Catching Up

I have been remiss in posting pictures and updates but I blame it on the broken camera. It still takes pictures, but the screen is broken, so you can't see the pictures until you download them. How spoiled I have become by being able to see the picture after taking it and being able to retake it if it's not good!
Our monkey has discovered the only tree in our yard that can be climbed, and it's not a very strong tree, although it's high. He has been told a few times that he is "high enough".

If you look at the opening of the tree in the middle, you can see our climber. And that's not even the highest he's gone!

It's baseball season (and this might have been a lazy at home day, where Rudy might still have his pajama top on.)

The other night we went to take a walk at the park. Rudy had fun chasing the ducks.

Growling and looking like a monster (and obviously not having changed from school where he had a pretty messy lunch!)

Pondering.

We ventured off the path down to the water's edge and got to do some exploring. I think we'll probably be spending all our time at this park down by the water.

My guys.

"Rudy, don't scare the birds. Rudy, don't move any closer." Said as he sat on a stump and moved his legs all around. Yep, the birds eventually got up.

So tempting - rocks over water! He did well getting out, but missed a few steps coming back. Good thing we were heading to the car and then a bath at home!

This is what comes from a camera with no screen. And there were others that were close ups of the guy fishing on the other side! We need a new camera!

Where Do We Live?

I am starting to think the US has shifted and we are farther north than we originally were. We just had our third snow storm of the winter - with more on the horizon. This time we really only got about 2 inches, but all the schools were closed.
After a lazy start to the day, we headed out to shovel at Paul's mom's house and my dad's house. This was the first snowfall this year where the snow was easily packed, so snowball fights ensued as we shoveled.

Rudy likes to try making "tongue prints" in the snow. He has such a fascination with eating snow, sometimes it is like having a toddler around because he's not always discrete about where he tries to eat snow!

A silly pose...

A nice pose. Paul had sunglasses on so Rudy insisted he needed his.

After shoveling, we decided to stop at the playground for some more fresh air. The play equipment was a little too wet and snowy so we took a walk around the pond instead. I put Rudy's clothes out for him, but he always manages to add his own flair- today's fair was his long johns on the outside. The worst part is, they are kind of big so he kept asking for help to pull them up.

We had fun looking at the snow tracks and trying to figure out what animal had been there. And then we had to make up animals that might have been there, like a turtle duck.

The partially frozen pond. You can't see too well, but on the other side are many, many ducks and some geese hanging out in the water and on the ice.

As we rounded to pond to the other side, the ducks came charging from the water toward us. You aren't supposed to feed the animals here, but obviously people do since they were excited to see us. They came right up to us and followed us for a while. Paul took a video of the ducks following us and Rudy saying, "Sorry, we have no food. Go find someone else."

Yes, they really were this close. Paul crouched down and held the camera low to take this picture.

Concert in the Park

Last weekend we went to the concert in the park. The featured band was one that sang all Beatles' songs, a favorite of the two males in my house. I think Rudy was a little surprised to find out it wasn't The Beatles that were singing but just Beatles songs. He brought his camera to document the event.

Playing at the playground and taking pictures before the show.

Taking another picture.

The picture he took.

Waiting for the show to start.

Rudy and his friend, Tommy, making sure they can hear the band.

When these two boys get together, their goofiness comes out. For some reason, things like falling on the ground or bumping into things are so much fun.

They were upset about something and so we told them to make the best mad faces they could.

Skipping Stones

For some reason, Rudy recently became interested in skipping stones. He talked about wanting to do it for days - he tried in his pool, talked about it while camping, asked all the time to go somewhere - so Paul finally took him to the local park. Apparently Rudy was not very successful (although he hasn't mentioned it since, so I guess it got it out of his mind), but he had fun with the birds at the pond.

Fun in the Sun

The weather this week has been warm and sunny and gorgeous so we have taken full advantage of it. Yesterday we went to a playground we haven't been to before. Rudy was the only one there so he had the run of it. He played in the lower part of the castle...

... and climbed to the top of the wall.

After about 30 minutes he started to get bored and wanted to leave. I had seen 2 women walking through what looked like a wooded area, but they had been gone a while and I wondered what was down there. So I convinced Rudy we should go on an adventure. We walked almost to the ed of the tree line and then saw a shell covered road. When we followed the road, we came out to the bay among the marshes.
The view over the bay.

The view back toward the playground.

You could see across the bay to the nearby city. Tide was low and there were lots of small crabs at the edge of the water. We're definitely going to come back here and explore some more.
Walking back to the car Rudy wanted to take a break. I told him when we got back to the playground he could sit on one of the benches. He replied, "It's not wet here. Why can't I just sit here?" So he did.

Today we had a playdate at another playground with Rudy's friend, Tommy. We ate lunch at the park and stayed for almost three hours.
Here they are being silly.

We took a walk around the pond. It looks like they are plotting something but I think Rudy was saying how they were going to be the leaders and not us.

Chasing the ducks - always fun.

A beautiful tree in bloom just made this picture perfect.

We saw a lot of turtles sunning themselves. The water in the pond is still very high from all the snow and rain we've had. There are areas of the park where trees that are usually about 3 feet or more from the water's edge, have their roots and part of their trunk still completely under water.

Buddies posing for a picture.

After walking around the park and coming back to the playground, the boys needed a rest. But a few seconds later they got up and ran around for another hour or so.