Sand in the City

Today, we went downtown for Sand in the City. Yesterday there was a sand sculpture competition, and the sculptures were still there today. This is one of my favorite boys and one of our favorite sculptures. It was actually only in the 60s and windy, but the sun made it nice. There was live music, food vendors, and really expensive kids games. Luckily, Wally is still pretty easy to talk out of things like that. There were some big piles of sand for the kids to play in. Wally had a great time. Just like the beach!

Then he found the real fun...There was a bucket of water by another big pile of sand. We were waiting for Wally to topple right in. He never did, but got plenty dirty!Wet sand is so fun to squish. Wally wasn't the only one to discover the water (but probably the cutest!)

Just now, Joel and Wally hid from me while I was writing this blog. This is what I found. Could have been fun to give them a little push! No Gramma, I didn't actually push them...just thought about it.

Fun with Boats and More...

We have been using our canoe almost every weekend since we got it. It is great fun. We found a "tunnel" we can paddle through. The road goes over part of the lake, so we can go under the bridge. We have been known to go through it, just to turn around and go back through, just to turn around and go back through again... This past weekend, it was a little more exciting. We caught a fish, or a fish caught us, or something. A little fish (about 3 inches) actually jumped into the canoe! Luckily, it hit Joel's leg, rather than mine. I would have likely fallen out of the boat. Wally thought it was pretty hilarious. Wally loves to use his own oar. It makes some pretty good drag for Joel and I to fight through.Sometimes we have a hard time waiting for the canoe to be in the water before we get in.Can you tell Wally likes the boat? He has a hard time sitting still for a long time though.The sun and the water were pretty neat. This picture doesn't do it justice, but is cool none the less. It actually rained a little on us that day, but in Iowa, it wasn't cold.Sometimes we have a picnic after we go boating. Here, we found a caterpillar while eating. That was pretty neat. Wally had to put it by a tree, so it could go home. We went out on the boat again, and when we got back, Wally ran to the same tree to find the caterpillar again. It was gone.Sometimes, if Wally has been a good boy, he gets to play in the water after the boat ride. This time he needed to throw "big rocks." I would get some rocks for him, if they were too small, he would just throw them on the ground and search for bigger rocks that were good enough to throw into the water.
Jumping into the water is always a good time too.

Not boat related, but Kathy sent Wally Joel's Cubs jacket from when Joel was a kid. Wally thinks it is pretty cool. Though you can't see it in these pictures, he also thinks his new socks are pretty cool. Here, he was waiting for one of his friends to come over to play...80 degrees, Cubs jacket, shorts, and socks. Perfect!

"Look Me Mommy!"

Tonight, Joel was mowing lawn and I did a little pruning. Wally was busy making his nest. He has been into making nests lately, and insists that he needs tape for them. He will make a nest out of just about anything, but they all need tape. Here, he was actually using a branch for his nest, but was more into dancing around with it for the video.

Wally is 3 Years Old!!

Our baby boy is now 3! If you ask him, he is a big kid. To me, he is still my baby. Everyday, things he does remind me that he is a big kid though.

We just finished up quite a week of celebration. Wally's birthday started out with a little party at school. One of the parents brought helium balloons for all the kids (the kids had a great time, but they also caused a fair amount of fighting because they all wanted the same colors at the same time). Wally's friend Sander also gave Wally a present...a picture of the 2 boys. Wally was so excited that he gave Sander a big hug. It was so cute. Wally has it on his dresser in his room now. Wally and I made cupcakes the day before. Wally picked the colors for the frosting, green and pink. It was sure cute when all the kids were singing.
The matches I brought to light the candle didn't light, so Wally did "just pretend" for blowing out the candle. Pretty realistic though.

