Catching Up: Another zoo day

We love the zoo, and even though we had already been there a few times this year, when friends invited us along to celebrate their twins birthday, we jumped at the chance. The weather was great and we knew it would likely be the last time we would get there this year. I'm already getting nervous about how I will manage outings with a toddler and a newborn next summer, so I tried to pack in as many fun outings as I could for Rocco this year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Much Love,

B.



Deer Tracks Junction

Since we had no set plans on Labor Day weekend I really wanted to spend as much time together as a family as possible. I wanted to get Rocco out of the house and was trying to think of things other than the park since we had several park dates planned for the long weekend already.

There's a website called grkids.com that lists all sorts of things to do in the area that are kid friendly. I wasn't sure there would actually be anything going on since it was a holiday weekend, but I decided to browse the site just incase. On it for Sunday was Deer Tracks Junction. The website sold it as an old west type attraction with a petting zoo and homemade ice cream. I was sold on the ice cream :)

Admission to the petting zoo was only $3 for adults and free for Rocco, so it was definitely a cheap outing. It was so so hot while we were there, but we headed out to look at the animals first. There were goats, pigs, donkeys, and rabbits. Some were roaming free and some were in pens. Rocco was pretty interested when we first walked in but then a goat snuck up on him and nipped at his shoe and he was traumatized for life. He screamed for a good 10 minutes and clung to me like I was his sole path to survival. Any time we would be in sight of an animal he would start to shake and his whole body would tense up. The animals were cute and totally harmless, he just wasn't having any of it from then on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was a cute playhouse that he thought was really fun. We let him calm down while playing in there for awhile and then coaxed him out. He was ok after that walking with Joe, but he really had no interest in seeing anymore animals.

 

 

We decided at that point to head inside to cool off. We played in the jail for a few minutes, Rocco rode the wooden horse, and we indulged in some homemade ice cream.

 

 

 

After that we headed out front where there was a huge play structure, wooden train, and old carriages to play on. We let Rocco play for awhile, but it was just way too hot to stay for long.

 

 

 

 

It was definitely fun to try somewhere new and I'm glad we checked it out! Rocco will hopefully get over his fear of the goat real soon so we can head to a few other petting zoos nearby.

Much Love,

B.

Summer Bucket List: John Ball Park Zoo

John Ball Park Zoo has been on our to-do list for some time. It's the perfect size to get through and see everything in a short amount of time (took us about 2 hours). Yet there's enough to keep their interest and make it worth going back to several times. This was Rocco's first time at this zoo, but we had been to Potter Park Zoo a few months ago and he had a blast, so I knew he would love this one too. And I love anywhere we can go where Rocco can just run and not have to wrestle him into the stroller for the whole trip.

I don't know what it is about zoo maps, but these kids sure love them! We always need to make sure to grab enough for everyone. Rhiley and Rocco loved looking at theirs together, but also liked carrying their own.

Rhonen suggested taking a break from the animals to play on the wooden train and all the kids loved it. There were benches close by so we could sit while they played, which is always great.

Summer is flying by and we are almost out of good weather weekends to spend the morning outside. There was definitely rain in the forecast on the day we went, but we decided to go anyway since it wasn't supposed to start until the afternoon. The weather was perfect for most of our visit. We started hearing thunder as we got near the back of the park so we figured we should probably head back to the front before it started to storm. We ended up making it back to the gift shop right before the downpour. We hung out inside for a few minutes while Rhonen and Rhiley picked out toys and Rocco lost my keys! Crazy how quickly panic sets in...I knew he had them when we went in so part of me figured they couldn't be too far...but quickly I came up with a scenario in my mind of another child finding them and tucking them away to play with later. Luckily that didn't happen and Ricki found them within minutes.

We had to run to our cars in the rain since it didn't seem like it would let up anytime soon. It was so great being able to spend the morning with my best friend (seems like there's never enough time to spend together these days) and for Rocco to run free with his cousins.

 

 "Tee-tee's" stroller was a bigger hit than his own, and she had way better snacks :).

 Much Love,

B.



Summer Bucket List: Popsicles & Pool Days

Rocco is at such a fun age this summer. We are able to get out and try new things and see the excitement on his face when he tries something and loves it.

I remember always having flavored ice in the freezer as a kid and thinking it was the best thing ever. Joe and I have always had them in our freezer too, even though neither of us eat them as adults. My niece and nephew love them though and always ask for them when they are over.

