Park Update... with some added Pools to our tour too! :)

Since we only have three Hutch parks left, I decided to up the ante to getting us out of the house with two kids later this summer by adding a few more pools to check out!   

1. Shady Ridge   
2. Women's Club  (Piano Park!)
3. Rotary-    New Fitness Addition!
4. Oddfellows   (Purple Dino Park)
5. Roberts
6. Masonic/West River 
7. Riverside Jaycee  (Rollie Slide Park)
8. Kiwanis   (Rocket Hill) 
9. Fireman's
10. Kimberly
11. North Woods    Click link as I did it's own small little blog as I was practicing photo collage and Blogger app on my phone :) 
12. Lions Park East
13. Tartan Park-  (Pirate Park)
14. North/Community Playground (Park Elementary)--  Our "Home" Park
15. South   (Frisbee Golf Park)
16. VFW
17. Elks
18. Lions Park West
19. Rolling Meadows-   (Slideless/Easy Park)
20. Driftriders
21. West Elementary
22. Junior Community Women
23. St. A's
24. Bike and Skateboard Terrian Parks  (Bridge Park)
25. Our Savior's Lutheran Church  (ABC, 123 Park!)
26. Library Square "Park"
27. Hutch Rec Center Pool
28. Silver Lake Pool
29. Glencoe Pool
30. Gaylord Pool
31. Lake Minnetonka Regional Park & Swimming Pond

Roberts Park:   Declan met his friend Cameron here (after trying for West Elementary but they were putting down new chopped tire padding.)  My little climber enjoyed the snake ladder while Cameron and Joe were on the swings.  Then some 2 year olds attempted slide race/tag.  I was sad to see the merry-go-round was gone and something else seemed missing... being next to the sand volleyball courts and ball fields, I really do think and hope this park gets an upgrade soon!  But I had Declan's birthday balance bike in the car and he wanted to ride it with Mandi as they were on her bike so he hopped right on and went the furthest/best he has yet on his own!

 

Driftriders Park:  West on Southgrade road and just past the Otter Lake Bridges in the Prairie View/South Grade Ct Developments, this park is NOT a playground park and Declan was disappointed.  But he climbed the rocks a little (the big one would be awesome for older kids).  He kept asking for "new park, new park" so I told him we'd go to the Car/Clifford Park in the neighborhood but he wasn't all that thrilled there either!  Anyhow, I brought Croix and Mione (dogsitting for friend) knowing they would enjoy trail and lots of fetch and they got tired out so that mission was accomplished! 

    

Hutch Rec Center Pool:  We went for a family hour (530-630) with Andy one evening.  And Declan may fight baths sometimes, but only because they are too boring.  He loves pools and water!  I loved just lounging in the wading pool (but NOT zero entry and that is why every other pool I take Dec alone too will have that!) and watching Dad and Declan play!

Silver Lake Pool:  They have great hours on Friday's for toddlers who have strict mom's with their nap schedule!  It is open Fri & Sat12-8 so I can get there before or after nap.  Hutch pool being 1-4 is so not ideal for napping but the family hour is less crowded and better for us anyhow!  But this pool is awesome and Dec ran into his daycare friend Olivia.  They crawled all over being walruses and she got braver seeing my fearless jumper... he was so fearless he kept wanting to jump in and me not catch him.  He loved going underwater and thru the shower mushroom.  But he also would climb up ladders and run somewhere farther than I could maneuver my pregnant swimming self and almost jump in!  Thankfully, both times I YELLED "STOP!" he stopped since he was so startled by my "yelling" voice.  He was a good listener and only jumped near me after threatening to be all done at the pool if he ran too far from me again! 

Northwoods Park!

Dec didn't wake up early enough to head to a pool today for nap times but I am trying to get out of the house and do stuff before I am feeding a newborn 8-10 times a day!  So we checked out Northwoods Park and he loved the rocking "lily pad" steps!  He can climb up curvy ladders all in his own now and has really gained so much independence he is ready to be a big brother! 

Checking some more parks off the list!

Definitely going a little fast thru this "challenge" then I thought we would but I can't sit still/be stuck in the house with the gorgeous weather we've had this spring/early summer.  I know I'll be doing plenty of that when Firecracker comes (and less blogging).  Plus, we have avoided tons of bugs.

