All posts by leslie

Field Trip Friday to Maddie’s House

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Yesterday, we spent our Field Trip Friday hanging out with Henry’s new friend, Maddie, and her mom, Beth! Henry and I met Maddie and Beth at the Highland Rec Center after Itty, Bitty Splashtime, and the kids hit it off immediately playing in some ice and collecting treasures in the shrubbery. We have had a few play dates since then and it is too adorable watching them play.

They spent an hour and a half splashing around in Maddie’s awesome pool, which had a dinosaur basketball hoop, small slide, and a spraying palm tree. They liked shooting hose water at each other the best, and also drinking from the hose (a summertime must, as long as the water is safe). The adults stayed safely in the shade, drinking perfect ice coffee.



After lunch, the kids set about playing with as many toys as possible (i.e. causing as much destruction as possible) in Maddie’s room, making minion hair out of play dough, and dumping board games out. After we did clean up, they had a special treat – they jammed out in the front seat of Beth’s car to kid tunes and had a blast pushing all the buttons. Henry loves Maddie so much that he can’t wait to have her come play at his house next week (we have to plan when to see her next before we leave, or else Henry will not get in the car)!


27 Month Old Update

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Henry is growing and changing much more subtly these days. He continues to work on speaking in sentences, which everyone says he does very clearly, even if he doesn’t always get the right verb tense. He is listening to us all the time, so we have to watch what we say or else he will repeat something he shouldn’t. It’s a work in progress since it seems he knows exactly what he shouldn’t say and says it with gusto!
Playing is his job, and he’s pretty awesome at it. He loves playing outside, especially at playgrounds so we make sure we visit a few during the week. This morning, he could be heard saying, “I can play cars all day!” He loves any kind of vehicle, stuffed animals, and books right now. He is definitely playing more independently – he kicks us out of his room so he can read alone or play with his animal friends. He is starting to play make believe, which is simply adorable in every way. Yesterday, he was playing “tornado” at the playground, which involved running around in circles with some other kids shouting tornado. He loves to play with other kids; not just parallel play, he is beginning to play with them, too. He specifically asks to play with his new friend, Maddie, his cousin, Grayson, and other friends who live far away (Divya, Cora, & Belle, I’m looking at you). He is becoming cooler all the time; I know all parents say that, but it’s totally true. 

  
Some Specifics Right Now

  • Schedule: He wakes up between 7 and 8 am every day, takes a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoons (usually starting around 1:30/2, and sometimes it takes an hour or more for him to fall asleep), and starts his bedtime routine around 8 pm (asleep by 9). It’s so nice he has been on a consistent sleeping schedule since he turned two, but I know it could change at any time. 
  • Foods: corn on the cob, any and all fruit, chicken nuggets, pbj sandwiches, hot dogs, yogurt raisins
  • TV: Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Curious George, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, The Cat and the Hat (he watches these throughout the week, never all in one day, don’t worry)
  • Books: “Knuffle Bunny, Too” by Mo Willems, anything by Sandra Boynton, “Everyone Poops” by Taro Gomi, and UF 101 (start ’em early)

Finally, we are starting potty training next week so wish us all luck!

  

Campus Ministry Reunion, DC-Style

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While I attended the University of Florida, I participated in Lutheran Campus Ministry at University Lutheran Church, where I met some of my best friends ever (including Keith). Seriously good people, and it sucks not living all in one place anymore but we make it a habit to meet up whenever we can. Since several of the ladies were already visiting Vanesa in DC, she thought it would be a fabulous idea to get the Virginia/DC/Maryland ULCers together for a reunion, and it definitely was the right thing to do.    
 
It had been years since some of us had seen each other, so there was loads of catching up to do, and we had fun doing so over delicious food and drinks. Henry wasn’t the only kid (finally!) and he loved playing with his new pal, Ethan. They held hands all the way to the playground, and explored all over once they arrived. I know I’m being vague in my description of the party (it wasn’t a Marcie party, for those wondering), but I can’t be more serious in saying there is a special place in my heart for everyone who I’ve met in Campus Ministry, and the reunion made my heart dance with happiness. Go Gators!

   
 

DC Adventures (Mostly in Food)

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Looking back at the pictures my friends and I actually took over our DC trip, most of them involved gathering around a table and enjoying delicious food and drinks drinks and even better conversation. We started off the weekend right with sangria (super sweet) and Jazz in the Garden. We sprawled in the shadow of weird sculptures with hundreds of others. Since we didn’t bring food, we walked to Hill Country Barbecue Market for melt-in-your-mouth brisket and so many sides. 

  
The next day we split a pizza and hummus appetizer at Pi Pizza, which totally hit the spot. For dinner, we met up with my fav aunt, Aunt Jane, at Ted’s Bulletin for drinks, tasty food including homemade pop tarts, and adult (spiked) milkshakes for dessert. Mine was key lime pie flavored with coconut rum, and it was definitely refreshing. 

