38/52 - First Dinner at a Restaurant

This past weekend we took the Lil Man out for his very first dinner at a restaurant.  Overall, the experience was not bad.  We skipped appetizers and tried to keep him distracted until his food arrived.

 

 

We did not go anywhere fancy, just Boston Pizza.   We ordered the kid's Pint-Sized pizza for the Lil Man ...

 

Byron had the Spicy Perogy Pizza

And I had a Zorba the Greek Pizza

 

 The Lil Man's doggy bag was so tiny.

  

I do not think we will be returning to BP any time in the future as we were surprised with our bill at the end of our meal (it was quite pricey for the amount of food we were served). However, I must add that the pizza I ordered was very enjoyable.

Happy Wednesday!

 

32/52 - Nothing Runs Like A Deere ...

Can you guess what this Lil Man loves doing?

 

Pressing the same button over and over on his tractor! He gets this trait from his dad.

 

As a result, all I hear is "nothing runs like a Deere" x 100 times!  I even hear "nothing runs like a Deere" in my sleep ...

 

I think Hugo has figured out that it is slowly driving me a little bit crazy and he is loving it even more!

Hope everyone is enjoying their Hump Day - Happy Wednesday!!
 

 

31/52 - Vroom vroom ...

I  can only imagine how many hours of entertainment this little orange and yellow Fisher Price car has provided in its many years of existance and how many more it has to privide. The Lil Man loves playing with this little Fisher Price car that belonged to his dad {I guess that makes it vintage hehe}. During our camping trip this week Hugo enjoyed loading the little car with different sized rocks and driving it while making his cute vroooom ... vrooooom sound. 

After about 5 minutes of trying to convince him to look at me for a picture he finally listened ...

 Have a fun and safe long weekend Everyone!!

Camping With A Toddler

 

Some may think we are nuts and others may think we are adventurous camping with a toddler, especially when everything around you could be considered a hazard. I think it's a bit of both and that is why it is important to plan ahead and bring items that will keep the little one occupied when they decide they are tired of exploring their new environment. I wanted to make note of the things that kept Hugo busy during our last camping trip in case I forget for next time.

His sand toys ...
 

 

He played with these a lot and his truck ...

 

He really enjoyed loading the truck up with all the different rocks and acorns he collected and then he drove the truck around. We collected different sizes, shapes, colours and textures. We used it as a sorting and sensory activity.

 

Bubbles and Exploring the surroundings.
 

 

Writing in the dirt/ sand - we found some sticks and wrote and drew in the dirt but I did not snap a photo of this. We practiced our ABC's and shapes.  It entertained the Lil Man for a bit and then I pulled out the crayons, colouring book and  blank paper ...

We also brought some books to read for story time. I realized Hugo needs some camping books to bring with him for story time though during our camping adventures. I might just have to order a couple from Chapters - the following one for sure

click on picture for source.

Or I will just have to remember to grab it from Chapters the next time I'm in Barrie!  

These books look great too ...

click on picture for source.

 

click on picture for source.

 

click on picture for source.

 

We went on a couple walks all four of us together. While I was doing the dishes one of the times Byron took Hugo on a bike ride. We were going to do that all together, but ran out of time.

 

It worked out great while I was doing the dishes because as you can see from the following picture ...

 

 

 

... he quickly discovered how much fun it is washing the dishes when you are camping. I think he enjoyed this part of camping the best.

 

The second morning Hugo managed to get a hold of Byron's empty coffee mug and he thought it was a great toy ...

 

For the odd time when the Lil Man just would not settle down - Byron's tablet with Thomas episodes & my iPod with a couple Fisher Price games came to the rescue for a short period of time (i.e. when we had to work on making dinner and he was a bit grouchy because he was hungry).

 

I am so glad Byron took the time and built a crib-like railing for Hugo's bed in the trailer. If you missed that post you can find it here. It made me feel much more relaxed when we put him down for a nap. Here he was waking up from his nap and looking very unimpressed when he realized he was missing out on all the fun outside.

LOL ...

Maybe next time we will go on a scavenger hunt also, we shall see! What do you find your toddlers like doing when they are camping?

It is adventures like these that create wonderful moments and memories for us to cherish  forever!

HAPPY TUESDAY!

30/52 - The Beach

This past Sunday we attended an engagement party at the world's largest freshwater beach. We had a lovely time. The Lil Man really enjoyed himself. He enjoyed checking everything out ...

 

 

And of course he loved playing in the sand!

 



 

 

 

STORY TIME

One thing Hugo loves are his books and story time.

 

At our baby shower, [hard to believe that it took place two years ago today], guests were asked to bring a book in lieu of a card if they wished. It was such a great idea and I would highly recommend it. This was the invite insert ...

 

Hugo received a wonderful assortment of books that we will treasure for years to come. Roxy was trying to decide which one was her favourite. (Before Hugo was born she would sit and pose for the camera every time I took photos in Hugo's room).

 

Story time is so much more fun when there is a wonderful selection of books to pick from.

 

 

It is always so nice when we open a book for story time and find out who it was from -- guests were asked to write their names on the inside page! Some guests even wrote a little message.

 

 

This is one of his favourite books. His favourite part of the story is "Clang, Clang ..."

 

 

Over the past twenty months Hugo has received more books. I think he gets them throughout the year, which he loves.  He received some of these for his Birthday, Christmas & just because he's awesome ... 

 

 

 

 

 

When he was first born my cousin gave me a "What to Expect the First Year" book, but since I already had that book I exchanged it for this "B is for Bear" Touch & Feel ABC book. Hugo has enjoyed this book since he was able to sit up on his own and he still loves it!!

 

 

If you need a book for a little one, I highly recommend this one! As far as I know you can still purchase it at Indigo.ca. If you click on the photo it will take you directly to the page.

There are so many different styles of kids books out there. Hugo has a couple neat ones, but if I went on about them all I would be here forever (maybe one day I will do another post). This is the latest book Hugo received . His Oma & Opa brought it back from their trip to Ottawa in the Spring. As you move the page from left to right, the animal appears to be moving. It's kind of hard to photograph it, but it is super neat watching the horse gallop as you move the pages.

Do you have a favourite children's book?

 

28/52 Fun Times + A New Hat

This past weekend we celebrated my sister-in-law's birthday with a Domino's pizza dinner at my in-laws place. After dinner we went outside to enjoyed the beautiful summer weather. The Lil Man had a great time running around the yard ...

 



 



Photo is blurry because he doesn't stay still any more

 

Checking out Oma's gardens and smelling the flowers ...

 

 

Sharing the flower with the Birthday Lady - Aunt R.

The Lil Man enjoyed running around so much he did not want to go inside.

On Sunday we took a trip to Home Depot to grab some stuff for another project. Hugo is now ready to help dad with his new hat!

 

Byron manage to snap this picture of the Lil Man moving all his train pieces around. This is one of his new things he likes doing lately.

 

 

He tried moving all the stuffed animals from his bed but when I went to take a picture he had dropped them all because the pile was too big for his tiny arms. Some days he is just too funny!

 

Hope everyone in the Toronto area is ok after the major flooding that occurred yesterday.

 

Looks like it is going to be another dark, grey and wet Tuesday.