My Sonshine

Last week I found this on the back of Baylor's leg.  I am not sure how long he had it because I thought it was just a bug bite that he was scratching at.  I bought calamine lotion finally, saw it and panicked.  I put the photo of Facebook and everyone agreed I needed to have it looked at. I got an appointment in the afternoon.  Baylor was his usual happy self and chatty with the nurse, the resident and the Dr.  By the afternoon the mark was not quite as red (and he said after a bath they get more red anyway) so we showed him this picture.  He said it would be too early to test for the Lyme antibodies but since it is presenting like Lyme, we would treat it like Lyme.  He is on antibiotics for four weeks and he should not have any further issues.  

While we were waiting for the prescription to be ready we stopped at Maggie's for a frozen custard.  He picked a small chocolate cone this time.

And he made duck faces for me.  

Last weekend we stayed at home again (shocking for me who likes to run around) and after some grocery shopping Saturday morning we headed to the neighbor's for Vanessa's sixth birthday party.  Mandy had told us after her first party that we have an open invitation to her birthday because of us being there when she was born. Which is sweet but I know there will be a day when she may not want a little boy over there.  But not this year because they did the carnival theme again.  We had light rain all morning but it cleared up and the sun even made an appearance for the first time in a few days.  

My sonshine in the sunshine. 

And the birthday girl. The glasses were in the prize box and were a hit with the older kids.  With Baylor, not so much.  He picked other prizes erasers, bracelet, bouncy ball, chinese yoyo, and frisbee. 

They had the games under one tent this year (because of the chance of rain).  All the kids took a chance and then ran to pick a prize.  

Baylor did really well participating with everyone this year. He did really well in the egg race and while he dropped it a few times, most of the other kids did as well. 

Goofy face.

Kathy was a hit with the kids by playing squeeze the lemon on the slide.  She was a good lemon several times!  

The Brown's have a nice play swing set and play set and whenever there was a break in the games the kids bolted over to play.  

After a beverage break they had the gunny sack race.  

By the end Baylor had nearly jumped his way out of the sack and was waddling to switch to the next person on his team.  He was a great sport the whole time!  

The yoyo was a prize in the duck in the pond game.  All the kids loved them.  I remember getting these at the North Dakota State Fair as a kids.  They were really thick and could yoyo out about five or six feet.  They were awesome until they would eventually bend and be rendered useless. But so much fun until then. 

After all the games it was time for cupcakes and gifts.  

The sisters are very close and Vanessa wanted her sister to help her with the candles.  

She had a nice group of kids and received very nice gifts.  But as things were winding down the call of our yard was strong and Baylor wandered off.  

I made him a rope swing and it proved to be a good decision.   I found a nice safe rope at the hardware store, 25 feet for $10.00.  I twisted in on itself to make a 12.5' rope and then threw it over a sturdy branch.  I then twisted again so it was four ropes thick and easy to hold on to.  I made a nice big knot at the bottom and it only took a few swings before he had the hang of it  

We went to Maggie's for ice cream Saturday evening and sat at one of the tables in the back.  A family had their whippet with them who had a dog dish of ice cream.  Baylor declared him a really fluffy dog.  

Sunday we harvested our first beans and cucumbers.  We love cucumbers and they did not last long.  

We made fudgesicles together and they were delicious.  

And messy.  

Friday when I was picking up the rope I also picked up some sand.  We had emptied it last fall and kept forgetting to buy more.  In a Pinterest moment, I had picked up a large container of cinnamon to help keep out insects.  It may or may not work but when he plays they yard smells like a sticker noodle muffin. 

And while shopping we picked up a coconut.  Baylor has been asking if we could buy one for a long time.  He thought there would be a coconut milk inside.  We had fun cracking the coconut ourselves since we did not have any coconut crabs near by to help us out.  

While it was not the milk he was looking for he did enjoy drinking the coconut water.  

And then we bashed and hammered away. 

Eventually we cracked the coconut.  He even tasted the coconut and loved it.  

I worked for a long time to scrape out the shells.  One he broke right off and the other he said is his drum.  He really enjoyed the process and the end results! 

We had another good weekend!  

Time for a Swim Chief

Saturday Mom and Dad came back for a swim.  Mom was in the pool once last year and Dad never got in.   I had to lay some ground rules with Buddy because he can be a bit rough sometimes.  And while he pished when I told him there was no throwing Baylor, no dunking him, and at Baylor's request no squirting in the face (which was a problem two years ago in the blow up pool), Buddy followed the rules. And because of that, everyone had a good time.  Baylor did squirt Dad in the face and Dad warned him first instead of reacting.  

