Toddler Activity: Colored Ice

Food Coloring + Water + Freezer = Colored Ice

 Add toddler, warm weather, and a sunny sidewalk.

Let toddler play, discovering colors. . .

 Counting. . .

Melting, and so much more.

Miles LOVED this activity.

Actually, he ignored it at first.  Then, Mommy dumped the ice cubes out on the sidewalk and began pushing them around.  For awhile, they were cars, creating their own tracks as they went.  Then, he lined them up, counting, "Wun, tooo, freee, fow-ah".  Then, he listed their colors (occasionally, he even said the correct color - mostly, he just said "poor-pul" [purple]).  Then, he put the ice cubes back in the tray, and we worked on matching the colors to the residue left in the tray.

Then, we just dumped them, and put them back, and dumped them, and put them back.  And played in the cool, colorful, quickly evaporating puddles.

**If you choose to do this, know that one drop of food coloring per ice cube is plenty for a bright coloring.  I put the water in first, added the coloring, then mixed with a toothpick.**

So, Easter Was Sunday

And it was a marvelously perfect day.

We slept in.  A little.  As much as you can with a toddler.

We laughed as Miles jumped up and down with excitement over his Easter basket.

We had a relaxing morning of lazing around in our jammies.

We took a nice, long afternoon nap.

We colored Easter eggs.

We had dinner with friends who have become family.

Overall, a rather perfect day.

Mmmm. Spring.

Playing outside, in the warm sunshine.  Running down hillsides, laughing.  Chasing the dog.  Walking with Daddy.  And climbing trees.

Light jackets.  Cool breezes.  Green grass.  Budding plants.  Warmth.

Welcome, Spring.

Ahh, Sunshine

How we've missed you. Thank you ever so much for returning, even if it was only for a couple of days, so we could play outside.  We celebrated by playing with the dog.

And taking a nice walk, enjoying your warmth.

And . . . shoveling non-existent snow?  Well, sure, why not?

Please come again soon.  We love you.

Sincerely,
-Us-

P.S. If you abandon us again, and allow that bastard Snow to come back, I will shank you.  Love and hugs!

Whirlwind Weekend Part 1

What a crazy, busy weekend we've had. Even more so, if you include Friday, when we purchased a new minivan (yep, I'm officially a Mom, now), went fabric shopping with the girls for our Festival costumes, and drove to our hometown for a visit in our new van.

We had to drive down Friday because Saturday morning was their Renaissance Festival! Patrick and I dressed in our courtly best, wrangled Miles into a pair of tights* and a tabbard, and walked elegantly about the Festival.**

We checked in with Patrick's family, who are major Movers and Shakers at that Festival, and they cooed over their adorable grandbaby as much as they could, while still attending to their duties. We said hello to the pack of traveling gypsies that came down from our Festival to perform.**** And then Miles was baby-napped by Patrick's sister while we went to flag down my mother, who came to take Miles for the rest of the day. I'm sure it absolutely broke her heart to have to baby-sit. :)

And Patrick and I got the opportunity to do something we've never done before - play husband and wife at a Festival. We walked in their parade, waving and shouting, gathering children to join us. We were presented to the King and Queen,^ who bestowed gifts of jewelry to us. We walked about the Festival, greeting patrons, and generally just enjoying ourselves. And I recruited for our Festival every step of the way. :)

And then we were honored to witness a very special ceremony. This particular Festival is based around the SCA, in which certain honors can be earned. In this instance, we watched as Patrick's mother was knighted. It was raining, his father teared up halfway through, and Patrick had to finish his letter for him, but it was a beautifully moving little ceremony. And I can't think of another person in the world who deserved it more.

And then we received the phone call from my mother. After weeks of trying, Miles had crawled for the very first time. I wanted to cry for the joy for him, and for sorrow that I missed it. Luckily, my mom caught the whole thing on video, quite accidentally. And it was only a 'step' or two.^* Hopefully, I will get to see more of it soon. :)

The Festival being over early, due to rain, we all went to dinner, picking up my mother, Miles, and Patrick's grandmother along the way. We talked and ate and laughed and looked on in joy as Miles did one adorable thing after another. And as the evening drew to a close, we stood around our new van, reluctant to miss a moment with these wonderful people we call family.

But in the end, we had to get on the road back home. Because Sunday was bringing a whole new adventure.

Which I will share with you tomorrow! :)

* Because not enough people think he looks like a girl, yet. The eyelashes just aren't doing it, anymore. :)

** Well, as elegantly as you can while still wrestling an almost-seven-month-old baby.***

*** Oh, goodness. Seven months. I'm hyperventilating. Get me a paper bag! :)

**** And they were amazing. Or so I hear. I couldn't manage to get a spot where I could see anything because the crowd was so thick. :)

^ Who I've known forever. Only, I used to know them as the Captain and First Officer of the Star Trek club I grew up in. Yeah, I had the Best Parents Ever. :)

^* I know it's not a step, but what do you call it when he completes one complete cycle of crawling? He moved both hands and both knees, and managed to scoot the distance of a few inches. Is there a word for a unit of crawling? If not, there should be. ^*^

^*^ I really need to draw to a close. My footnote symbols are beginning to look like emoticons. :)

Ahh, Springtime!

I love that spring is finally here. The winter this year seemed to drag on forever, and was so incredibly cold. I spent so many days just waiting for warmer weather.

Now that it has finally arrived, Miles and I are making the best of it. (And, if it's a weekend, we drag Patrick along, too!) :)

We are spending every spare moment we can find outside, enjoying the sunshine. Most days, it looks something like this:

We pack Miles up in the car, complete with shades* and a paci.**

And we head off to the park, to play in the swings. This happened to be one of the days that Patrick came along, and the two of them had enormous amounts of fun playing together.

Or, we head off for a walk along the paths around the park.

Or, we simply spread out a blanket and enjoy the sunshine while lounging in the grass.

Regardless, though, this is usually the scene in the car by the time we get back home:

We hope you are enjoying the gorgeous weather as much as we are!

*Which he pulled off two seconds after this picture. And threw at me. He leaves no room for misunderstanding when he has an Opinion.

**Which he spit at me about five seconds after throwing his shades at me.