a little summer splashin'

We have already had our little backyard pool out a few times this year. All three boys enjoyed some fun in the sun. Isaac tries to participate, but he doesn't like being splashed as much as the older two boys.

Strawberry Picking

We visited Spencer Farm in Noblesville to pick strawberries recently. I wanted to do this last year, but it was pretty difficult to make happen with a newborn baby in tow. But this year I decided to make a trip there. Noah enjoyed picking (and eating....and eating....and eating) the freshly picked strawberries. We were amazed at how small the strawberries are. The ones in the grocery store all hyped up on who knows what are much larger. However, these fresh strawberries tasted much better!!

We invited our friends from church Michelle and Eloise to meet us there to pick berries and have a little picnic. Eloise is the same age as Isaac. It was fun to catch up with Michelle.

We picked just over 5 pounds of strawberries. I would have liked to pick even more, but Noah and Isaac had had quite enough of strawberry picking. Isaac was crying in the backpack and Noah was running up and down the field. Noah was also moving the little marking stakes they place to show people where to start picking.... Oh well!

Good Little Buddies

Noah and Benjamin enjoy their little cousin playtime every so often. Generally full of mischief, these three year olds manage to sneak snacks from the pantry among other random things like stealing each other's toys. They do so love to play together and lately even seem to "talk" to each other!!

Noah's Day at the Children's Museum

Last week my mom watched Isaac for the morning so that Noah and I could head to the Children's Museum with our friends from MOPS. We had not been to the museum since a free day a few years ago, and I was excited to spend one-on-one time with Noah.

Open right now is the Dora and Diego exhibit about exploration. Of course we had to plan a stop in that exhibit.

Noah wanted to hold the map and see where we could go.

We played at the train table with one of the boys from MOPS. I tried to sneak past it without stopping since there were so many other things to do in the museum, but oh well! He got to play there for five minutes.

Noah wanted to pose with Dora in the exploration exhibit. In Spanish, the show is called "Dora La Exploradora" which is so much more fun to say than "Dora The Explorer." As a side note, Dora has a huge head!

Noah explored commanding a ship and battoning down the hatches.

We checked out more trains at the train exhibit. Noah was fascinated watching the model trains go around into the tunnels and pop out at other random parts.

On display was a real (I think?) former IndyCar for the kids to sit in.

The preschool area is called Playscape, and it's full of hands-on learning activities for the kids. Water play and sand play were huge highlights for Noah. It was enjoyable to watch him scoop the water/sand, dump it out, and do it over and over! He really loved playing on the small construction equipment also.

It was at this moment I contemplated possibly getting a membership to the museum for a year. Against the cultural norm, we are choosing not to put Noah in 3 year old preschool this fall (GASP!!!!), so a museum membership could be a good avenue for some extra learning experiences. Still thinking on this since it is a 30-35 min drive.

Lastly we checked out the dinosaur exhibit. We looked at the various skeletons on display, and Noah commented, "Mommy those dinosaurs are so scared!" I think he meant "scary"....cute! :)

I asked him who made the dinosaurs, and without missing a beat, he said, "God did!" I love the moments we talk about God, what He made, and His great, big love for us!

There were so many exhibits that we did not get to see last week. I had to pick the ones I thought he would like the most since I knew we would both tire after a few hours. Hopefully we'll get to go again in the near future...maybe with Daddy and Isaac this time, even if it's just on a free night!

Goodbye to Mia and Layla

Noah's good friends Mia(4) and Layla(3) moved away a few weeks ago. Their mom Amy and I are good friends, coworkers, and MOPS moms! Their dad Jason started a new position working at a church in Berne. We are adjusting to missing our friends, but at least they are "just around the corner" from Noah's grandparents! Hopefully we'll get a chance to see them soon!