Mom has not been feeling well but she was called by the water and joined us.  

Baylor still takes comfort in his floaty vest and loves to jump off the ladder. 

Does that smile ever some off that beautiful face?  

After six months of waiting, they finally adopted another dog.  He is a rescue dog that was found roaming in Y.ork a few months ago.  They named him Chief Yorkie York.  Mom and I were not fond of the name but Dad and Baylor liked it so I think they are keeping it.  He was a mess when he was found: he had to be shaved down, all but two teeth were pulled, he has a dry eye that will need medicated everyday, one of his legs healed weird after a fracture so he walks funny, he is not entirely housebroken, and I am sure there are a few things I am missing.  In other words, he is perfect for my day who feels his mission is to rescue old Yorkies that need homes in their elder years.  

They are still getting to know him and he seems like a nice little dog.  I know he will get all the love and attention he could want from them.

Knoebels

July 1, Heather and I took the kids to Knoebels for the day.  I had only been there once about 11 years ago.  We took out then 12 year old nephew Jason and Eddy who was about a year old.  It is a wonderful pay as you ride park about an hour and half drive from my house.  We spent eight hours there and were never bored.  They have a lot of kiddie rides and Connor was tall enough to be the big kid to take Baylor on some rides.  We bought the boys all day passes and tickets for Brigid.  It worked out really well that way. 

The boys ran from ride to ride and we directed and followed them putting Brigid on rides she could do alone or with the boys.  

Baylor did not quite get the hang of the bumper cars and ended up stuck on the wall or in circles.  He will get better once he goes more often. 

Any ride that the boys could control the height, Baylor was flying high the whole time.  I am not sure if it was because he did not get the whole idea of coming down and going back up or if he just liked it high up.  He is an adrenalin junkie I think. 

He loved the giant bounce house.  They went on it three times throughout the day.

The creek was running fast, high and muddy.  It had rained all day the day before.  We were lucky and only had spotty short showers all day interspersed with blue skies.  

He also hated these motorboats and cried the whole time on the ride.  He wanted to steer them and they were hard to work.  I accidentally twisted his arm trying to steer the boat and he was done with the ride after that.  We had only just started so it was a pretty long ride after that. 

The pole was ice and was very fun to play with. 

The giant diggers were super fun with three controls. 

The blacksmith had many items for sale and I bought Baylor a horse and had his name stamped on it.  He will never be able to buy any personalized items off the rack so when I can get something made with his name on it, and it is not too tacky or bizarre, I get it.  

The water fountain was fun for the boys.  They said they were drinking lion spit.  Boys will be boys and that would be fun for them. 

Getting ready for another crazy ride. 

Baylor usually will walk up the stairs for a huge slide and then chicken out at the top.  It was a long time between Connor and Baylor and I was not sure I would see him coming down but he did!  And he really loved it. 

This is one ride Baylor claimed he hated. It was too slow he said.  

It really looks like he hated it.  

This small coaster went around three times on the ride.  Baylor loved it but he said he kept bumping his ears. Looking at the photo I can see why.  

This is one ride he needed an adult to ride with, Connor was not able to be the adult for him.  He walked away crying.  Heather stepped up to the Mommy plate and took him even though it freaked her out more than it did him.  

At least he did not ask to go again and afterward he was more accepting of him not being tall enough for rides.  We pretty much stayed away from big rides after that just to be safe.  

Heather's husband is from Ireland originally and they call this the chairplane. Baylor remembered it from Hershey last year and was excited to ride it again.  

I think they rode this one three times.  

Two years ago the park flooded in heavy spring rains.  They reopened two days later.  As you can see from the sign they have been there, done that.  

By far their favorite ride was the flume ride. We rode it four times with various combinations of children. Every time their feet hit the deck they asked if they could do it again.  I took the last ride with all three kids because the ride freaked Heather out. It was my turn at the Mommy plate and I like the ride anyway.

We ride a few more rides.  

And bought a pizza for dinner so they would have full bellies for the ride home.  

Heather loves photo booths so we all had a turn.  

:

Somewhere I have a photo of Jason and Eddy with this same clown. 

We got in the car punched in the return home on the Garmin and said our eta was 9:15.  We forgot about the hour and a half ride to my house and then Heather had another 35 minute drive after that.  We hoped the boys would fall asleep but they kept each other entertained the whole way home.  Brigid did fall asleep but woke up when we stopped for a coffee about 45 minutes down the road.  While she moved Brigid's car seat the boys did a sparklers. 

We had such a good time with the boys we are already planning on going back before Connor starts school in August.