Here we are, getting back to our roots…

This was just The Dude’s second time ever skating. We were excited to go again because he had so much fun the first time.

The first place had these little walker-style things that the kids could hold on to and push around the ice, and that worked really well. This other skating rink only had 6 of them, which wasn’t even close to enough to go around. We were there right when the public skate time started, but didn’t get one. What can you do – we just sucked it up and tried it without. Let me clarify that statement… i don’t skate, so Dada sucked it up and i prepared to photograph from the sidelines as they tried to skate hand-in-hand.

The boys struggled. It took them a looooong time to just get a quarter of the way around the rink, and i could see Dada consider leaving the ice. Well, this afraid-to-skate Mama, whipped on a pair of rental skates and headed for the ice without thinking twice (clearly if i had been thinking, i wouldn’t have done it). I don’t know how i thought i’d add any stability to the situation, but i guess if we were going down, we’d be doing it together!

We each took a little hand and with me always arms-length from the boards, we actually went around 4 or 5 times! It was frightening and fun and exhilirating and The Dude LOVED it. Enough that there was yelling and protesting when Dada and i had to call it quits for the afternoon.

We’ll try it again soon, but next time i think we’ll go early and try to snag one of the skate-aid things. And i’ll photograph.

We’ve just discovered what might be the coolest place on the planet – Sky High Sports.

Picture a warehouse filled with a grid of ~10×10ft trampolines, with padding over the seams so that you can just jump and jump and jump all over the place. Even the walls are trampolines, leaning on a 45-degree angle.

The Dude had a BLAST! How could you not, really?

There was a big open area that any one can use, a smaller (but still big) area for kids <8, and then a foam pit area. The foam pit section had two trampolines lined up infront of a HUGE pit of big foam cubes. You could run, bounce, and do a flying leap/flip into the foam. It was a really strange feeling – like quicksand. It was safe and soft, but kind of hard to get around in, and to get out of.

I don’t know what got me started on this, but i’ve been on a bit of a game nostalgia kick. Some were even saved from Dada’s childhood and brought back out this Christmas, which made them even more special.

We’ve been playing Connect Four, Perfection, Trouble, and Operation. How’s that for a flashback from our own childhoods? Of course The Dude doesn’t have the interest or patience to follow all the rules, but he is having a lot of fun with them! Perfection and Operation are his faves.

On a side note… can you believe they ruined Operation? There’s no more Charlie Horse or Funny Bone!!! Sorry, Milton Bradley, this is not an upgrade in my humble opinion. If you’ve got an old version of this game – hold on to it!

The Dude has been listening to a lot of Beatles songs recently – playing Beatles Rock Band at home, and listening to cds in the car. I get such a kick out of hearing him singing those songs.

On Sunday we went for a walk in the forest. It was an overcast and drizzly day. We started out thinking of indoor adventures we could have – library, aquarium, science center, etc., but then decided just to embrace the weather and go out in rain gear and see what happened. As it turned out, everything around us was wet, but there wasn’t any rain actually falling while we were out, so it was a very nice outing.

The Dude’s rain gear looks like a little dalmation suit, and partway through our walk, my little puppy reached up an arm and started singing “I wanna hold your paw” (to the tune of I Wanna Hold Your Hand).  I love these moments.

We’re travelling back a few months in time….

I rarely sew, but if there’s one thing that can make me drag out the old sewing machine, it’s Halloween. There are lots of good commercial costumes available, but there’s something about a home-made Halloween that is extra special.

The Dude has been a HUGE fan of the Imagination Movers on the Disney channel for a long time. I knew he’d get a huge kick out of having a movers suit and i figured it was doable with my limited sewing skills. Unfortunately i couldn’t find a pattern that was just right, but i found two that were close and figured i could combine them and get pretty darned close to what i wanted.

At first i was going to make it as a surprise and just sew after bedtime, but since i was messing with the pattern i decided it was better to come clean and tell him what i was doing so i could do fittings as things progressed. It was pretty funny. Generally he is pretty demanding of my time and getting a block of time to work on something is rare. But when he knew what Mommy was up to, he just let me do my thing, checking in every now and again to ask “is it ready yet?”

