Daddy’s View

Eric is such a sweet little boy.  Friday evening, Mommy and I were getting ready to go out for dinner to celebrate our wedding anniversary.  I heard Eric in the hallway looking for Mommy, so I told him to come in because Mommy was in here.  He came in and announced that he had a question.  He walked into the bathroom where Mommy was fixing her hair or jewelry or something, and he stopped and said very sincerely, “Mommy! You look beautiful!”  A short while later in theliving room, he said again, “You look beautiful, Mommy!”  It was just after this last comment that Mommy told the babysitter, Grandma G, that he could have whatever he wanted 🙂

Saturday morning, Eric and I got up first.  Mommy slept in a little.  Eric and I ate breakfast and were sitting on the sofa when I asked him if he wanted to go to the Indianapolis Air Show.  He had seen the commercials on TV and told Mommy several times during the week that he wanted to go.  When I asked him about it, he casually said that Tyler was going with us.  This caught me off guard, because Mommy told me that she had not mentioned to Eric that we would be going to the air show.  We had already pre-arranged for Tyler to go with us.  Eric must have overheard Mommy and/or Grandma talking about it.  Anyway, we both got ready to go, went to pick up Tyler, and headed for the air field.

At the air show, there were a lot of activities for everyone.  Plenty of airplanes and helicopters on display for viewing on the tarmac.  Special areas were set up for children to have fun.  One area was a large tent with learning activities focused on math skills.  This included a balloon rocket, toy rollercoaster, air cannons, and more.  Eric and I made a balloon rocket, and it flew all the way across the tent until it stopped at the other end.  Eric helped build a rollercoaster and run the car down and around the track.  It was a lot of fun!

Another area for the kids had several inflatable “bouncy houses” and slides.  Eric had fun bouncing, climbing, and sliding.  He also got strapped into a harness to jump really high on a trampoline.  Unlimited fun available but only a limited time to take advantage of it.

They also had a small car show.  Eric had the opportunity to sit in a real race car!  He thought it was very cool!

Obviously, we saw plenty of flying airplanes, some fast, some loud, some doing tricks, some flying together.  It was a spectacular sight!  We watched, oohed, aahed, took pictures, ate hot dogs, drank lemonade, and had much fun all afternoon!  As we were leaving and waiting in a long line of traffic to get out of the parking lot, I asked Eric if he had fun today.  He replied, “I had too much fun!”  It was a long day, we all had a lot of fun, and we were very tired.  We took Tyler home and headed home ourselves.  Mommy was happy to see us when we got back.  Eric enjoyed telling all about the day and showing Mommy and Grandma G his bag full of stuff that he came home with, including a flexible calculator, a toy plane, and an activity book, all in a cool backpack.

Today, we stayed home for fun.  Blake and his parents came over and we played in the yard.  I had Eric’s pool filled and the sprinkler turned on, and we all had water pistols to get each other wet.  It was a great way to enjoy such a hot afternoon.  We all had fun, and we were all again very tired at the end of the day.

I thought I should get up to date with my blog, since spring is almost over.  Summer officially begins later this week.  We had a busy May and June so far.

We spent Memorial Day weekend in Cincinatti with friends.  Eric was excited with anticipation leading up to the weekend.  We drove together with Eric’s friend Blake and his parents.  Eric and Blake rode together in the back seat of our Yukon.  Blake’s parents rode in the middle seat.  We all got out of work a little early, so we could arrive in Cincinatti for dinner.  We packed up the car and drove over to Blake’s house.  Blake came running over to greet us.  He was just as excited as Eric to spend the weekend together.  We had big plans and a busy schedule ahead of us.  It only took a few minutes to get Blake and his parents packed into the car and away we went!

We stopped along the way for the boys to go potty.  We just happened to stop at a DQ, so naturally we had to get some ice cream!