I hadn't even thought of giving one to Rocco to try, probably because I forgot we even had them. Joe brought one out for Rocco one day and he absolutely loved it! I have to squash my OCD brain while he eats it since it's guaranteed to make a big mess. But the sticky hands and spots on his clothes are totally worth it to see this level of excitement over something so simple.

Joe's mom has a pool at her house and we haven't been over near as much as we should to enjoy it. We went over during a really hot day to try it out with Rocco. Even though it was so hot out, the water was still really cold. We weren't sure he would go in at all since he was pretty scared every time we tried to get him in the float we bought for him. He ended up loving it as long as Joe held him.

Earlier in the summer I considered signing him up for a few weeks of swimming lessons at the YMCA down the road, but decided he was too young to start. I'm glad I decided to hold off until next year since he seemed pretty scared whenever Joe wasn't holding him and we really haven't spent much time at all in the water this year. I'll sign him up next summer and we will make a point to visit Joe's mom's pool more to get him used to it.

Much Love,

B.

Summer Bucket List: Sprinkles Doughnut Shop

I've driven past the strip mall it sits in several times and always mean to go in...but I've always got somewhere else to be so I keep on driving. Then I see the name pop up on Facebook on what always seems like a Sunday when they're closed. Finally I remembered on a Saturday morning that I wanted to check out Sprinkles Doughnut Shop.

Rocco is my trusty "cheat on my diet" buddy...I can always count on him to indulge in all the sweets he can with me. It definitely didn't disappoint! A huge glass case of dozens of different doughnuts just waiting for us to try. I picked out the 2 biggest ones I could find, grabbed a large coffee, and sat down with my sweet buddy for our morning sugar overload.

Can't wait for our next doughnut date!

Much Love,

B.

 



Rewind The Weekend

Another weekend flew by and surprisingly this week is flying by too since tomorrow is already Thursday and I'm just now getting around to posting about the weekend.

On Friday night we got together with Joe's best friend and his wife and kids. We used to see them all the time but since having kids time with friends has been a little harder to come by for all of us. The last time we spent time together as couples with kids was New Year's Eve which seems so long ago now!

The weather was perfect so we sat out in the driveway drinking sangria while the kids played. We were able to catch up on all we have going on in between refilling bubble guns and taking breaks from playing to eat ice cream. The best kind of summer night!

On Saturday morning we drove to Holland to get some of Hugo's energy out at the dog park. He loves going and Joe takes him quite often. There's a really cute children's park just across the parking lot so Rocco and I headed there to play while Joe ran some laps with Hugo. This is definitely one of the best parks we have been to this summer. There's so much that Rocco is able to do and few things that are too big for him that I need to worry about him falling off of like at a few of the local parks.

He found a ball under the play structure at one point and was so excited to play "fetch" with himself. We decided to go exploring and check out a bridge just past the park. He was really interested in watching the water pass under the bridge and I could see the little wheels turning in his brain thinking about throwing the ball in the water. I warned him over and over not to throw it in, but he did anyway. He was quite sad and couldn't understand why I wouldn't just climb down the rain covered ravine to rescue the quickly disappearing ball. He was quite sad and I felt bad that I wasn't able to get it for him, but I'm pretty sure the lesson was learned.

That night we had plans for dinner and a Whitecaps game with the company that Joe works for. A 20 month old in a restaurant is a little dicey these days but luckily one of his friends from daycare was there so he had a buddy to run around with and keep busy. After grabbing a bite to eat we headed to the ball game. It happened to be their busiest night so far this season with over 10,000 people! Seeing a Whitecaps game is on our summer bucket list so I was excited that this was what was planned for his company's summer outing. Turns out Rocco was maybe a little young still this year. He did a good job, but with such a big crowd and the game starting just an hour before bedtime...he didn't last much more than an hour after the game started. I look forward to trying again next year though!

On Sunday morning Joe took Rocco grocery shopping like he always does to give me a little time to myself, which I really appreciate! After he got back we headed to Mass. While Rocco is at an age that I regularly find so fun and exciting....it can also be quite challenging now that everything is "mine!!" and he is constantly on the move. One of the first blogs that I binge read during those long nights of nursing a newborn was Grace's over at Camp Patton. She used to give her sweet babes "mass grades" and I thought it was hilarious. After Mass on Sunday I told Joe that Rocco's Mass Grade was a F. He replied "F-", and if that were a legit grade I would totally agree. It was a rough one for sure!

But all in all we had a great weekend spending so much time as a family! Looking forward to checking off some more summer bucket list items over the next few weekends and going on our adults only vacation in just two and a half weeks!
Much Love,
B.