Sharing our life - all our adventures and bumpy rides. Family of four with two young boys - moved back home to allow them the similar experiences and opportunities we had living in North Carolina. Come explore with us!
The Museum of Flight hosted the King County Kids' Safety Day today and I thought Brock would have a blast! He has been all about trucks the last few days and he LOVES airplanes - which we spotted quite a few sitting AND taking off while we were there! Boy they are loud that close!
Brock learning proper water safety while fishing
It was organized really well! Everyone checked in and received a "Safety Passport". The children visited each station and after they completed a little safety lesson (modified for children's ages), they received a sticker. Once the 10 slots were filled up with stickers, the children could turn it in for a raffle ticket to win a bike.
Smokey the Bear was in attendance as was Sparky the Fire Dog. Brock so wanted to go over and say hello to these characters, but once he got close, he would barely give them a high five. My shy little boy.
He loved the wheels, buttons and horns on all the trucks. There were ambulances, water rescue vehicles, three fire trucks and even a big Airport Crash Tender (airport fire truck). And we picked up lots of schwag! Two plastic fire hats, pencils, stickers, flashlights, coloring books, erasers, and even a little dinosaur (how is that safety related??)! What fun!!
I think he had fun because 10 seconds after I pulled out of the parking lot, he was fast asleep. :)
Blaine flew SOLO all the way from Nashville, Tennessee to Seattle, Washington to come visit us for a whole week! We were sooo excited!! I had been preparing Brock for over a week for Blaine's visit, but I guess he was still just a bit surprised as this is how close he would only get to Blaine on Day One. :) After the first day, he definitely warmed up!
Pioneer Square
Since Brent could only take a few days off during Blaine's visit, the first full day he was here I thought Brock and I would introduce him to the history of Seattle first. We booked tickets on the Underground Tour so he learned all about how Seattle was originally built below sea level and how the first batch of Thomas Crapper's "crappers" didn't pan out so well with the tides of Puget Sound.
Too bad he didn't bring his bathing-suit that day!
Solar flowers under the Space Needle that light up the area at night
Then we walked around the Space Needle, Key Arena, and the International Fountain while Brock napped a bit in the stroller. Blaine also got to see a few of the "Ride the Ducks" amphibious vehicles. He said no thank you for touring on those.
On Friday, Brent was able to take off from work so we all headed down to the legendary Pike Place Market. It was crowded as usual, but we managed to purchase some vegetables and seafood for that evening's dinner!
We couldn't pass up an opportunity to check out the Gum Wall while we were there too! Poor Brent was all nerves trying to stop Brock from picking up the "memorabilia" on the ground and the wall. :)
Trying to get a cute picture of a toddler posing with someone else is impossible
Mostly we just hung out and watched the FIFA World Cup... or Major League Baseball.... or the College World Series. Oh my.... did I just get a snapshot of what life is going to be like with Brent AND Brock in a few years?? :)
Brent and I thought it imperative to take Blaine to the Microsoft store at the Bellevue Mall. And since we were there.... we had to check out the Tesla! Yes, Brandi, that is your son in the driver's seat of a $90,000 vehicle.
More hanging out at the house before our big day on Monday. Blaine and Brock were so cute together playing cars!
Monday we had a very busy day! First we stopped by Renton's community center pool. I tried explaining to Blaine that it wasn't a "water park" per se... just a bigger pool with slides and a lazy river. It's no Nashville Shores. :) And somehow even though it wasn't so sunny and we were there for less than two hours, I still managed to get a slight sunburn on my shoulders. Oh yes, that's right - they haven't seen sun in almost two years.
Blaine went so fast down the water slide, I couldn't get a picture until he had already surfaced!
Brent was the exact opposite and he was pushing himself down the slide trying to continue moving!
Monday night we had tickets to the Seattle Mariners baseball game versus the Boston Red Sox! And Felix was pitching!!
I think Blaine had a great time sitting and watching the game with his Uncle Brent!! The Mariners did really well that night - winning the game with a score of 12 - 3.
Brock had other plans for his baseball outting...
Check out the play area....
Give hugs to all crazy-eyed Mariner Moose/Bear things....
