Grandma Africa

We have a new friend living at our house these days. Her name is Grandma Africa and she is Andrew's imaginary friend. Grandma Africa has been in the wings for about a month now in the form that Andrew would say he and his grandma had done something or other but Eric and I couldn't figure out what he was talking about. Finally it dawned on me that this grandma (who he claims lives in Africa) must be an imaginary friend. It is awfully cute though. Two days ago we were eating breakfast and Andrew told me that he was going to make a coconut pie for me; his grandma from Africa had taught him how. So far, no pie has materialized!

I think that it is a tribute to Andrew's two real grandmas that his imaginary friend has taken a grandma form. It just seems like Grandma Africa always has fun ideas and is teaching him how to do stuff. Much like his two real life grandmas do. They always let him help with dinner or whatever else they are cooking when we are at their house so that must be where he is getting the ideas from. So far grandma doesn't need her own plate or place to sit. She is more just the idea tank for fun projects. TOO CUTE!

We have asked Andrew what she looks like and here is his description: Grandma Africa is tall, really tall, taller than daddy but with a funny little body. She has blue and red hair with glitter and a big tummy that is squishy and comfy. She also has big stompy feet and a baby in her tummy that is going to come out in January after our baby comes out of his mommy's tummy in January. (By the way, we are going to have another baby in January, I will post ultra sound pictures when I get some next month!)

Now you all know about Grandma Africa, she is a character but lots of fun. So if something a little random comes out about a grandma just know that it is probably Grandma Africa he is referring to.

Camping Boys

My boys camped out in the backyard last night! All in all I think that they had a great time. Eric slept with them when it was his bed time but they both fell asleep in the tent all by themselves. Other than bedtime being way, way, way later than normal I think they did a great job. There was only one panic attack about a spider (Andrew taking after his mom and grandpa meow!) and one bad dream which Eric dealt with in the middle of the night. Success all together! I can only imagine how many nights in the future will be spent in the backyard with a tent. Lots and lots!

We are planning on going camping next week at Banks Lake in Eastern Washington with the guys from Eric's work and we wanted to see how the kids would do. I think that they passed with flying colors. Now the question will be how often is Andrew going to demand Eric stay in the tent with him this summer!

Big Boy Finally

We took the boys to go and get thier hair cut and for the very first time Zane sat in the chair all by himself and he did not scream cry and throw a fit in general. It is a miraculous day! I was so tired of having to hold him and get all covered in hair myself while he sobbed and screamed. Not my idea of a good time. So, this time I convinced Eric to go with me and let him hold Zane. What does the little bugger do but decide to be a big boy and do it all by himself. I got a withering look from Eric like "What is the big deal with getting hair cuts? He seems fine to me!" NOT FAIR! I am excited though that Zane has grown up to the point of doing the hair cut thing alone. It is a wonderful milestone to have reached. If I think about it I do believe that Andrew was a little bit older than Zane is now before he got his first hair cut. It amazes me how bald Andrew was and how long we waited.

Officer in Training

Eric is taking a training class right now at work and he has a raid jacket that he will use for part of the class. Andrew tried it on and it was a little big for him. The jacket weighed about 30 pounds though so what do you expect. He thought he was pretty cool though! (Sorry for the blurriness!)

More Park Fun!

It was too gorgeous yesterday! I decided to take the boys back to Forest Park to play before Andrew's swimming lesson. The sun was shining and the park was busy! It was so nice for it to be warm enough to be in shorts and a tank top and not be freezing! The boys had a great time. Zane kept trying to go on all the big kid toys. He didn't get scared off by the big kids though. He is a trooper and just kept going. He really liked the suspension bridge and thought it was super funny when the big kids ran and jumped and sent him flying. A little unnerving for me but he thought it was a huge lark! Andrew was all over the place playing on everything. It has been so much fun to watch him progress. He was always so timid and cautious. It is fun to see him cut loose every once in a while.

Busy Days

It is amazing to me how quickly time goes and how easy it is to get your schedule all filled up without even really trying. Right now I have activities, actual things that I plan on doing not just ideas, scheduled all the way into August. AUGUST!!! That is absolutely ridiculous. The good thing is that they are mostly fun activities. Andrew has a whole bunch of swim lessons and then we are going on vacation. WOOHOO! I am excited about that one already. Get ready sunshine, I am on my way!

Too Tall?!?

This week while shopping at the Alderwood Mall, I let the boys play on the little kid toys near Sears. If you haven't been there with little ones it is pretty awesome and a nice breather for mom from the never ending "Stop touching things" saga. Anyway, so they have a height requirement for the toys, probally to keep the super big kids (i.e. teenagers and other big kid bullies) from ruining the equipement and other things they have for the babies/toddlers. At least I hope so because Andrew was TOO TALL! WHAT????? How can my 3 year old be too tall? If you look at the picture you will notice that Andrew is pretty firmly at the 43 inch mark. The cutoff was 42 inches. Very distressing! I promptly disregarded the rules and let him play anyway. He did fine and was even pretty gentle with the little ones that were there too. Zane just had a good time going up and down this same toy the whole time. Whatever workes for him. He was totally happy and I was not ready to argue with him. Those few breather moments were wonderful and we ended up having a really fun day! Too tall at age 3? I don't think so!

He Passed!

Andrew passed his Preschool 1 level swim class! He was soooooo excited. (actually I think that Eric and I were more excited, he just has fun swimming!) Now I just have to try and get him into the Preschool 2 class for the summer session. I tried to get him into the class for the next spring session but it was all full. Oh well, his teacher this time said it didn't hurt to repeat a level they have already passed again. If just keeps them fresh with the knowledge how to do it. I am just excited because the more he know how to swim the more fun he will have this summer when we are in Mexico! How cool is that?!?

Some Fun Pics!

I thought I would share with you some pictures from our latest adventure at the park. We stopped by Forrest Park after my eye doctor appointment and before Andrew's swimming lesson. We only had about 30 minutes to play but that was better than nothing. In case you haven't been there lately, Forrest Park has a whole bunch of really cool toys. Including a set that is for the under 5 group. I think that I like that the best of all because nothing is too high or scary even for the little ones. They are also putting in a awesome fountain/sprinkler park. I think that it will be open this summer but it should be pretty awesome. Andrew's swimming lessons are going really well. There is a chance that he will actually pass this time through. That would be awesome since we are going on vacation this summer to a resort with a pool. The less I have to worry the better!