Once we were checked into the hotel, we got back in the car in search of dinner.  The retaurant we planned to eat at turned out not to be there any more.  So much for trusting the GPS.  I guess I will need to update the maps before our next trip.  We finally found an Italian restaurant.  We had fun eating spaghetti and meatballs.  The boys were wound up pretty high and having a lot of fun!

 Start with some bread and butter.

 Dig into the spaghetti and meatballs!

 Boy, these are good!

Saturday morning, we slept in a little, so Blake and his parents were waiting for us to have breakfast and get ready to go.  We had planned to spend the day at the Cincinatti Zoo.  We walked around the zoo and looked at lots of animals.  The boys were having a blast!  We saw camels, gorillas, giraffes, birds, snakes, frogs, elephants, lions, tigers, and monkeys.  We had ice cream and rode the carousel.  It was sunny and very hot, so we drank plenty of liquids and took several short breaks.  We ate lunch inside the air conditioning.

 Eric compares his hand to a gorilla hand!

 Eric wanted to ride on the white tiger.

 We brought home a friend from the zoo.  We wanted to keep him safe.

We went back to the hotel for a short rest and to clean up for dinner.  We headed to Montgomery Inn for dinner.  We (the adults anyway) were looking forward to some good ribs.  Dinner was delicious and fun!  Back at the hotel, we played in the swimming pool for a while before bedtime.  Eric loved it!  It was a very long and exhausting day.  Eric was asleep in no time at all.  I passed out soon after, and Mommy was not far behind.  We slept in again Sunday morning, though not as late as Saturday morning.  We got breakfast and headed out to the Newport Aquarium.

 Ready…set…jump!

The boys were just as excited to go to the aquarium as they were the day before to go to the zoo.  I’m pretty sure they had just as much fun, too.  We saw all kinds of fish, sharks, turtles, birds, bats, octopus, crabs, penguins, and more.  Eric and I were able to pet a shark, too!  Mommy took pictures from a distance 🙂

After the aquarium, we all piled into the car again and headed for home.  We dropped off Blake and his parents at their house and arrived home at our house just in time for dinner.  While we were spending the day looking at fish and rolling down the highway, Grandma G was busy making us a great big dinner!  Grandma’s really are wonderful!

We went camping on the weekend of June 9.  The weather was so nice all week, so I told Mommy that I really wanted to go camping, so we made last minute reservations and packed up the camper.  I got off work early Friday, and we drove to Prophetstown  State Park just north of West Lafayette.  We arrived at the campground and got the camper set up just in time for a slightly late dinner.  Mommy heated up some hot dogs, while Eric and I finished setting up the camp site for the weekend.  Eric is a very good helper when we set up the camper.  It is his job to pull out the step, so we can walk in and out of the camper.

 Ready to go!

 There is always time for the playground.

Saturday morning, we played for a while at the camp site, took a nature hike with the naturalist at the park, and drove into town for lunch and some shopping.  We spent much of the afternoon on the Purdue campus.  We started with lunch at the Triple XXX on the hill.  Mommy wanted to buy Eric and me some matching shirts at the Purdue store.  We tried a couple different stores but no luck with the matching shirts.  We drove around campus and I gave Mommy and Eric a driving tour.  A lot has changed since I went to school there a few years ago, but I managed to find the major landmarks.

When we we arrived back at the campground, we stopped at the Historic Prophetstown farm.  We saw chickens, peacocks, cows, pigs and horses.  We even tasted a waffle that was cooked on an old wood stove in the farm house.

 Eric apparently studying how to be messy 🙂

 Eric and Mommy admire the size of the windmill.

Eric settled in for the night and went to sleep.  Mommy and I stayed up to sit by the camp fire.  We toasted a few marshmallows and attempted to burn all of our fire wood.  Eric and I got up early Saturday morning and finished burning the wood.  It was a little chilly in the morning, so the fire was welcome.

 The sunrise as viewed from our campsite.