After school, went to Joel's work for a pizza party. It was actually a going away party for a couple students, but to Wally, it was another birthday party. Joel came home early, so Wally got to open his presents before dinner. Everyone was right on with their gifts... Mickey Mouse, Cubs, puzzles, games, books, and construction trucks.
We got Wally a train set for his birthday. He loves playing with the trains at school and the library, so we decided to splurge and get him his own. Now that we kennel the dogs when we leave, he can set up his train set upstairs in the living room and leave it out when we leave. I enjoy that he can play trains while I am cooking. He still wants us to play with him all the time though.
He is saying, "choo choo!" Its fun listening in to him playing. He talks to the trains and makes up stories, and who knows what else. He's developing quite the imagination.

He also enjoys the box the train came in. I was impressed that he actually fit!

Gramma Kathy gave him a US map puzzle. We've put it together several times. He's learned that we live in the purple piece, Grandma Mary and Papa Randy live in the yellow one, and everyone else lives in the pink piece! Not sure he really understands though, because he asks us which one Sander lives in. He's quite good at posing for pictures these days!

Wally has really been into constructions trucks lately. He also really liked Papa's scoop. So, when I started asking him what kind of birthday cake he wanted, he logically said, "scoop cake." I asked him several times hoping to get away from the scoop cake because I didn't know how to do it. But, he never forgot or changed his mind. I got online and Goggled "scoop cake." Lots of pictures popped up. I stole some ideas, and made up some of my own stuff, and came up with this...
The scoop was made from loaf pans, donuts, pretzels for the scoop arms, and a hollowed out Twinkie for the scoop. I have to say I was quite pleased with how it turned out...

There were even worms crawling out of the dirt. It passed the Wally test.

We had 3 of Wally's friends come over for a birthday party (2 from school and 1 from Joel's work). The four kids had a great time. First water fun, then pizza, cake, presents, and a pinata as a final surprise. There was of course some fighting because they were 2-3 years old, but all in all, it was a great time for everyone. I was apparently a fun target for the squirt guns!

Joel got a picture of all 4 kids looking before we did cake by saying, "who can say cheese the loudest?" I was surprised we didn't get complaints from the neighbors!

The singing wasn't the best, but the kids enjoyed the singing and Wally did a good job blowing out the candles (for real).

Cute kid! Wally had to give hugs to everyone after opening presents...even to the dads he had never met. What a polite kid. I think I will keep him!

The pinata was a pull pinata. Pull the strings, and eventualy it opens, as opposed to having kids swing bats. I thought this was definitely going to cause fights, but there must have been enough candy, because there were only smiles. We will do this again!

Here comes the candy! I think it surprised the kids and they didn't know what to think.

After the pinata, we all just hung out, played a little wiffleball, and just enjoyed the hot, humid weather.

What a wonderful week of fun. Now, things will hopefully calm down, and we can take some time to explore his new toys. Thanks everyone!

South Dakota Part 3 - Graff Family Reunion

My parents were awesome enough to let Joel's family have a reunion at their ranch (thanks Mom and Dad!). We had such a great time. Now that all of the brothers live in different states, it makes getting together rare, but very special. I'm glad we were all able to do it. Kathy and Murr brought their RV down, so the kids of course thought that was great. The first day, we (my parents, Kathy, and Ryan's family) went to Bear Country. I don't think Wally could believe his luck...2 Grammas and a Papa all to himself!

Wally called this bear Daisy...the bear was eating poop. Wally thought the way the bears waddled when they walked was funny. We all thought it was great when Wally tried to immitate the bears by wiggling his tush.We saw a lot of mountain lions. Most were asleep in their houses, but this one was awake. Wally thought the big kitties were neat.After the drive, we walked around the bear cub and small animal area. The kids had fun trying to climb on this bear. Getting all three looking was impossible. We had a hard time getting Wally to walk around and look at the animals. Not that he doesn't like to look at animals, especially baby animals, its just that he saw a train, and trains trump all... Here is Wally waiting at the train station. He held onto his ticket really tightly.

Finally, they made it on the train. Apparently, it was worth the wait.

