Wednesday Fun!

Our weekly playdate with Gabi and Charlotte got a little more exciting this week since Charlotte's new swingset had arrived in her backyard and it wasn't raining outside so we could all go out and enjoy it!

Monkey see, Monkey do!

Something tells me our Wednesday playdates are going to have to be expanded to Tuesdays and possibly Thursdays this summer, can you say swingset AND sprinkler?

The Conquering Hero

We continue to have fun exploring all the playgrounds/parks near us. They all seem to have unique aspects to them, pluses and minuses, but I love the variety!

One such playground that we drive by ALL the time, but had never gone in, didn’t look all that appealing from afar. Old slide and jungle gym, overgrown grass, and not much else---except a sandbox! That’s pretty much enough for Fin these days and so we strolled up the street and around the corner to check it out. Finley jumped out of the stroller and got to work.

However, that slightly rusty slide was soon too tempting to ignore. Despite my pleas of, “Finley we only go down slides,” he just had to try it. What a stinker!

After sliding down from halfway up on his belly, he decided the ladder was worth a try. I held myself back and let him conquer this one and was laughing as he step he checked to see if I was watching and asked, “uh?” before going to the next rung.

With some reassurance, he made it!

In fact, he seemed so proud of this accomplishment that he did not want to slide down.

I really had to beg after five minutes or so and then moved over to wait at the bottom.

He came down, quite quickly in fact and then went back up once more before getting back into the sand. It started to drizzle later on and Finley felt the drops and looked up as if to find out where the water was coming from. I said to him, “It’s raining” and he immediately dropped his beloved shovel and ran to the stroller. He climbed into it himself (a first) and tried to buckle himself in—it was hysterical! I guess he’s a fair-weather digger.

By the time we got home, the rain had stopped and Finley wasn’t quite ready to go inside yet.

Luckily the one magic word to get him indoors, DINNER.

Mama's Day

With Dada away, Finley got an early start on mother’s day. We drove into Cambridge and were the second set of customers to arrive at The Friendly Toast. As several other families with young kiddos strolled in, Finley had fun looking around and snacking on some cereal while we waited for our breakfast to arrive.

Soon it was waffle time and after devouring the small pieces I had torn off for him, Finley requested the rest of the waffle to eat on his own.

When we finished, we ran around the outside of the restaurant and Finley was keyed into all the birds tweeting and flying around. But alas, he just can’t run as fast as they can fly.

En route to the Children’s Museum (where members get in one hour before the masses!), we came across a couple of geese and Finley was soon on the hunt!

Some other children joined him and I overheard one of the other parents say, “Be careful, geese bite” and I was like, “Oops, bad mommy” and ran over to snatch up Finley before he became goose chow. We spent a nice hour or so at the museum before heading home for lunch and a nap. After a nice, long nap, Finley and I took an excellent, almost sunny walk through Lexington and ended up at a playground. No pictures, since the little guy was on the move and I just can’t stand to let him climb up into structures and down slides without being spotted. Maybe someday…

One final mother's day note, I got my first Finley-made Mother's Day gift from Beth's. He stamped a frame with some bingo markers all by himself (and didn't get that much on himself!).

One of many more to come and I say, "Bring them on!"

Future Elephant Man

We have entered the vortex that is spring ultimate frisbee, ah yes, the time of year when Dan not only coaches the Tufts (Elephant) men's team but also begins the annual tryout process for his own club team. This means a lot of time on the field and not at home on the weekends, but now that Finley's a little older he can go along for some of the fun. On Saturday, Dan took Finley to Tufts practice in the morning and Finley was in his element. Running around in the grass, saying "hi" to all passersby, and most importantly--playing with a frisbee. Dan brought along our mini-soccer ball and there were some tennis balls lying around, but our little guy always heads right for an available disc and tosses it around amusing himself for surprising lengths of time. He'll do it on his own, but enjoys it when you say "Ready...throw" and he'll spike it right on cue. As practice was winding down, Dan texted me this picture to assure me that fun was being had by all.

Can't argue with evidence like this, can I? And who knew the Blackberry Tour could take such excellent photos?? Take that, iphone!

On Sunday, Finley and I went to the first part of Tufts practice in order to soak up some sun before lunch. Finley seemed pleased to be back on the field and found a frisbee to play with immediately. He did try out his tag-sale lacrosse stick here and there, but what can beat a frisbee or a plastic orange cone? We watched the boys play, read some books, chased some birds, had a snack, saw some trucks, said hi to some softball players, and even returned a softball to the Colby coach. The greatest part was watching Finley spot Dan every now and then and point saying "Da-Da" and sometimes start running towards him. When the team was huddling up about 30 or 40 feet from us, Finley turned around when he heard Dan's voice and just started making his way over to the crowd, frisbee in tow.

He found his dad and stopped to listen right next to him.

Absolutely adorable to watch :) One of those "I love my family moments" for sure.

Finley, it's a good thing you like frisbee practices, there will be plenty in your future!

Errands

For those that don't know, Finley's Grandpa Murray is a retail master. He's always up for a shopping excursion, whether we're looking for something specific or just something to do. He knows where to go and what to look for, not to mention he loves a bargain as much as a I do. One afternoon, we went to Christmas Tree Shops since Murray needed bird food and we needed an adventure. We hit the jackpot in the furniture section when we came up the most adorable toy box. Perfectly colored blue for Finley's room, slow closing lids for no finger pinches, and the right size for climbing up on and sitting. While these photos were taken at home after Dan assembled, I thought I'd include them amongst my White Plains posts.

Also, we ran a few errands the morning before we left since it was pouring outside and we knew we'd be stuck in the car later. Finley, as always, was an enthusiastic shopper.

First stop was a sporting goods store. We checked out the bikes, pool equipment, fishing poles, balls of all shapes and sizes, and all the mirrors in the clothing section. Why would anyone pay to go somewhere with their kids? This is perfect!

Our second no-entrance-fee stop, Toys R Us! We explored all the aisles and since Finley is still too young for the "gimmes," it's really fun to see what he's attracted to and wants to try out. We played with kitchens, cash registers, push cars, musical instruments, and finally--power wheels!

With his new Yankees hat on, he looked pretty grown up and ready to drive! There were lots of different big motorized vehicles to choose from, but my favorite was the pink, Barbie Smart Car. What will they think of next? After Finley's Grandpa purchased the above Yankees cap and some other NY sporting apparel for him, we headed out. All this shopping and playing must have worn Finley out since he was more than nap-ready once we hit the road for Boston.

Scarsdale Scenery

My sister, Caitlin, came out to White Plains on Thursday night and stayed over. She was eager to see Finley after over 3 months without a visit and while the weather was less than stellar, we decided to venture out. We scoured the internet to find something fun to do and while the zoo was going to packed and a neat local nature preserve was closed, we managed to find a cute, neighborhood playground in Scarsdale just a few miles away. Caitlin go to see Finley in his sandbox element and he was excited to include her in his play.

It can he hard to woo him away from the sand, but Caitlin went down the toddler slide and soon Finley was chasing her up the structure and she grabbed him for an adorable slide down together.

Soon, he was in full climbing and sliding mode!

We also discovered how much Finley likes bouncy bridges, which he hadn't ever shown much interest in at home.

All four of us had a grand old time checking out the playground and a few dogs even came by as the icing on the cake! One of our last stops was at the seesaw and this was just about the right size for Finley.

Both Caitlin and I videoed this as Dan bounced Finley up and down at the other end.

Thank you, Aunt Caitlin, for coming out to see us and for taking this great family photo!!