Eric was again a very good help when we packed up to go home.  Winding the crank to bring the camper down is Eric’s job, and he does it very well.  Thirty cranks and he stops, so we can check that all of the camper sides are tucked in before bringing it all the way down.  Of course, the last task is to push the step back in, since we will not be going in and out any more this weekend.

We drove home, unpacked, and played in the front yard for a short while.  Mommy fixed some sandwhiches for lunch, and Grandma G cooked us a very nice dinner.  It was a very nice weekend camping.  Eric had a lot of fun!

This last weekend, we had a small party to celebrate Aunt Carol’s birthday and Father’s Day.  Eric always loves it when we have a party!  he gets to visit with everyone and plenty of play time.  Most of all, we had cake and ice cream after dinner!  On Sunday, we did very little.  Mommy and Eric brought me breakfast in bed.  Mommy carried in my breakfast, and Eric carried in a vase with flowers.  Eric climbed into bed with me while I ate my breakfast.  We shared my bacon.  When I was finished, Eric and Mommy had their breakfast in the living room.  Eric came back to climb into bed with me again, and we played games on the iPad and rested together.  Later in the afternoon, I got out Eric’s pool and filled it with water.  He played while Grandma G and I sat on the porch and watched him.  All in all, it was a pretty lazy day, but the best part was spending time with Eric.

Whew!  I just noticed that I haven’t blogged since March!

We had a lot of fun in April and so far in May.  Here are some pictures with captions to bring you up to speed.

We climbed the “mountain” at West Park.

A little mishap on the race down the mountain.

Watching some TV after a long day.

Eric came to work with Daddy and drew a boat on the white board.  If you look closely, you can see the shark and the dolphin, too.  Eric told me a whole story about them.

Aunt Bev made this beautiful cake for Eric’s baseball themed birthday party!  The party was a grand slam!

Eric made a wish and blew out all of the candles at “candlestick park”.

Ready for the second half!  Anybody else want some?

Eric is wearing his new baseball suit.  Aunt Cindy is trying to convert him to a White Sox fan!

Eric is sporting his new “Munk Rock” shirt.  He loves the Chipmunk movies!

Eric’s last day of school finished with a bike race and family picnic.  Mommy and I enjoyed watching Eric ride around the track before performing some songs with the rest of his class.  It was a beautiful day for a picnic!

Another lap for a “new…track…record!”

We ate PB&J sandwiches for our picnic lunch.  The ants arrived a little late, as we were folding up the blanket to go home.

Earlier in April, we went to the race track in Anderson to celebrate Uncle Rob’s birthday with a big buffet lunch.  Eric was ready for the starting gate to open!

I hope to be back soon with another blog.  We have planned an action-packed May.

Yesterday, we went to a birthday party.  It was cousin Tyler’s great-grandma’s birthday.  We all went to a Chinese restaurant on the east side for a lunch buffet and cake and ice cream.  It was a lot of fun.  Eric ate two pieces of cake!

When we got home, we played baseball in the front yard.  Baseball is Eric’s new favorite game.  Every time we play outside, which has been a lot lately with the unseasonably warm weather, he wants to play baseball.  Uncle Rob bought him a Nerf bat and ball last summer, so we use that a lot.  Eric pitches to me until I get a hit or three strikes, and then we switch so I pitch to him until he gets a hit or three strikes.  It can be a lot of fun.  Sometimes, we get Mommy to play, too, and one of us gets to catch.  Eric is learning to swing the bat very well.  And he has a throwing arm like you wouldn’t believe!  Strong and accurate.  Eric also likes to re-enact the “replays” by walking with the ball and spinning it in the air as he shows us how the last play went.  I am pretty sure he got this concept from his video games, since he always likes to hit the repaly button to see the game over again.  He is very imaginitive with his replays.