Play "hide and seek" from the big Mariner Moose (aka if I hide in Mommy's shirt and close my eyes, he'll go away!)....
.....And finally... watch a bit of the game with Daddy and Blaine!
We had a wonderful visit with Blaine and can't wait to see him and the rest of the Eason/Smith Family in Florida in less than two weeks!!
Brock loves playing in water - especially so as an Aquarian! So what could be more fun than playing in the water table and with his watering can any possible sunny day here in Seattle!
"More water Mommy!"
I worked on showing Brock that he can help Mommy water the plants. He sort of got the idea to walk over to the vegetable bed with his watering can..... but the water didn't quite make it on the plants!
Thanks Aunt Beverly for the adorable watering can and shovel and rake - we're using them in the water table (to scoop the water) for now. :)
Here's a little video of Brock's outside water adventures today.
And in case you were wondering, the bigger boys were inside napping while we were having fun outside. (Our nephew Blaine is here visiting from Nashville, Tennessee) But be prepared for some fun pictures and videos of our week together!! :)
One more picture of Brock cheesing for the camera after he drank some yummy water table water.
And we are loving it! We are exploring new parks every week! I'm realizing now that he's a little more mobile, I can really see his personality - picking out which things on the playground he wants to play with, for example. He loves the bouncy/rocking toys - like the above motorcycle.
Sometimes he shows his independence, but most of the time he reaches out his hand for me to help him up a step.... I'm really working on making him do it himself because I want him to learn on his own (which is hard to do!!) I just think the playground thing is still very new to him and by the end of summer, it will be old hat and he'll be a pro. :)
He is highly entertained by the ducks and ducklings at the lake!
Central Park in Issaquah
When we first arrive at a new park, he takes a moment to observe the big kids before he commits to a particular piece of play equipment. He also likes to run on any paved path!
There's so many playgrounds to visit... sometimes it just wears you out!
The warm weather also lets us show a little skin!!
And of course it's baseball season!!
.....Reagan and Blaine better watch out - Brock is coming for you!
The playroom has been one of the rooms I've really focused on getting "done" quickly so Brock will have a fun and safe place to play. I really wanted a room that was very accessible for Brock - a place where he could see his toys, explore and let his imagination flow!
I also needed one room in the house that Brock could play with anything and everything and didn't have to hear the word "no" about getting in to something he shouldn't. (We may have to move one thing to make that happen, but the room is pretty close to reaching all my goals.)
I'm not a huge fan of Ikea (contrary to what my husband may believe), but I think it serves its purpose for "low-cost yet functional furniture/decor" and I've definitely utilized Ikea goods in this room. The big white square bookshelf is Ikea's Kallax shelving system (replacing the Expedit system) and I love that it attaches to the wall to make it safer for Brock lest he try to climb it one day.
The treadmill is Brock's second favorite toy. He smartly uses the running pad as a track for his cars and trucks and loves making them go "overboard" at the back.
Brock's favorite toy currently are his matchbox cars
We love the big windows in the front of the room. I had to close them for the picture because it was way too bright - but I think that is a wonderful problem to have here in Seattle! Along the top of the window, I hung large 5x7 flashcards of animals A through Z! Brock loves pointing to the different animals for me to name and correctly "Roars" when pointing to the lion. The curtain wire and hooks are another Ikea buy.
Brock helped out decorating the room too! I taped off a letter "E" on a canvas board and Brock finger-painted the rest. The finished product remains after removing the painter's tape!
Yet another Ikea buy are these nifty frames (at $0.99 each!!) that I've hung with fingerplay songs from my pre-school days. They are super light with a plexiglass top and eventually I'd love to showcase some of Brock's artwork in them instead!
What good is a House Tour of a playroom without a video of him playing in it?? :) Don't mind the pajamas - this was right before bed one night.
And two last pictures of what we've been up to this week. I made Brock a little photo book of ALL his favorite people - Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins. We will be seeing some faces we haven't seen in many months this upcoming summer and I want to help Brock "remember" these faces when he sees them (more than just on Skype). He has been insanely cute about it too. This was the book he has picked out for me to read him before bed the last TWO nights!