The plan had been to put his name on the nametag, but when i mentioned it, he said no – he wants to be Dave. Dave plays bass guitar.

May i present to you…. Mover Dave!

He was so excited he wore it for three days straight. I made him take it off at night, but first thing in the morning it was back on.

He printed that all by himself!

Dada got a Trail-a-Bike for Christmas this year. It’s an extension that goes on the end of your bike and makes it into a tandem-ish setup for a kid. They can pedal along and help, or they can just sit and enjoy the ride. It has a real seat and handlebars and pedals, so has a real bike experience for the little ones. I like the idea of it much better than a trailer. The only downside is that they can actually tumble off this, whereas the trailer is about as safe as it gets. This mama is trying to let go of that thought (i did, after all, buy the contaption for them!)

There was some assembly required…

When it was ready to try out, The Dude was intrigued, but wasn’t completely convinced he wanted to try it. The first lap down the street and back required Mama to hold his hand on the handlebar and run alongside as he shouted “Don’t let go – i’m scared!” Trust me, mama is not ready to taking up running – you should have seen me gasping for breath! After the first ride, i just told him that i couldn’t run any more and besides, i needed to use my hands to take his picture. Then i hoped for the best.

They took off with shouts of “I’m scared, i’m scared”. The next time they passed, i heard “Mama, i was scared at first, but i tried it and i like it!” From then on out, the comments included “Mom – you’re the audience, cheer for us!” and “Mommy, this is FUN!”

It was chilly out, so they didn’t ride for too too long, but it was longer than i thought they’d go on the first outing. During the dismount, The Dude protested and said he wanted to go again. This is a very very good sign.

I just love seeing my boys on their bicycle built for 2.

A couple months ago we had some alterations made to our swing set. There were some pieces being replaced under warantee and we had a credit with the company, so we decided to use it by adding a curly tube slide, or a Sousaphone Slide, as The Dude calls it.

It was installed on a cold drizzly overcast morning, but even with the icky weather, we had to go out and give it a whirl. As you probably know, The Dude is a little slide-phobic. He went down a couple times, but mostly just wanted to roll a ball down and have us catch it at the bottom.

It didn’t take long for our fingers to start going numb from the cold, so i asked my boys if they wanted to come in and have some hot chocolate. No, says The Dude. Some just right chocolate. So i went in and tried to make it Just Right.

(ps – i can’t get to my photos because of a computer glitch – Windows 7 compatability issue, but i’ll have some cute photos to add as soon as my technical support team finishes his breakfast and gets on the case!)

It was about the sweetest conversation we’ve ever had.

Him: Am i a daddy?
Me: No, sweetie. You’re a boy. But one day when you grow up you can be a daddy.
Him: When will i be a daddy?
Me: When you get older and get married, then you can be a daddy.
Him: Will you marry me, Mommy?
Me: No sweetie, i’m your Mommy. When you get older you’ll find some one your age that you love and you’ll get married to her. I’ll still be your Mommy.
Him: But mom, i love you. Will you PLEASE marry me?

The words that melt a mama’s heart.

I suppose it’s fitting, seeing as his middle name is Rudy.

This was one of my favorite activities this Christmas – three generations gathered around the dining room table glueing and eating candy. Even The Dude helped and he surprised me with how much help he really was. His side of the roof look surprisingly good!

It was a three day project and i enjoyed each stage – watching Dada, Uncle Stan, and The Dude design a cardboard model, baking the gingerbread with Grandma, glueing it together with Grandpa, then the grand finale  with the candy. This just may become a holiday tradition at our house.

On a practical note, i didn’t know what to do about the icing because i wasn’t comfortable with handling all the raw egg called for in the Royal Icing recipes. However, i was afraid that if i altered the master recipe, the mortar wouldn’t hold together and we’d just end up with a Royal Mess. In the end, i decided to just use icing sugar and water and cross my fingers. It worked!