   
 Sunday morning we headed over to Georgetown for brunch at Farmers Fishers Bakers. It was pricey, but the variety of breakfast and lunch foods was excellent and the cinnamon rolls and creme brûlée grapefruit were to die for. 

   
 On our last full day we ate lunch at the Mitsitam Cafe at the National Museum of the American Indian (http://www.mitsitamcafe.com/content/menus.asp), where it was difficult to pick which foods to eat because they all looked amazing. I ended up getting a variety of foods and not being able to finish any of them, but they tasted as good as they looked. We had drinks that night at Ambar, our first visit to a Balkan restaurant. I’m pretty sure I liked the American Indian restaurant the best, with Ted’s Bulletin a close second. 

  
We even saw a few tourist sites – the Natural History Museum and the National Building Museum. We saw all the highlights of Natural History in one morning! That’s how my two year old rolls. Actually, he ran through each exhibit, pausing for a bit at the animal and dinosaur skeletons, long enough to pet a caterpillar and a hissing cockroach, and took time to admire the beauty of the Hope diamond (oh wait, that was the adults). We wanted to check out the beach at the National Building Museum, but the wait was more than two hours on a Monday morning, probably because it was 107 degrees outside (not really but it was hot)! Henry had a blast playing with toys in the gift shop (he got one small fire truck for the plane ride home) and climbing up and down the stairs. The building’s design was beautiful with its rows and columns of arches and spacious interior. We will have to see the exhibits next time we visit DC, especially if Henry still likes building and destroying things. 

   
   

Planes, Trains, and No Automobiles!

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Two weeks ago, Henry and I traveled to Washington, DC to visit Henry’s godmother, Tia Vanesa! It was his third airplane ride (round trip flight), but his first alone with me. Keith had flown to Detroit, MI to be part of the ELCA National Youth Gathering, chaperoning 6 youth from our church. We were sad to be without him, but excited to visit with not only Vanesa, but also some of my other college besties – Marcie, Amber, and Lisa!

   
 
After breezing through check-in and security, we ran around the terminal for a while, then boarded the plane. I was totally prepared for the flight, I had snacks, activities, and my iPad stocked full of games and movies to watch. I was in for a rude awakening – my iPad would not turn on. I tried everything, even using a lady’s charger on board, but nothing happened. I have never wanted to cry more over failed technology. Luckily, I had plenty of other toys, crafts, etc. to make it through the flight – changing things up every 5-10 minutes. Henry did great, until we stayed on the tarmac for 20 minutes following the flight. Like everyone else on the plane, he wanted off, and couldn’t really hack staying on board. He was literally jumping in his seat and licking the plane. 

  

Speaking of licking transport vehicles, Henry also loved licking the metro. Totally disgusting, I know, but once it happened there was nothing I could do. He only developed a slight cough so his immune system is amazing. Henry’s favorite part of DC was riding the metro, which we did every day. If that happened to be the only thing we did besides visit Tia Vanesa, then it would have been an awesome trip for him. Toddlers are so silly. 

   
   

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

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This year, my mom celebrated her birthday with us, and I think she had a great day! My parents, Henry, and I headed out to Busch Gardens to play despite it being five-thousand degrees outside because we have passes courtesy of my sis-in-law, Amanda, who works for the company. It is super nice because we don’t have to spend all day there trying to cram everything in, and can take time to enjoy and focus on seeing only a portion of the park. 
  
This visit, we saw a few types of birds on our way to the Sesame Street Safari of Fun (http://seaworldparks.com/en/buschgardens-tampa/attractions/other-attractions/sesame-street-safari-of-fun/). Henry loved the pink flamingos sunning themselves by a pond, and my dad loved the toucans who were goofily flying about. When we reached our main target for the day, Sesame Street, Henry was in heaven. He hugged and high-fived Big Bird, and rode a few kiddie rides solo and with me. I think he liked Rosita’s Djembe Fly Away the best. But not as much as he liked the Elmo Rocks show, where he watched Elmo, Zoe, Bert, Ernie, and Cookie Monster rock out to classic rock songs and he danced along with them. It started pouring halfway through the show, so we had a 10 minute or so intermission, but the Sesame Street gang came back out and finished, slipping and sliding a bit on the stage. The giant thunderstorm prevented us from riding more rides or seeing any animals besides the birds, but Henry loved racing in his stroller through the park steered by Grandpop and getting wet in the process. The adults were just happy to be home afterwards, dry, and napping. 

   

 

We finished the day with a family birthday dinner at Cody’s Roadhouse since my mom wanted steak (her favorite), and the Walbolt’s joined us, too. Henry had a blast with both sets of grandparents at the same time, and we all had an enjoyable dinner time. 

  

Playground of the Week – Shoecraft Park

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So I’m really behind on posts; traveling with a toddler (and the recovery time that goes along with that) will do that to you. A couple of weeks ago, Henry and I visited Shoecraft Park in Pinellas Park (7900 54th Street N, 33781), and had a fantastic time! Located a few blocks from the library, it is tucked into a neighborhood at the end of a dead-end street and is fully shaded. There was no surrounding fence, but since the street wasn’t busy I don’t consider it an issue.    

