Summertime

There's just something about lazy Saturday afternoons, 3-year-old little boys and the neighborhood ice cream truck ...

Especially when they sell Batman ice cream pops.

Partners in Crime

Little man has a little cousin that is just six months younger than him. They are both blondies and have deep blue eyes - seeing them together some people probably assume they are twins.

She was able to come spend the 4th of July weekend with us, where they had a great time going out to a baseball game, scaling the fort in our backyard, blowing bubbles as far as the eye can see, splashing in the water and generally wreaking havoc wherever they went. It was a good weekend to be a 3-year-old.

Although several states have stood between them thus far, she recently moved a bit closer to us to the great state of Oklahoma. Now that she is closer, I hope that little man his little cousin can see each other more often, for they love their time together. And although she is a girl, she is very much a tomboy.

And when she and the little man get together they are definitely partners in crime.

When everyone had packed and gone home after the long weekend, little man found a picture of his little cousin that Nana had given him.

"She's my little sister," little man said.

"No, buddy," I said, correcting him. "She is your cousin."

"No, she's my sister," he insisted.

"Cousin," I said. "She's your cousin."

Little man paused.

"But I want a baby sister," he said

Mommy paused.

"You need to talk to your father about that one," I finally answered, as little man ran off to find his daddy ...

King of the Jumbotron

In a previous post, I shared the moment that little man made his big debut on the big screen during a K-State Football Game.

But a few weeks ago, little man made an even bigger debut.

When you have little boys and live somewhat close to a major league ballpark, summer baseball games are somewhat of a prerequisite.

And make for a fun family afternoon.

So, a few weeks ago we loaded up the car and headed out to "The New K" to catch a baseball game. Little man loves baseball.

As we were sitting enjoying the usual ballpark fare of snow cones and cracker jacks between innings, little man decided to get up and dance on daddy's lap to the music blaring through the load speakers.

The cameras were panning the audience, flashing pictures of people in the audience on the jumbotron.

Then, larger than life, was little man - dancing away on the large screen for the whole park to see.

"MOMMY!" Screamed little man, pointing to himself. "It's ME! I'm on TV!"

Everyone around us began clapping for him.

While most little kids shy away at seeing themselves on screen, my little man ate it up. He smiled for the camera and danced his little legs off.

Unfortunately, mommy was so enamored with seeing her little man on the big screen that she didn't think to pick up the camera in her lap and take a photo.

{bad mommy}

But, he was there. Bigger than life.

And enjoying every moment of it.

As the game ended we walked around the park near the jumbotron.

"I was up there," little man said, pointing to the screen. "I was on TV."

"Yes you were, buddy," I said. "You are a star."

Choo-Choo-Choo-Choo

As any normal little boy, the little man loves anything with an engine.

But, like his daddy, has a special affection for things that fly.

My husband is a pilot and flew as a hobby for many, many years. He even took my flying to see the sunset at Tuttle Creek Lake on our second date.

{Three years later I married him.}

However, since the arrival of the little man, my husband put his fun - but expensive - hobby on the back burner. But that hasn't stopped his love for flying.

Near our home is a small county airport. Daddy and the little man go out there from time to time to walk around and see the airplanes and choppers, visit with fellow pilots and enjoy some daddy-little man time.

Last weekend they ventured out to the airport to visit their beloved airplanes. But this time, they couldn't have picked a better afternoon for a visit.

As they walked around they came upon a local news helicopter. The airport is where all of the local news stations keep their helicopters. The little man is usually a draw for others at the airport. See, pilots love to talk about flying and their toys. And little man loves to talk to them about it, as well.

Such as the case last weekend. Only this time, as they stopped to chat with a fellow pilot near one of the news helicopters, he asked little man a simple question:

"Would you like to sit in it?"

With that, the man opened up the door and put little man right in the pilot's seat. By then another fellow pilot came by and quickly handed little man a pair of wings to put on his shirt. He was an official pilot.

{Fortunately, my husband had the forethought to whip out the camera on his cell phone.}

By then, little man was already pretending as if he was flying high in the clouds.

As they came home that afternoon, little man immediately ran to me with a big smile on his face. He pointed to his wings pin on his shirt.

"Mommy, I flew a chopper," he said. "Choo-choo-choo-choo." (aka helicopter noises)

I looked up at my husband, who followed behind the little man.

"We had a big fun" he said.

But he didn't need to explain any further. The smile on his face said it all.

I guess in some cases, boys really don't grow up.

And that makes me happy.

When I Grow Up ...

Someone has officially decided what he wants to be when he grows up.

A firefighter.

When he first mentioned it to me, we also just happened to be reading a book about fire trucks. I figured it was just a passing fancy and that 5 minutes from then he would probably already have moved on to another career choice.

