Lake Winnie

Yesterday we went to Lake Winnie Amusement Park and we all had a blast!  I've been wanting to go since a friend posted pictures on Facebook this summer and I knew Julia and Andrew would enjoy the rides.  It was their first trip to an amusement park and they both loved it!  Their first ride was the ladybugs.  Julia really liked it but it was a bit bumpy for Andrew.

It was nice they had a bunch of rides we could go on with the kids as well so Andrew and I enjoyed the elephant ride together while Julia and Daddy rode together.

Photo of Julia on the elephant ride up in the air.

All aboard!  They had a great train ride that went around the park too.

Daddy and Julia showing off their hand stamps!

Waiting in line for the Antique Cars.  This really brought back memories of going to Darien Lake as a kid...such fun times!

Julia's first time on a Ferris Wheel.

Andrew's favorite ride was the boats.  He loved it and Julia was a great big sister riding with him.

Another fun ride for both of them was the cars.

Andrew looking cute as ever.

I wasn't quite sure Julia would like these kind of swings but she did.

Boat ride again!  Andrew probably went on the boats five times atleast...his favorite!

Cute little boat riders.

Cars again but this time Julia wanted to sit in the back.

Mommy and Julia going down the super slide...super fast!

Last ride for the day...antique cars again.

Thomas looks to be holding on tight since Julia is steering and not even looking at where she is going.  We had such a fun day and my favorite part of the day was when we were taking a little break and having some water and a snack and out of the blue Julia said, 'Thank you for taking me here.'  It was the sweetest thank you ever!

Fun Friday Afternoon

Julia, Andrew and I had such a fun Friday afternoon at home while waiting for Daddy to get home from work.  There was lots of jumping, running, dancing, fooling around, being silly, laughing (luckily no crying) but just good plain fun!  

Andrew loved watching Julia and he got into all the action as well.

One of the things Julia has been working on at therapy is jumping off of something so at home she practices jumping off the fireplace and loves it.  Such a great landing photo!

I love this one of her in mid air.

Another landing photo.  Before long I'm going to have two kiddos jumping off the fireplace.

Such a happy girl and so much fun to be around!

Looking so serious!

He actually had a toy knife in his hand but I thought that wouldn't make the greatest photo so I switched it for a toy spatula instead.  Smart thinking, huh?

Doing some walking with Daddy when he got home before dinner.

Andrew is doing great with his walking.  He still holds our fingers but walks much farther and faster and he is more steady.  I'm sure he'll be walking on his own soon enough and then I better be on my toes running after him since he'll be getting into everything....what am I talking about he gets into everything now.

A Tutu and a Remote

Andrew has such a great personality and it's been such fun for us watching it develop.  He absolutely LOVES the remote.  Once he sees it he is on a mission.  Often times he crawls around holding it and yes he knows what button to push to turn the television on.  Like I said before he loves electronics...just the other day he was holding my phone and he pushed the right button and called my mom.  Who knows one day you might get an unexpected phone call from Andrew.  The tutu....the other day Andrew took the tutu I made for Julia's doll and used it to tickle my face and of course I giggled and I did the same thing right back to him and he laughed too.  I assumed Thomas showed him that and sure enough I was right.  It was so funny how he imitated what he learned with Thomas one day and did it on me days later.  I wonder what other silly things Thomas is teaching him when I'm not around.

Visit with my Mom

It was great having my mom in town for a week even though I didn't take many photos. It was nice taking Julia to therapy without Andrew since it's hard to contain him there.  I also went to the dentist while my mom watched the kids.  We did lots and lots of shopping and got some great deals for Julia and Andrew for next summer and some things for the fall as well.  Looking forward to her next visit.

Julia's Therapy

Julia started taking therapy again in April since I had been noticing her having some trouble with jumping and climbing things.  At her three year appointment I spoke to her pediatrician about it but she said it would take her longer to master some of the gross motor skills...I agreed but I still had a gut feeling that she needed help.  Then a few things happened when we were playing with others that assured me we needed to do something to help her build those muscles and I needed ideas on how to help her.  We went for an evaluation and she qualified for physical therapy services.  Now Julia goes to therapy once every other week for an hour.  Mostly we work on balancing, jumping and standing on one foot.  They do lots of different fun activities to work on these skills.  We are working with the same therapist that we did when Julia went to therapy at 6 months old and thanks to Miss Emily who has helped Julia tremendously.

Walking across the bridge that shifts once you get to the middle.

Jumping from one number to the next.  Julia has been doing great with this and the numbers are a little more than a foot apart.

Practicing balance by walking across these towers.

We also worked on jumping off of something and lately she's been practicing at home by jumping off the fireplace.  She's made great progress on this as well since at first she was scared to jump without holding onto our hands.

I love this activity!  She has to pick up the sticky balls with her feet and drop them into the container.  It's such a great way to practice balancing on one foot.

Lots of concentration for Julia since one leg is stronger than the other.

We also work on her running speed.  Today she was weaving in and out of cones.  It's definitely an hour workout and she does great but more importantly has fun.  Way to go Julia...we're so proud of you!

Aquatic Center

On Sunday afternoon we all went to the Aquatic Center.  It's so fun and it's perfect since it's close to home.  Everyone had a good time and all the adults in the group even had a chance to check out the big water slide since we had plenty of people to stay with Julia and Andrew. The water slide definitely reminded me of the water slides at Darien Lake when I was a kid.

Julia had fun going down the slide.  Andrew liked the slide as well but he got out of the water before I had the chance to take any photos of him.

Julia loved squirting Daddy with the water hoses.  We'll definitely be going back to enjoy the slides and the lazy river.

Dinner at Maggiano's

Friday night we had a great dinner at Maggiano's.  It's definitely a favorite of many in the group...well that is except Thomas.  We always go to Maggiano's when Nana and Papa visit...it's tradition and I love traditions!

Catch Air

On Friday morning we headed to Catch Air for a bit of fun.  We climbed up and down and through tunnels and all sorts of things to have fun with Julia and Andrew.  This was Andrew's first time exploring and playing on all the equipment at Catch Air and he had a blast!

Julia really enjoyed having me and Papa climb up to the fort and play on top of the structure with her.

Andrew did such a fantastic job of navigating through the structure.  I was definitely amazed by what he was able to do.  Way to go Andrew!

This is one of my favorite photos from our visit with Nana and Papa Brown.  Papa was such a great sport and climbed through tunnels after Julia and Andrew with me.  Thanks for all the help...it's not easy keeping up with them.

Julia was all smiles as she was about to go down the slide.

Having fun playing in the ball pit.

Swimming and Playing Outside

We enjoyed our visit with Nana and Papa Brown and we got to do lots of fun stuff and I even got a few chances to relax on my own!  One day we hit the pool and we had it all to ourselves until shortly before we left.  It was a beautiful day but I guess everyone was getting ready for the beginning of school.

Andrew has enjoyed the baby pool this year.  If he's in his raft he can walk around and go where he wants and he loves the freedom.  It's been nice not having to hold him the entire time so I get a chance to do things with Julia too.

Taking a break and enjoying some goldfish.

Julia and Papa having fun on the playground.

Papa helping Andrew down the slide.

Julia had fun using all the chalk colors to make a rainbow.