1. Shady Ridge   
2. Women's Club  (Piano Park!)
3. Rotary-    New Fitness Addition!
4. Oddfellows   (Purple Dino Park)
5. Roberts
6. Masonic/West River 
7. Riverside Jaycee  (Rollie Slide Park)
8. Kiwanis   (Rocket Hill) 
9. Fireman's
10. Kimberly
11. North Woods
12. Lions Park East
13. Tartan Park-  (Pirate Park)
14. North/Community Playground (Park Elementary)--  Our "Home" Park
15. South   (Frisbee Golf Park)
16. VFW
17. Elks
18. Lions Park West
19. Rolling Meadows-   (Slideless/Easy Park)
20. Driftriders
21. West Elementary
22. Junior Community Women
23. St. A's
24. Bike and Skateboard Terrian Parks  (Bridge Park)
25. Our Savior's Lutheran Church  (ABC, 123 Park!)
26. Library Square "Park"

Shady Ridge:

Great little neighborhood behind the Crow River Golf Course!  Didn't take any pics of our picnic with the Schwedler's but Declan and Eli had tons of races belly/head first/etc down the slides.  And Declan is becoming fearless in climbing the curled ladders... gotta keep my eye close then!  Also nice because Shady but I still shouldn't have forgot the sunscreen because stayed longer than I thought we would and Dec's little cheeks were pink!

South Park:

We have been over here a few times as it is a two block walk to house and if the Frisbee course isn't busy we let it be Croix's personally dog park.  Not a full playground but Dec was working on his big kid swings and loves jumping and climbing the rock circle!  He sat on about 12 rocks in a row counting them... I thought he'd make it all the way around but he did get bored! 

Family of 3 Selfie!!

 Fireman's Park:

The park is small... so thought it'd be perfect at to play at for 15 minutes before biking over to church in the park...  but the river/dam and flowers and rocks and ducks and ducklings made us about 10 minutes late to church in Library square!

Rotary's New Fitness Equipment "Park":

This park is going to be a favorite of mine late summer/fall on my maternity leave for sure!  Declan had more fun on the the new equipment then the park.  But the running path will be awesome with Firecracker and stroller and hopefully can do some strength training with Declan running around! 

I feel most the parks we have left are tiny small ones and a few I even need to figure out where they are at!  But I think we'll get them done before July 8th and then we can just revisit all our favorites and close ones! 

Lion's Park East: 

We came here on our bike trailer up the hill after stopping at the farmer's market Saturday June 13th!  It knew it was small but Declan's enthusiasm for a park is always equal.  He liked the digger and roaring on the lion even though Tigers and Lions seem to be his latest fear/imagination that he hears them and they are coming in the house!

Library Square Park:

Though there is no playground equipment here the fountain and paths and statues and fun events make it a "park" in Declan's world. Plus, we love our "Church in the Park" on Sunday's!  Stories in the Park started today, 6/18 and though there was no story today, the Phoenix drumline came and put on a performance and let all the kids come play the drums. His daycare was there so he sat with his best bud on her birthday.. Leigha turned 6 today!  He got to see his other friends Joshua & Nathaniel and Adam was there with daycare!

Dear Declan, You're Two YEARS old today!

Hello Mr. 2 Year Old,

                I can’t believe how fast the time has gone.  To think that it’s only been two years that you’ve been around and I can’t remember life without you.  You make every day a complete surprise as I never know what you’re going to do next or what the next phrase out of your mouth might be…I have found out that you’re good at repeating the phrases I shouldn’t say around you!!

A few things that you’ve taught me the last 12 months are:

1.         I definitely need to work with you on answering questions.  At this point, you have only one response that you use for everything.  “Declan, why are you chasing the cats?” CUZ “Why are you standing on the laptop?” CUZ “Why are you biting me?” CUZ
2.        Really need to enjoy the small goofy moments.  Almost every morning when we get to daycare and get you unstrapped,  you squirm away and scream “Hide Seek Daddy” and dash to the other side of the car.  Sometimes I can get you in one grab, sometimes we’re chasing back and forth.  It always help to start my day with that smile. 
3.        I am convinced that the best outfit for a toddler will always involve a hoodie.  Jeans/khakis/shorts/pants…there’s not one thing it doesn’t go with.  Plus when I forget your jacket…instant jacket!!!  When it gets warm, easy to take off!  Getting cold, yay jacket!!!  You’ll notice that most of the pictures we have involve you in one!
   
4.        The best times of the week are the lazy weekend mornings when we let you come play in our bed.  Mommy’s usually the nice one that gets you but I love having you crawl over to me, get about 4 inches away and yell “HI” or “G’mornin Daddy”.   Then I can usually get you riled up with a game of “Spiders in the bed” before we all go make breakfast.

You’ve taught me so much but we’ve got so much more to learn now with you gaining more independence and a personality (CUZ).  But I can’t wait to see what this next year will bring and how you and little Firecracker will be keeping me on my toes. 