But I was wrong.

It seems the little man has his first when I grow up dream. And his dream is to be a firefighter.

And he would be a good one.

Now, when lighting a candle little man always promptly reminds me not to play with fire.

"Mama, we don't ever touch fire," he sternly warns me. "It's hot. It will burn you."

"Yes, yes," I tell him. "We don't ever touch fire."

When we ventured out to see Thomas the Train a few weekends ago, the local fire department also had a fire truck on display for the kids. And little man zeroed right in on it.

"A fire truck mama!" He squealed. "Look!"

He ran as fast as his little legs would carry him to the big red fire engine. He immediately crawled up the steps and hopped into the drivers seat.

"Vrrrrmmmm.... errrcchhhh .... weeeoooo... weeooooo," he said, making imaginary fire truck and siren noises. He turned the big steering wheel as if he was speeding on his way to a 5-alarm fire.

"I wanna be a firefighter!" He yelled. The firemen behind us giggled.

The entire time his big blue eyes were wide with amazement. He told the firemen all about how he wanted to be a fireman and drive a BIG fire truck when he got bigger.

{Nevermind the big, blue Thomas engine that was just a short distance away. He was too focused on the fire truck.}

Eventually we convinced him that it was time to leave the fire truck. But only if we promised to visit it again.

And later that afternoon, on the ride home after a fun day, little man's eyelids grew heavy.

"Did you have fun today buddy?" I asked him as he began to doze off. "Did you like seeing Thomas?"

"Yeah," he said. "And the fire truck."

One Year Ago Today ...

One year ago today I published my very first blog post. What began as a whim has turned into a very cherished part of my family's life. I hope you all have enjoyed reading my chronicles in mommyhood as much as I have had sharing them!

Thank you for sharing this
(extra)ordinary year with us!

Chugga Chugga

We had quite the fun weekend at our house. Saturday began with a trip to the lake. It was so relaxing and fun to just enjoy the boat, the lake and summer sun with just the three of us. It was a bit cloudy in the morning, but by the time we arrived at the lake the sky had cleared to a bright blue. We anchored the boat near a calm little cove and enjoyed the afternoon playing in the water, throwing rocks into the lake to see them splash, squeezing mud between our fingers and toes and feeding the ducks.

The fun continued Sunday, when the little man got to meet one of the most beloved childhood characters - Thomas the Train.

And I don't' mean a cartoon, story teller or small little toy train. A real, live, functioning TRAIN.

A small train depot in a neighboring town featured a real Thomas the Train where the whole family could not just meet and see Thomas, but could also ride on him.

We told little man we were going to see Thomas. He was excited, but I knew that he didn't quite understand. We loaded into the car and made the short drive. Due to the large crowd and lack of parking at the train depot, we parked at the high school and caught a school bus shuttle to the train station.

That was the first of what I would definitely call the 3-year-old boy trifecta: a school bus, a fire truck and a train.

Little man nearly exploded with excitement when he saw the school bus and we told him that we were going to ride it.

He stood in the seat (with daddy's help, of course), opened the window and felt the wind in his hair as the school bus began to drive.

"This is FUN mommy!" Little man exclaimed, with a big smile on his face.

And that was just the school bus.

As we rounded the corner, the train depot came into view. There was a city fire truck set up for the kids to explore. Little man immediately zeroed in on it.

{more on that in my next post}

We could barely pull little man away from the fire truck. He didn't understand what was just on the other side of the train station.

But mommy and daddy knew.

My husband took little man by the hand and told him he needed to see something. That there was something just around the corner that he needed to see. Little man followed daddy, looking back at the fire truck.

As we rounded the old brick building, little man then saw it.

Thomas the Train.

A real Thomas the Train.

His eyes grew big as he stood next to the train. I can only imagine how big it seemed to a 3-foot-tall little man.

He squealed and pointed, "Look mommy, daddy! It's THOMAS!"

The little man's magical world of Thomas was alive in front of his eyes.

After a short wait (which of course was passed by visiting the event's menagerie of all things Thomas the Train) we boarded the train for our ride.

It was a 30-minute train ride through the farm fields. We rode on a restored 1930's Canada Pacific car that had been made to look like Thomas' passenger car. We saw cattle, fields, tractors and a wide assortment of other exciting (well, exciting to a 3-year-old riding on a train) things. All of the other children on the train were just as excited as our little man. There was chattering about Thomas and wide eyes throughout the car.

As we pulled into the station we bid farewell to Thomas.

"Bye, bye Thomas!" Little man said, waving at the train. "That was fun, mommy, daddy."

Even though the train ride was just 30 minutes, we all took home memories that we will hold with us for a lifetime.

And, of course, a Thomas the Train whistle.