides at Storybookland!

As we wandered, the kids checked out the big air bouncers.  Ramsey LOVED just bouncing on the outside areas. 

Connor took Ramsey inside, but there were a LOT of children buzzing and bouncing around.  They didn't stay in a long time, as it got pretty wild and Connor didn't want Ramsey to get trampled.  

Then, we found Eric to have a picnic and people-watched.

There was even an evening showing of the new Paddington Bear movie.  We didn't stay for the movie this year - it was Eric's birthday, so we left to go home and have a campfire.

Little Boy, Big Hill!

When Daddy and Connor are fishing off the dock, we always have to visit them and see how many fish they've caught.   He does great for about five minutes, until he wants to get off of my lap and run.   So, back up the hill we go to play.

He does pretty... darn... well... for such a little guy, climbing such a big steep hill!  Ok, let's face it, he does much better than I do.  It's a workout and this kid leaves me in the dust!  :-D

It kind of makes me sad when he won't let me hold his hand!

Ride 'Em Cowboy!

Riggsy and Ramsey are only a few months apart in age.  But, as the older (and much larger) pal, it's no secret that poor Riggs tolerates a lot of "abuse" from Ramsey.   They're actually good buddies.   :-)

Ramsey loves climbing on Riggs like a horse.  I guess it makes sense; he's almost as big as a Shetland pony.

Mmmm... ears!

...definitely need to give him a good whack, I mean "pet".  Nice puppy!

 They love each other's toys (they're always "sharing")...  and other stuff.   :-)

 You'd think this little guy would be claustrophobic in there!?!?

Jumpin' Buddies

On this last gorgeous Sunday afternoon, Connor and Riggsy enjoyed some fun in the lake.   Normally, Riggs gets his toys thrown for him and he jumps off the dock to retrieve them.
The water has been so nice and warm that Connor just couldn't resist jumping in himself!   He threw his toys and stick and then raced him for them.

By the time they came in the house, they were both tuckered out!

Family 4th of July Fun - Another Great Vacation!

Another family vacation at Nana and Bumpa's cabin was filled with many wonderful new memories.  We had eight days of fun and relaxation with Eric's side of the family.  And, of course, it flew by all too quickly.  

Connor and Ramsey got to hang out with Cousins Sadie and Isaac, the boys all did some fishing (I got a day of crank-baiting in too), we took pontoon rides, and we had two nights of watching fireworks.  And, I finally got a little color this summer.  :-)

The yearly "kid pictures" on the 4th of July, everyone donning their red, white, and blues:

After picture-time on the 4th, the "big kids" lit off fireworks.

Bumpa had (still has maybe?) a "gopher issue".  The kids were on the hunt for the little buggers, searching for them at their holes on the hill.

Uncle Troy stepped in to give some advice on "blowing stuff up".

Ramsey watched by the sidelines (the firecrackers were apparently a little too loud for him here!).

He had a good view from here!

Bumpa and Uncle Cory watched from the sidelines too.  Sadie took a break from the pyromania.  :-)

After a while, it was too much for Ramsey to take.  He was curious and insisted that he get down from Daddy's shoulders in order to check this whole smoke bomb thing out.

Isaac watched over him as he investigated.

That night, it was time to see the second round of fireworks at the small nearby town.  (The night before, we took the pontoon out on the lake to watch the big show.)

 The kids had fun with their neon glasses and bowties and their lighted wands - er,"light sabers".

 Ramsey wasn't quite as amused at first; poor kid was awoken from a sound sleep.  

Daddy apparently was digging his 3D (more like kaleidoscope) fireworks glasses though, right along with the kids.  

Ok, so they were pretty neat!!

Oooh....

Aaaaah...

The fishing aspect of the trip was relaxing and enjoyable, but not necessarily a "bumper crop/catch" type of year.  

The guys caught a lot of nice small-mouth bass (usually, it's a plethora of perch - not bass) and some nice-eating walleye.   Bumpa caught a big Northern too (no picture of HIM actually posing with it - hmmm).

A few competitive evening tournaments were included in the trip too.  Connor enjoyed more one-on-one quality time with Uncle Troy which he thought was pretty neat.  Eric and Bumpa did more father-son bonding.  :-)

Speaking of Uncle Troy, he caught a trophy small-mouth bass during one of the outings!  Time to start a "wall of fish" in the house.   Whoo hooo!

While the guys fished during the day, the older kids had a plethora of fun things to do - namely, jumping on the new aquatic trampoline....

and pulling lake weeds for Nana and Bumpa.

Meanwhile, Riggs caught (then carried around for what seemed like an eternity - and finally ate) a bullhead.  The kids liked divulging the gory details of the incident! (Don't ask.)  ha!

And, Ramsey hung out with Nana, Auntie Sarah, and me and smelled (er - poked and picked) the flowers.

and tormented Max.   :-) 

They actually became friends by the end of the trip (maybe bribery with food had a little something to do with that).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Uncle Troy had brought his dingy with a trolling motor.  He took the kids out with it and showed them how to use it.

 Then, they fearlessly went off on their own!  Auntie Sarah and I were both a bit leery.   But, they had their walkie-talkies "in case of an emergency". 

They had a little "issue" getting the trolling motor started once they got further out into the cove, so they had to do a lot of paddling!

Good thing it was a calm day!

But they made it back intact.  ...guess they're more grown-up than they get credit for!

While they were paddling around, Ramsey and I were just hanging out, going for a dip in the lake.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Then, there was a day of tubing... whoah boy!

 HANG ON!

 Yup, they got dumped.  :-)

But kept asking for more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another day was filled with an enjoyable pontoon ride with Nana and Bumpa, pulling crank baits while en route to the dam to get ice cream at the bait shop.

 It was Ramsey's nap time, so he conked out on the way.

 He was a little cranky when we woke him up, but he did manage to pull it together in order to have a little bit of Nana's ice cream.

 Connor found a neat little area after our snack.  

 And on the way home, Ramsey got to play "Captain" at the end of the trip. Bumpa let him honk the pontoon horn (a favorite past time of the grandkids from years passed!).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Other times were just spent hanging out with Nana, Bumpa, Uncle Cory, Auntie Sarah, Uncle Troy, Sadie, Isaac, plus puppies Riggs, Max, and Miss Maggie.

Ramsey found a good spot on Bumpa's lap, playing Baby iPad games and such.

Just a swingin'...

And proof that Riggsy can be good... and calm... 

when he's dead tired from playing and swimming so much.

Goofing around with Nana while the guys are gone fishing...

A little bit of game time on a cloudy afternoon.....

Playing African Animals with Uncle Troy....

Taking Max for a walk soon....

Picking strawberries from the strawberry patch....

To keep himself occupied at various times, Ramsey found some household items to play with.

His new hobby: stacking anything and EVERYTHING.  

He's quite proud of himself here.  We were pretty impressed too; at his best, he got five stacked before they came crashing down.  This kept him busy for quite a while!    ...until one exploded when it hit the floor (our decision that he was done for a while, not his - he was having fun!)

He found some dog bones to stack too.  :-)

But, alas all good things must come to an end.  When preparing to leave on Saturday, we stopped to take the last picture of the vacation.   

It was windy!!!  And, Ramsey was getting tired and cranky (we have bad timing when it comes to pictures around the time of his nap time), so the annual family picture on the deck stairs... well, just wasn't quite picture perfect.  :-)

 Take two... nope... still not great (Ramsey, LOOK UP!!!).  

Takes three, four, ten weren't whoopee either.  We called it quits!!  Ha!

Happy 4th of July... Happy Summer, Family!