While we were outside, Eric also rode his Super Cycle (big wheel).  The last time that he rode it, he was getting frustrated, because he could not reach the pedals very well, especially when he turned the wheel.  He rode to the stop sign at the corner and back with me walking alongside him.  It was very difficult for him with his legs fully extended as he pedaled.  So, we brought the cycle up to the garage, and we worked on fixing the problem.  We made some “speed pedals” to help him ride it easier.  Eric tested the prototypes, blocks of wood strapped to the pedals, and they worked great!  He pedaled all the way to the end of the driveway and back without any help.  So Eric played in the yard, while I finished making the speed pedals permanent.  Yesterday, he got to ride it again for the first time with the new speed pedals.  He pedaled all the way to the corner and back, then in the other direction to our neighbor a couple houses over and back.  Mommy and I were very impressed with how fast he was going!  I think Eric was surprised, too!  Once he realized that he could go as fast as he could pedal, away he went!

After all the pedaling and baseball, I decided to slow the pace a little.  I had bought a wood kit from Lowe’s a few weeks ago, so we got that out and started building a school bus.  Eric has his own apron, safety goggles, and a hammer.  Eric pounded all of the nails to connect the wood blocks together with just a little help from me.  He needed some help hitting the nails hard enough to drive them into the wood, but his aim was very good.  After it was all assembled, we applied the stickers to the wheels, the stop signs, the bumper, and the people inside.  Eric had a lot of fun making the bus.  He played with it for the rest of the afternoon and evening.  We both enjoyed it!

Today was our neighborhood Easter egg hunt for the kids.  Mommy, Eric, and I went to the neighborhood park.  Eric picked up some Easter eggs filled with candy and little toys.  Then we stayed for a while to play at the playground.  Eric climbed and slid and even got on a big kid swing.  I showed him how to pump forward and back to get him swinging.  Mommy left to go to a movie with Grandma G, but Eric and I stayed at the park for quite a while until most of the other kids had gone home.  We walked back with Eric’s wagon and played more baseball in the front yard.

We are having pizza for dinner tonight.  It will be just Eric and me, since Mommy went out with Grandma G.  The pizza is baking right now, while I write this blog and Eric plays Mario Karts on the Wii.

Today, I took a day off work.  I have been working 6 and 7 days every week since the new year.  Mommy had an idea to go downtown, so Eric could see the canal dyed green for St. Patrick’s day.

We started off downtown at a restaurant called Potbelly Sandwiches.  The sandwiches were very good.  Eric ordered a PB&J, and it came on a toasted bun.  He really liked it!  We ate outside on the patio.  The restaurant was right on the circle in downtown Indy, so we had a great view of the Indiana Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument.

After lunch, we walked across the street and climbed the monument stairs to the observation deck at the top.  Okay, we actually took the elevator.  The monument stands 284 feet tall.  For comparison, the Statue of Liberty is just 21 feet taller.  If we had taken the stairs, the gift shop attendant assured me that there were exactly 330 steps to the top.  As it turns out, we still had to climb a few steps from the elevator to the observation deck.  Eric really enjoyed the view.  I showed him where he could see the restaurant where we had just eaten lunch.  It looked very tiny from way up there.

(If you look very closely near the middle of the above photo, you can see where we ate lunch.  It is the third arch from the left on the building just to the right of the road.)

After the elevator ride back to the bottom, we walked a few blocks west to the canal.  It rained last night, so most of the green dye was gone from the water, but we enjoyed a short walk along the canal and watched the ducks in the water.  It was getting close to dinner time, so we walked back toward the circle to get our car and drive home.  It was a fun day!  What a great idea Mommy had!  I thanked her for convincing me to take a day off from work to enjoy the weather, our fine city, and of course my wonderful family!

Since my blog posts have been sparse so far this year (okay, basically nonexistent until now), I have some photos below with captions to catch you up on Eric’s activities this year.

Eric helps put away the Christmas decorations in January.  He was not happy about putting away the train until next year.

We had very little snow this winter, but Mommy took every opportunity to let Eric play outside whenever we got new snowfall.  Here he gets ready to go outside.

He looks so cool shoveling the snow!

