Little Gym Graduation

Today was our last day of our "Beast" class at Little Gym.  The boys did their skills on their own including a self-directed opening circle activity and then got a ribbon at the end of class.  I'm amazed at how much they've learned in a year.

 

 

Low Tide

Auntie Dani was able to take a day off from work to join us to our low tide excursion.  It was one of the lowest tides of the summer and we went to Golden Gardens Park in Ballard.  The sun was shining and we were able to see a lot of fun sea life. 

Afterwards we went to the sand beach portion of the park and had lunch and played in the sun and sand.

Lake Sammamish

It was a gorgeous day, so we went to the beach on Lake Sammamish with Grumpa and Gramsie.  They helped haul all of our beach gear down to the beach and the boys jumped in with playing in the shallow water.  They were really adventurous and kept wading out farther and farther until a boat drove by and created waves that scared Magnus as they almost knocked him over.

Zoo Trip

Gramsie & Grumpa came to town to visit with us.  Our first big outing with them was to the zoo.

Gramsie and Magnus "twins"

 

Ragnar & Grumpa "twins"

 

The boys were very excited to show them the Willawong station.  It has birds that fly around and you can purchase a seed stick for them to come sit on and eat from your hand.  Both boys had seen their friend Ava do this and wanted to try.  We went to the bird exhibit quickly.  Magnus held out his stick and a bird landed and ate from it.

 

 

Ragnar held out his stick and as the bird landed, he got scared (he said the bird poked him) and let go of the stick.  Grumpa held it for him the rest of the time.

 

 

After Willawong station we saw some more animal exhibits than had lunch.  After lunch we headed back towards the parking lot and on the way out stopped at the petting zoo area.  Magnus was enamored with the goats and loved petting them.  Ragnar liked seeing them from a distance.

 

 

 

Successful and fun trip to the zoo.



 

 

Tents

Ragnar figured out how to drape his blanket over the edge of his crib to make a "tent."  He then crawls in and sleeps under it. 

Magnus hasn't quite figured out how to do it on his own, so he asks us to make the "tent" for him.

Silly boys.

Neighborhood Walk

The boys are able to walk further than they used to.  This enables us to go on walks to other neighborhoods.  Their favorite right now is to walk to the duck pond which is about 1/4 of a mile away.  Today on our walk there we stopped to play with and gather dandelions. 

Magnus loves blowing the seeds in the air. 

He tried to teach Ragnar how to do it, but Ragnar didn't quite get the hang of it. 

They also collected pinecones on our way there and way back.

 

 

 

 

Sandbox

We opened our sandbox for the first time today.  It is fun to see how much more the boys enjoy it and play with it versus last year.  They are really into creating with the sand (using molds, building structures) and using the vehicles to transport sand.  Of course, Ragnar still enjoys eating sand too.

Garden

We put together our square foot garden today.  The boys helped with the planting.  Magnus was really good at picking up one seed at a time and poking it into the ground. Ragnar was more interested in digging in the dirt than planting.  Their favorite part of making our garden was placing our garden gnome.  I hope we get a good crop of veggies this year!

Potty Training

We have been talking a lot with Magnus and Ragnar about when they will start going on the toilet vs. their diapers.  We have books we read; they follow Nate & I into the bathroom and ask everyone if they go on the toilet. 

Yesterday I was in the bathroom with both of them and they once again started talking about it.  Magnus was asking if his friend Ava went on the toilet.  I said "yes, she is a big girl and doesn't use diapers anymore."  He then marched over to the growth chart on the wall, put his back against it and held his hand above his head as high as he could reach.  "Me potty, big boy, this big."  Translation: he isn't going to go on the toilet until he is as tall as his hand on the chart.  Great kiddo.

General Conference

Today was General Conference.  I had the boys sit on the couch with me to watch the Sunday AM session.  They were excited as they thought we were watching one of their shows.  They lasted all of 10 minutes. Oh well, practice makes progress.

Confidence

It amazes me how quickly Magnus and Ragnar are growing.  Today was a gorgeous day and we headed out to a park.  This is a playground we have been to before and they are familiar with.  It is located behind City Hall and the Library.  We parked up top by the library and for the first time ever the boys walked in without the stroller.  (About 1/2 a mile) Once we got there, they amazed me by climbing on the rock wall and climbing walls without assistance.  Magnus in particular has a lot of confidence in climbing.  He would study the object to climb and then conquer it.  Ragnar followed Magnus' lead and tried climbing a few things but mostly played with the rocks.  After our fun time they walked back to the car (backwards part of the way) without any problems.  Such big kids!

 

 

Walking backwards up the hill