 

Fun diggers to climb, swings, two separate jungle gyms with slides, a big grassy area, covered picnic tables – the only thing this park was lacking was a bathroom, which isn’t a problem for Henry right now, but will be in the future (near future, hopefully). It felt like an oasis that no one knows about, because there was only one other child playing the entire time we were there. This park is definitely getting added to our rotation!

   

   

The Beach is for Summertime (or really, anytime in Florida)

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I love living so close to the beach! Especially since we live near several of the best beaches in Florida/the whole country. We definitely take advantage and head to the shore every few weeks or so. On Sunday, my parents were in town visiting from Jacksonville, and my dad wanted some delicious seafood so we went to Frenchy’s, naturally. Frenchy’s (https://frenchysonline.com) is one of our favorite places in the area because of its fun atmosphere and, more importantly, its delicious, fresh seafood. The she-crab soup is creamy and out of this world (I don’t even like crab!), the grouper sandwich is always a good decision, and the other seafood dishes do not disappoint. I had the soup plus a salad with blackened shrimp – sooo good. I can go anytime!

  

Afterwards, we decided to walk along Clearwater Beach, and Henry made a beeline right for the surf. He has no fear of the water; we should probably enroll him in official swim lessons soon to help him learn. Hopefully, we will find a class this fall for him to take. We played in the surf for a while, jumping and splashing, and also looked for sand fleas and coquinas. Then, Henry spotted a little boy playing in the sand with not only shovels and buckets, but TRUCKS! The two became fast friends, doing a pretty good job (for toddlers) of taking turns and giving each other hugs and kisses. It was totally adorable. I think we are going to have a play date with him (and his cool mom) soon. 

  

Rays Up!

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It seems fitting that on the day Keith leaves to attend the ELCA’s National Youth Gathering in Detroit, Michigan (Rise Up: Together – http://www.elca.org/YouthGathering) that I write about Henry’s first MLB experience rooting for our hometown team, the Tampa Bay Rays (Rays Up!). This past Saturday, Thrivent sponsored its annual Lutheran Day at the Rays, where Lutherans from this part of Florida could all attend a game together and support the Eckerd organization. Our church, the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, had twelve of us sign up to go, and the game did not disappoint!  

We arrived a little late to see the Rays take on the Astros, but once we found our seats the Rays came alive and scored. Henry calmly sat in our laps for the first part, probably overwhelmed with everything happening in the stadium – from the lights shining, the music blaring, the crowd roaring, and the TV screens flashing – a lot was happening for our little guy to take in. He really liked the music and cheering, and soon began to dance and clap for the home team. Another awesome thing happening was the crazy thunderstorm raging outside the ballpark – we could see the wind and rain hitting and moving the roof and shaking the lights at the top of the stadium. It was scary, but also very cool. 

  
During the middle part of the game, Henry and I walked around the whole stadium. I tried to acquire a first time attendee buttons for him, but they were gone by mid-game; next time I’ll get him one for sure. We also tried to see the sting rays in the touch tank, but Henry decided he didn’t want to wait in a long line. So we played musical bats, colored mascot pictures, and climbed all over a giant baseball glove. When we returned to our seats, the Hen was ready to watch baseball and eat popcorn (mostly eat popcorn). He got antsy again so Keith took a turn walking around with him, but they made it back in time to see the Rays win! Henry and us Lutherans must be good luck charms for the Rays, who were having a losing streak before the sweeping Astros weekend. Rays Up, indeed!

  

We Survived VBS

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During Keith’s first year of ministry, one of his classmates made “We survived Holy Week” t-shirts to commemorate making it through their first Holy Week’s as newly ordained pastors. I feel like we need shirts to mark the momentous occasion of surviving Henry’s first week of Vacation Bible School; it was that rough at times. 

   
 
Being only two-years-old, Henry was the youngest kid at our church’s (Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd) VBS, and since he’s not in daycare/preschool, it was pretty much the first time had to be in school-like setting. 

  • Day 1: so many temper tantrums when he was asked to participate and not play with the toys in the preschool room. We had to leave early after only 30 minutes of programming because H couldn’t hack it. 
  • Day 2: a bit better; we left at 8, but Henry didn’t fully participate in everything. He loved the dancing parts, and Chester the Cheetah. 
  • Day 3: a little bit better than the day before; still left at 8 (gotta stick close to bedtime), but Henry listened to the bible story and tried the craft. 
  • Day 4: it seemed to click for Henry; he participated with the big group, tried the craft, and played with the other kids. He still didn’t pay attention the whole time, but he played quietly and he’s only two after all!

A couple days after it ended, Henry woke up singing “Jesus’ love is bubbling over!” This was one of the songs he sang daily at VBS, and he loved it. All in all, I think it was a success! We’ve pretty much decided that when the time comes for Henry to attend preschool, his teacher is going to have a rough first week (or month) with him, but there is hope because he adjusts to new situations quickly.