Molly's Birthday Party and Landon's Playtime

Baylor was invited (well, I think we have to invite the entire class) to Molly's seventh birthday party.  Baylor always talks about her as his girlfriend so I told him to ask her what she wanted for her birthday.  Her mom had given me ideas but I wanted to know what she said.  He said she wants a teddy bear so that is what we got her; a giant pink one!   We both made her jewelry with her name on it and he did the card.  

Molly's mom had her baby a few weeks early, the day before Molly's birthday, so her dad and family went on with the party as scheduled.  It was a large gathering of several school kids, and their parents, and many family members.  They served lunch and kids splashed around in their pool.  Ryder said Molly was his girlfriend as well and I asked her who she was going to marry. She said neither and laughed.  

Baylor was especially happy Kartikey was there.  And I enjoyed talking with his mom again.  

Grandma was on the deck with us and then somehow became the one in charge of the gifts.  She was banged around a bit but we all helped to keep everything flowing.  All of us parents helped to bring in the new gifts and put aside the opened ones.  Apparently she told Ryder she wanted a teddy bear but they did not get her one.  She received a lot of nice gifts, girl stuff that she was very happy with. 

And she loved her new pink teddy bear.  And her necklaces. 

Baylor and Kartikey entertained themselves with bits of paper and ribbon.  

Before the end of the party, Dad broke out the pinata which took several rounds of whacking to break open.  

We found out Landon lives in the same neighborhood and had invited a few boys over.  As we were driving out, he invited Baylor as well.  He was game so we followed them home, creeping along in the car as they walked on the sidewalk.  The boys said they wanted to try the slip-n-slide first.  Joey, Landon's dad, encouraged us Mom's to go ahead and head out;  we did not need to stay.  I never leave Baylor anywhere so it was odd for me but he did not seem to mind and I enjoyed the quick trip to the hardware store for cement mix. 

For the most park the boys just skuttered on the slide, noone seemed to be able to hit it just right to slide.  

When all else fails, creep backwards on the slide.  

 I stayed the rest of the time after my shopping trip and helped him out feeding the boys and changing them into dry clothes.  

Then they pulled out the guns and played Army.  Baylor is not used to playing games with boys (only girls in the neighborhood) and two of the boys play together all the time.  But the four of them did well together and Joey and I helped them with some fun directions of where the enemy was hiding.  

Hopefully we can do this again this summer as Baylor will be the only boy not at COF for the summer camp.  

Memorial Day Fun

With Gloria home, I was able to make a run to the store all by myself!  While wandering in the Woman's department, I came across these short numbers. I passed on these of course.  

I picked up some pool supplies because Memorial Day is my traditional opening day for the pool.  Baylor was stocked to get in it and he did not care how green it was.  I had to drain it down like last year to reset some of the legs.  Baylor swept the algae off the bottom and I got in and cleaned off the sides.  

The weather was nice and he asked to get out the slip and slide.  I am not sure if the water pressure is too low but it was a bit frustrating for him as it was more of a stick and stuck!  He made the best of it and then asked for the sprinkler with the whirling things.  He enjoyed that much more!  It was a great unofficial start to Summer.  

Weekend of Fabulousness

Friday I took a half day's vacation so I left work at noon, picked up Baylor, and we headed home expecting Tara and Lucas to maybe be in the driveway already. When we did not see their car in the driveway we raced out to the mailbox, our daily ritual.  I go the short way and walk and he goes the long way running. He always beats me! The gardens were looking good so I took a few photos.  Everything is nice and green and a few spots of color.    

The recycling truck was just stopping at our house and while it has been a few years that he was excited to see the garbage truck, he was excited seeing them up close.  

I had texted Tara about her ETA and while we were standing out there she waved to us from the car behind the truck!  That was some good timing.

And behind her were three more trucks!  It was like a garbage truck caravan with our friends in the middle.  We raced back to the driveway, this time I was hauling the garbage cans and lost again of course.  We waited for Lucas and Tara to arrive in the driveway.  We were excited to get out weekend started so we unpacked and then piled into my van to hit our first stop of out Weekend Adventure: 

The Green Dragon in Lancaster Co.  For a first time visitor it is a totally overwhelming place as it is huge and there are vendors, stands, food, and people everywhere!  But we did not stray too far off the places Mom and I usually visit to keep it a bit more manageable.  After feeding the boys smoothies, we wandered into the first building that has a mix of vendors including a tool vendor and toy vendor.  The boys were drawn to both stands of course. 

Baylor was a bit crazy with the hammers but it was all good fun.  He picked out a Transformer toy at the toy vendor.   

Lucas got a new hat and a dump truck. 

Baylor pulled some faces trying on hats!  He can be quite a poser when he wants to.  Other times he can be just a grump face!  

