Underwater

On one of Henry's swim lessons, we were lucky enough to have the underwater photographer there! He did an amazing job, so of course I couldn't help but get the picture. . .

Tulip Festival - Take 1

Before Grandma and Grandpa Reagan headed home, we all headed out to the opening weekend of the tulip festival. The unfortunate part of opening weekend and a late snow, is that there there weren't many tulips to look at! But on the bright side, it wasn't very busy there since apparently everybody else had that figured out. :) But tulips or not, we still managed to have a great time.

We braved the windy weather and hitched a ride out to the tulip fields.



We could see a bit of color in the distance among the rows of green, so we headed out in search of what tulips had managed to bloom . . .





With Henry's help, we managed to find some tulips to look at!







But of course tulips weren't the entire adventure for the day. Henry made sure to point out any airplanes that flew overhead or worms crawling on the ground.



And of course there were plenty of mud puddles to stomp in with all the rain we've had this month . . .



Henry with Grandpa and Grandma . . .



After exploring the fields, it was back to the start to explore all the fun kid attractions offered by the farm. (OK so the wooden shoe photo may not have been Henry's idea of fun, but I enjoyed it).



Pumping water to send the duckies down the shoot . . .



Daddy was brave enough to take Henry down the roller slide (or foolish enough, the rollers don't roll much so it sure makes for a bumpy ride - but Henry had a great time!)



One ride was enough for Daddy, so instead we headed over to the play structure where Henry could go down the slide himself. Unfortunately, we didn't realize how quick the slide was, so we not only failed to get pictures his first time down, but he flew off the end into the mud at the bottom. He was a little surprised, but was more than willing to climb back up for another try. Grandpa was nice enough to catch him after that so Mommy could take pictures. :)





And for those Arrested Development fans, I realize that this is probably a lemon, but how much does it remind you of the banana stand? No? Well we got a kick out of it so I had to share. :)



Even though we had a wonderful time, I titled this post Take 1 in hopes that we will manage to return again this season to see the tulips in full bloom. Cross your fingers!! :)

Boat Safety

Friday was our last swim lesson of the session and also Boat Safety Week! Otherwise known as a perfect opportunity for a cute toddler photo shoot! They tried on life vests, floated around in a raft and even got to swim with their clothes on to see how they would react. Surprisingly none of them seemed to mind wearing clothes in the water; they didn't even seem to notice. And Henry was loving the life jacket. He just kicked back and relaxed; happy to float around on his back. I can't say I blame him, those life vests look pretty comfy with the pillows!



Under the bridge . . .





Jump!



Who wouldn't enjoy seeing a bunch of toddlers piled in a boat?







Singing the Goodbye song . . .



A photo op with the Mamas . . .



And comfy in their PJ's after swimming . . .





*Note the large group of adults standing around watching them! :)

Spring Break

Henry's daycare was on spring break last week. Unfortunately, tax season is not a good time for Mommy and Daddy to take off too. So Grandma and Grandpa Reagan were nice enough to stay with us and take care of Henry for the week.

When they got here, Tilly was happy to greet them at the door with a loud bark or two or three waking Henry up from his nap. But Henry didn't mind when he realized we had visitors! After waking up a bit, he quickly found the toy bus that they gave him for Christmas and sat down on the floor to pick up where he left off with Grandpa at Christmastime.







They came bringing gifts and Henry was more than happy to open them. His favorite was the wind-up hopping bunny that he chased all around the kitchen.



Henry wanted to make sure that Grandma and Grandpa knew all the fun spots to take him while Mommy and Daddy were at work, so we took a trip to the park to feed the ducks.















Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for helping us out and spoiling Henry with all the great care, attention and outside time!

Rainy Day Adventure

We've had some pretty wet spring weather so unfortunately for Henry we've spent a quite a bit of time indoors. I'm fairly certain he would live outside if given the option; there's nothing he enjoys more (or throws more fits over when Mommy or Daddy has to tell him no). Lately he refuses to take off his coat and shoes at daycare or at home. I guess so he's always ready, just in case?

So, after another day hanging out inside away from the rain, Henry made it clear that as patient as he was trying to be, it was time to head out!! Playing peek-a-boo with the high chair tray . . .







So loaded up with rain coats, we headed out for a walk in the rain.









He loved running around and enjoying the fresh air. But his favorite part? Checking out worms! Such a boy, but he thought they were the neatest things ever. He didn't know what we were pointing out when he saw his first one. He watched it wriggle around, yelled out "worm!" over and over and even bent down to poke this strange creature. Now whenever we're outside he makes sure to point out airplanes, birds and of course worms!

Beans!

Since Henry loves to dig in the sand, I wanted to bring that fun indoors. Not wanting the potential mess of sand, I thought beans would be a good alternative. We picked up a jumbo bag of dried beans at Costco (along with some fun sand toys). I cleared out a storage bin to hold the beans and we were in business! And boy was I a genius. Henry absolutely loved digging in the beans and I couldn't believe I didn't think of it sooner.

Here is Henry trying to figure out what Daddy was up to with those beans . . .









And digging so sweetly in his bean bin . . .



Waking from naps (love the bedhead) and heading straight to his beans. . .



And picking up the stray ones that fall to the floor and replacing them into the bin. . .



Unfortunately the toddler part of his play soon kicked in and I started rethinking how "genius" I really was. At some point during the playing, he switches from digging in the bin to flinging beans out in every direction. And I have yet to figure out when that point is until it's too late and I'm crawling around on my hands and knees picking up beans, keeping Henry away from the bin to throw more beans and at the same time trying to limit the number of beans that Tilly manages to eat off the floor. The bin is currently hidden in the garage. And by hidden, I mean unreachable since I also figured out too late that he knew how to unlatch the storage bin when Mommy wasn't looking.

While I'm definitely no genius (that has been well proven), I still do enjoy watching Henry play in the beans with a huge smile on his face. I think it will be taken back inside from time to time, but only when I'm feeling extra patient. :)