Eric is ready for pajama day at school!  As an extra treat, Daddy went to work late and was able to drop Eric off at school!

Eric is playing games on Mommy’s laptop.  Just another lazy winter day…

Eric gets to ride his new Super Cycle in the cold January air.  Santa brought this all the way from the North Pole, so it must be a cold weather toy!

Get your motor runnin’!

Lookin’ for adventure!

January also gave opportunity to ride his bicycle.

Is Mommy still taking my picture?

Mommy and Eric brought dinner to my office for St. Valentine’s day, since I was working late.  Eric helped Mommy make heart-shaped chocolate brownies with pink icing.  They were delicious!

Eric taking a self portrait.  He does have an eye for cuteness!

Grandma D read Eric a bedtime story via webcam last week and again tonight.  Eric was very excited!  Grandma was very excited, too!  It is so wonderful that modern technology can bring these special moments to both of them, although they are separated by 150 miles!

This week was green week at Eric’s preschool.  Eric chose his favorite tee shirt for Tuesday.  I bought this for him about 1 1/2 years ago while travelling in Mexico on business.  It was quite large on him then, but it seems to fit just right today.

Mommy bought this new outfit for Eric.  He wore it to school on Thursday during green week.

Mommy and Eric played at the playground this week.  The unseasonably warm weather this past week meant plenty of outdoor activities!

Enough of this ride…on to the next activity!

Eric is a great climber!  This ladder was no challenge at all!

Weeeeeeeee!

My first posting of 2012.  I apologize to all those who check here regularly.  It has been a very busy year so far.

Grandma and Grandpa D visited in January.  Eric loved spending time with them.  We went to a model train show at the state fair grounds.  It was fun for everyone!

Aunt Cindy visited in February.  Eric’s friend Blake came over with his parents.  Grandma G also came over with cousin Tyler.  It turned into a great party!  Eric really enjoyed spending time with Aunt Cindy.  She loaded a motorcycle game onto her tablet, and Eric only stopped playing when the battery went dead.

Eric is doing very well at preschool.  He is praised frequently by his teachers and brings home rewards and prizes on a regular basis.  Mommy and I are very proud!

I promise to post photos and more details soon.

We had our first snow of the season!

Eric could hardly wait to get to work shoveling the sidewalk with his new snow shovel from Santa.

It’s been a busy month!

We celebrated Mommy’s birthday and Jesus’ birthday.  Parties, shopping, visiting, family, friends…whew!  So much activity, excitement, and love!  Eric really enjoyed this month.

As I said, it’s been busy and still is.  I will be brief with this post, but I have several photos to share.

Eric and I enjoyed watching TV together on a lazy evening before bed time…

We went to have our annual family photo taken.  Eric was again very cooperative with the photographer.  He really like her.  The photos turned out great!

We visited with Grandma D and Grandpa D the week before Christmas.  All of the family was there.  Eric always enjoys visiting with family.  He loves his aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparent so much!  He enjoyed his usual role as Grandpa’s helper passing out gifts to everyone.

When we got in the car to go to Grandma’s and Grandpa’s house, the first thing Eric said, “When we get to Grandma and Grandpa’s house, I’m going to go in the basement.”  I asked, “Why?”  Eric replied, “Because I want to!”  I probed further, “What will you do in the basement?”  I already knew the answer, but Mommy and I were amused at his attempt to sneak around the issue.  Eric boldly stated, “Play with Grandpa’s train!”  And that he did.  He was practically glued to Grandpa’s trains under the Christmas tree.  He played for as long as Grandpa or I would sit with him.  Eric took over the role of conductor, so he was declared “the boss” by Grandpa.  Grandpa told him, “You can tell Daddy what to do!”  Eric smiled a little too big at the realization of what that could mean, so I quickly added, “But only for the trains!”