They both tried on the coonskin cap.  

Baylor looks a bit like a frontier Minnie Pearl don't you think? 

On the way out is the best time to stop at the Melon Man to pick up the fruits and veggies.  The new corn was to arrive at 4:30 so we waited for a fresh batch.

We stopped at Mom and Dad's and then headed to Weaver Nut , which is another overwhelming place for a first time visitor.  But we managed to get out of the store with just a few items.  Baylor selected a giant gummy snake!  We headed home for dinner, play and bed because Saturday was day two of our Adventure! 

Gloria was off and joined us for a trip to The Crayola Experience in Easton.  I have wanted to take Baylor there and Tara has wanted to go since she was a child and saw how crayons were made on a children's program.  It was about a two hour ride, with a pit stop, but was easy enough to find and park.  We were on the top floor of the parking garage and had a good view of the building.  

Even the crosswalk was giant crayons.  Nice touch!  

Tara could hardly contain her excitement!  It was fun being part of a childhood dream being realized!  

I hit up the penny press machine first but found I only had two pennies in my wallet.  But that was enough for the boys to each pick one design.  

In case I ever need to explain how crayola got its name, I thought I could just reference this photo.  

The first stop was the make your own crayon label room. The colors for the day were Banana Mania, Purple Heart, Razzmatazz, Shamrock and Midnight Blue.  Baylor made several Star Wars themed labels and then we made some for the grandparents and his Kindergarten teacher.  

You were supposed to place the wrapper in a little space and then roll the wrapper around the crayon.  It was a bit tricky!  On the walls were history bits about the factory and the wrapping.  For many years it was done at homes and the houses would be know by the color they wrapped.  

The next room was the Model Magic room.  We bought a few packets of a mix of colors and then scouted out a space with a basket of tools.  

I made spectacles.  Sculpture was never my strong point.  

And not really Baylor's either.  Tara and Lucas were much more creative than we were.  

See the grump face I spoke of earlier?  

The next room we went into was a coloring room with a giant round table with bins of crayons.  Most of the time we were jockeying for space and supplies.  At this station it was finding a good coloring page and a space.  There were other things to do on this floor but they were extra cost and Baylor was not into them anyway.  

Then we moved on to a room with tablets and projectors.  The brochure showed there should be a type of stylus at the tablets but we had to work with our fingers, which were not very accurate.  

After making your creation, it was sent to the queue to be projected on the wall.  

He made a green dragon.

And chased it along the wall. 

And then a black Toothless dragon.  

On the third floor we let them play on the two story hamster house climbing thing.  Baylor could have spent the rest of the day there.  Lucas was interested but a bit more timid about it.  Tara had to help him out at one point and we sent Baylor to help another time.  It was a crazy stream of moving kids and nervous parents trying to keep their kid in sight.  

After playing for a bit we went into the dark room with the moving picture floor and the black light dry erase boards.  

These were really fun and Tara ended up wanting on for her classroom!  

We headed back to the main floor for pizza and a drink so we would be fueled up for the last floor!  The pizza was actually quite nice for a place that specializes in crayons.  

Even Baylor liked it even though it was a bit bready for him.  

Lucas had an unfortunate accident with his apply juice that make him look like he had an unfortunate accident.  

Tara, the boys, and I headed up to the fourth floor to create our own shaped crayon while Gloria stayed down on the first floor.  She needed a break from it all.  We painted with melted wax and cotton swabs in card stock and then waited in line for the chance to melt a crayon into a mold of our choice.  The boys both choose the dinosaur.  Then we went back to the play tower which worked well until Baylor wiped out and hurt his knee.  I had Tara and Lucas finish their project while I took Baylor down the stairs to sit with Gloria.  We could not find her in the cafe but we picked up a ridiculously expensive icee to help his knee feel better.  We found her by the doors and I wandered around the gift center.  

We all went back to the first floor to use up our tokens on more crayon labels and to watch the live, interactive show on how crayons were made.  We made a few purchases in the gift shop and headed home.  We decided to stop at a diner along the way which worked out well and the food was good.  

Sunday was a quiet, lazy morning.  Lucas painted a picture for Julie for her as a birthday gift. He is very interest in art it was fun seeing him enjoy it.  Baylor has his days where he is interested for about 20 minutes but I still keep everything on hand for that moment.  Or when I need an art break myself.  After breakfast and coffee, we headed to Williams Grove Flea Market  to walk around and see what was there.  The boys tolerated the trip well enough because they both came home with new treasures.  Baylor picked Lego figures and Lucas picked out three Hess trucks to start his new collection!  They headed home not long afterward and we were sad to see them go because it was an awesome weekend filled with adventures!!