Get out and go...

As I have been daydreaming about getting out and going far, I have been thinking about how I can use this same idea everyday or just once a week to fulfill my need for wanderlust.

I don't believe you have to go far to explore and start to understand the world.

I came up with a list that would remind me to see what is in my town. First, get out of the house. Second, know my block. Third, walk down my street and around my neighborhood. Forth, go to the shops around the square. Last, set a goal- walk all the streets of my town. 

You must first get out of your house. Spend time in your yard, watch the day go by laying in the grass. If your scared to lay in the yard, find a chair. 

Second, get to know your block. Talk with your neighbors, be friendly. Relationships will develope and a stronger sense of comradery will be formed. 

Third, take a walk down your street and then your neighborhood. You can find so many interesting things, people and ideas. Your world also becomes bigger at this point. 

Forth, if there are business, go to them! Support them, shop them, eat at them, use them. I love errand days where I can put the kids in the stroller and walk around our town. 

Last, set a goal. See every street, ally, neighborhood, shop, business, park, walking path or civic area within your town. Do this all by foot! We miss things when we get in our cars and start moving faster.

Getting out and going doesn't have to be anymore than a destination across town. The point is to explore and grow.

The Forth of July...

                     
I love parades, cook outs, and fireworks.  Naturally, the Forth of July is one of my favorite holidays to celebrate and usually by doing all of those things. Our town has a great celebration. The town square gets decked out with flags, there is an evening parade, a festival with music, food and games, and fire works.

This year we participated in the parade with our preschool. The theme of our float was super heroes. All the kids were dressed in red, white and blue with capes or super hero costumes. It was super cute. Most of the adults dressed up as characters also. I walked the parade passing out candy. It started out great but by the end I was so exhausted because we decided to go for a run earlier in the day that ended up being a 5k in distance. Not the best idea when you have to walk a parade that's roughly four miles!

2014 Forth of July Parade

We are very lucky in that we live within walking distance of all the events. The parade is a block away so when we hear it coming we walk over and stand in the street and watch as long as we all can. It is a great community parade with lots of businesses, organizations, our first responders, high school bands, pre-schools, scout troops and politicians. Plus, a roller skating frog! Who wouldn't love that! 

We were lucky to get to spend the afternoon and evening with our good friends. Even Syd, the dog, got in on the super hero action. As the sky began to grow dark we packed up our things to head to our spot to watch the fireworks.

Two Years …

Rhys, you are two years old. It happened so fast. I looked through the tons of pictures I have of you to find the prefect ones that describe you best, it was amazing to see all of the things you have done in your very short life. You will not remember any of these things but we will, your dad and I are lucky to have such a happy boy.

I thought I that I would ask each family member why they liked Rhys instead of speaking for everyone. Sometimes, I am overly sappy with my words because I am the mom! I kept the question simple.

Why do you like Rhys?

'cause I like playing with his truck all day and I like to play with him at school and at home and outside and eating candy canes and cupcakes with him. -Emerson

He's my baby boy. He is happy. He is loving. He is sweet. He is determined. He is easy going. He loves to play and laugh and run and jump. He adores his big brother, loves his daddy and is totally a momma's boy. I love every little thing about him. I love when he runs to me and says, "mommy hold you." I love when he lights up when he sees me. I love that he calls me, "Mommy!"- Jill

I love everything about him. I love him no matter what he is doing- running, talking, yelling, crying, sleeping, climbing…he has such a great personality & soul. Plus he is super cute! I guess I love him through and through I just want to give him a big hug now! -Eric

Happy birthday Rhys!!! Little has changed over the year in the way you eat cupcakes but you have grown so much. We love you!

Watching grass grow...

Literally!

My parents gave the boys these cute little dog crucibles and the items needed to grow grass. A super cute and inexpensive chia pet. 

Well, we did it. Emerson was pretty into planting the grass seeds and for the first three days watching it grow. 

Here's the thing, I was amazed at how fast the seeds germinated, and that I really was into watching it grow! 

I kept telling people that I was, "Literally, watching grass grow!" 

This image is the day after planting. The top half was in the morning and the second half was the evening. Really?!?! That was fast!

This was a few days ago after our first trim. Hopefully, we will be able to maintain these two small patches of grass!

Get Out and Go...

Camping!

We spent our Memorial Day weekend camping in Lincoln State Park in southern Indiana. It was a great time! The boys loved being outside, sleeping in tents and hiking around the forest. Not to mention, we loved it too!

We spent our days hiking around the state park and the national memorial, Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial. 

The state park has a cool fire tower you can climb up, a Great Lake to swim, fish and canoe in, and very kid friendly nature center.  

The national memorial is where the boyhood home of President Lincoln was. There is a living museum with a cabin, wood working shop and farm. As well as, a great memorial/museum building. Plus, it's a great place to get your kids first Jr. Ranger badge. 

To become a Jr. Ranger, each kid has to complete the number of pages, in a workbook they provide, for their age. Emerson did a great job of completing his three pages of the workbook. There are several things in the booklet age appropriate for three year olds. Then we just let Rhys scribble on a word search page, which worked! Rhys was asleep on my back when they had to take the oath and receive their badges. They both are now Jr. Rangers at Lincoln Boyhood! 

Not gonna lie, I was a pretty proud mama!

One of the best parts of our weekend was getting to spend the evening with my brother, sister-in-law, nephew and niece. Emerson and Rhys adore their older cousins and were so happy to have visitors to our campsite. 

Eric and I both love going camping with the boys. It's easy at times, non-stop work most of the time and  constant awareness all the time. There are times, several a day, where I want to throw in the towel. Pack it all up and head home. Somehow, we manage through. Pretty sure, the campsites near us get several good laughs, which I am ok with.  Most of the time, it's just figure out how to make everyone happy. We have learned to just roll the windows down and let the kids play in the car!

Get out and Go...

Like I mentioned last week, the weather has made getting out kind of hard. We still run our regular schedule as much as we can, with school delays and all, but we have only managed to make it out one day to play.

On Sunday, Emerson and I were invited to go sledding with some friends that I have made through our YMCA. I worried just a little bit because we did not own a sled and thought that we would have to show up with cardboard and try to make a go of it. I was lucky and found two sleds at the Ace Hardware and I bought them.

We went to the neighboring park that has an awesome area to sled. I have lived here almost thirteen years and I have never gone sledding at the park. I had such a good time with Emerson. I was nervous about something bad happening but somehow I managed to keep it together.

As we tipped over the edge for the first time and started heading down the sound of laughter from E was so amazing that I knew I had made the right decision. My heart raced, I wasn't sure how to steer and hold on to E. We were sliding so fast I didn't think we were going to stop. We landed safely and immediately said, "let's go again!"

We went down a few more times together and then headed over to a much smaller hill so E could go down on his own.  He was pretty good, his first time he tipped over but got up and headed back up. His next ten times made him a pro, so much so, he thought he could manage the big hill alone. I said, NO!!

We spent an hour taking turns with all the other people around sliding down the hill and trekking back up. I have never been sledding like that. I have skied and slid down a few hills at my parents house on a shovel, but never in a real sled. I had a blast and plan to do this every time it snows!