The Great Pretender

I've really been impressed with Jaden's pretend play lately. He's coming up with scenarios and acting them out all of the time.

Today, after lunch at Grandma H's house, Jaden went to the other room and loaded all the wooden blocks in the rolling suitcase he had brought with. Pretty soon he was talking about a fire and cooking. We all had to go sit on the couches because he declared, "the food is ready!!!!".

As we sat down he went over to a flashlight that he had set up on end, light shining to the sky, that had several blocks stacked on top of it. He grabbed a few blocks and gave some to each of us saying, "here are your strawberries. Here is your lettuce. Here is your white taco.".

After eating them, I asked for more. He replied, " I have to get some more food from the fridge (going over to the rolling suitcase) and cook it over the fire (Stacking them on the flashlight).

So, the big question is....
If blocks can be food
A suitcase can be a refrigerator
And a flashlight can be a cooking fire...
WHY did I build him a play kitchen???

Jokester

So, today Jaden told Grandma H a new joke (that he learned from Mali)...

J: Knock knock
G: Who's there?
J: Banana
G: Banana who?

J: Knock knock
G: Who's there?
J: Banana
G: Banana who?

J: Knock knock
G: Who's there?
J: Banana
G: Banana who?

J: Knock knock
G: Who's there?
J: Orange
G: Orange who?
J: orange you glad I didn't say banana?

Then, he says, "wait.....I have another new joke for you."
J: knock knock
G: Who's there?
J: apple
G: apple who?
J: orange you glad I didn't say banana?

Cracks me up that kid!!!

A Hike Near Home

A weekend in the mountains and the finally cooler weather inspired us to go for a hike in our local mountains the following week. Definitely less trees and more rocks here - but a unique desert kind of beauty nonetheless.

Taking a little rest

Daddy got the hard job!

Enjoying the view

having fun (and motivated by periodic snacks and races with daddy)

Alivia decided she needed to hike a bit herself

Need to Make Dinner?

Need to occupy a kid or two?

Grab a strainer and some pipe cleaners and see what kind of crazy creations they can make!

This only entertained Jaden for about 5 minutes - but I think on another day he could be interested for longer.

Since that was a bit hard for Alivia's dexterity I gave her a bowl with a bunch of plastic cookie cutters - and a strainer - since her brother had one that was what she really wanted!
Just as a side note - you have to be willing to have things ALL OVER your kitchen floor for this to be an acceptable activity. But, sometimes you just have to choose - clean floor or dinner made!?!?!

A Trip to the Mountains

Since it has been summer in the desert we were MORE than excited to head up to the mountains with the mariachi on a recent trip. The schedule allowed it so our family went up a day early to enjoy a little R&R with the pines.....

Of course, we had to explore the grass

Riding on Daddy's shoulders is ALWAYS the best place to be! SOOOOOO big!

I had a magnifying glass I had been saving for Jaden

to explore with on a special expedition and it was a big hit. He explored leaves, flowers, grass, trees......and said "WOAH, it's so BIG" every time he looked at something!

checking out the tree....

Alivia LOVED pinecones. Of course, just like everything, she wondered what they tasted like and tried exploring with her mouth too!

I still can't get over how ridiculous AND adorable these pigtails are!

Some friends let us borrow a baby carrier backpack and it was SO nice!

We didn't do much of a real hike but it was handy to carry

Alivia around as we did a little exploring!

We had a great day exploring but I joked with Stephen that if anyone had asked us what we did all day they might have thought we were pretty boring. He reminded me that perhaps other parents of 2 kids 3 and under might think it sounded like the perfect day as well!

We stopped by a little park/visitor's center for a short hike (aka about 2 blocks worth) and discovered a stream. Jaden had a lot of fun throwing rocks, leaves and pinecones in. We discovered that the pinecones were the most fun to watch float downstream!

Of course, you can only LOOK at a stream for so long when you're 3. So....While it was a bit cool it wasn't too bad and....who wants to try to keep a 3 year old boy OUT of the water when he really wants to explore!?!?!?

After a short nap in the backpack Alivia was ready to explore as well.

and keeping this girl away from water is near impossible!

closer...

closer....

closer.....

happiness!

Since we didn't have a change of clothes we had to get down to the diaper. It was probably a bit chilly for that but, we sure had a happy girl!

After the weekend events with the mariachi we stopped at a resort out in the mountains by a lake. Jaden got to go on his first pedal boat ride.

He thought it was fun for about 10 minutes. Then he wanted to get off of the "boring" boat and go on something a bit faster! No motor boats on this small lake though.

And, pedaling was a bit harder than I remember.

Maybe we'll wait until he can pull his own weight on the pedals before we try this again!

I sure do love this family of mine!