Before we left to come home the next day, Grandpa gave Eric a train station and a church from his train set.  Eric was thrilled!  When we got home, he immediately asked which bag had his train station.  We unpacked it and placed it under our tree with Eric’s train.  He was so proud to have Grandpa’s station and church with his own train.

This year was the year for trains apparently, because he also received a gift of a wooden train set.  He played with it also when we got home.

On Christmas eve, Mommy’s family gathered at our house with some friends to celebrate.  We exchanged gifts and enjoyed a wonderful holiday meal.  Eric spent some time playing Angry Birds on Aunt Carol’s iphone…

Before bed time, Eric carefully set out some cookies and milk for Santa.  He also left some “magic” reindeer food and a carrot for Santa’s reindeer.  Eric was surprised and amazed when he looked on Christmas morning at the plate, empty except for a few crumbs and a piece of carrot.  The glass of milk was empty, too.  What impressed him even more was the “Thank You” note that Santa left for him.

When Eric woke up this morning, Mommy went into his room to tell him that he could get out of bed.  When she said this, he jumped out of bed, pushed past her, and ran down the hall to see if Santa had come to our house!  He ran into the living room and exclaimed, “I have a new motorcycle!”  He was overwhelmed with all the toys and gifts from Santa and from Mommy and Daddy.  He spent the better part of the morning riding his new motorcycle around the living room and up and down the hallway.  After breakfast, he and I got dressed and went outside to ride his “motorcycle” up and down the sidewalk.

After the weekend events, including meals and a very sticky breakfast, Eric was due for a bath.  Of course, to dry off, he wore his new bath robe.  Mommy and I bought the robe for him.  Seeing him wear it made me think of little Ralphie from A Christmas Story.  When I finally stopped laughing, I agreed that it was very cute!

Merry Christmas to all!

Eric loves the new train under our Christams tree!   He plays with it every day…except Wednesday when the batteries were dead.  I replaced the batteries promptly on Wednesday night…whew!

Eric loves going to preschool!  Every day the teachers have fun activities and games for the children.  This week, the children decorated their own ginger bread houses.  Eric did a wonderful job.  His house looks very neat and festive!  His teacher made a point to mention to Mommy how carefully and meticulously Eric decorated his house.  His teacher was impressed.  Mommy and I are very proud!

First thing in the morning, we turned on the Thanksgiving day parade on TV.  We wanted Eric to see the floats and entertainment in the parade.  Also, we knew that our very own home town Carmel High School marching band was marching and playing in the parade.  During the parade, one of the participants was the famous Rockettes.  We all watched as they danced and performed their high kicks.  At one point during the show, Eric said “Actually, that brings a tear to my eye!”  What?!  Where did he come up with that phrase?  Anyway, I agreed with him 🙂

We spent Thanksgiving with Grandma G, Aunt Carol, and Tyler.  We all went to Hoosier Park in Anderson.  Grandma really likes the buffet there, and they had a great spread for Thanksgiving with all the traditional foods.  We ate turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and pumpkin pie!  We had a really great time just being together with the family.

 Eric playing “Angry Birds” on Aunt Carol’s iphone.

Mommy stayed overnight at Grandma G’s, because they were going shopping with Aunt Carol for the late night black Friday sales.  It was just Eric and me for the evening at home.  We watched a Curious George movie, ate pizza, and palyed with cars.  It was a lot of fun!

Today, we put up Christmas decorations.  We always reserve the weekend after Thanksgiving for this tradition.  First, Eric and I went to Menards after breakfast to take advantage of some black Friday specials.  It was very crowded but not terrible.  We found some great deals.  One in particular that Eric is very excited about…we bought a train to go under our Christmas tree.  Eric has asked me a hundred times already if we can put out the train yet.  I keep reminding him that we need to have the tree up first.

As I am writing this blog today, Eric is (supposed to be) taking a nap.  I heard him calling me, so I went to see what he wanted.  He said, “I need a foot massage!”  Don’t we all!  I suggested that he go to sleep and we would discuss foot massages later.