Campfires to Dinosaurs

Well, I wasn't going to update this until August, but we've been so busy I've got lots to add.
Cyle's been wanting to take Clayton camping. It's not really worked out for us to go anywhere, so last weekend they were going to camp in our woods. But they were calling for thunderstorms, so we settled for a campfire and a hot dog and marshmallow roast. Clayton thought it was very cool to put a hot dog on a stick and even better when we did "icing" marshmallows. He didn't really care if they were roasted or not. And the best part was - we all got to sleep in our soft, comfortable beds as the thunderstorm raged on.


One day last week, I had to run downtown for some errands and wanted to give Clayton a break from the car so we stopped in at the Children's Museum. Ottawa has a FABULOUS children's museum inside the Museum of Civilization. We spent the entire morning outside in their Adventure World where Clayton got to play games from around the world, dig in a giant sandbox with" 'chines" (machines) and he even got to build a boat and float it in a small river. He had a blast and was pretty much asleep before we got out of the parking garage.

This week we traveled to Morrisburg, Ontario (about an hour away) with some friends to visit Prehistoric World. Two brothers (sculptors) have created over 50 life-sized dinosaurs that are in the woods along a walking trail.
Clayton ran from dinosaur to dinosaur and at each one would say, "Dine-saur!" like it was the first one we had seen. They were really well done. The size was definitely amazing. We had a picnic lunch around a sand pit where the kids could dig up dinosaur bones. It was such a fun day. Thanks, Laura, for taking us!
Have a great last week of July!

Fishing, Mowing, and a New Bed

Since Cyle's return home, Clayton has wanted to do everything just like Daddy. Over the past two weeks he has become obsessed with fishing. He wakes up in the morning and asks to go. He plays outside (occasionally inside) for hours with his little Scooby Doo fishing pole. Cyle's put a weight and a lure minus the hook on it and Clayton will cast and reel it in over and over. Last weekend he got to go for his first boat ride. Thankfully he's more interested in just casting and reeling than actually catching anything. Especially since when we're home and he's "fishing" it's just in an old ice cream bucket. Every once in a while he'll pull out the lure and say, "Yeah! Fishy!" as if he's actually caught something. I've got to give it to Cyle. He gave up a perfect fishing day on Saturday to spend it fishing with Clayton ALL morning.

While my mom was visiting, she mowed our lawn. (Truly, she's a saint. We have 3 acres of land and a push mower.) Clayton, of course, had to be in the middle of it. So while we were in Wal-Mart one afternoon, Mom spotted a play mower and couldn't pass it up. Now that Daddy is home and he mows, Clayton must also mow our yard. But first he has to fill it up with gas.


Clayton has also mastered the art of climbing out of his crib. Really, he did it quite gracefully and very well. But did we decide to convert his crib into a toddler bed. I just wasn't sure of how graceful he'd be at 2 a.m. Clayton loves his new bed because it's a "big boy" bed and anything that is "big" is definitely the best. He does a pretty good job sleeping in it. He's just not so great at staying in it.


The summer seems to just be flying by. I can't believe we're half way through July. I've been keeping busy with Clayton, our flower beds and I've been doing some baking. It's gotten warmer so I've got to have a good reason to get my oven/kitchen hot. I've been trying to make casseroles and easy to freeze suppers for after the baby's born. Cyle's been practicing traditional archery with a recurve bow and has set up a shooting range in our back yard. He's also been taking care of our garden. We've not had a lot of sun this summer, but it still seems to be doing well. Hopefully Clayton will find picking produce as fun as mowing!
Have a great month!