Ever since Wally met Gavin, he's been attached. Wally is just drawn to him and Gavin is very good at playing with Wally. If I didn't know where Wally was, I just had to find Gavin. Thanks Gavin! Wally had so much fun playing with his cousins. I hope we can do it again soon.

Wally had so much fun playing with his cousins, that he got pooped out. When it came time to go to Mount Rushmore, he had a melt down. So, Wally and I stayed back and the rest of the family went to see the big heads. They enjoyed some ice cream after the walk around the bottom of the mountain.

I heard Molly ate it all!

We weren't sure if haying season would cooperate, but luckily it did, and Papa Steve and family were able to make it down Saturday evening. I'm glad Wally gets to know what a Real Cowboy looks like!

Jenna, Molly, and Wally all thought their new hats were quite something. They also thought each other were pretty special. Yeah, they are definitely related! The big day of the reunion, also happened to be my 30th birthday. My mom used to always make shape cakes for me and Jason's birthdays, and since I was home for my birthday, she did it again! Mom made a delicious spice cake in the shape of a sunflower. That cake made my birthday extra-special (besides being home and with all of our family). They say that there were 30 candles on the cake. Some got melted by the others and collapsed before they got them all lit. I guess that is what happens when you get old.

Luckily, I had help blowing out my candles. Thanks Jenna, Molly, and Wally!The cake was so good that Wally had 2 pieces. I hope I had 2 as well. Thanks Mom!My parents...I love you guys! Thanks for putting up with me for 30 years! Congratulations!Wally still managed to be a good traveller all the way home. He did look diseased when we got to McDonald's for lunch due to hours in the car and endless stickers! He did really well potty training during the vacation and didn't have an accident the entire 13+ hours in the car. He did learn that if he yelled, "Me make pee," we would stopped the car and he could get out and run around. This got old after 13 hours, but we can't complain at all. What a wonderful vacation. It is such a blessing to have such wonderful family that gets along so well and is so loving. I feel so blessed that Wally gets to grow up in this family. We love you all!

South Dakota - Part 2 - Just Us and Grandma and Papa

Ok, so I know I am slow, but I blame the blogging site. I've had these pictures uploaded for several weeks now, but I can't get the site to let me change the order, so this is what you will have to deal with.


Wally got to ride on Papa's scoop. He is still talking about scooping dirt on the hill with Papa. In fact, I need to figure out how to make a "Scoop Cake" for his birthday party on Saturday.


We set up a tent and had lots of fun in it. Here we had story and snack time with Grandma Mary and Papa Randy.

I got to go for a ride with my dad, but no one was there, so I took a self portrait. I love flying, especially with my Daddy!

Joel got to go for a ride too, and they got to see lots of buffalo at Custer State Park. By the time I went that night, they were gone.

(This is what I wrote several weeks ago...)

So, I am a bit out of order, but here is part 2 of our trip. We had a few days between Jason and Katie being at Grandma and Papa's house and Joel's family arriving. Wally certainly made the most of it, and proved he was a boy, loving anything with a loud motor.

We couldn't very well go for airplane rides without letting Wally go for one. We strapped him in, put on the head phones and off they went. Papa taxied up and down the runway going just fast enough to get the tail off the ground. Wally thought that was the coolest thing ever. I had to peel him out to let Joel go. He then screamed and kicked the whole way down the runway back to the hangar. The only way I could get him to cheer up was to take him on a 4-wheeler ride with Grandma. Reder liked to ride the 4-wheeler and sit there nicely and point to where he wanted to go. Wally wanted to go fast and he had to hold onto the handle bars. Crazy kid! Where does he get that from?

We visited my dad's cousin's new house and Wally had a great time sliding down the pile of gravel. He was pretty much dirty when he was done.

Luckily, Grandma Mary had gotten a wading pool for the grandkids. Wally kinda likes water.

More to come...I think!