Picnic in the Park

Today we met up with Lisa, Cassie, Cameron, and Ethan at Irvine Park.  It was a glorious, sunny, hot summer day!  We started out by checking out the animals.  First stop was the ducks.  Mya liked to see them in real life, and not just from a book!  She even fed the bread to the ducks without taking a bite herself!

Then we went into the barn to check out those animals.  She looooved the goats and sheep!  The goats were poking their noses out of their pens and Mya even petted them!  She then, of course, put her fingers in her mouth.  Sigh...

Love her expressions!

Well, hello there Mrs. Sheep!

Checking out the BIG cats!

Everything the big kids did, Mya had to do too.  They ran their hands on the fence and so did Mya!!

After checking out the animals, we had lunch.  Then we headed over to the fountains!  Why haven't I brought Mya here before????  Holy moly, she loved running around!  The thing that I don't get is that she hates having water on her head and face (like she'll scream when I wash her hair in the tub).  However, she didn't seem to mind it at all when the water from the fountains came pouring on her face...little stinker!

Mya also continues to prove that she has no fear of new things.  The fountain in the middle was quite large and powerful.  She kept going toward it, like she was going to go through it or something.  Thankfully, she backed off!

Ducking underneath the fountain

The little lady was so tuckered out that she fell asleep in the car on the ride home.  Literally minutes after we left the park, she was out!

Hangin' Out at the Children's Museum

Mya and I went downtown to the Eau Claire Children's Museum for the first time yesterday.  A few months ago, we went to the Children's Museum in La Crosse and there was no comparison.  Eau Claire's is sooooo much nicer!  The ECCM is much more toddler friendly and Mya loved it!  I was a little nervous to tackle this on my own with Mya (it's nice to have another set of hands in case she makes a run for it!), but it worked out really slick!  Mya was so engaged with everything that I had looooots of opportunities to take pictures!

We played in the exhibits for a while.  The market and kitchen were a hit with Mya.

Checking out what's cookin!

Driving in the car

Picking out some produce

She even helps to re-stock the shelves

Downstairs is where the arts and crafts and water exhibits are.  Mya loved the water table and fountain type thing!

There is also a toddler area which is penned in, so little ones can't escape from their parents.  It is such a nice area and Mya wanted to spend most of our time there.  She had so much fun going down the slide, climbing up and down the stairs and playing in all of the different areas!

Headed down the slide

Bottoms up!

Mya loved going over and over and over the bridge!

Yep, she's ready for boater's safety classes!

Smelling the garden flowers

Playing peek-a-boo with another kid

Just Keep Swimming, Swimming, Swimming...

On Monday we started swimming lessons at the YMCA with Mya.  It's a class where parents are able to be in the water with their kids to get them used to water.  It's been a lot of fun and Mya loves being in the water.  We sing songs, bounce around, float and play games.  Mya loves floating on her stomach (not so much on her back) and we're working on paddling and kicking (easier said than done!)

In the morning I ask her if she's ready to go swimming.  She gets a big smile on her face and says, "YES!"

Working on trying to scoop our hands in the water

Practicing kicking our feet to catch the ball

On her second day of swimming lessons, we got her to pose in her swimsuit.  Our little girl isn't so little any more!  Cue the tears...

Mya also got to go to lessons with JUST Daddy!  Momma went out to lunch with a friend from work, so Daddy dug out the swimming trunks.  They had a good time!

Today at lessons Mya even put her face in the water to blow bubbles!  This is a big thing for her!  She HATES getting her face/head wet, so this was pretty awesome!  And it wasn't like she was blowing bubbles...more like drinking the pool water.  Oh well!

In the locker room at the YMCA

Double Trouble

Trajan came over to hang out with us on Saturday and Sunday while his mommy worked and his daddy helped Mya's daddy in Winona.

The three of us had a good ol' time!  We played, played, played!  The biggest hit was the kitchen and the car.  They chased each other around the house, ate lots of food, did some dancing, read books, and took good naps.  There were some sharing issues, but that's to be expected with two kids under the age of 2!

I told Mya to go give Trajan a kiss...so she kissed his back.  It looks like she's biting him, but rest assured it's just a kiss!!

The kids were hungry, so the only thing I would let them eat the entire weekend was plastic watermelon from the play kitchen.  Just kidding!  :)

Mya chasing Trajan

Somersaults are all the rage with kids under the age of 2.  I just said the word and their little butts flipped up in the air and stayed there until they fell over to the side!

We went outside to play in the pool and the sand in-between thunderstorms.  The kids were waiting patiently to go!

The Dilly Bar went mostly onto Trajan's body, rather than his mouth!

Tanya and Nadya came over to bring us dinner and play for a bit!  It's so nice to be living in Eau Claire that we can do this now!

And time spent with Nadya wouldn't be right if there weren't some posed pictures...the kid is a ham!

Reading books proved to be a challenge.  Trajan wanted to sit on my lap and so did Mya. Trajan kind of overpowered Mya so she couldn't sit on my lap...good thing that Mya is very understanding and didn't care if Trajan was taking me over!  She just went and got her own books!

Trajan is very good at sneaking up behind us...and climbing!  Mya got a huge kick out of Trajan poking his head up over the couch!

Then, both of the monkeys got in on the action!