Ice Cream Man!

We finally caught him!  We have been waiting for the ice cream man to get back from "vacation."  He first started visiting our little town a few months ago, but hasn't been around for several weeks and Isaac randomly comments about the ice cream man and how he is "on vacation."  But tonight we were on another double-stroller walk and we heard it -- the carnival-like music radiating from loud speakers.  Then we spotted the white van with pictures of ice cream plastered across the side.  But then he turned.  So we darted up a few streets determined to catch him.  And it just so happened I had a few bucks cash in my pocket.   

Success!  Isaac was finally able to buy ice cream from the ice cream man!  When I asked him what kind he wanted, he said "I want white ice cream."  We have a Dairy Queen in town and their "white ice cream" has become his favorite.  So I explained that he could pick from any of the pictures and he chose a Blue Bell chocolate fudge bar.  Good stuff!

Every kid loves the ice cream man.

Trucks

One good thing about small towns is the opportunities you encounter.  I took the kids on a walk yesterday morning in the double stroller.  While on our walk, we walked right past a backhoe loader-- what Isaac refers to as a "digger and a bulldozer!" 

Isaac's current fascination is trucks.  Anything trucks.  Big trucks (semi-trucks).  Diggers.  Dumpers.  Car transporters.  We have books about trucks that are currently his favorite picks to read before bedtime. 

So he got out of the stroller, looked at it for a few minutes, and then we continued on our walk.  And about two minutes later, we spotted a cement truck across the street spinning its mixer.  Because it was at it's "home base" (for lack of a better word) rather than on a work site, I figured we'd journey over and see if we could get an up-close look at it.

Roy, its operator, was more than happy to let us check it out, so he pulled it out from underneath the "cement loading carport" thing and Isaac had a chance to point out all the parts of the truck that he's learned from one of his books. 

So I snapped a picture and we were on our way.  Since the backhoe loader was so close, we went back and I attempted to get his picture with it as well, but he thought I was trying to sit him on it rather than stand by it.  For some reason, the boy loves to look at these things, but he will not sit on them -- never mind the fact I wasn't even trying to sit him on it.  So he would have nothing to do with taking a picture.  But nonetheless, he had a great adventure story to tell Daddy.

Cookies!

Isaac is my little helper these days.  He especially loves shopping with Mommy since I bought him a little miniature shopping cart at a consignment sale.  But yesterday, I cleaned out my "pantry" and found a package of cookie mix that expired in  February.  Figuring it was still good, I decided we'd whip up some cookies and test them out.  So I asked Isaac is he wanted to help Mommy make some cookies. 

"Please!" he exclaimed as he darted for his chair that he is constantly pulling and pushing around the kitchen, depending on what section of counter he needs to access. 

So we started mixing our ingredients before adding the cookie mix.  At first he wanted to stick his finger in the raw egg, but then I explained it wasn't good to eat eggs that weren't cooked.  So then I added the butter.  That was another temptation.  The boy LOVES butter!  If his finger wasn't in the mixing bowl, it was in the tub of butter directly.  So we were doing good to have any butter left when adding in the cookie mix. 

Once we had the cookie dough prepared, we had to taste it.  And taste it again.  AND...taste it again.  Nothing like cookie dough. 

So I managed to get some cookie dough onto the cookie sheets and we waited anxiously for our cookies, which turned out great.  Isaac was enthusiastic about the entire cookie making process.  He waited in front of the oven door for the entire 10 minutes, counting down the minutes with the oven timer.  He found it especially interesting that the cookies "fall down" -- which in "Isaac talk" means the spoonfuls of dough flatten out into cookies.  While watching the cookies bake, he already had his eye on the cookie he wanted.  "I like this one!"

Here are some cute pics of his first time baking cookies. 

Tasting the cookie dough

Eating more cookie dough

"I like this one!"  Eagerly anticipating the baked cookies! 

Between me, Isaac, and Daddy, we already ate half a dozen cookies before I snapped a pic of the finished product. 

Toys

I mentioned yesterday how Isaac sleeps with toys as his "security blanket" and makes sure that Gracie has what she needs as well.  Today I caught a picture of the toys Isaac gave Gracie to sleep with while she took a nap in the swing.  Most of the time he gives her some of her own baby toys, but today he gave her a couple of his own current favorites...football helmet and baseball glove. 

What a thoughtful brother!  I'm sure she fell asleep much easier knowing she had such comforts within reach.    

X-ray

I am extremely glad that Isaac shares so well with his sister!  He is constantly making sure that she has what she needs.  If she's laying down for a nap and he thinks she needs her waterfall soother on, he's a man on a mission.  And on several occasions, I've found her asleep in her swing with a stack of small toys resting on her lap, affectionately given to her by Isaac, who sleeps with a couple of toys at night and anticipated that she would also need something to sleep with.       

best buddies

And it's no different when she's awake.  If he's playing with something, he makes certain to include her.  If he's playing cars, he gives her one as well.  If he's playing with Buzz, Gracie gets to play with Woody.  If he's playing with a ball, she has one too.  She'll be eight months old next week, so she's not yet at a point to really "play" in the same way that brother does.  But it doesn't seem to matter to our sweet little guy.  He includes her anyway. 