                                                                        Love you always,

                                                                                        Daddy

Dearest Declan,

We had a super fun Sesame Street Birthday party with all your friends today at St. A's park!  The bouncy house was a hit, you loved the sandbox as always, and personally I think my character fruit/veggie trays were close enough to Google Images and were cute for 5 minutes before you and your friends ate them!  And of course everyone loved the Elmo cupcakes!

Last night we gave you your balance bike and you are your cautious self with it but practiced with me from the dining room to Croix's room today!  I'm sure you will love it by summer end so we can "bike" to parks!  To see all your birthday pics, click HERE!

You are getting ready to be a big brother to Firecracker and have practiced a lot with Baby Doll.  You  have mostly named it Baby Doll but sometimes you call it Baby Sister and lately have been insisting Firecracker is a girl so we'll find out soon and hope you aren't too disappointed if baby is a boy!

You are obsessed with parks and new parks especially.   We have almost finished our Hutch Park tour and summer has just begun, so we'll have to do all your favorites a few times!  You always want to walk to Rollie park but it is a bike ride or car ride away so we convince

One thing you didn't like this spring was ECFE school.  Or at least you didn't like knowing we were going to go into adult room without you and you had meltdowns at every transition.  Hoping next fall, you will be older and ok with us leaving for 20 minutes!  A few other times when you have gotten mad at Dad or me or didn't like something at home, you say "I want to go home to Jessica's house".  Hard not to giggle in front of you!

You know all your ABC's and are starting to learn the letter sounds too!  You haven't cared for much Signing Time DVD's lately but are obsessed with random "ABC computer" videos we find on Youtube... especially Max the Glow Train.   A couple weeks ago in the tub you found the letter P and then proceeded to point out your PeePee to me the whole bath... I seriously couldn't stop laughing so you definitely didn't stop pointing it out!   You can count to 20... sometimes skipping 15-17 but overall seem to get them!  You love the bus numbers by Park Elementary and spend half our park time counting them!

You love art, Playdoh, painting, singing, sidewalk chalk, etc.  You are trying to throw Frisbee and balls more, and you have fun golfing if your friends Eli, Joshua, Adam are golfing but we still revert to one handed a lot!  I can tell you are the oldest child and have some order/organizing/personality traits of "birth order psychology" in you (or you are like me...an oldest child) and you still like to clean up willing after one set of toys before playing more.  We'll see how that lasts in a month with Firecracker dividing my attention and reminders :)

Daddy and you made up a favorite song awhile back that makes me laugh every time!  Baby Pooping Time.  You also love doing "RockABye" and "Jesus" (Now I lay me down to sleep) every night before bed.

We have to be very careful with anything we say now because you repeat instantly and your memory doesn't let you forget if we are going somewhere in a while.  You want to go NOW... so now I only warn you about 5 minutes before doing anything else instead of a day game plan!!

I coached golf this spring so you got lots of Daddy time and nights but it went fast and wasn't too bad on momma with a few extra day meets, and not in the evening but I knew you missed me!  Summer is here now though!  But the favorite part of my day was getting home and seeing my boys waiting for me in the driveway!  And you came to our last fun practice night and rode "Momma's bus" to Subway and hung out with my golfers.  You lately are really not shy around new people and say "Hi" and repeat all their names and try and answer questions.

You have used the big boy potty a few times on your own will and have had #1 and #2 successes!  I wouldn't complain if you were out of diapers by end of summer but I'm letting you say when you want to try.

Age: 2 Years!                             

Weight:  Guessing..28 lbs            Actual:   26 lbs 3.8 oz   PEANUT!   28% 

Length: Guessing..36"  inches     Actual:   35 1/4 inch       80%
Head:  Guessing..20" inches        Actual:  19 3/4 inch
Teeth: 15!!  Finally a mouth full and I think all the molars are in!  You will come to the dentist with me next month!  

Love you through and through,

Momma

Birthday Weekend and Party Pics!

You know it's love when I spent 20 minutes putting a train set together after Dec went to bed... I hope it doesn't tumble down like he does my other towers!  But he played so nicely on the mini version right before bed so I have hope he'll be gently!  

  I teared up putting my 2 year old asleep!  Can't believe it's here! 

Did one more cupcake/candle with Grandpa Tim & Grandma Sue via Skype because the wind at park wouldn't keep candle lit!

Dec loved his erasable Sesame Activity Book from Grandma Connie & Papa!  And we played with new Playdoh toys from Auntie B for over half an hour when he got up from nap!  

Murray, Grouch, Cookie Monster, Elmo and Big Bird plates

 Family fun Sat. night at Squeaky's for dinner and then Dec wanted to bowl and play hockey!