Road Trip and Play Dates-Part 8

And you thought our road trips and play dates were over....oh no.....two weekends ago, we had some more road trip and play date fun!

On Sunday night, we ate dinner at Liz and Andrew Butcher's beautiful new house - Heather, Jay, and Silas joined us. The kids, which included the gorgeous Butcher girls, Avery and Ella and Luke and Silas, had a great time playing! :)

While Andrew cooked a delicious dinner, the kids played in the play room for a little while and then outside for the majority of the time. Luke would have loved to climb the "big steps" over and over but that just wasn't safe. :) Outside, Luke wanted to ride on Ella's bicycle so we took turns pushing him. The kids loved looking at the cows behind the house and each of them made the "mooing" sounds. The boys also pushed the big stroller and the little doll stroller through the grass. They kicked the ball a little and explored the big yard. Luke was extremely distracted the entire night because he saw the lawn mower in the garage when we arrived - as usual, he couldn't get this off of his mind, so he kept trying to run away and sneak into the garage. Luke didn't do very well during dinner because he wanted to play - not sit down and eat. The kids still had a good time and I really enjoyed getting a chance to spend time with Liz and Andrew - we don't get to see them that much. Thank you, Liz and Andrew, for letting us hang out. Let's do it again soon!

Here are some pics...

Luke and Ella bonding...

Trying to get a group picture.....that's Luke, Avery, and Ella...and, Silas in front. Riding the girly bike...
Two Saturdays okay, Luke and I had nothing planned so I all of a sudden decided to take him to Dan Nicholas Park. We have been there several times and Luke loves it each time. Because we have gone so many times, Luke knows what he wants to do. I pretty much just let him explore and tell me what he wants to do. He clearly told me when we got there, "tickets for train" - yes, he said that - he understands that I have to buy tickets for the train because we have ridden trains so many times. So, we bought tickets and rode the train. The first time we rode we were the only people on the train - that was nice! :)

After the train, we rode the carousel one time and then I let Luke just walk and explore. He picked up sticks, rocks, and played on the playground. There were several sweet little kids playing on the "pretend train" on the playground and Luke loved playing with them. The kids were pretending to drive and make train stops so they would say things like, "Next stop...." After they left, Luke started steering the "train" and said, "next stop" and looked at me and smiled. I thought it was cute that he was mocking this pretend play. Luke loved the tunnels and the slides and the swings. I think he explored and played on the playground for almost two hours.

Before we left, we walked back to ride the train one more time. Luke was sweet walking with me on the trails - I just love how he reaches up to hold my finger. While we rode the train, he would talk about what he saw, the "trees" the "sssss" (which means he thinks there are snakes), the "bear", and "dogs" and the "tunnel".

We ended up staying at the park for almost 3 hours....such a good time!

Here are some pics....

Luke on the train...
He's saying, "choo-choo"...
In the swing...that's a small stick he's holding....
Sliding...

Going through the tunnel....

Playing on the "pretend train"...

Just exploring...
Here is a video of him going down the slide.....

Happy Labor Day weekend everyone! If you haven't visited the blog in awhile, remember to keep reading - I've posted three posts in the last 4 days....crazy, huh?

See you soon - exciting week next week!

Toddy