Puppy Love

Whoever said that dogs can't be cute; only puppies?

I went to drop off some items at Good Will on Sunday and decided to pop in to take a look around.  I was drawn to the stuffed animal bin, as I had hoped to find some pre-loved snugglies for Riggs.  And, so I did.  :-)   I bought two and took them home.  

When we (Ramsey and I - Ramsey thought they were going to be for him) gave them to Riggs, you'd think he'd won the puppy lottery.   It had been a while since he'd gotten a new stuffed animal (they usually don't last more than about a day).

I sat one up for later.  The teddy he was left with got lots of attention and play time.  Then, Riggsy fell asleep with it.

Awwww!

Now, he carries it with him and it doesn't get too far out of sight.

Wild Goodness

Over the weekend, while Connor was playing with Riggs and scoping the yard for new treasures, he came upon a funky tree on the shore line that was growing large lovely cherry-sized fruits.

 He snapped a branch, full of these mystery berries from the tree and brought them in the house.  Saying a small mental prayer that they weren't completely toxic, I tried one.  It was delicious!  (I only tried one, in the event they were, in fact, noxious.)  The skin was a bit tart, but the inside was sweet and delicious.  And, it had a big seed/pit.    Was it a grape?  A miniature plum?  A cherry?

After an online investigation of these lovely juicy orbs, I concluded that they are wild plums!  The poor tree is mixed among a myriad other wild trees on the shore, so I'm amazed it's healthy enough to grow the fruit.   We'll be making additional trips out there to gather up more of these yummies!  And, making a mental note for next year.  :-)

Just Another Day at the Lake

In the summer, there is always something to do at the lake.  If it's not yard work (ugh - always!), it's fishing, boating, swimming, etc.   Connor loves to find frogs for Ramsey.

What a sweet big brubby, eh?  :-)

Last weekend, he found two leopard frogs.  One was so large, he had to use both hands to hold it and bring it up the hill from the lake.  The other one was large, but not a monster by any means.  He put a small amount of water in Ramsey's wading pool and placed the green guys in it.

Ramsey LOVED his surprise!  He laughed and squealed, petting the frogs.  Connor tried to put one of the frogs on one of Ramsey's little toy boats.

That didn't last long.  

But the boys had a fun time splashing with their new amphibious friends.

One Last Summer Hurrah at Storybookland

Labor Day weekend was filled with lots of... well... LABOR.   Eric and I were busy staining the decks, replacing some stone border tiles, painting, moving loads of mulch (from the humungo 70' tree and last apple tree that we had removed and stumps ground), laundry, cleaning, weekly cooking (ya know, the "usual" with some extras!).  But, we knew we needed one FUN day to celebrate before Fall arrived.

On Monday, we loaded up and went to Storybookland.  The last time we were there, the roller coaster wasn't running.   I'd been ramping up the whole roller coaster experience with Ramsey and yup, he sure wanted to do it!

As we ventured through the park, Ramsey decided he didn't want to ride the train.  "Too loud," he said.  But, as we started heading towards the roller coaster, Ramsey wanted to do and see everything.  "Hey, I want to go on that!" was a familiar chant.  

As per usual, the things that peaked his interests the most were slides, particularly very TALL slides.  He found a handful of them, but instead of following him up every single one, every single time, well, I followed him up only twice.  He was actually managing just fine without ol' Mom.  It was a bit nerve-wracking, but the kid has no fear.  Sometimes, you have to cut the cord a bit. (?)

From exhibit to exhibit and slide to slide we went.  He found the acoustics and echo effects of the Three Little Pig houses to be quite amusing this trip.

Then, we found the roller coaster.  It was running!  Ramsey could barely wait to get on, plowing through the gate.    We chose a car and buckled in.  Ramsey could barely see over the top of the car... what a little munchkin!    We then  took off (rather quickly, I thought, for a small children's ride!).  

Around and around we went, Ramsey laughing his little rear end off so much that I feared he'd get the hiccups (or worse - ha!).   He giggled like he was ready to lay an egg.    Thumbs up.  Success!   I guess he's ready for Valley Fair!?!?!

More exhibits and mini play areas later, we headed off for the large play sets, just outside of Storybookland.

It was a good thing Eric was still in the truck when Ramsey started his journey up this beast (he would have freaked):

Before I knew it, he had raced clear to the top of the tornado slide (shocker)!   I said a little prayer, as this seemed to be the largest slide he'd ever attempted.

Of course he was fine, but I caught him at the bottom (there was about a 3' drop from the bottom of the slide to the ground).

We played for a while longer, then decided we'd had enough fun there.  Us old parents were stiff and sore from our weekend laboring!

A bribe of an ice cream cone when we got home worked to lure him off of the playground.

(Whew!)

Ok Fall, we're not ready, but I guess you're on your way!

Little Builder

Ramsey loves building things (also taking things apart, but that's a completely different post!) and he loves his Legos and his giganto-sized Legos too.

The other day, he was hard at work, creating.

 He announced that this was an "AT-AT Walker" (from Star Wars), being attacked by the Rebels.

 (AT-AT Walker for you non-Star Wars superfans.)

There was definitely a likeness about it!  We were rather impressed.

He was quite pleased and proud of himself.