Indoor Insect Hunt

I'm so sick of the rain...or rather mist we've been getting!  At least with rain you can puddle jump.  It's chilly-ish, misty and miserable and we haven't been able to go anywhere fun!  We were supposed to meet Auntie S and Noodle for some fun playtime at a playplace yesterday but then ended up being closed for renovations.  The Nos did get to meet up, snack on cupcakes and play in Barnes and Noble but it's not quite the same.  And I wonder if poor Auntie S has a voice left after the 20 or so books she read them? We weren't those annoying people who stay all day to read and then go home empty-handed.  We both bought books for the kids.  I did manage to have another one of my embarrassing forgetful moments there.  I took Mr. No to the restroom with me (no I didn't forget Mr. No!) and gave him my cell phone to play on while it was my turn.  He has a nasty little habit of opening up the stall door when you're just lifting your bum off the seat.  (Sorry but I'm a mommy so I'm allowed to talk potty!)  So I gave him my phone to keep him occupied and me decent. Well a few minutes later H gets a call on his phone from my phone except I didn't have my phone.  A very nice mommy found my phone on the bathroom counter, called H to inform someone she had it and returned it to us. The saddest part is that I can't even remember if I was Mr. No who left it on the counter or if I did, and I have the sneaking suspicion that it was me. Sigh.  Am I really the only mommy who's this forgetful? 

So this week I've been working on the letter I with Mr. No.  We did letter I crafts this week and today I figured we needed a fun activity. I was hoping to do this outside but the weather is not my friend today.   So we did I is for Indoors Insect Hunt.  Mr. No loves the hunting games.  We had a butterfly hunt for B and hide eggs before Easter for E.  Don't tell him but I think we'll do  a jungle hunt for J!

he has his net out and the hunt begins!

finding his first insects

Of course once was not enough!  So on to the 2nd insect hunt...

After he found them twice he had to hide them for me twice.  Now Mr. No peeks a little while I hide them so it's a good thing he can't see most of the play area from my chair.  I don't need to peek when he hides them because he gets so excited that he ends up telling me where to look.  Though once in a while he will send me in the wrong direction and then laugh hysterically.  I'd say our indoor insect hunt was a success.

all of our insects snug in their net

Parenthood

The Paper Mama Photo Challenge:  Parenthood

Parenthood is about teaching you that things that look pretty scary are actually pretty fun!

H helping Mr. No ride his scooter for the first time.

Crazy Days of Summer: Water

Entry for Crazy Days of Summer Photo Contest:  Theme Water

I love this photo of H and Mr. No just playing in the water.  It was definitely a lucky shot though!

Wickham Park

I'm so glad we had one nice day this week where we could get out and play!  I absolutely love Wickham Park In Manchester, CT! It's only a few dollars per car to enter and, if you bring a picnic lunch as we usually do, you can spend the entire day there.  After only a 20 minute detour on a failed search for a cup of iced coffee for H, we arrived without getting lost.  This is an amazing thing for us.  Last time we went, even though we've been there 10 times before, we took the wrong exit and ended up going 20 minutes out of the way before we could get back on track.  Pretty sad, I know.  I don't know why it is that we can't go anywhere without getting lost or hitting some random crazy traffic. And yes, Mr. No seriously needs a haircut.

Once we finally made it to the park, we headed straight for the largest playground since Mr. No so wanted to play on the playground!  He was our new brave Mr. No and headed straight for the spiral slide (that H almost fell off of the last time we were there).

brave Mr. No

He was all over the place playing and even put himself on the merry-go-round and asked to be spun. H spent most of this time fighting with the vending machine trying to get a Mountain Dew...well a 2nd one since he attempted to perch his first one a very narrow and uneven portion of the playground equipment and it promptly fell to the ground.  He was not amused when I laughed.

giddy-up ducky!

Mr. Cutes!

We spent quite a while there until Mr. No decided that it was time to move on to the birds.  The geese were right at the fence hoping for a treat.  All 3 peacocks were showing off their plumage .  The rest were either at the fence or strutting their stuff.

the very impressive white peacock

they were checking each other out for about 3 minutes

Mr. No then ran off toward the sensory garden.  He always wants to see this garden and then rushes through it.  He loves the fairy statues and the pegasus and the fact that one part of it tells you to go ahead and touch the statues.  It's always amazing to Mr. No when he's told to go ahead and touch.

Bee in the sensory garden

Mr. No wanted a little more playground time so we compromised and drove to the smallest playground near the frog and duck ponds since the playground we were at was getting a bit crowded...with adults taking over. Mr. No who may have to be known from now on as Eagle Eye spotted a cutie little bunny hanging out in the grass.  I tried to sneak a good photo in but Mr. No pushed by me in excitement and rushed at the poor thing.  Oh well, he thought it was fantastic.

poor little bunny

Mr. No was a monkey all over this playground as well climbing up the slides and sliding down backwards.  For those who know Mr. No, you know that this is a pretty big deal for him.

having loads of fun!!!

a pro at climbing up

being silly sliding down backwards

After H claimed he had a tick on him, we decided to move on to the duck pond much to his dismay.  Mr. No loves the steep bridge and adores the ducks.  We even fished out our only quarter to buy some duck feed from the machine.  Turns out we didn't really need it.  A very nice Mommy with her 2 kids gave him a bagel half to rip up and throw to them.  It's always a wonderful surprise when people are generous, isn't it?. A bagel half made a little boy's day.

I love this one!

We did a little more exploring before we went to check out the frog pond.  Mr. No really loved the dragon statue.

an actual smile?!?

 We've been disappointed by a few so-called frog ponds in the past where you could maybe hear 1 frog if you were lucky and certainly didn't see any.  This one was amazing! There were literally over 20 frogs in the pond and they were huge!  Everywhere we looked there was a frog...or fish...and most of them didn't even budge when we got close. It was awesome for me so I can't even describe how excited Mr. No was!

peeking at a frig

Hello big fella!

calling H back to see the frog

he was huge and handsome

another frog saying hello!

Then it was time for us to leave.  We didn't even wander through the gardens or walk the bird trail this time. There's also a fitness trail but we tried that once and it most certainly defeated us.  We're so sad!

Your Best Shot

This is definitely one of my favorites, and may possibly be my favorite photo of Mr. No, even though you can't see his gorgeous face.  You can see those chubby little legs though!  He was only 6 months old here, sitting up on his own and quietly playing at his table by the window.  I miss my chubby little baby!