Fun at the Lake and in MN

We recently had a very brief visit to my parents' house in the Twin Cities, followed by mid-week trips to Chetek for Troy, and Gilbert Lake for Simon and me. My parents came with us to Gilbert Lake and we had a lot of fun!

First, here's a picture of Simon at a playground near my parents' house. He had no qualms about going down this big slide all by himself. (And he also climbed back up the slide too!)


On our way to Gilbert Lake, Simon had his first ice cream cone from the Lake Dexter drive-in (a traditional stopping point on the way there):

At the Lake, Simon got in lots of fun play time with Grandma Karen, Grandpa Tom, and GG Peggy. He also ate corn on the cob!

Grandma and grandpa took him for a few paddleboat rides:


It was important to Simon to "drive":


And of course he spent lots of time in the lake! His life jacket, which was actually a baby shower gift from my friend Stacy and her family, fit very well this year:


More ice cream on the way back:

We also had a visit to a pool with Emily! Here's Simon all ready to get in:


Bonus video: first, of an ice cream cone; second, of Simon "skipping". It's more like galloping, but it's still pretty cute. As you will see, we were with Emily and uncle Eric at a golf course waiting for Troy, Grandpa Tom, aunt Sarah and her sister Mary to finish their round before we all had dinner. Yes, we were very, very, very sure that no golf balls were about to fly in our general direction. (Shortly after this video, we had to keep Simon further away as the group actually hit on to the green.)

Ice cream from Anne Reynolds on Vimeo.

Skipping from Anne Reynolds on Vimeo.

Swing set!

Thanks to his very generous and helpful relatives, Simon has a new-to-him swing set! It used to belong to his cousins Elise and Alli, but they kindly hauled it all the way from Princeton, IL so that Simon can have it now! Thanks to Grandpa Jim, Grandma Barb, Scott, Sonnie, Elise, Alli and Keegan for making the trip here and helping to set it up.

Simon loves the slide, the mounted steering wheel up on the platform, and his three brand-new swings.

First time down the slide:


The whole set:


Fun on the "yellow fing"!

Just like Daddy

Simon loves his lawn mower, and loves following Daddy around when he's mowing. Troy views this as excellent practice!

Just like Daddy from Anne Reynolds on Vimeo.

Chicago

In the first of a series of catch-up posts, here are some photos and video from a quick trip we took to Chicago a few weekends ago. We made a last-minute decision to go after a change in plans meant we wouldn't be visited by my aunt & cousin. Some friends of ours from grad school were in Chicago for a long weekend visit, so we decided to join them!

Simon really liked the Crown fountain:

Fountain fun from Anne Reynolds on Vimeo.

And had fun swimming in the hotel pool:


And got a ride from "uncle" Chad, who is much taller than Troy so gave Simon a great view of Navy Pier!

More fun at the park

Simon is getting better and better at climbing up on things at the park. He also often insists that we climb up and slide down too.

At the park from Anne Reynolds on Vimeo.

Birthday pictures

Here are some (long overdue) pictures from Simon's birthday! He was very lucky to have both sets of grandparents AND both of his great-grandmas here!

After successfully blowing out his candle, surprising us!


Yummy cupcakes:
Showing how he is "two" - one finger on each hand:

I had to open some presents for him:

Fun with Grandpa Jim:

Fun with a noisemaker from Aunt Biz:
And one of his favorite presents - band-aids. :)

Two-year old! -

Trip to the park

Simon loves going to the park and will ask to go there if we ever start walking in its general direction. We are lucky to have such a great park so close to home. On one recent visit, he mastered climbing up one of the climbing "walls" all by himself!

At the bottom of the "big slide," with a view of the wall he climbs to get back up:


And after he climbed up all by himself:


He also really likes collecting wood chips:


Deciding what to DO with the wood chips he's collected:


Deciding to put them "right doo!" (right there):


Bonus video of Simon on the swing, which may make you dizzy. He used to be kind of wary of the swing, but now wants to swing very "BIG". All the time. A few translations are below the video link:

Big swing from Anne Reynolds on Vimeo.

Other than just "big," "big fing" (big swing), and "more big," he says "Big kids doing?" pointing at a group of older kids, and "two hands" (wanting me to push him with both hands, which of course is bigger).