The mall

We went on a little shopping excursion one day to get tie shoes for Sean. Up until now we have all been happy with hook-and-loop shoes, but in kindergarten they are going to be working on learning to tie their shoes. So we decided to get some shoes that need tying!

We usually don't spend $7 on 5 minutes of entertainment, but every once in a while you have to splurge.

 

 The fountain outside lasted longer as a form of entertainment, and it was free. But, the memory that stuck in Sean's mind was "bungee jumping in the mall!" so the $7 was worth it. :)

Sean was trying to get the coins from the bottom, but luckily he couldn't quite reach them. (Isn't there something about a jinx or curse if you remove someone else's wish coins?)

Who needs a double stroller, anyway?

 

Kids' Kingdom

Rumor (as in I heard this from a kid at the playground across the street on a different day) that Kids' Kingdom is going to be torn down. I sure hope not - we had so much fun there! It was really cool and much different than your typical metal-and-plastic playground.

I love it when Sean requests his picture to be taken. That means he is doing something really important and/or cool. Here he goes down the fireman's pole.

Why do I bother saying, "Please don't climb up the slide!"?

Little sis likes to follow big brother. (He usually doesn't mind.)

"Peekaboo!"

The Duck Pond

While the weather is still nice, we have been making the most of the great outdoors. Teresa and I took a long walk around the neighborhood the other day and stopped at the duck pond, which is right across the river from our neighborhood. I love hearing squeals of delight coming from a two-year-old. It's great! And all you have to do is go to the duck pond.

 

These guys were having some sort of morning meeting or discussion I think.

Teresa enjoyed feeding them some stale bread (which I tried multiple times to feed the kids in the form of toast, French toast, etc.) too.

Library festival

The library in downtown South Bend had a little festival last weekend. We met some great literary characters of our time, such as

Clifford

(Clifford even got a hug from Teresa!)

Curious George

 

and Otto!

Little goofball

Teresa is a silly girl. She loves to entertain herself and all of us by crossing her eyes. We try so hard not to laugh, and to tell her they'll get stuck that way and please stop, but honestly isn't this hilarious? She has been doing this since she was about 20 months old. Goofy!

 

And by the way a quick Google search has put my mind at ease: http://health.howstuffworks.com/human-body/systems/eye/crossed-my-eyes.htm

So maybe it's ok to laugh at the little comedienne.

Happy birthday!

Teresa is two!

First day of kindergarten!

I'm getting a little behind here on the blog, but trying to catch up. Two weeks ago, Sean started kindergarten. He was very excited!

 

I walked him in to his classroom the first couple of days. Here he is trying to get in line. "Bye, Mom!"  Well I was going to leave but then I saw other parents going in too, so I decided to follow him downstairs to his classroom.

He found his name on his desk right away and sat down, ready to go. He looks sad here but wasn't, he was just not looking at the camera at that moment.

 

Teresa wanted to sit at the table too and join in. She was kind of upset when she couldn't go to kindergarten too. So she decided to moan and groan and roll around on the floor for a minute in protest, and then look up to see if I was watching. Uh-huh. She's two, you know.

 

Studebaker Service Center

The St. Joseph County library has free passes for local museums. I took S&T to the Studebaker Museum and we found a new display since we had been there last. They have an interactive area for children where they can change the tires, put on a new muffler, change the air filter, check the battery, etc. It's really cool!

The pit crew in action.

 

Sean loved sliding under the car on the little roller thing (yes, that is the technical term).

Teresa is not quite as mechanically minded as Sean, so after a few minutes she decided a snack was more interesting.

This was the first time I heard Sean say, "Mom, take a picture of me doing this. Now take a picture of me doing that." etc.

Testing the battery.