Cuddles for Sissy

Unfortunately, his sharing isn't always the best thing.  Sunday morning we were getting ready for church.  Matt was already gone and I was running around, looking through my piles of folded laundry (that had yet to be taken to the chest of drawers), picking out outfits for everyone when I heard Gracie cough, as if she got a little choked on something.  I've heard her cough like that before when she would stick something -- whatever the present "chew toy" is -- too far back in her mouth.  So I knelt down by her on the floor to make sure she was okay and I noticed a little round shiny object in her hand.

A dime.

Big brother had found some "pennies" (what he terms any type of coin -- although he could identify each one specifically if you ask him) on the entry table and had, I thought, put them in the piggy bank we keep to collect spare change from the end of the day.  But I guess he thought Gracie might find them just as fun to play with as he does.   

So I took the dime away from Gracie and she immediately stretched as far in front of her as she could reach to the point she was practically laying on her outstretched legs and I thought, "What is she trying to get?"

Another dime.

So I took that one away and inspected her surrounding area for any other misplaced coins.  She seemed fine, so I thought, "Oh, she's okay.  I don't think she actually swallowed anything."  But when I was talking with hubby and a dear friend from church, we all agreed I had better call the pediatrician anyway, just to be safe.  So that afternoon I called the on-call doctor and they said that as long as she wasn't having difficulty breathing or pooping, she was probably okay but I needed to call her regular pediatrician Monday morning and see if they thought it merited an x-ray.

They did.  So we headed to the local hospital and had an x-ray...which Gracie was not fond of, whatsoever.  But I was once again reminded of the benefits of a small town hospital.  Quick service.  The doctor took a look at the x-ray and didn't find a dime (or any other coin) anywhere in her little digestive tract.

Whew!  I've always heard of small kids swallowing money.  But I didn't know it can be such a big ordeal.  I thought, "They poop it out...no big deal."  I didn't know those things can possibly get turned the wrong way and cause an obstruction.

So now hubby and I joke about how the girl is already devouring money...not a good sign.  The teenage years could get expensive!

No dime!  And no makeup for Mommy.  :)

It's a zoo in here!

Lions and Tigers and...Giraffes?

I have great intentions of posting updates of our wonderful adventures in the evenings of the day they happen.  However, I like to live in a somewhat clean house and I have this weird obsession about having a clean kitchen -- even if the rest of the house is less than desirable.  So I'm a week late in posting about our last weekend adventure.  But I suppose better late than never. 

Last Saturday we took a day trip to the Abilene Zoo.  Hubby called me from work the day before and suggested we go.  We've been saying for some time that we can't wait to take the kids to the zoo, so we drove a couple of hours to Abilene.  It's a teeny-tiny zoo (20 acres) but just about right for this particular day.  Isaac, who was previously ecstatic about going to the zoo (and even energetically sang the "Daddy's Takin' Us to the Zoo Tomorrow" song all Friday evening) was oh-so-enthusiastic by the time we got there.  Can't you just see it on his face?  Gracie was a little cranky, but she's still in the "I can sleep in my car seat whenever I want" stage.  

Gracie's bucket hat was a little odd fitting...didn't provide much protection from the sun.  But she looked adorable!

We got a late start, and by the time we made the two and a half hour trip along with lunch and a couple of Wal-Mart stops for zoo "necessities", it was mid-afternoon...and naptime.  But nonetheless, Isaac perked up quite a bit when we entered the first "stop"...the snake pit.  This cobra...I think it was a cobra...was considerably taken by Isaac.  When we first saw him, he was slithering around the parameter of his big box and upon making his way around the home stretch to the front of the glass, my 2 1/2 year old eagerly runs up to the glass cheering, "Hi, snake...Hi!!!" while waving enthusiastically.  Then this snake curls up around this huge rock, raises up, and stares at my son for about 5 minutes!  Kinda freaky.  But fun for Isaac, nonetheless.  I think the snake gave him special attention because he was so friendly.  

Still in the snake pit....

One of the great things about the Abilene Zoo is that you can feed the giraffes!  Unfortunately, we found out they have a daily limit, so you have to be one of the first 250 people in the gate to get cracker tokens to feed them.  So we'll definitely take that into consideration for our next trip.  Even so, it's still pretty awesome to see the giraffes up close and personal from the bridge that stretches across their "habitat."  I felt bad for my little guy, though, who was disappointed (and had a hard time understanding) that we couldn't feed the giraffes after Mom and Dad had raved about how neat it would be.  At one point, he knelt down by the fence and stuck out his hand and said (in the cutest little sweetest voice I could imagine!), "Come here, giraffe.  Come here, giraffe."  Note to self: next trip -- be there at 9am!  This boy needs to feed these giraffes!

Me and Gracie in front of the giraffes and the observation/feeding bridge. 

 Mufasa...

 Mufasa's wife...

 They had lion cubs, that were almost the size of the lioness, sleeping lazily along the front of the brick wall.  I didn't get a picture because they looked like a pack of lady lions -- not very much like baby lions.  At first I thought that Mufasa here was quite the stud and had his pick of the litter, so to speak.  But then I realized that the cubs advertised by the zoo weren't so "cubby" anymore.
 

 

By the time we got to the zebras and the rhinoceroses, Isaac was pretty much done.  So we made our way back around to a resting bench in the shade by the lions.  Mommy tried to get Isaac to smile for a picture by tickling him.  And Isaac played photographer and took Daddy's picture while Gracie slept in the stroller. 




"CHEESE!"

See the giraffe bridge in the background?  That's how big (small) this zoo is.  But it's great for the younger kids!

The older I get, and the older my kiddos get, the more I appreciate and cherish family time.  I love days like these!